Snake ID Please

[PasoRoblesJimmy]

Bill , if you don't like the danger of snakes being around the king snake might be the best solution. King snakes almost exclusively eat venomous snakes! and rodents.
Snakes also don't carry rabies or plague, rodents are are a real problem for farmers.

When Kiing Snakes are around, rattlesnakes will flee. Gopher snakes are useful because they eat gophers and other destructive rodents which are rattlesnake food.

 

[PasoRoblesJimmy]

https://animalhype.com/reptiles/cottonmouth-vs-water-snake/

Dead giveaway of a poisonous pit viper is the shape of its head.

 

[JRM]

What am I looking for?

You claimed to want to have a debate on their value in nature, see below.

It is not the danger aspect it is the fact that a snake does not play any valuable role in nature. I would love to have a respectful debate on what value they bring. Although not by textbook definition I still see them as vermin and need dispatched just like a coyote.

I think you understand they play a role in the balance of life just the same as most any other mammal/reptile/bird does in nature.
At the least you haven't made a single point supporting your position.
It's OK to just admit you are afraid of them. Most people are. No shame in that.

 

[Maintenance supervisor]

I am not much on confined spaces either. I would never own a house with a crawlspace, might be a snake under there ya know. As for spiders about 4:30 this morning I went to shower and there was a big ole wolf spider in the tub. I went to scoop him up and the son of gun went my arm, I got him though and put him in a better place, dead of course.

Living in the South I've seen a black widow infestation, not cool.
I always keep a full tyvek suit on hand as I've had to crawl under alot of buildings in my line of work, and its not the big critters that bother me.

 

[lone wolf]

Dead giveaway of a poisonous pit viper is the shape of its head.

Yup! Just remember the coral snake.

 

[Bill G]

You claimed to want to have a debate on their value in nature, see below.


I think you understand they play a role in the balance of life just the same as most any other mammal/reptile/bird does in nature.
At the least you haven't made a single point supporting your position.
It's OK to just admit you are afraid of them. Most people are. No shame in that.

If all snakes were exterminated would life as we know it go on or would the balance of life be so upset that we would have to change drastically.? I am pretty darn sure if all snakes were eliminated life as we know it would be just fine.

 

[Bill G]

Living in the South I've seen a black widow infestation, not cool.
I always keep a full tyvek suit on hand as I've had to crawl under alot of buildings in my line of work, and its not the big critters that bother me.

About 32 years ago I worked with a man that was deathly afraid of wasps but would play with snakes. He worked at a Lock and Dam on the Mississippi. In the great flood of 1993 we had a lot of water snakes show up in pits and places they need not be. Those did not bother him but by gosh if he saw a bee or wasp flying he was running. By the way his was a Army Vet.

 

[lone wolf]

About 32 years ago I worked with a man that was deathly afraid of wasps but would play with snakes. He worked at a Lock and Dam on the Mississippi. In the great flood of 1993 we had a lot of water snakes show up in pits and places they need not be. Those did not bother him but by gosh if he saw a bee or wasp flying he was running. By the way his was a Army Vet.

Maybe he was highly allergic to them .

 

[Bill G]

Maybe he was highly allergic to them .

I would have understood it if he was but he was not, just scared of them. I hear he is retired now and diving full time.I need to ask him if while diving he has ever seen the man-eating catfish with eyes the size of dinner plates. Yes folks actually believe they exist below the dams

 

[JRM]

If all snakes were exterminated would life as we know it go on or would the balance of life be so upset that we would have to change drastically.? I am pretty darn sure if all snakes were eliminated life as we know it would be just fine.

The same could be said for any species Bill. This is not the context of what you said - you are bending the goal posts.

You said.

I would love to have a respectful debate on what value they bring.

I named a few examples post #33. There are many others that you can learn from from credible sources, if you are interested, which obviously you are not.

Carry on. I know you have to have the last word.

 

[Bill G]

To all of you folks that believe snakes are essential to the balance of life how do you feel about the following?
Mice
Rats
Gophers
Prairie Dogs
Ground Hogs
Feral hogs
Coyotes
Starlings
Gars
Asian Carp
Zebra Mussels
Ants of any type
Mosquitoes, Black Gnats
House Flies
Hell all Flies
Fish Bugs
Fleas
Ticks
Grubs
Crickets
Grasshoppers
Locusts
Wasps
Hornets

I can keep listing

 

[SS396driver]

Without humans many species would cease to exist.

Many more would still be around if there were no humans

 

[SS396driver]

To all of you folks that believe snakes are essential to the balance of life how do you feel about the following?
Mice
Rats
Gophers
Prairie Dogs
Ground Hogs
Feral hogs
Coyotes
Starlings
Gars
Asian Carp
Zebra Mussels
Ants of any type
Mosquitoes, Black Gnats
House Flies
Hell all Flies
Fish Bugs
Fleas
Ticks
Grubs
Crickets
Grasshoppers
Locusts
Wasps
Hornets

I can keep listing

All of the mammals and insects you listed are food for other animals . Even tics are useful as they feed turkeys and other species that we eat

 

[Bill G]

The same could be said for any species Bill. This is not the context of what you said - you are bending the goal posts.

You said.


I named a few examples post #33. There are many others that you can learn from from credible sources, if you are interested, which obviously you are not.

Carry on. I know you have to have the last word.

Her is your post. I could reply on my phone from work as I do not type that well.

A rat snake can eat 9-12 pounds worth of rodents in a year. Think about how many ticks are potentially on 9 lbs of rodents. Speaking of ticks, Some smaller species consume up to 4000 ticks in a single year. They have been proven to help control the grasshoper population which can be incredibly invasive.
It is well documented they play a role in controlling pests and rodents. We've had this conversation before, and you weren't convinced then, so I wouldn't expect you to be convinced now, but there are many credible sources published that have documented a snakes important role in nature.
It's just a matter of whether you want to educate yourself or not.

If a rat snake can each 9-12lbs of rodents eat yer then think about how many pounds a Fox can eat.
If they are full of ticks think about how many ticks is that Fox is eliminating.
You say "Speaking of ticks, Some smaller species consume up to 4000 ticks in a single year" Are you saying the snake is actually eating the tick or eating the rodent that ate the tick or eating the rodent that has the ticks on them? Whichever way the Fox wins.
You say "They have been proven to help control the grasshoper (sp) population which can be incredibly invasive." So are you saying snakes eat grasshoppers? I have read some small ones do but grasshoppers have never been an issue for me especially in my house. I occasional annoying cricket yes.
You say.....It's just a matter of whether you want to educate yourself or not........ Well I am pretty well educated and I have yet to see any documentation that proves if all snakes were eliminated the balance of life would be upset, we would starve and be eaten by rats.

 

[Bill G]

Many more would still be around if there were no humans

That I almost 100% agree with. If it was not for humans some species would still exist but if it was not for humans some would not exist today. As humans we have propagated invasive species of animals and plants and then complain about them. As for snakes would Pythons and Boas exist in the wild in Florida? How about Feral Hogs all over?

 

[tJKrider]

View attachment 1089819View attachment 1089819

No thank you...

 

[Bill G]

All of the mammals and insects you listed are food for other animals . Even tics are useful as they feed turkeys and other species that we eat

Well when you see an ant run across the counter do you relocate it ?
God forbid a mouse comes in the house do you befriend it and just let it be?
When mosquito bites you do you shoo it away?
When some idiot renter moves out of one of your houses and leave a flea infestation do you just, oh well?
When you see a spider web in a old building do you leave it as it might be Charlottes Web?
I am not sure about in your area but here years ago gardeners would buy Asian Beetles to put in their gardens as they were thought to be beneficial. Now they are a HUGE problem.

The point is I truly find it hard to believe folks posting here believe they should leave the critters I listed alone.

 

[Bill G]

No thank you...

Not at all, not at all.

 

[SS396driver]

Well when you see an ant run across the counter do you relocate it ?
God forbid a mouse comes in the house do you befriend it and just let it be?
When mosquito bites you do you shoo it away?
When some idiot renter moves out of one of your houses and leave a flea infestation do you just, oh well?
When you see a spider web in a old building do you leave it as it might be Charlottes Web?
I am not sure about in your area but here years ago gardeners would buy Asian Beetles to put in their gardens as they were thought to be beneficial. Now they are a HUGE problem.

The point is I truly find it hard to believe folks posting here believe they should leave the critters I listed alone.

You are in the extreme with this . We were talking in general I tend not to kill spiders in my home I do clean cob webs though . I don’t kill rodents outside inside they are fair game . I’ve taken snakes out of my basement a number of times and let them go in the grass . Every pest you listed serves a purpose . I have bats in my barn they eat flying insects

 

[lone wolf]

Well when you see an ant run across the counter do you relocate it ?
God forbid a mouse comes in the house do you befriend it and just let it be?
When mosquito bites you do you shoo it away?
When some idiot renter moves out of one of your houses and leave a flea infestation do you just, oh well?
When you see a spider web in a old building do you leave it as it might be Charlottes Web?
I am not sure about in your area but here years ago gardeners would buy Asian Beetles to put in their gardens as they were thought to be beneficial. Now they are a HUGE problem.

The point is I truly find it hard to believe folks posting here believe they should leave the critters I listed alone.

They keep the Rodent population down, how is that not a good thing, that is one hell of a good thing. I prefer non-Venomous snakes to mice and rats. I agree with you on most of the above.