What kind of snake is this?

Humblegunner's yard | 5/09/09 | humblegunner

[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?

[kcvl]

Water moccasin snake bite

[ETL]

You don’t know much about snakes, do you?

I never claimed I did. So why don't you tell us why you agree that it's a "pit viper" of some sort.

[KLT]

An Obama Teleprompter snake?

[spunkets]

Cottonmouth. The pits are visable on a blowup of one of the jpgs.

"I have two cats and a geriatric dog."

One more cat and you'll turn into an old lady.

[Gunflint]

Mocassin.

And for future reference, don’t kill with those snakes with a shovel.
They’re nasty, and will attack poles and shovels.
Animal control won’t go near them.
Sheriffs will shoot them.

[txhurl]

Not only that, but HG’s snake was downright blue where I’ve never seen a blue water mocassin/cottonmouth, they’re usually greyish with some yellow scales, or even a diamond-back type pattern, not solid-colored.

[CowboyJay]

Water Moc. Wonder how they taste BBQ’d?

[humblegunner]

They’re nasty, and will attack poles and shovels.

This one did.

[thackney]

Looks close enough from the pictures to the couple water moccasins I've killed.

[humblegunner]

Water Moc. Wonder how they taste BBQ’d?

I've had fried rattler, it wasn't bad.

Sort of like chicken that was fried in oil that had previously been used to fry fish.

[ETL]

Apparently you didn’t look at all his photos. Neither snake you show in your photos is a pit viper, the snake in his photos is definitely a pit viper.

The 2nd photo I posted was of a "Cottonmouth". The first one, I see now, was way off.

How to Spot a Cottonmouth Snake:

The Cottonmouth is the only poisonous water snake found in North America. It is a pit viper and senses movement with its pit in between its eyes. The Cottonmouth snake is found in three subspecies. The Western Cottonmouth, the Eastern Cottonmouth, and the Florida Cottonmouth have common characteristics and traits that distinguish them from nonvenomous water snakes.

http://www.ehow.com/how_2090701_spot-cottonmouth-snake.html?ref=fuel&utm_source=yahoo&utm_medium=ssp&utm_campaign=yssp_art

[TheMom]

That is a dead snake. I’m sure of it. Seen em before.

Dead snakes are my favorite.

[davetex]

Look at it’s head,(think triangle)then tell us why it is different than the heads of the snakes in the other pics (think bullet).

[humblegunner]

By "natural", you mean the acute case of "shovel poisoning" that befell the snake?

Yes, a tragic loss.

[KLT]

[Big_Monkey]

"Yes, a tragic loss.

In the almost ten years that we've lived in our suburban Atlanta home (that backs up to wooded/pond acreage), we've have had three snakes that have fallen victim to similarly natural diseases. Two were struck down in their prime by buckshot poisoning and the other had a sever case of German Shepard Toothitis.

We too were saddened by their untimely deaths.

[txhurl]

Bluish moc, but with reddish tints. Does yours have those tints?

[diamond6]

Aren’t Black Mamba’s really dangerous to humans?

[CowboyJay]

"Sort of like chicken that was fried in oil that had previously been used to fry fish."

A little BBQ sauce covers the 'swampy' taste in rattler (couple margaritas beforehand doesn't hurt the flavor, either). All kidding aside, Colorado rattlers are on the skinny side. Lot of work for almost no meat.

You didn't cowboy-up and grill that thing?

[cva66snipe]

Not only that, but HG’s snake was downright blue where I’ve never seen a blue water mocassin/cottonmouth, they’re usually greyish with some yellow scales, or even a diamond-back type pattern, not solid-colored.

That's what I'm seeing too in look ups of them. It seems they can change somewhat in color and skin pattern too as they age. I live in East Tennessee. No Cottonmouths here but some swear there is. It's simply too cold in the winter and the streams are too cold year round for them. But I have seen black snakes that look just like the one he's showing. One thing may be throwing us off to. This snake may have recently had a meal making it seem a bit more chunky.