snake ID needed

15 years ago

Last weekend while my Dad was loading some large rocks into the riding mowers cart he found a snake curled up in a cavity in one of the rocks. He called me over to his house to help ID it but I'm not sure of the ID. The shape of the head reminds me of a yellow rat snake but the patterning looks like a corn snake. It was a little over a foot long. Either way it was a very docile snake and didn't seem to have a problem with us handling it. After I took some pictures I released the snake among my extra potted plants. Hopefully someone here can positively identify this little snake.

I've been seeing a lot of wildlife running around lately. Last night on my way home I saw a fox run across the street in front of me about a block from my house. That's the second fox I've spotted in the last few weeks. I've driven past numerous small herds of deer grazing alongside the roads at dusk. Flocks of bluebirds have been flying all over my neighborhood for the last couple of weeks. And I can't keep enough seed in my bird feeder. Within a few days of me filling it it will be empty again! The birds that've been visiting the feeder that I recognise are chickadees, cardinals, house finches, and tick mice(mouse?).

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Comments (7)

nfmgirl
15 years ago
Yep, reminds me of some sort of "rat" snake or corn snake, too. Having an older brother, I grew up with a lot of those around, and they are always so mild-tempered. Unfortunately I don't know right now where my snake book is, so I can't confirm exactly what it is.

Marcia is the snake-lady, isn't she?

Heather
manature
15 years ago
Hi, Karalynn! What a little beauty! Juvenile snakes can be tricky, but I THINK this is a yellow rat snake. I'm going to post a link to the pictures over on the herp forum to get a more expert opinion. What I CAN tell you is that it is harmless, and definitely not a rattler of any kind, a coral snake, copperhead nor cottonmouth. As to why it was so docile, I suspect it was cold. My son fished a banded water snake out of his pond one morning last week, when the pond had ice around the edges, and it was almost in a stupor. He put it in a sunny spot to warm up, and it probably would have died if he hadn't seen it listlessly trying to swim to the edge of the pond.

Later in the day, this baby might have put up a much stronger protest at being handled.

Will let you know what Wayne, Mike or one of the other REAL snake experts says, but my best guess is a baby yellow rat snake.

Thanks for sharing the pics!!

Marcia
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nfmgirl
15 years ago
Shortly after I moved back here, back in 2000 and while still living with Mom before I found my own place, Mom came in one morning from her trip out with the dog to tell me that there was a yellow rat or corn snake outside that didn't seem well. I went out and confirmed that it was very docile, thin and appeared to have some healing wounds on it. I caught it and took it to CROW (Care and Rehabilitation of Wildlife). They were so thrilled. They said that no one EVER brings them snakes! (I have also taken them a rat found exhausted in a pool. I called them and said, "This is probably a crazy question, but do you guys take rats?" She said, "Absolutely!" Wood rats and such are wildlife, too. So I am probably also one of the only people to have ever taken them a rat.) The snake was tube fed and rehabilitated and released back into the wild again. I just love snakes!

Heather
wayne_mo
15 years ago
I'm going to second Marcia. It appears to be a juvenile Yellow Rat Snake. The juveniles have a different pattern from the adults.
gatormomx2
15 years ago
Super congrats on not killing this wonderful snake as many people often do .
If you look at the link below , you will see a picture of your little buddy .
Definitely a juvenile yellow rat snake !
I had a 6 foot long adult going up the oak tree in my yard chasing after a rat that was up there .
These snakes are fabulous in my opinion !
Check out this link for other snake IDs too .

Here is a link that might be useful: Identifying Commonly Encountered Snakes
manature
15 years ago
Thank goodness, I didn't go crazy on the snake ID like I did for the bird ID. Blame that one on incipient senility, I guess! It scares me when I do stuff like that...I think uh-oh...I'm really losing it! When I call a bird I know like the back of my hand something entirely different, and don't even catch it in the preview window, it's really SAD!

I was 99.9% sure this was a yellow rat snake, but as I say, juvies can be confusing at times, and I really wanted verification. Thanks, Wayne! And I like that link Gatormom. Some good images there.

Marcia
KaraLynn
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks for the help! I love finding snakes in my yard and so does my dad. He had me handling snakes by the time I could toddle around the yard, much to my mom's dismay. When I was little he always made sure that I got his approval before picking a snake up so that I didn't get bit by a venomous snake.

This might be a baby from the large yellow rat snake I rescued from a friend's yard a few years back. The friend was afraid of snakes but they still somehow managed to trap the snake in a bird cage. I released it in the woods behind my house in hopes that it would eat the rats that were invading the hen house.