Thanks to the noisy tail extension on the first, the handy little chant I learned as a Cub Scout (Red and yellow kill a fellow, red and black friend of Jack) for the second and the rather distinctive markings of the third, I’m pretty sure can identify these three at least 9.735 times out of 10.
The water moccasin is a wee-bit more difficult for me to pin down. I think of them as being pretty much black, but have seen some, through glass and in pictures, that were a myriad of colors. I know that the inside of their mouths are white, hence the nickname “cottonmouth,” but I haven’t had any luck in catching one mid-yawn. I tired telling him to say, “AW!” but he just ignored me. Truly, the only way I know of to see the inside of a water moccasin’s mouth is for me to be close enough for him to strike. And to me, that’s called finding out the hard way.
I only want to know what kind of snakes I’m dealing with. If they’re harmless then I’ll just leave them alone. Truth be told, I like having the harmless kind around. However, if they’re the Indian shoe variety I’m going to have to take a more proactive approach to the snakes’ and my living arrangements.
I don’t know exactly what “proactive” measures I can take, but I’ll have to find something. Looking online, I have noticed a product called, ‘Snake-A-Way’. The reviews I’ve read look promising, but I’ve only found a couple. I also don’t know if it is safe for people and pets.
So this brings me to my need…
I need a herpetologist who can help me know exactly what kind of snakes are in the pictures. I would also like anyone who has used Snake-A-Way to let me know if it’s any good. We’ve had three snakes on the porch this summer. The first one was the black snake, but I got caught up in the moment and forgot to take any pictures of him before I opened the door and he left in a hurry. The second snake is the one I killed and the third one I simply chased away.
Snake #2 – The one I killed
Snake #2 again
Snake #3
Thanks for any and all herpetological help you can lend.
6 comments:
I think the scientific name of snake #2 is "scary as hell looking with freaky blood eyes."
I thought you said his head was round? That's triangular enough to be killed - I now concur that you did the right thing. That aint no king snake. The cottonmouths we ran into back home were not that long and pretty fat. I would guess #3 is the ole friendly black racer, harmless rat snake but the one you killed sure looks like a water moccasin to me. Big too!!
If I saw a snake that looked liked these it wouldn't matter if they were dangerous or not. I would be dead from fright.
Like I've mentioned before (in comments) I'm from Maine and we haven't got snakes like this. Something for which I am truly grateful !!
I not ashamed to admit that i have a healthy respect for snakes. You might even say it borders on fear. However, either way I'm going to err on the side of caution where these bad boys are concerned.
I just looked at your post again - I think the snakes have gotten even bigger since you originally put up these pictures. At least I feel more scared now than I did the first time I read through this one. Ugh - as I used to say, there's no such thing as a little snake.
STILL no herpetologist has come forward?! I'm guessing with classes starting back I'll be looking at snake heads until late November. I would have thought registration could have yielded SOME kind of post...
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