Snake ID

I was cutting my grass earlier and this SOB got tangled up between my foot and flip flop, after a near heart attack and a few kicks and back flips I managed to seperate us and ran my mower over him and my flip flop. After changing my underwear (haha) I went get it. I looked on the web to ID it but for the most part snakes look the same to me. All I know is he's dead and for a moment there I thought I was too! Needless to say PNG doesn't like snakes.

I did learn a few things.
1- Flip flops, snakes, and grass cutting can cause near death experiences.
2- The first pass over a snake may sling him out, but doesn't always kill them.
3- Most importantly, when the wife is at work, skip out on yard work and go fishing!

http://i1278.photobucket.com/albums/...ps29576b5e.jpg
http://i1278.photobucket.com/albums/...pse3d01bd0.jpg

Looks like it was a grey rat snake.
Non-poisonous, mostly eats mice.
Why did you kill it?

It was me or the snake and I'm not quite ready to go!

Somebody has to say it; it's a DEAD SNAKE!

[quote author=FinChaser link=topic=3103.msg28326#msg28326 date=1365440913]
[size=12pt]Somebody has to say it; it's a DEAD SNAKE![/size] :yippee:
[/quote]

Yepper!
I'd say that one is definitely DEAD!

BTW, I hear they taste a lot like pelican ;-)

Looks like the remains of a frog's hind legs at the bottom of the pic

[quote author=divedeep link=topic=3103.msg28336#msg28336 date=1365447805]
Looks like the remains of a frog's hind legs at the bottom of the pic
[/quote]

Yea it was, I was rinsing it off trying to see the pattern on the snake and it washed out. Nothing like fresh frog legs!! :eat:

Almost looks like a copperhead

I have to agree with gray rat snake. They've made me jump higher than I thought I could on several occasions when I happened up on one in close quarters. The trouble with mowers and snakes is that the mower can sling the snake back on you. Snap, snap.

I kept snakes as a kid (Mom was so cool), been admiring them ever since. My Mom would have recognized the snake in the photo as a grey rat, which she liked to call chicken snake. Don't know why. We never ate one.

yep. gray rat snake.

For a minute I thought this post was about me haha :poke1:

What is it withe you southern boys and snakes.
Why would you ever want to mow the lawn wearing slaps anyway. I sounds like a good way to make a trip to the emergency room. Just saying slippery grass spinning blades and flying metal, rocks, glass. Murphy's law applies.
I never let my kids ride the mower with slaps on. And they always wore ear protection.
You killed a good snake. I have some gopher rats in my back yard. I'll come and get the next snake you want to kill.

[size=12pt]I bet you don't ride your Harley wearing flip flops either.[/size]

I used to run over copper heads all the time on my old riding mower, back yard at my old house had BAD crab grass, grew like you wouldn't beilive :run

[quote author=DANtheJDMan link=topic=3103.msg28435#msg28435 date=1365509092]
What is it withe you southern boys and snakes.
You killed a good snake.
[/quote]

Obviously you northern boys have never been slipping through the woods and come a few inches from putting your foot down on top of a fat water moccasin sitting there with his mouth wide open. Or stepped out on the back porch of a summer night to find a big copperhead curled up 2 feet from where you're standing. Or been weeding the flower beds and see a red and yellow and black snake right by your hand. You gonna sit there and ask him to wait while you sing your rhymes about red on yellow kill a fellow and red on black friend of Jack? Or had said fat cotton mouth's cousin fall in the boat with you and you have to un-ass the boat. Or been standing in the squirrel woods before daylight and heard a 5' cane brake rattler buzzing near you and you can't see him. Or carried your buddy to the ER with a snake bite on his hand and his whole arm swollen so big that you'd swear it's gonna explode.
We southern boys tend to shoot first unless we can see it first and make a positive id in plenty of time. I do believe they call it a survival instinct. Good snake be damned. :guns:

[quote author=DANtheJDMan link=topic=3103.msg28435#msg28435 date=1365509092]
What is it withe you southern boys and snakes.
Why would you ever want to mow the lawn wearing slaps anyway. I sounds like a good way to make a trip to the emergency room. Just saying slippery grass spinning blades and flying metal, rocks, glass. Murphy's law applies.
I never let my kids ride the mower with slaps on. And they always wore ear protection.
You killed a good snake. I have some gopher rats in my back yard. I'll come and get the next snake you want to kill.
[/quote]

Not sure what slaps are, is that like chaps for grass cutting or something?

I've had many of snakes strike at me while pulling crawfish traps, frogging, hunting, and so forth. If I can help it I'm not going to give a snake the opportunity to bite me. Kill first ask questions later. We have plenty of other animals around here that'll eat a mouse or a rat, I don't need any help from a snake.

FWIW- I'll still be wearing flip flops cutting my grass, just might be a lil more cautious and I'll be armed!

[quote author=PurpleNGold link=topic=3103.msg28444#msg28444 date=1365515337]


I've had many of snakes strike at me while pulling crawfish traps, frogging, hunting, and so forth. If I can help it I'm not going to give a snake the opportunity to bite me. Kill first ask questions later. We have plenty of other animals around here that'll eat a mouse or a rat, I don't need any help from a snake.


[/quote]

king snakes, rat snakes and many other nonvenomous snakes kill and eat venomous snakes. i won't kill a snake of any kind unless it's somewhere it could be a threat. and nonvemonous snakes are not a threat.

If I can't eat it, I wont kill it. Been in the woods and fields all my life, and never had to kill any snake, turtle, frog, rabbit or anything else I didn't plan to eat. I've watched rattlers hunt. That is the point of being in the wild. It is not to kill the wild.

[quote author=divedeep link=topic=3103.msg28441#msg28441 date=1365513958]
[quote author=DANtheJDMan link=topic=3103.msg28435#msg28435 date=1365509092]
What is it withe you southern boys and snakes.
You killed a good snake.
[/quote]

Obviously you northern boys have never been slipping through the woods and come a few inches from putting your foot down on top of a fat water moccasin sitting there with his mouth wide open. Or stepped out on the back porch of a summer night to find a big copperhead curled up 2 feet from where you're standing. Or been weeding the flower beds and see a red and yellow and black snake right by your hand. You gonna sit there and ask him to wait while you sing your rhymes about red on yellow kill a fellow and red on black friend of Jack? Or had said fat cotton mouth's cousin fall in the boat with you and you have to un-ass the boat. Or been standing in the squirrel woods before daylight and heard a 5' cane brake rattler buzzing near you and you can't see him. Or carried your buddy to the ER with a snake bite on his hand and his whole arm swollen so big that you'd swear it's gonna explode.
We southern boys tend to shoot first unless we can see it first and make a positive id in plenty of time. I do believe they call it a survival instinct. Good snake be damned. :guns:
[/quote]

DD, I missed your post somehow. Well said!! I have a two year old that follows me everywhere I go, if y'all "kill only to eat" guys think I'm going to try to ID a damn snake in the heat of the moment, y'all are nutts!

[quote author=PurpleNGold link=topic=3103.msg28545#msg28545 date=1365587856]
[quote author=divedeep link=topic=3103.msg28441#msg28441 date=1365513958]
[quote author=DANtheJDMan link=topic=3103.msg28435#msg28435 date=1365509092]
What is it withe you southern boys and snakes.
You killed a good snake.
[/quote]

Obviously you northern boys have never been slipping through the woods and come a few inches from putting your foot down on top of a fat water moccasin sitting there with his mouth wide open. Or stepped out on the back porch of a summer night to find a big copperhead curled up 2 feet from where you're standing. Or been weeding the flower beds and see a red and yellow and black snake right by your hand. You gonna sit there and ask him to wait while you sing your rhymes about red on yellow kill a fellow and red on black friend of Jack? Or had said fat cotton mouth's cousin fall in the boat with you and you have to un-ass the boat. Or been standing in the squirrel woods before daylight and heard a 5' cane brake rattler buzzing near you and you can't see him. Or carried your buddy to the ER with a snake bite on his hand and his whole arm swollen so big that you'd swear it's gonna explode.
We southern boys tend to shoot first unless we can see it first and make a positive id in plenty of time. I do believe they call it a survival instinct. Good snake be damned. :guns:
[/quote]

DD, I missed your post somehow. Well said!! I have a two year old that follows me everywhere I go, if y'all "kill only to eat" guys think I'm going to try to ID a damn snake in the heat of the moment, y'all are nutts!
[/quote]

heat of the moment? venomous snakes are easy to identify. more snakes are killed as "copperheads" that are NOT copperheads. ignorance results in the killing of beneficial animals. came across this guy in the woods one morning. as far as i know, it is still there:

[img width=720 height=540]http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee214/npwells/animals/Picture027.jpg[/img]


black rat snake:

[img width=720 height=540]http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee214/npwells/animals/yuchi09005.jpg[/img]

corn snake:

[img width=720 height=346]http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee214/npwells/animals/cornsnake10-09001.jpg[/img]

northern water snake:

[img width=665 height=500]http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee214/npwells/animals/metropolis2010001.jpg[/img]

Ok, I got everybody excited. I lived in TN for 20 years so I knew I could do that. And I guess I'm not a Damm Yankee anymore because I moved away. All directions given to Yankees in TN are "You'all go back out to I-65 North." But I want to go to Alabama.
It is illegal to kill a copper head or rattle snake in TN. But then all the deputy sheriffs and game wardens are southern boys so it is never inforced.

heat of the moment? venomous snakes are easy to identify. more snakes are killed as "copperheads" that are NOT copperheads. ignorance results in the killing of beneficial animals. came across this guy in the woods one morning. as far as i know, it is still there:

I'm having a hard time understanding how venemous snakes are easy to identify but more snakes are killed as "Copperheads" that are not really Copperheads. That sounds like misidentifying a snake to me. Does that mean that only non-venemous can be misidentified as venemous and not vise versa. Therefore "ignorance" would result when you misidentify a snake and results in a snake bite.

Ignorance- The killing of a beneficial animal. That's what you said, correct? Whose eyes do you look through? Is it the hunter shooting a deer? Is it the chicken farmer killing varmints that are after his chickens? Is it the homeowner that puts out mice/rat traps or poision? Is it the fisherman catching a fish and using it as chum? Is it the soldier shooting a rabies infested Iraqi dog that shows aggression? The list could go on! No matter how you look at it, theses creatures were put here for a reason. To each its own, you (STIK) can keep calling me ignorant because I'll keep killing these beneficial snakes.

BODEBUM, you stated you only kill what you eat. I have no clue of who you are, where you're from, basically anything about you. But I do have a hard time believing your statement to be true.

[quote author=PurpleNGold link=topic=3103.msg28560#msg28560 date=1365601470]

I'm having a hard time understanding how venemous snakes are easy to identify but more snakes are killed as "Copperheads" that are not really Copperheads. That sounds like misidentifying a snake to me. Does that mean that only non-venemous can be misidentified as venemous and not vise versa. Therefore "ignorance" would result when you misidentify a snake and results in a snake bite.


[/quote]
to some people, all snakes are copperheads ::)

99% of snakebites are from messing with the snake. just leave the thing alone.

ignorance= lack of knowledge. it is never meant as an insult. we are all ignorant of something.

Well I'm sorry I got you'all stirred up. I was just saying that if there is a black snake the guys I used to work with would kill it because it might be a cotton mouth. It did not matter that no one had ever seen a cotton mouth in the middle of TN before. There are a lot of them around Memphis but not around Columbia. I would rather have a black snake living under my house then a bunch of rats.
I have not Googled it to check but more people probably die from mice and rats than from snake bites.
Just to check if you guys are up on this. Why should you be more afraid of rats and mice then snakes?
DAN

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DANtheJDMan

Well I'm sorry I got you'all stirred up. I was just saying that if there is a black snake the guys I used to work with would kill it because it might be a cotton mouth. It did not matter that no one had ever seen a cotton mouth in the middle of TN before. There are a lot of them around Memphis but not around Columbia. I would rather have a black snake living under my house then a bunch of rats.
I have not Googled it to check but more people probably die from mice and rats than from snake bites.
Just to check if you guys are up on this. Why should you be more afraid of rats and mice then snakes?
DAN

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No need to apologize Dan, if everyone thought and acted the same way it just wouldn't work. I should have been more specific wording my opinion. If the truth be known, I'm usually long gone from a snake before I'd think about killing it. BUT....BUT.... When it comes to my back where daughter plays, I'm going to do what I do.

As far as the rat/mouse v's snake death toll, you could be right on. Considering my child is a 2yr old, she's more likely to actually catch a snake in my yard rather than getting a hold of a rat or mouse.

Hey, PNG. I may not eat a fly or spider that I kill. Don't gun hunt anymore, only camera hunt. Or binoculars. I do kill crappie, white and yellow stripe, and lake perch. The gar, drum skipjack, or anything else that is not on my menu, I put it back where it was created to be, in as good a condition as humanly possible. And if I run over a nine-banded armadillo at night, I don't go back for it. So you were right about my statement. It was a bit off. Not meant to be misleading.

Them armadillos shells aint too bad deep fried with a dash of Tonys!!!!

hey gar aint to bad drum either good stuff i just dont eat the ones with worms lol and also skipjack is nasty lol catch and release them nasty fish

It is a dead snake, that makes it a good snake in my book.

Kevin

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by PurpleNGold

No need to apologize Dan, if everyone thought and acted the same way it just wouldn't work. I should have been more specific wording my opinion. If the truth be known, I'm usually long gone from a snake before I'd think about killing it. BUT....BUT.... When it comes to my back where daughter plays, I'm going to do what I do.

As far as the rat/mouse v's snake death toll, you could be right on. Considering my child is a 2yr old, she's more likely to actually catch a snake in my yard rather than getting a hold of a rat or mouse.

---

More people die each year from diseases spred from rats and mice. You can die from the smell of mice. Looke up Hanta Virus. If you don't kill the snakes they eat the rats and mice and you have no problems.
You remember the dark ages when everybody killed all the snakes and cats because they were evil. You'all remeber how that turned out.

The amount of mice a black snake eats in its life time is incredible.
Leave them all alone. I'm a kill them all and let God sort them out sort of guy but learn how to ID them and leave the good snakes alone.