I am sorry, Nami, but here is nothing about Nature and the habitat that is OURS. Please,learn to co-exist.

Chances are you saw a harmless black racer. It is a wonderful snake that minds its own business and is not poisonous. Scare it away if you do not want it to be where you are in the yard - it will most likely run away on its own.

Looks like I was no help with your problem - I honestly enjoy seeing all kind of creatures in the backyard.

Olya

Hi nami, and welcome. 18 months is not a long time to have adjusted, but I hope it's going smoothly for you.

Can you describe your visitor? There are only 5 types of poisonous snake in the US, and they are all pretty recognizeable. Perhaps if you can memorize that handful, the vast majority of rodent eating good snakes won't alarm you as much? A little information can go a long way to stilling that "zero at the bone" feeling your new yard guest is giving you.

Better still, there are only THREE kinds you need to worry about in central Florida (2 rattlers, coral snakes and water moccasins). If you just learn to identify those 3, anything else is not harmful.

If you will write me offlist, I can help you with that info.

And sorry to say, we humans are the visitors here, not the snakes, birds, bugs and other creatures. We only "lease" the land back from Mother Nature during our lives. Someday it all reverts back to her again. It's just the way it is. It's much easier to learn to live with and even ENJOY our wildlife than to constantly battle it.

This isn't to say there aren't SOME things I do battle with...lubber grasshoppers and fireants, in particular. But generally speaking, it's a good idea to learn more about the animals you share your garden with, and enjoy having them visit.

I am always SO glad to see my 3 1/2' black racer (snake) every morning. He's so beautiful, and he hunts mice and other more harmful critters I'd rather NOT have getting into my house.

Hope you will give this some consideration, and again, please let me know if you want to know the easiest way to identify the very few snakes you need to be careful of in central Florida.

Marcia

Ambersky, I am curious as to what five poisonous snakes you are referring to in the U.S. I've been thinking...there are dozens of kinds of rattlers out west, but that's sort of one major type. So I can only come up with Rattlesnakes (in general), Water Moccasins, Coral Snakes and Copperheads. I'm forgetting something else from out west, maybe? Help me out, here!

Marcia

I made a website in my master gardener class that might be helpful to you. You're just south of me and will have the same snakes in your neighborhood.

We don't have Copperheads this far south in Florida. They are sometimes seen Gainesville north and more frequently seen in the Panhandle.

Hope this helps.

Here is a link that might be useful: Snakes

Sorry, but no matter how much you have paid for your lot and home...we live on planet earth. and obviously we are not in control...

snakes are not out to get you--learn about the 3 types of poisonous snakes that are in Florida to be smart, but don't be afraid.

Hey thanks debg,

you helped me identify a snake in my pond (brown) that I was concerned about. I had thought it was a brown but now i am sure.

Pat

The more you get used to them the easier it will be. Look,Learn Listen and Love the snakes especially the Black snake he is your garden buddy!{{gwi:184028}}

zozzl,

Glad I could help. When I moved from Miami to Ocala and heard that WE HAVE SNAKES I freaked out. I hate snakes. In the master gardener class we had to make a presentation about anything we chose and I chose to learn about what I feared most in gardening. Now that I know which ones to run from, I've reduced my fear factor a great deal. The good snakes can guard my yard from rodents at their will.

debg, glad to see that there is another real snake lover among us. Or at least a student of same. As I told Nami, there are only 3 types she has to learn in central Florida (2 rattlers, cottonmouths and coral snakes). I did mention copperheads in my post to Ambersky, but that was regarding poisonous snakes nationwide.

You are correct that we don't get copperheads in most of Florida. They are really a panhandle snake and northward, though they do crop up here and there slightly farther south. I would think Gainesville would really be pushing the envelope for them, but I reckon it's possible.

I did a lengthy series of posts some time back on the easiest way to recognize our very few venomous snakes in Florida, but it has disappeared from the archives. I'm trying to track down a copy of it. With photos and pertinent info on each variety, I think it would be very helpful for newcomers.

Over the years, I have learned some tips for recognizing the poisonous varieties at a pretty quick glance, and hopefully, Nami will drop one of us a line so we can help her pinpoint those. Then she won't have to worry about the rest.

Going to check out your link now.

Marcia

manature,

Let me know what you think. I want the site to be a quick reference that might lead folks to do more research on their sighting. If you think any of the info is not clear, please let me know.

Nami, I hate snakes, too. Well maybe not hate, but if I see one, even if it's small, you will hear me scream! I know they are my garden buddies. I know they eat rodents and such, but it's a reflex...I scream.
Your backyard will not get like Indian Jones/Raiders of the Lost Ark. If you stomp around they will move away from you. I stomp alot in the tropical beds. Good Luck.
(Wait until you see the Knight Anoles.)

Debg - I like your snake site. Now that I've seen the picture, I want a Gray Rat Snake in my yard! Wonder how I attract one? And I wonder if my Racers would mind?

I never see ring neck snakes in the yard - probably because they are so small and fast - but my cats certainly see them. These are inside cats but they have access to the screened patio. The bring in ring necks all the time. I tell them not to, but my cats must both be deaf because they do not listen to me.

I love my black racers, just like in the previous photo. I was vaccuming up the metal debris today that the pool enclosure guys left after reinforcing my framework, when I ran into the biggest racer I have ever found in the pool area. Four feet long - as fat as my thumb. I put on a pair of latex exam gloves, the snake can't slip out of your fingers with these on. I grabbed him with one of those grabbers they sell to old folks to get jars and cans off upper shelves. The rubber tips hold the body securely. You don't have to have it right behind the head, close is ok. Wait a few seconds till he stops moving.

When still, quickly grasp him behind the head and transport him to a neighboring empty lot. He can then continue to eat unmwanted critters until he meanders back onto your property. I have repeated this process over 20 times since I put in my pool in 2005. They love the pool area -- why? All food is always removed. Each time the snake was a bit bigger. It may well be the same snake, and I have unwittingly found myself with a new pet.

In Vietnam I ran into bamboo vipers now and then and I dispatched them immediately. Most venomous. Otherwise, here at home, the snakey is your friend. Here in south Fla you would be up to your butts in palmetto bugs (big roaches) and rats, if not for snakes. The snake is your friend. A fellow infantryman I once knew woke up at night, felt his legs, and counted 3. A big python had cuddled up with him at night, and he went straight up thru the poncho liner. He stompped on his hooch mate pretty good, and commenced to run straight out thru the platoon perimeter. The guys on night guard nearly blew him away but for his screaming -- "snake, snake, snake". The company CO was really pissed since they now had to pack it up and move the company in the dark -- their position having been compromised. Sorry for the retrothoughts - the snake is still your friend. Poisonous or not, if you can deal with it.

Once when watering plants in my back yard, I reached down to pull a weed from a pot & I guess I startled a yellow rat snake. Needless to say he sure startled me.I had not seen him & he struck at my hand hard enough to break the skin between my thumb & fore finger. Once I realized what kind he was I continued watering & he went his own way, but just for a moment my heart stopped.

Good snake stories, here! Happygirl, yellow rats can give you quite a bite, even though they tame down quickly in captivity. And it is always a good idea to wash any snake bites (or other animal bites) very thoroughly to get rid of bacteria, etc. Those little punctures can get infected easily.

Debg, your website is a very cleverly done fast reference. I liked it a lot! Nothing jumped out at me as being unclear or needing a tweak, or anything. Nice work! (The picture of the ribbon snake might could be a bit clearer, for ID purposes, but that's just a teensy thing.) I like how the mouseovers work.

Bananimal, black racers are cool, and very welcome in my yard, too. I don't even kill venomous snakes in the wild, but I wouldn't want them moving into my yard. I'd need them to be relocated if that happened.

Nami, hope you are picking up lots of good info, here. Even though none of us has answered your question about that product. I don't know whether it works or not, but I'm a bit skeptical.

Marcia

debg, loved that site, its in my favorites.

bananimal, it's so funny you take your snakes across the street. every morning I look out the front window, I catch 'my' racer coming to my garden from the field across the street and when he is done with breakfast, he goes back over. loved your army story.

nami, welcome. sorry, you arent finding your answer here.

michelle

I LOVE snakes. Ever since I was little, I was fascinated by them. Here in FL it warms my heart to see the black snakes. They are everywhere! I did see a ringneck snake once. It was on the side of a step to my patio. This one was SSSOOO tiny, I almost missed it. It was no longer than 4" and thinner than a piece of yarn.
As far as venemous snakes go, The only one I would be concerned about is the Pygmy Rattler. They are small, but they are plentiful in this area and on the aggressive side. Coral snakes are pretty docile and try to keep out of your way. No experience with water moccasins, but I hear they are rather common. I would suggest being cautious around bodies of water with a lot of weeds or brush.

Jo

Marcia, the snake didn't actually bite me, just hit my hand so hard with his nose that it broke the skin. I just rinsed the blood off & continued watering.

solstice98 - If you obtain a grey rat snake, make sure it's a big one. Black racers eat other snakes be they venomous or their own kind!

Nami - Snake Away does not work for all species of snakes. Snake Away would be appropriate if you want to protect say, a chicken coop...but not the whole yard. You might Google "Snake Away forum" and see what other people have to say about it.

Thanks for the comments on my website. One of these days I'll work up a site about the brown recluse spider. Now there's something to fret about!

Thank you all for the responses. I am not as freaked out as i was before. I checked the link Deb mentioned and it was really helpful. But the snake in my yard was dark gray - black in color and had a white ventral side, i saw that when he seemed to be sunbathing by raising his head up.

It definitely wasn't like any of the venomous ones on deb's site

Thanks again

Nami

marcia, yur right. I mis-spoke. There are 4 main catagorys to worry about, and they are all pretty easy to identify.

I've only seen a copperhead in the wild once. We were in Arcadia, and my dad was pretty surprised. He said they were rare there.

I'm glad I wasn't forgetting anything, Ambersky. I try to keep snakes in my mind so I can recognize what I see when I'm out, and I just couldn't think what I was leaving out. ;o)

If you saw a real copperhead in Arcadia FLORIDA, it was beyond rare. They only live in the panhandle area, pretty much, so to see one that far south indicates it was likely an escaped captive, or one of the snakes somewhat similarly marked. Their range is really north of most of Florida. I don't even include them when I'm going over venomous snakes for central Florida.

Nami, your snake sounds like a black racer to me. They are a dullish, satiny black or charcoal grey with white showing under the chin and along the belly. They often raise their heads up to take a look around, and you can see the white chin. They are long-bodied and slim, and very good snakes to have in the garden.

Here's a picture for you:

I love non venemous snakes - that I can see. A short time ago we were outside and heard a rustling under the bushes.. looked under to find several very small snakes falling form the bushes to the ground.. Last week there was a huge yellow rat snake sunning itself on the porch railings no more than 6 feet from 3 of us. I'm hoping that for the possible scare factor, he's keeping the 4 legged visitors at bay.

Marcia, rare indeed but there it was. This was way out in the hills above Arcadia in an area that was quite wild, but perhaps someone had set a difficult pet free?

My father's father hunted snakes in that area for a living. My dad grew up helping him, then went on to have his own long love affair with our legless friends. I'm as confident of his ID as I can be.

Very interesting, Amber, and a real puzzle. But it certainly could have been an escapee from a collector. Lord knows, Florida has escapees from other whole other CONTINENTS, so a northern snake wouldn't be such a stretch.

But just so folks know, in the normal order of things, they should not expect to see any copperheads in Florida, except in the more northern areas. We have enough to take care of with our two rattlers, cottonmouths, and coral snakes, I think!

And speaking of two of those, I have recovered my original posts on how to identify the coral snake and the cottonmouth (thanks Betsy!) I will be resubmitting them soon for all the newbies (or for a refresher for any interested...OLD-bies!)

Marcia

Another snake-lover checking in! LOL!

They're fascinating creatures and most beneficial.

Marcia's right...if you can ID our three poisonous snakes, then you've got it made.

About 'Snake Away'...forget it.
You can encircle your home with it, but if there's a snake trapped inside the perimeter, it'll never leave the area.
Not that that's a bad thing...........LOL!

Okay, my gardener was doing battle with a truly rare snake to find in your yard. Actually it came out of my neighbor's flowers and I know it has to be an escapee. Anyone want to come over and see where the cobra has gone? He was raised with hood fully displayed and kept jumping towards the gardener who had the weed whacker in front of him going full speed. I was watching out the window and have been nervous ever sunce, but at least the cat has calmed down lately. Who knows what will turn up in the yard. Linda

Yup, love my racer, about 5 ft or so..well, his discarded skin measured almost to my height, BUT not too thrilled about the coral my beau saw on the back patio this AM, right outside the slider..bleah..but I love my other lil guys, even if they do scare me sometimes..lol Debbie

Scents from heaven! A COBRA?????????? OMG!!! Are you sure about that? I know there is a Florida snake that will put on a similar show but the name slips my mind. Hognose maybe? Maybe manature will see this post and enlighten us. I like the snakes here but I would FREAK if there was a cobra in my yard. My DFIL set up and ran jungle survivor schools all over the world for the US Air Force and he said that is one bad @$$ snake. Proper authorities should be notified if it is indeed a cobra on the loose in the neighborhood!

scents from heaven - It's possible that it was a Hognose snake. They will flatten their neck, imitating a cobra. They are endangered because many people think they are cobras and kill them. Check out the link below and look at the Hognose (coloration varies depending on age.)

Here is a link that might be useful: Snakes

You guys are correct that hognose snake can fool a lot of people. Before it rolls over and plays dead, it will flatten out its neck area and do a pretty darn good cobra imitation. (It doesn't KNOW it's imitating a cobra, of course...it is just trying to look bigger and more dangerous to scare you away).

There is a strong exotic pet trade in this country, and it IS possible for something to have escaped in an area. But it is also possible that it was misidentified.

I would NOT like to find a cobra in MY backyard, either. I sincerely hope this is a misidentification, and if it is, that the hognose gets away safely.

Marcia

manature, scents from heaven - if seen again, might be prudent to call fish and wildlife. If it's a cobra, they'll want it; if it's a hognose...a collector will want it.

Debg, where did you read that hognose snakes are endangered? I haven't been able to find any info that suggests that, though I'm not up to date on this issue. But from everything I read, they are locally common in their range. Just wondering what I missed. (Wayne, if you are around, do you have info on this?)

BTW, hognose snakes are also called puff adders and spreading adders because of their habit of spreading their neck. And they will strike repeatedly while in that position, though not actually biting anything. It's a bluff, of course, but still fearsome to those unfamiliar with the species. And since they CAN get fairly large...3 to 4 feet or so, I can easily see where this snake could be misidentified.

Marcia

Here's an excerpt from one site:

Federal. The southern hognose snake was a candidate species (C2) for listing as either threatened or endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). However, the USFWS discontinued the designation of C2 species as candidates for listing (50 CFR 17; 28 February 1996). The southern hognose snake is considered to be a species of concern, but more biological research and field study are needed to resolve its conservation status.

State. State endangered in Mississippi; State protected in Alabama

--

Okay, a species of concern in Mississippi, I guess. With more research needed. Must be variable according to location. I didn't find anything in Florida, but as I say, I haven't looked very far. I'm going to check more later, as I would like to make a note in my field guide if it is on any lists.

Thanks for that info. I learn something new here, every day.

Marcia

I love snakes too - drives my husband nuts ;-))

Just a note on the water moccasins/cottonmouths - they can be *very* aggressive, to the point of actually chasing you. I was watering my plants about dusk a few months ago, and caught sight out of the corner of my eye of one approaching me. I started backing up toward the house, even turned the hose on the "jet stream" and spraying it, it just kept coming, head raised and mouth open. Backed me right up to the door.

A few weeks after that, my husband found it on our porch again - one of us could have easily stepped on it coming out the door. We decided it had to go, but it sure put up a fight. At 4 feet long, striking at everything, we had to be very careful and creative. I live on a river, lots of big frogs etc. and I think it had discovered an easy food source around my porch pond! I felt bad killing it, but it was kind of "him or us."

So if you have a body of water nearby, you do have to be *very* aware of your surroundings.

My experience with a biting rat snake was because I actually chased it down and picked it up. My poor daughter was hysterical and kept yelling it will bite me! Shoot! I still picked it up. It was only a couple feet long, but it latched onto my finger and wouldn't let go. I was going ouch, ouch, ouch, till I set it's body on the grass and then it let go. It hurt. I had no idea they had such sharp little teeth!

Jo

Rat snakes are notorious biters when you first grab them, but unlike the equally nippy black racers, they tame down very quickly, which makes them quite popular as pets. But personally, I think the worst biter (in the non-venomous group) is the brown water snake. They are big, heavy-bodied, and seemingly ill-tempered snakes. And when they bite, they often slash with razor sharp teeth, leaving gashes instead of punctures. I think that many people who believe they are being menaced by a water moccasin have actually encountered a brown water snake. I steer WAY clear of them, thanks. They may not be poisonous, but who needs the wounds??

Here is a picture of a brown water snake. Notice that as dangerous as he looks, he does NOT have that cheek stripe I described for ID-ing Florida water moccasins.

Marcia

My daughter gave an ear-piercing shriek at 11:30pm last night. I flew out of bed and to her room. Our cat had brought a snake into her bedroom -- through the pet door in our guest bathroom that opens onto the lanai, I assume. The snake was red and black and yellow striped. Trying to remember a rhyme under those circumstances isn't easy! The cat seemed to have injured or intimidated the snake -- it was alive but not going anywhere. I was able to slide it into a tupperware bowl using the cover, then I flung it out the front door. My daughter was so glad that she had stayed up and kept her light on -- imagine if it had happened while she was asleep! From now on, we will lock the pet door when we go to bed!

Evak, no need to remember the rhyme if you check out my post on coral snakes. They have BLACK noses. Easy to spot. The harmless ones here in Florida have red noses. Black for Bad Guy (even though they aren't really bad). But even a harmless snake can scare the heck outta ya when it's not expected...and you sure don't expect one in your bedroom! I would have hollered, too!

Marcia