Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

What kind of snake is this?
Humblegunner's yard | 5/09/09 | humblegunner

Posted on 05/09/2009 5:27:52 PM PDT by humblegunner

This afternoon I happened to look out the back and saw something
black and long in the middle of the yard. I just mowed yesterday
so I knew the yard was free of sticks and such.

Turns out it was a big black snake!

He isn't a rattler, does not look loke a water moccasin or a black snake.

What the heck kind of snake is he? He has the triangular head which
means he is a bad one, but I can't place his breed.

Anyway, photography being as dangerous as it is, he got wrecked up some
which is just as well. He might have bitten one of the animals.

So who knows any herpetology?


TOPICS: Pets/Animals
KEYWORDS: assaultshovel; beneficialsnake; dead; herpetology; hgass; pestcontrol; snake; snakekiller
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 61-8081-100101-120 ... 361-369 next last
To: humblegunner

I agree with #50 poster. That definitely looks like a water moccasin. At least here in Oklahoma, this is the three to four week period in spring every year when snakes are on the move and you tend to see them squashed on the highways. My neighbor spent some time sitting on top of her car last week after spotting a fairly large snake near the driveway. We live near the edge of town and next to a large open field, so we get all kinds of wildlife meandering through our neighborhood at times, and that’s just counting the humans.


81 posted on 05/09/2009 6:11:21 PM PDT by Coyote Choir
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: databoss
headless deadicus

LOL!

82 posted on 05/09/2009 6:11:21 PM PDT by American Quilter (Donate to FreeRepublic--keep this great forum alive!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: humblegunner

Looks like a King Snake to me. Too bad you killed it. They’re very beneficial animals. They eat mice and rats and such.


83 posted on 05/09/2009 6:11:26 PM PDT by Lurker (The avalanche has begun. The pebbles no longer have a vote.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: calex59

Ding ding ding!!! We have a winner. It is without a doubt a pit viper. It’s very clear in his photos.


84 posted on 05/09/2009 6:11:39 PM PDT by davetex (If it's in stock, we've got it.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 74 | View Replies]

To: Hot Tabasco

“This here is pure Alabama blacksnake”


85 posted on 05/09/2009 6:11:42 PM PDT by blackdog
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 49 | View Replies]

To: Big_Monkey

Went to U of H (25 years ago) and worked out in Lakewood Forrest at Treeline Golf Course. That is a Water Moccasin. Our ponds had quite a few of them.


86 posted on 05/09/2009 6:12:21 PM PDT by JohnRam
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 50 | View Replies]

To: humblegunner

http://tinyurl.com/ql8h3l


87 posted on 05/09/2009 6:13:07 PM PDT by kcvl
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: humblegunner

88 posted on 05/09/2009 6:13:38 PM PDT by TornadoAlley3 (Obama is everything Oklahoma is not.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Eaker
Does the “Northern” in “Northern Black Racer” mean northern Houston, Texas?

I don't know.....but I saw one at my cousin's horse barn just outside of Ft. Myers, FL. The snake lived in the horse barn and was quite welcomed there because it ate the rodents. When we accidentally flushed it from the stables, it flew across the grass. Thats why they are called racers. What was cool about it was that it would would stop about every 20 feet and raise its head and look around.......

89 posted on 05/09/2009 6:13:47 PM PDT by Hot Tabasco (This country isn't going to hell in a handbasket, it's riding shotgun in an Indy car....)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 72 | View Replies]

To: blackdog
“This here is pure Alabama blacksnake”

Could very well be, but still a beautiful snake.

90 posted on 05/09/2009 6:15:23 PM PDT by Hot Tabasco (This country isn't going to hell in a handbasket, it's riding shotgun in an Indy car....)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 85 | View Replies]

To: Lurker

Had one in the rock wall in back yard for about six years. Creepy at first, until I looked it up. He was actually pretty tame and got used to us. He sunned himself in warm weather starting around 10AM every day.


91 posted on 05/09/2009 6:15:29 PM PDT by blackdog
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 83 | View Replies]

To: humblegunner
I was wrong on the name, its the Texas indigo snake. Endangered and feeds on rattle snakes and other snakes.


92 posted on 05/09/2009 6:17:26 PM PDT by DainBramage
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: humblegunner

My two ended up just like yours. Dead and sectioned in several places. Keep your eyes open for the second one. There’s always a second one.


93 posted on 05/09/2009 6:18:17 PM PDT by davetex (If it's in stock, we've got it.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: humblegunner

Looks like a cotton mouth. I hate them things. They usually have no fear and will even confront ya. Once I was out in a bayou and one was ballsy enough to swim across and up to the boat.

You did did the world a service by killin’ that thing.


94 posted on 05/09/2009 6:18:20 PM PDT by PureSolace (Trust in God)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: humblegunner

What kind of grass is that?


95 posted on 05/09/2009 6:18:55 PM PDT by KSCITYBOY
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: humblegunner

Open the mouth. Did it have fangs? I hope you didn’t kill a harmless black rat snake.


96 posted on 05/09/2009 6:19:11 PM PDT by fso301
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Hot Tabasco; humblegunner
it flew across the grass.

Humblegunner is a jake-legged Neanderthal and could never catch a "racer" so we can rule that out.

97 posted on 05/09/2009 6:20:42 PM PDT by Eaker (The Two Loudest Sounds in the World.....Bang When it should have been Click and the Reverse.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 89 | View Replies]

To: calex59
Neither snake you show in your photos is a pit viper, the snake in his photos is definitely a pit viper.

What makes you think it's a pit viper? Can you make out either of the two heat-sensing organs located between the eyes and nostrils in those distant shots? Or the "movable fangs"?

Pit Viper:

Any species of viper (subfamily Crotalinae) that has, in addition to two movable fangs, a heat-sensitive pit organ between each eye and nostril which together help it accurately aim its strike at its warm-blooded prey. Pit vipers are found from deserts to rain forests, primarily in the New World. They may be terrestrial, arboreal, or aquatic. Some species lay eggs; others produce live young. See also bushmaster, copperhead, fer-de-lance, moccasin, rattlesnake.

"pit viper." Encyclopædia Britannica Online 2009:
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/461927/pit-viper

98 posted on 05/09/2009 6:21:33 PM PDT by ETL (ALL the Obama-commie connections at my FR Home page: http://www.freerepublic.com/~etl/)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 74 | View Replies]

To: humblegunner
Might be a Texas Indigo, just a guess.

greglasley.net/indigosnake

99 posted on 05/09/2009 6:21:34 PM PDT by ThreePuttinDude (o)(o)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: DainBramage

That’s like the one I had in my grove .. beautiful ..
good for the pests, and yes: very endangered.
They are very pet worthy for those who like the herps.


100 posted on 05/09/2009 6:21:51 PM PDT by STARWISE (They (LIBS-STILL) think of this WOT as Bush's war, not America's war- Richard Miniter)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 92 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 61-8081-100101-120 ... 361-369 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson