Posted: 1/8/2008 11:23:44 AM EDT
The weather in Houston got into the high 70's during the days earlier this week. But at night it would get back down into the low 60's. I found this cold blodded dude on a cement driveway after dark trying to keep warm. What type of snake is it? 
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Thanks. My specimin was at least 12in. The damn thing sure knew how to puff itself up . . . . |
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Don't kill that rat snake. They are very aptly named and do a great job at controlling your rodent population. They are one of the few types of snakes that I've regretted killing (I didn't know what it was at the time. Thought it was a copperhead. Learned my lesson and still feel bad about it). |
 He's in mistletoe . He wants a kiss. |
triangular head is not a reliable indication of venomous/non venomous. Eyes however are. Round rather than cat like pupils are. All round pupiled snakes with the exception of the coral snake are non venomous. And the snake in the first picture is a female...fast taper of the last few inches of her tail. Not kidding.... Mark |
Can you really get close enough to tell? "Hold my beer while I get in this snake's face and look 'em in the eye to find out if it's venemous"  
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yea you can. a 6' long snake has a striking distance of about 2'. if you have a rake you can pin their head to the ground and check them out. bad? chop them up with the rake. good? let them go. |
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I can tell at first glance whether a snake is a venomous one or not for the most part since I'm very familiar with snakes. Most of them are harmless but a lot of them can give you a nasty bite. I do have some trouble distinguishing cottonmouths from some water snakes because of the dull color variations of the cottonmouths and similarities with the water snakes. Like some king snakes resemble coral snakes likewise a lot of water snakes resemble cottonmouths, I don't kill snakes, not even the venomous ones except under certain circumstances. I only kill the venomous ones in an area where there are children that could be harmed by the snakes. |
+1 .. I don't kill them except under a very few circumstances; venomous or not as they generaly have aq beneficial role to play. And you would be surprised at how the eyes are easy to ID without having to get within striking distance....besides, if you don't intend to automatically kill them it doesn't matter? Mark eta: the water snakes ARE difficult sometimes to distinquish from Cottonmouths. If I had a buck for every Cottonmouth my neighbors/friends think they have killed and it was not.....I would be buying a lot more guns than I am. |
This is so true..I killed a water snake at my place the first weekend. didn't realize it wasn't a moccasin till I turned it over |
The rake (or other 3' plus pinning device) sounds like the key element... |
Great info on snakes, right there. And awesome pictures of the rat snake in the tree! Everyone should learn to ID the poisonous snakes of Texas so they don't go off killing beneficial or protected species like king snakes, rat snakes, bull snakes, indigo snakes etc. that really do a lot of good. A few simple rules to live by: Red and yellow kill a fellow. A rattlesnake can be easily ID'ed by the head, colors and rattle. Leave water snakes alone. It is difficult for even the most experienced person to tell them apart - they all appear heavy bodied, fat-headed, irregularly colored, w/a nasty dispositions. If it is large and solid black (indigo a protected species that eats rattlesnakes) or brown (a racer) it is probably a good snake. Same if it is black and yellow. Or looks like the big old snake sitting in the tree above which is a common pattern for the rat, bull and prairie king snakes. |
QFT very hard to tell a cottonmouth from a water snake most times. |
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Let me try to help yall out. I have had quite a bit of experience with a lot of the snakes that inhabit this state. Cotton Mouth can be confuse with a water snake from time to time. For the most part a water snake will not be as thick as a cotton mouth and they are usually a little browner in color. Cotton Mouths don't normally get over 3 feet in length. So, if anybody tells you they saw a 6ft Cotton Mouth, kick them in the twat and tell them they are wrong. Same goes for a Black Panther in the wild, but that is another story. Cotton Mouth http://www.texassnakes.net/cottonLg.jpg Water Snake http://www.texassnakes.net/diamondwater.jpg Copperheads aren't normally as dangerous as the others in the state. Although, a friend of mine was bitten by one last summer. He refuses to go to the doctor for just about everything. He woke up the next morning with a high fever and lots of muscle pain. He was sick for a week. Don't take copperhead bites lightly. http://www.snakesandfrogs.com/scra/snakes/images/scopperjuv4.jpg Rattle Snakes are pretty obvious. Get bit, go to hospital immediately if possible. This picture is of the Timber Rattlesnake. DO NOT KILL THESE unless your are in immediate danger. They are protected. Federally IIRC. They normally have solid black tails. http://cache.eb.com/eb/image?id=3703&rendTypeId=4 |
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The copperhead in the pic above is a baby! you can see it still has the classic yellow tail. There is some good snake info on snakes here, normaly its filled with nothing but comments like "the only good snake is a dead snake" and "I kill all snakes" Invisiblesoul |
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A Cottonmouth is the only snake that ever chased me. When I was a teenager I came across one in a swamp-like field. I had a Ruger MKI (.22 pistol) with me. The snake was about 15 feet away and perpendicular to me when I began shooting. My first three shots missed, and after the second shit, that damn snake made a 45 degree turn and starting hauling tail driectly for me. I had to run back 15-20 feet to resume shooting. I hit it with my fourth shot . . . . then finished him off. Even now 20+ years later, I still get the chills thinking about that damn snake.
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some of the larger water snakes, hognose, and large bullsnakes(rat snake i assume is the correct species) have triangular heads. Most of the snakes I have caught and kept can take an agressive posture and appear to be big bad and have a puffed out head/neck when aggrevated or cornered. I just find it more reliable to look at eyes and coloration to id the "bad ones" |
Nice coral. When younger and trying to find any and all snakes everywhere I could I ran across only one coral snake. Had to dig through a large rotten tree on the ground for more than an hour to find him. Not to common to see moving around. Good thing they are not aggressive. Mark ETA; In west Houston there is a great reptile store that has an excellent snake room/ exhibit of venemous snakes...local species and many exotics. "Pets a Plenty" at Higway 6 and Bellaire. A great place to see close up the poiseness snakes of this local. Beats seeing them first hand in the field and having to guess. |