HG has a point, it looked like a moccasin to him (and about 75% of thread respondents), and better safe than sorry or dead.
But the title of the thread is ‘What kind of Snake is This?’
and I’d like it cleared of being a viper if it’s not.
If this snake has migrated from Kentucky to ~Houston, we’ll see it soon enough here in centex.
If it’s not venomous, it’s a specimen to study and possibly encourage for pest control and not eradication.
What a Rorschach test this thread is. Freud would have a blast: snakes purportedly key to human unconscious sexuality.
Me, I just hike a lot and wind up bringing ‘em home for pets.
My only point for the future is that many many times people are bitten by venomous snakes when attempting to kill them, so it’s better in the long run to just leave them alone - they don’t come up and attack you. They just want to be left alone as well. I was trying to answer the question of what kind of snake is this, which I did, and was rebuffed and told I was wrong and that it is a moccasin. I know that I am right and that it is not a moccasin. So I feel I have done my part in trying to be helpful.