Snake ID

[Ehouse]

So here I sit, augmented...

But crickey mate! Better not wind up dead like that Crocodile Hunter! I know he was not killed by a snake, or a big crock, but he messed with them all the time.

Stingray's barb to the chest wasn't it? Not to worry, I prefer Marlon Perkins' method of engaging exotic fauna: "He's a big one Jim! be careful! Get around behind 'im! Watch out for that tail Jim!" "Well Jim got into some trouble with that one, and when you find yourself in trouble, Mutual of Omaha.......

 

[Ehouse]

Funniest thing I've heard today!
Think I'll do it myself if for no other reason than the funny looks.

The possibilities are endless.

 

[Hearth Mistress]

Unless you get up on a ridge in a state forest where the Timber rattlers are, the only common venomous guy there will be a copperhead

You don't have to be all that far away from the "city" to see Timber Rattlers. I'm only about 50 miles outside of Philadelphia and this time of year, wet spring to summer, those dang rattlers are all over, along with Northern Copperheads. We have black racers and garters too that easily grow big, close to 3 foot racer out there today, being so close the the Delaware River, plenty of food. I can't let the dogs out unsupervised, neighbor's dog got bit a few years ago and didn't recover, he was a 18lb terrier mix, close to the size of my guys.

If I saw a 7' snake in my garage, I'd want to be REAL sure of proper ID before I go shooing it into a bucket.

Joful, there are a lot of good photo ids for local snakes from the fish and game commission, here is one

(broken link removed to http://fishandboat.com/factsnake.pdf)

 

[StihlHead]

Stingray's barb to the chest wasn't it? Not to worry, I prefer Marlon Perkins' method of engaging exotic fauna: "He's a big one Jim! be careful! Get around behind 'im! Watch out for that tail Jim!" "Well Jim got into some trouble with that one, and when you find yourself in trouble, Mutual of Omaha.......

You mean keep the beer between you an the guy handling the venomous snake?

Yah, its was a sting ray barb that got the Crock Man. At least he was doing what he loved to be doing... the only way to go.

I have a hard enough time with exotic flora on my property, which around here is worse than the fauna. Stinging nettles, poison oak and razor sharp blackberry thorns. The only snakes here I have seen are garters. My cat hunts them, along with blue belly lizards. He also hunts and east voles, rabbits, moles and mice. No birds or bats; I let them go of he catches them.

I can't let the dogs out unsupervised, neighbor's dog got bit a few years ago and didn't recover, he was a 18lb terrier mix, close to the size of my guys.

18 pound dogs? My cat weighed in at 25 pounds the last time I took him to the vet...

View attachment 103701

 

[Hearth Mistress]

I have 2 Jack Russell Terriers, not big dogs....but don't tell THEM that! Bryn is 9 and is 23 lbs and Riley is just about 2 and 19lbs My grandmothers cat was 28lbs when she passed at 14, she loved pasta, her name was "officially" Penny but we all called her "big Gal butter ball" she was a great cat

 

[Ashful]

Them're some pretty big dawgs. I've got two min-pins. "King of the Toys," they think they're big dogs. Most weigh 8 - 10 lb.

(broken link removed to http://www.akc.org/breeds/miniature_pinscher/index.cfm)

 

[Hearth Mistress]

Them're some pretty big dawgs. I've got two min-pins. "King of the Toys," they think they're big dogs. Most weigh 8 - 10 lb.

(broken link removed to http://www.akc.org/breeds/miniature_pinscher/index.cfm)

Hah! I had "real" big dogs as kids, irish wolf hounds, shepards, etc but my hubby had JRT when we met and we've just stayed with the breed. My dogs look down for snakes and up for turkey buzzards, they know they can be a food source those snakes are now joke with little dogs so it's a good idea to know what's around and how to identify them and their habitat to keep eveyone safe and bite free

 

[StihlHead]

I have 2 Jack Russell Terriers, not big dogs....but don't tell THEM that! Bryn is 9 and is 23 lbs and Riley is just about 2 and 19lbs My grandmothers cat was 28lbs when she passed at 14, she loved pasta, her name was "officially" Penny but we all called her "big Gal butter ball" she was a great cat

For small dogs, Jack Russels are actually pretty good. I generally do not like most small dog breeds, especially the super miniature yapping toys.

 

[Ashful]

Hah! I had "real" big dogs as kids, irish wolf hounds, shepards, etc but my hubby had JRT when we met and we've just stayed with the breed.

Yeah, I had a German Shepherd and a Shepherd / Lab mutt growing up. Great dogs, but I'm too allergic to have them in the house, now. Small dogs = less surface area = less allergens.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

We have 2 shih tzus and a mini-schnauzer mix. Not yappy, super friendly, and my wife- who is allergic to real dogs- is not allergic to them. We love them all, but the mini-schnauzer has CRAZY energy and is just hilarious. If you are looking for a smaller dog, you could do worse.

edit: of course I am a STRONG proponent of adopting rescues, but there's nothing wrong with looking for a breed. It kills me to see some of the larger breeds that live very short lives and have all manner of issues still being bred on purpose, but that's a personal thing for me I guess.

 

[Hearth Mistress]

edit: of course I am a STRONG proponent of adopting rescues, but there's nothing wrong with looking for a breed. It kills me to see some of the larger breeds that live very short lives and have all manner of issues still being bred on purpose, but that's a personal thing for me I guess.

All of our dogs, as a kid and now as an adult were rescues, we drove 3 hours each way to get our most recent dog. I am a big fan myself of rescues and no fan of puppy mills!

 

[basod]

Interesting, but sort of irrelevant, if all you have is a shed skin. I care more at the moment when I find a live snake in the garage.

'"Now roll over, so I can tell if you're poisonous."

No... so when you find a shed laying around you know there is a venomous snake(or friendly ratter) in the neighborhood. Many times I find a shed up around the garage or around the foundation within hours of having been in the vicinity - tends to put my mind at ease it's not a Copperhead\eastern diamond back\timber rattler laying under the deck. Cottonmouths are easy to identify - fat short stocky body and thin tail, there's almost no taper to it just fat then tiny whip
I had a 4' rat snake in the flower bed when coming in this afternoon - GF said it would not have lived if I weren't home. It's hiding under my AC unit last I saw
The other identifiers are easy at a decent distance - round pupils, and lack of second "nostril" or the pit's of a viper. Head shape is difficult for folks that seldom see snakes IMO

 

[basod]

Would this guy scare you?

 

[Ashful]

Any snake scares me, until I'm able to confirm it's not venomous.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

Would this guy scare you?

Uhhh- I dunno- ask him to roll over

 

[StihlHead]

Would this guy scare you?

Crikey! That's a big 'un!

Looks like a gopher snake. We have huge gopher snakes here in the west, and big king snakes as well.

Gopher snake

King snake (coral snakes have red on yellow)

 

[osagebow]

Basod's looks like a grey rat snake or a young black rat. They get darker with age.

 

[basod]

Basod's looks like a grey rat snake or a young black rat. They get darker with age.

Yeah my first instinct was rat snake...... the GF's was -shovel/hoe - it wouldn't have lived had I not been home
The rat snake's down here are so varied in color, I tend to look from a distance.
Being I saw this one in the wide open at first before it decided to occupy under my condenser for a couple days was cool with me... even though the condenser fan went out the next afternoon(not the snakes fault) when it was ~98/45%humidity.
I thought the sucker jinxed me - just a fan motor that had seen it's lifespan over 30+yrs