snake id please

fagopher

13 years ago

I was removing some grass and found this snake. Is this friend or foe? It was looking kind of aggressive.

Thanks

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Comments (13)

billbrandi
13 years ago
Definitely not one of our Florida poisonous snakes. Young florida brown snake (see below)? If so, having one around is a gift. It will keep your yard and garden free of palmetto bugs and small rodents.
crueltyfre
13 years ago
I've seen baby red rats that shade. It's really hard to tell without a close up.
Lori
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Kaylyn, So much of what you posted here is completely false. If this snake were to bite you it would probably not even break the skin. Even if it did this snake is completely harmless (i.e. produces no venom) so you wouldn't get sick even if you let it chew on you. I have kept and bred cornsnakes and have been bitten by dozens of them. Catching a kingsnake and letting it loose under your house or in your yard won't do anything to protect you from other snakes. If there were food and appropriate conditions for a kingsnake in your yard, one would already live there. If you released on there, it would just leave. Saying the only snakes you shouldn't kill are kingsnakes and greensnakes further reinforces the fact that you really know very little about snakes. There are dozens of completely harmless species of snakes in most areas of the country. Kingsnakes are not normally black with white rings. They are only black with white rings in one small part of their range (i.e. the west coast of the US). People don't get mad when you kill snakes because they are scared of them. In fact, just the opposite is true. People kill snakes because they are scared of them. Some people get mad when you kill snakes because killing snakes out of fear and ignorance like this serves no purpose. It doesn't make anyone safer. In fact, trying to kill snakes significantly increases your chances of a bite. People are bitten and hospitalized every year in this country by snakes they were trying to kill. If they had just left them alone, the people would have been unharmed. Lastly, many people come here to learn about snakes so that they won't be afraid and won't need to kill them out of ignorance. When someone posts a question here, they come for information, not old wive's tales. If you are so pathologically afraid of snakes that you need to kill them, I understand. With a bit of education about the realities of snakes, you can dissipate that fear. But spreading fear and misinformation here doesn't contribute to the larger cause.
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Larry, all snakes have teeth. The rows of teeth in a Gray (or Black) Rat Snake will look like fangs. A Water Moccasin, or Cottonmouth, is a snake of swamps, and does not approach this size. Also, a Cottonmouth has a completely different pattern. Almost all snakes have a white inner lining of the mouth, making them look like a Cottonmouth when alarmed; the Black Rat Snake I caught Tuesday showed a white lining to the mouth while biting me three times (she was very frightened), plus, when looking in the Peterson's Guide, it doesn't look like Cottonmouths make it to Northern Alabama. Of course, people will call me a liar, and say they have seen "Water Moccasins", but these are simply Water Snakes, and are harmless.
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It is indeed a Glass Lizard. Find a copy of Peterson's Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern/Central North America, and look up the Glass Lizards. Looks to me like an Eastern. I have seen exactly one live one, and it was too fast for me. Called "Glass Snake" and "Joint Snake" due to the ease with which the tail breaks off, sometimes into several pieces. The "old husband's tale" goes that they will break apart at a blow, and reassemble themselves after the attacker leaves.
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Well, now you all have me completely confused but yet totally facinated about snakes. I have read all 22 pages of postings on this forum and it seems that Rat Snakes are by far the most common backyard snakes (and maybe garter snakes which I was already familiar with). So how do you tell the difference between a Black Rat and a Gray Rat and why do you think this is a Black Rat and not an Intergrade Black/Gray. I also saw another snake the other day, about 4 feet long and just solid black, so I am assuming Black Rat Snake (no camera handy). So, although I'm interested in learning more, I don't think I am ready to try to catch one. I know that they have their proper place in our eco-system and I am happy to leave them be outside as long as they aren't dangerous to me or my little dog (my fish and frogs in my fishpond, however, may not be as lucky?) This looks like a very interesting hobby. We also had a snake a couple of years ago that everytime we saw him he would dive into the fishpond. I haven't seen him lately. So, if I see a snake in the yard, like the Rat Snake, is it more likely he lives here or more likely he's just passing through?
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Carol love_the_yard (Zone 9A Jacksonville, FL)
13 years ago
Hahahahahaha! LOL! LOL! You need to go take a CLOSE-UP! Ya'll, that is tooooo funny!
dghays
13 years ago
No, really, non-poisonous snakes usually just hang onto your finger a few minutes, then drop off when they bite. It's also the surest way to figure out if it's definitely non-poisonous. Get in there real, real close for that shot.

Gary
crueltyfre
13 years ago
lol, maybe use the camera zoom if not person zoom?
Lori
fagopher
Original Author
13 years ago
I took it with the camera in my cell. By the time I went inside and got the camera with zoom, it was gone!!

And... yes I tried to get closer (not too much) and it attacked me... or at least pretended to do it. So let me tell you .. this one was not friendly at all...

Thanks for your feedback...
SaintPFLA
13 years ago
It must be a baby....it looks like it's the size of a blade of grass in your pictures.
ladywingr
13 years ago
Other possibilities...

Eastern Coachwhip - juvenile
http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/herpetology/fl-guide/masticophisfflagellum.htm

Central Florida Crowned Snake
http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/herpetology/fl-guide/Tantillarneilli.htm

Resource...
Layman's Key to Snakes of Florida
http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/herpetology/fl-guide/snakekey.htm
eileen_nv
13 years ago
And, yes, non poisonous snakes will rear up, and beat with their tails and throw a dozen other bluffs at you if they feel threatened. It's actually funny to watch them shake their booty as if they were rattlers...
manature
13 years ago
I agree with Billbrandi. Definitely not one of our few venomous snakes. Totally harmless, and I think Bill's guess of Florida brown snake is correct. They only reach a length of about 10" when fully grown, and are valuable assets to your garden. Don't worry about this one, even if he does try to bluff you by acting like he's dangerous.

Marcia
ronc_2010
13 years ago
I think it's a yellow rat snake.
wayne_mo
13 years ago
Its a Red-bellied Snake [or possibly a Brown Snake] (both species are closely related and completely harmless). The adult Red-bellied snakes are only about 8 inches long (and Brown Snakes are only a little bigger) so it could possibly even be an adult. The picture quality is plenty good enough for diagnostics. You don't need a close-up. The diagnostics (dark head, appearance of partial ring around neck, body color and striping) are all there to indicate the Storeria family which is what Red-Bellied and Brown Snakes are in.
Carol love_the_yard (Zone 9A Jacksonville, FL)
13 years ago
Man, it is time for me to get some new glasses!!

snake id please

Comments (13)

billbrandi

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manature

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Carol love_the_yard (Zone 9A Jacksonville, FL)

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