Snake identification

[reaper101]

they are water snakes. they have the pattern of a copperhead but are not venomous. they use that pattern in defense.

 

[reaper101]

this is a true copperhead

 

[kickbacked]

The last snake i found while playing football in the yard with my younger cousin. Was just a little baby garter that got flattened by the tractor unfortunately. We use to get them all the time when we maintained a garden. Anybody have any ideas of where to look for snakes, and or how to make a trap for them? I use to look under shady places but it seems anymore all i find are bugs/

 

[whoismunky]

Man...I wish snakes didn't creep me out so bad lol

 

[stilllearning09]

I have a general rule that creatures are categorized by the number of legs they're supposed to have: Less than two or more than four deserve to die instantly.

I whole heartedly agree with Bill's rule. I have killed 3 in my yard this spring. After yesterday's storms, my guess is there will be a few more that will meet their end.

 

[chraland51]

Every outdoorsman and even those that are occasionally in the outdoors for some activity should learn to identify the copperhead and cottonmouth moccasin. A lot of innocent common water snakes have met their ends due to being misidentifed. We also have a couple of varieties of rattlesnake in the State, but they should pose no problem for identification unless they have lost their rattle which they do not normally do even during the periodic shedding of their skins. The shape of the head will suffice unless you really want to get close and determine the shape of the pupil. For those who are just plain afraid of snakes, there is probably nothing that I can say to make you less likely to kill them on sight.

 

[sbcman]

OP- Count yourself blessed as the description fits the rare Indiana Brown Mamba. Glad you escaped unscathed.

I guess I'm sort of strange with my take on snakes. Last week while out fishing I put a 357 round through a water snake- I knew it was a water snake, but it persistently kept mistaking my boat for a log, so it had to die. Any snakes trying to get in my boat will meet the same end.

On the other hand, I've had a chicken snake living under my house in the crawlspace- it can live, as it keeps down the mice. Also, I don't know if snakes eat spiders, but there are no spiders in the crawlspace of my house.

 

[qwkdrwmgw]

For those who are just plain afraid of snakes, there is probably nothing that I can say to make you less likely to kill them on sight.

YOU GOT THAT RIGHT.

 

[PeaShooter]

To answer the OP, garter snakes come in all the colors of the rainbow. You can get them in fire engine red, electric blue, albino white, brown, green, black, etc. We have a couple of wild caught garters as pets, the female is greenish and the male is more brown. Neither have the very prominent stripes. However, garter snakes are very cool pets. They are active during the day (most snakes are not), tame very easily, they are smaller snakes (no 8 foot python to take care of and feed), eat readily available food, and give birth live. We have had 4 clutches of baby snakes with our pair. It has been a very educational experience for our kids.

As for the indiscriminate killing of something just because you don't like it, well I don't think that makes you a good stewards of the earth and its creatures. So we will have to disagree on this one.

 

[E5RANGER375]

you grown men are some babies. snakes are more afraid of you than you of them. i cant believe people just go on snake killing sprees for fear based on ignorance. the vast majority of snakes in indiana are more good than bad. with 2 minutes of study you will never again mistake a NATIVE indiana venomous snake with a non-venomous snake. its that plain.

i am excited to teach my 4 year old daughter about proper snake techniques this summer. she will make some of your sons look like wimps too.

 

[Bill B]

now that's good eatin!

 

[Hornett]

this is a true copperhead

I always believed that a copperhead had a blunt tail.
There goes that theory.

 

[Deadly Z Driver]

you grown men are some babies. snakes are more afraid of you than you of them. i cant believe people just go on snake killing sprees for fear based on ignorance. the vast majority of snakes in indiana are more good than bad. with 2 minutes of study you will never again mistake a NATIVE indiana venomous snake with a non-venomous snake. its that plain.

i am excited to teach my 4 year old daughter about proper snake techniques this summer. she will make some of your sons look like wimps too.

+ Infinity... can I do that? I guess I rep you to much as I cannot rep you until I spread it around...

 

[Rey B]

I will be spending the summer with a bright orange corn snake at the camp I teach at. I will try to post some pics later.

 

[DougBarnes101]

I have a general rule that creatures are categorized by the number of legs they're supposed to have: Less than two or more than four deserve to die instantly.

Anything in between is taken on a case by case basis.

Blessings,
Bill

I definitely agree with Bill of Rights on the less than two. I DON"T LIKE SNAKES!!!!!

 

[Ragenarok007]

I have a general rule that creatures are categorized by the number of legs they're supposed to have: Less than two or more than four deserve to die instantly.

Anything in between is taken on a case by case basis.

Blessings,
Bill

After I read that I got a mental image of a guy with a shotgun chasing down a one legged man.

 

[Aszerigan]

I used to raise snakes - mostly Canadian water snakes and corn snakes. They're really gentle animals. Don't be afraid of them - they don't like you either.

Don't kill them. Let them go about their business, or they'll come hunt you in the night, sally pants.

 

[justanotherjarhe]

We have three poisonous snakes that are indigenous to the state. The Northern Copperhead, Timber Rattler, and the Cottonmouth.

Now the cottonmouth is only really found in a small chunk of wetlands in Southern Indiana. It's bite is gross with a hemotoxic venom. The worse part is they have very strong jaws and tend to latch on to their victims to thoroughly inject venom. I grew up along a river and swamp in Louisianna and can tell you these guys are mean. They are very territorial and are definately not shy. There were places we never took our canoe for fear of a cottonmouth charging into our boat or dropping from a tree. You usually know when you are dealing with a cottonmouth by it's temprament.

The timber Rattler is said to only be in the hills of south-central Indiana, but I find that hard to believe because I have seen a few from South MI to up north. I do know they are very very difficult to find and dont personally know of anyone ever finding one in IN. But they are out there and they can be quite aggressive and have a nasty bite. The ones I have seen were no bigger than 4ft but very heavily bodied. There is no mistaking this one.

Finally the copperhead. This is the only poisonous snake I have been bitten by. I was walking through my yard in NC and stepped on a little guy and ZAP. I ended up with a minor ankle bite through my Chuck Taylor. I had flu like symtoms for about 24hrs with an awfully painful wound, but I was fine. This is a perfect example of why this snake is so notorious for biting people. They freeze up and get stepped on. They arent really super aggresive but I have seen some big mean ones. I have seen more copperheads in my lifetime than any other species of snake I think. The swamps of NC is crawling with them.

With all that said, these three are all in the Pit Viper family. So if you learn to recognize the Pit Viper characteristics you wont have to worry.

 

[clt46910]

You forgot the Eastern Massasauga. While very rare, they are around.

 

[Bill of Rights]

After I read that I got a mental image of a guy with a shotgun chasing down a one legged man.

I have a shotgun

, but if you re-read, you'll see I said "how many legs they're supposed to have". That would be "two", which doesn't discount the possibility, it only puts him in the "case-by-case" portion of the rule.

And I've never chased anyone down with a gun.

That's what this

is for.

Blessings,
Bill