Snake ID Please

[Bill G]

I really like those little green snakes. Very cool, and excellent tree climbers. I've only caught one in my area. We seem to rarely have anything but garter snakes and black rat snakes close to Kansas City. When I was younger, I'd often see several varieties of king snakes, some water snakes I never identified, a few racers, and copperheads. They are all disappearing, no doubt due to folks that like to take a hoe to them every time they are spotted.

I don't know of any other wild creature besides snakes that can be caught by hand without great risk to the human or the animal (venomous species excepted). Some folks are just haters, and cannot be changed, however. My father was one of those: If he saw a snake, he'd kill it.

Get out of the city and the ghetto

 

[Bill G]

Come on now you gotta be tougher than that! just kidding.

I’ll blow the head off a rattlesnake if one is in my work area, in the yard, under/in the house. But if they are not in my direct vicinity I don’t care really.

When I worked in the oil fields I was surrounded by them all day and all night and didn’t have time to kill all of them that I see. But if one got on location it was a goner.

When you kill (11) in (2) hours in your basement your views may change.
Been there done that!
My wife's uncle was a Chicago 1960's "make love not war" hippie that claimed to love snakes
Her family had huge family gatherings for all holidays.
Mother's Day one year my father in law told my wife's uncle he had something for him to take back to Chicago.
Ole Steve dropped a turd in his pants when Kenny popped the lid on a 5 gallon feed bucket about half full of snakes he removed from his well pit.
Steve did not take them back to Chicago.
He never popped off again about loving snakes

 

[oldbuzzard]

You stupid jerks!! One of Gods greatest gifts to us helping control the real varmints and pests in our world!!! A harmless black snake that lives on pests that chew up your vehicle, home, garage, garden etc!!!

Calling people stupid jerks is really going to help you influence them. Suggest you learn to be a little more polite on the forum.

 

[Bill G]

Calling people stupid jerks is really going to help you influence them. Suggest you learn to be a little more polite on the forum.

I agree. The poster dug up a old thread and really brought it back with a bang.

 

[HuskyShepherd2016]

When you kill (11) in (2) hours in your basement your views may change.
Been there done that!
My wife's uncle was a Chicago 1960's "make love not war" hippie that claimed to love snakes
Her family had huge family gatherings for all holidays.
Mother's Day one year my father in law told my wife's uncle he had something for him to take back to Chicago.
Ole Steve dropped a turd in his pants when Kenny popped the lid on a 5 gallon feed bucket about half full of snakes he removed from his well pit.
Steve did not take them back to Chicago.
He never popped off again about loving snakes

You don’t have to explain anything to me bill and I was honestly trying to get a little laugh out of you. I’ve killed quite a few venomous snakes and I’ve been struck by them a number of times, one of them actually cut my hand once upon a time.

If you read my reply, I did say that I will not hesitate to dispatch any of them that get in the yard, in the house, and under the house. Every one of them that have gotten that close either got it with a 12 gauge, a steel pipe, a bush hog, a machete, and in one case in particular, my steel toed boot to its head.
Although I’m not carrying the animosity about snakes in general as you do, I am not against ridding them with lethal force when they put me or my family in a threatening position. No different than mountain lions, feral hogs, rabid dogs, or anything else that get a mind to be dangerously aggressive.

 

[Del_]

You stupid jerks!! One of Gods greatest gifts to us helping control the real varmints and pests in our world!!! A harmless black snake that lives on pests that chew up your vehicle, home, garage, garden etc!!!

Truer words have not been spoken!

But some never miss a chance to flaunt their ignorance.

 

[Bill G]

Truer words have not been spoken!

But some never miss a chance to flaunt their ignorance.

You are a poster child for that.

 

[Marley5]

The driving force behind killing snakes is fear.
No creature creates more of a fear fobia than snakes.
Plus it's always been the popular thing to do even swerve in the road to smash one.

I have a close friend who goes absolutely psycho when he sees a snake, runs for cover screaming.
I have to inspect his lawnmower each spring because he found a snake skin.
Living in the mountains with lots of sheds and mice..... they are welcome here.

 

[HuskyShepherd2016]

When you kill (11) in (2) hours in your basement your views may change.
Been there done that!
My wife's uncle was a Chicago 1960's "make love not war" hippie that claimed to love snakes
Her family had huge family gatherings for all holidays.
Mother's Day one year my father in law told my wife's uncle he had something for him to take back to Chicago.
Ole Steve dropped a turd in his pants when Kenny popped the lid on a 5 gallon feed bucket about half full of snakes he removed from his well pit.
Steve did not take them back to Chicago.
He never popped off again about loving snakes

Hopefully Steve had a change of boxers nearby!

 

[pdqdl]

No creature creates more of a fear fobia than snakes.

You sure about that?







Each of these critters seem to have more horror movies than snakes do. Providing, I suppose, that you include vampire movies for the bats.

 

[HuskyShepherd2016]

You sure about that?

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Each of these critters seem to have more horror movies than snakes do. Providing, I suppose, that you include vampire movies for the bats.

You forgot the giant desert centipede

Those things will pop you hard. And you best go to the hospital if it happens because not only does the venom potentially cause seizures, the bite has bacteria and parasites that can be nearly if not just as bad!

 

[Bill G]

Hopefully Steve had a change of boxers nearby!

He always was an oddball but a decent guy.

 

[Sully10]

Marly5 You are right about some people never changing their mind about snakes!! I once stood next to a old farmer who had just killed a big black snake!! He was grinning like a possum on a dead horse!! He had a corn crib right next to us and he had screen wire around the bottom! Holes were in the screen where rats could come and go!! In fact while we were standing there a rat came out and ran under his shed!! I said did you see that! That snake was going to kill that rat and others to give you more feed for your cows and hogs!!! He didn't get it and said I kill them when ever I can! You can't kill stupid man!!!

 

[Sully10]

Yeah a black snake or common water snake are pretty plain looking and have no real beauty like the Corn or Red rat snake!!! Some snakes are absolute works of art by the greatest artist of all!! In nature there are many such works that can not be explained and need to be appreciated by us!! This includes Birds, Butterfly's, Reptiles and Amphibians!! These are all put here for us to enjoy and benefit from their way of life!! Killing any of them from stupity or just the pleasure of doing it is a sin and you will pay for it down the road my friend!!

 

[Blue Oaks]

I used to have a corn snake named Sparky.

 

[HuskyShepherd2016]

The driving force behind killing snakes is fear.
No creature creates more of a fear fobia than snakes.
Plus it's always been the popular thing to do even swerve in the road to smash one.

I have a close friend who goes absolutely psycho when he sees a snake, runs for cover screaming.
I have to inspect his lawnmower each spring because he found a snake skin.
Living in the mountains with lots of sheds and mice..... they are welcome here.

Karens top snakes by far. They might not kill you but they’ll make you beg for death before it’s over.

 

[Sub-arctic]

I used to know a guy who told me that when he was doing field work in college, he and the other techs would catch snakes and throw them all in a pit at camp. He said that 9 times out of 10, constrictors would kill vipers. I believe that was in Louisiana.
I also recall hearing years ago that a country in Asia (I don't recall which country) thought they would reduce the number of people dying from snake bite while harvesting rice, by killing all the snakes that they could. The rodent population exploded.
When I was a boy living in Northern Virginia, there were black snakes living in a black walnut tree in our yard. We left those snakes alone, they didn't bother anyone. The tree was close to the neighbors yard. One day the neighbor was mowing his lawn, he caught the snakes out in the grass and ran them over with the lawn mower. We had some sort of animal (Mole?) that would tunnel around the yard and leave raised earth where the tunnels were, the increase in the number of tunnels in the yard was noticeable after the black snakes were killed.
You'd have a hard time convincing me that the world would be better off without snakes, especially the smaller constrictors native to North America.

 

[HuskyShepherd2016]

I used to know a guy who told me that when he was doing field work in college, he and the other techs would catch snakes and throw them all in a pit at camp. He said that 9 times out of 10, constrictors would kill vipers. I believe that was in Louisiana.
I also recall hearing years ago that a country in Asia (I don't recall which country) thought they would reduce the number of people dying from snake bite while harvesting rice, by killing all the snakes that they could. The rodent population exploded.
When I was a boy living in Northern Virginia, there were black snakes living in a black walnut tree in our yard. We left those snakes alone, they didn't bother anyone. The tree was close to the neighbors yard. One day the neighbor was mowing his lawn, he caught the snakes out in the grass and ran them over with the lawn mower. We had some sort of animal (Mole?) that would tunnel around the yard and leave raised earth where the tunnels were, the increase in the number of tunnels in the yard was noticeable after the black snakes were killed.
You'd have a hard time convincing me that the world would be better off without snakes, especially the smaller constrictors native to North America.

A surprisingly high number of constrictors have a very high tolerance to snake venom, if not, fully resistant to it…depending on the snakes.

King snakes can get bit by rattlers, copperheads and moccasins and the venom is minimally threatening to them, as they eat the vipers, keeping the population of the venomous ones in check. King snakes aren’t the only ones, but they are the most notable in the US for venom hardiness.

 

[Sully10]

This is all true and many years ago I saw a video where a King snake attacked a copperhead and was bitten! He continued the fight and killed the copperhead by constriction and ate it!! My thing here is that I've aways liked snakes and when I was 12 or so I caught and collected them! I studied them by reading everything I could find about them!! I turn 81 in January and own a tree farm in Maryland! Someone commented about my calling anyone who killed a snake a jerk!! Well I was responding to the comment by Bill G that the only good snake is a dead one!! The comment I made was exactly how I feel about anyone who feels the way he does!! I'll bet that Bill is a great guy and nice as can be!! He is not by himself and probably raised to hate them just like the farmer I talked about earlier!! Its like a lot of things in our world today and lack of proper education about these creatures is the problem!!

 

[pdqdl]

Sully, I agree with your perspective completely, and share your youthful interest in snakes. Bill G is a well-known snake killer, and has been largely renounced in this thread.

On a separate note, however: Please consider using a few less exclamation points. I kinda got wore out trying to figure out what you really wanted to emphasize, or if you were just yelling at us.

This is all true and many years ago I saw a video where a King snake attacked a copperhead and was bitten! He continued the fight and killed the copperhead by constriction and ate it!! My thing here is that I've aways liked snakes and when I was 12 or so I caught and collected them! I studied them by reading everything I could find about them!! I turn 81 in January and own a tree farm in Maryland! Someone commented about my calling anyone who killed a snake a jerk!! Well I was responding to the comment by Bill G that the only good snake is a dead one!! The comment I made was exactly how I feel about anyone who feels the way he does!! I'll bet that Bill is a great guy and nice as can be!! He is not by himself and probably raised to hate them just like the farmer I talked about earlier!! Its like a lot of things in our world today and lack of proper education about these creatures is the problem!!