ID This Snake?

[Revolver]

My son found this beast in the garage. We've found a few snakes this year, none last year. This is by far the smallest one, thought it was a worm at first. I was wondering if it was a baby but I would expect its late in the year for that?

The kids and I are just curious about it.

We are in Maine.

[lavenatti]

Looks like a ringneck. They're small and harmless.

We used to catch and play with them as kids.

[Beau Cassidy]

Ringneck snake....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diadophis_punctatus

[PbHurler]

Yep,
Northern Ringneck, Diadolphis punctatus edwardsi.

Juveniles avg. 4-5 1/2" long at hatching, adults: 10-15". Belly uniform yellow with a row or partial row of small black dots down the center.

They eat earthworms, small salamanders lizards & frogs.

Oh, and they feel really cool crawling through your fingers. 8-)

[Revolver]

Cool, thanks. We like to investigate the critters around here. Kids love the snakes especially. We let this fella go out in the woods, away from the chickens.

He darn near ate the cat!

[Bloodman14]

Awwww, idn't he cuuuute?

[slim1836]

:kidding:Always nice to handle snakes prior to them being identified.:kidding:

[XTR]

:kidding:Always nice to handle snakes prior to them being identified.:kidding:

In North America if you can ID the 4 varieties (Coral, Rattler, Copperhead and Cotton Mouth) that are poisonous, everything else not no matter whether you can ID it or not. That said, there are some of those non-poisonous varieties that are meaner than anything other than a pissed off cotton mouth (which has got to be about the meanest reptile in North America)

[Charley]

You don't need to positively ID a snake before dealing with it. A negative ID works, too. If you can ID the four venomous snakes in the US, why worry about "what it is" otherwise, except for the curiosity factor shown here?
If it isn't a rattlesnake, copperhead, or coral snake, it isn't an issue. I'm leaving out water moccasins because of where this snake was found.

[starmac]

I had an ag teacher in high school, that there was only four kinds of snakes he was scared of.
Big ones
Little ones
Live ones
Dead ones

I have met quite a few people since that thought the same. lol

[1Shirt]

Tend to agree with the teacher!
1Shirt!:coffeecom

[9.3X62AL]

Cool-looking little guy. Snakes do far more good than harm in most environments, even those useless buzzworm varieties that we have hereabouts. I'm not fond of them, but I don't kill them unless they pose a threat to grandkids or pets.

I have never seen a place with more snakes per square mile than the Coachella Valley. That was my duty station for 4 years, and I saw more snakes during that 4 year gig than during the rest of my 57 years put together.

[Bill*]

It took a minute to realize the upper pictures background is a hand. Holy Cow is that guy small!!!

[canyon-ghost]

Mouse and rabbit control, that's what the non-poisonous ones excel at!

[bruce drake]

Tend to agree with the teacher!
1Shirt!:coffeecom

DITTO! I leave them alone and I expect the same from them!

Bruce

[JeffinNZ]

:kidding:Always nice to handle snakes prior to them being identified.:kidding:

I did see the irony in that but here in NZ we have no snakes so I'm not in a position to judge. :lol:

[Revolver]

:kidding:Always nice to handle snakes prior to them being identified.:kidding:


What? Heck no! I'm not stupid... I make the kids handle them for me. :bigsmyl2:

[MtGun44]

with the exception of the coral snake, all snakes with narrow heads like this one are
non-poisonous in the USA. The pit vipers have a very much wider rear part of the head
and a rapid taper forward. Really easy once you focus on this issue, and for this country,
accurate. NOT accurate worldwide as there are a number that are very poisonous and
have narrow heads.

In the USA, the only one that is a bit ambiguous that I can think of is the wonderful and
funny hognose snake. These actors should get an Academy Award for their impressive
and predictible reaction to being bothered by people. Absolutely hilarious if you know
what they are.

Bill

Bill

[brotherdarrell]

with the exception of the coral snake, all snakes with narrow heads like this one are
non-poisonous in the USA. The pit vipers have a very much wider rear part of the head
and a rapid taper forward. Really easy once you focus on this issue, and for this country,
accurate. NOT accurate worldwide as there are a number that are very poisonous and
have narrow heads.


Bill

Bill

Actually, not entirely accurate, though I am nit-picking a little bit. There is a group of snakes (Lyre, night and cat-eyed) that are poisonous. Their poison is thought to be fairly weak and not a danger to humans, but being rear-fanged and not very large you would have to let one gnaw on you pretty good to find out. The cat-eyed snake does have a fairly angular head and can make you pause a little, much like the hog-nosed snake.

A fairly good "GENERAL" rule is that eyes with vertical pupils are "GENERALY" poisonous, though not necessarily dangerous. Round pupils "GENERALY" denotes non-poisonous, with the coral snake being an exception as it has round pupils and is very poisonous.

brotherdarrell

[10x]

I would be very wary of any snake in the southern U.S.
A lot of folks have turned loose Asian and African snakes that seem to be taking over as the top of the food chain in some areas.

[Roundnoser]

I like snakes. They taste like chicken.

[Blacksmith]

I had a pet ring neck snake when I was a boy. He would wrap himself around my thumb for the warmth. One day he got loose in the house and when I asked my mother, in the middle of her bridge club, if she had seen it; her bridge club and my snake keeping both ended.

[Gliden07]

The reason you might be finding a few snakes is theres food around maybe Mice?? My Parents live in the woods and never had a snake in the house and all of a sudden they had a few come to find out they had gotten some mice in the Garage. Call to the exterminator got rid of the food sorce and the snakes followed!!

[JeffinNZ]

I'm gunna talk the to lady that wanted the deer crossing on the freeway moved. She can start a new campaign to have all snakes labelled with either poisonous or non poisonous.

[PbHurler]

A fairly good "GENERAL" rule is that eyes with vertical pupils are "GENERALY" poisonous, though not necessarily dangerous. Round pupils "GENERALY" denotes non-poisonous, with the coral snake being an exception as it has round pupils and is very poisonous.

brotherdarrell

Remember this guys (for the U.S.), Excellent Post!

[Sasquatch-1]

I would be very wary of any snake in the southern U.S.
A lot of folks have turned loose Asian and African snakes that seem to be taking over as the top of the food chain in some areas.

I'm with you 10X. There are too many people in this country who get exotic pets illegally and find they are a lot of trouble to keep. They then release them into the wild.

I don't like snakes but I don't kill them just because they are there. I did find an six foot black snake in my yard when I first moved into my house. (tracked housing on 1/4 to 3/4 acres each) I found an old joint compound bucket with a lid and scooped him in it with a rake and released him in the woods behind the house. He was a mean rascal and if he could have gotten a hold on me it would have hurt. Had a couple neighbors that gave me heck for not killing it. I ignored them.

[Boerrancher]

I won't as a general rule kill any snake, even the venomous ones I find in the woods as long as they continue to do what they are suppose to be doing and leave me alone I leave them alone. Let a copper head or a rattle snake come into the yard where my kids play and it is a different story. They end up as backing for my hand made bows.

Best wishes,

Joe

[Wayne Smith]

I grew up with snakes both in Maine and Northern Virginia. "Garter" snakes in Maine, Black snakes and Black Racers and Hognosed snakes in Virginia. We had Rattlers and Copperheads in the woods but, if you knew where they hang out and leave that area alone you are very unlikely to see one. Supposedly we had Coral Snakes in Virginia but I've never seen one. Down here we have Cottonmouths and Copperheads mostly. Cottonmouths are problematic when fishing and/or in a canoe. They will join you, or attempt to do so. They will take fish off of a stringer, but so will water snakes.

I question how many very poisonous snakes have been released in the wild. Constrictors, yes. Not many people are willing to handle the poisonous varieties.

[41 mag fan]

Used to be heavily involved in herpetology 20 yrs ago. i had everything from pure blooded Indian Burmese Pythons to Borneo Blood Pythons to Central and Colombian Boas to Tree Boas, Eastern Milk Snakes, about every King snake in the U.S. and Mexico to the cute Ball Pythons.

Friend oF mine had everything from Gaboon Vipers to Black and Green Mambas to Egyptian Cobras to Fierce Snakes to Mexican Copperheads and on and on.

I raised my own mice and rats and rabbits and made a pretty good "extra money" back then off the sales of snakes and food.

Finally it got the point where I had snakes wall to wall in the living room and our bedroom, and ran out of room. Kids were getting too curious and it was time to sell out before one got into one of our Berm cages. We had berms that were from 9' to 13' long and even though they were under lock and key, we decided it was best to sell out.

If back then I had bought a house and wasn't renting i would of probably built a room just for them. $800-$1200/ mo was good money back then, but it was an 8hr job, just in cleaning, and feeding and changing bedding in the mice and rats and rabbits, not inc luding handling the snakes to keep them tamed down.

[10x]

I'm with you 10X. There are too many people in this country who get exotic pets illegally and find they are a lot of trouble to keep. They then release them into the wild.

I don't like snakes but I don't kill them just because they are there. I did find an six foot black snake in my yard when I first moved into my house. (tracked housing on 1/4 to 3/4 acres each) I found an old joint compound bucket with a lid and scooped him in it with a rake and released him in the woods behind the house. He was a mean rascal and if he could have gotten a hold on me it would have hurt. Had a couple neighbors that gave me heck for not killing it. I ignored them.

I spent some time in rural Thailand and in Africa as well. Snaked there are a whole different story.
The locals in Namibia had snakes figured as 1 Step, 2 step, and the rest. Black and green mambas - the difference is not colour but one step.

[41 mag fan]

I spent some time in rural Thailand and in Africa as well. Snaked there are a whole different story.
The locals in Namibia had snakes figured as 1 Step, 2 step, and the rest. Black and green mambas - the difference is not colour but one step.

Black mambas are vicious. The one step, 2 step is how long it takes for you to drop dead.

black mambas are known to hunt and come after a human, where as most snakes will try the escape route, not hold their ground or come after you.

[montana_charlie]

black mambas are known to hunt and come after a human, where as most snakes will try the escape route, not hold their ground or come after you.
I have heard that the Bushmaster is agressive like that ...

It must be special in some way because it's the only snake that gets capitalized whenever the name is written.

[slim1836]

My son at age 4 came into camp holding a copperhead by the tail, said "look at this worm".
Had it not been cool weather, I believe we would have made a trip to the ER that day.

I handle NO snakes, did not live this long taking chances. Hope to live a little longer.

Slim

[Just Duke]

A lady here had a pet snake. All I saw was 5 pairs of really nice cowboy boots.

[softpoint]

Lots of copperheads here. sometimes have to kill five or six around the house a year. Rattlesnakes are here, but kinda rare, and the one that is generally seen is the blacktail timber rattler, and they are protected by law unless they come in your yard. Creeks and lakes are home to quite a few cottonmouths. Rattlers generally try to leave if they find themselves in your vicinity. Copperheads will stay right where they are and dare you to come close, and their camouflage in fallen leaves makes them especially dangerous. Cottonmouths are mean SOB's and will also stand their ground, and, if they've had a bad day in general, or just can't find anything good on tv, will bring the fight to you. I don't give them much slack, and when I find one on my place, he gets treated to a load of shot.:Fire:

[cajun shooter]

I have several King Snakes that are allowed free range on my property. They are given the name King Snake for a very good reason. Even though they are non poisonous to man, they love to kill and eat the poison ones. So we have a partnership being that I live on a creek in Southern Louisiana and have had encounters with more than one cottonmouth.
The Cottonmouth is a very aggressive snake and in all my years hunting and fishing in our swamps, there have been many a encounter where the bottom of my boat received a new scupper hole. I had one that swam at my boat and I tried to just flip him away with the paddle. He came up the paddle quicker than I thought possible and was shot in mid air by my fishing buddy who had a short version 12 gauge in the boat.
My uncle tried knocking one out of his boat with a paddle and received a hospital ride as a gift before the cottonmouth decided to leave the boat. Only snake I have ever seen that will come at you instead of away. They have a very nasty attitude indeed.

[oldred]

Common Black snakes will also eat poisonous snakes, or at least Copperheads, and for that reason alone I would not hurt a Blackie. Unfortunately far too many people will kill every snake they come across which is, if you will pardon me being so blunt, a very dumb thing to do because these things should be left alone unless they are making a nuisance of themselves for some reason. Here on my farm in Tn we probably have what seems to be at least half the world's population of Copperheads, don't know why this small area has so many in a state where they are considered to be of just average numbers. I once found part of a Copperhead that was as big around as my arm, and I am not a very small guy, but (fortunately) the front half was missing since this thing had been chopped up by a mowing machine and was found while walking the field after mowing.

[41 mag fan]

I have heard that the Bushmaster is agressive like that ...

It must be special in some way because it's the only snake that gets capitalized whenever the name is written.

No Bushmasters are not like a Black Mamba in the aggressive area. Bushmasters are the largest pit viper in the world, that in the pit viper family delivers the most venom per bite.
The name alone makes people think of some horrendous snake, that hunts humans down, when in actuality the Bushmaster is a rarely seen snake in the tropics of Central and South America. very hard to find, but when found they are found, they are given a wide berth, if its not too late.

Black Mambas on the other hand are well known for coming after a human when not being provoked, will chase you if you run, and while you stand your ground, they will keep coming.

Dean Ripa has done alot of research on the Bushmasters, and is world reknowned for being the authority on them.

He shows and states the Bushmaster is an aggressive snake, but the one thing that sets the Bushmaster apart from other venomous snakes is the mortality rate of humans once bitten.

20 yrs ago i got bit alot from my non venomous snakes, esp my berms and retics. One thing about them I noticed and for once Dean Ripa made a comment that backed up my thoughts, is that a snake has poor eye sight and relies on its pits to sense and smell it's potential prey.
They don't comprehend that the rat heat given off is different than the heat given off by a human, and like a big mouth bass will do, it strikes instictively, without actually seeing it's prey.

For pythons i think this is true when they are neonates and juveniles, they will eat till they burst, voracious appetites, and the more they eat the faster they'll grow in length and girth. Once a python, berms and retics, hit about 9' long, they go thru a change, where the instictive striking, when picked up and handled stops.

Boas, esp the redtails are exact opposite, they are for the most part, very docile when in the neonate and juvenile phases, but when they hit adult stage, they become in most cases very aggressive. their eating habits I've noticed pick up to when hitting the adult stage.

But captivity and in the wild or natural settings of snakes are a totally different spectrum. In captivity they are fed on a regular basis, whereas in the wild, they might go a month sometimes more before food comes by. So being hungry, they will strike and kill anything they can when the opportunity arises.

[Taylor]

Ring snake,don't get very big.Used to take them to school in a match box.

[montana_charlie]

Unfortunately far too many people will kill every snake they come across which is, if you will pardon me being so blunt, a very dumb thing to do because these things should be left alone unless they are making a nuisance of themselves for some reason.
I am in full agreement with that.

CM

[floodgate]

A friend and I were out in our open Jeep when we spotted a large snake alongside the dirt road. We stopped to look at him and saw he was a big gopher snake, with narrow head and no rattles, though colored and marked very similarly to the local diamondback rattlers. Facing us, he went into a full rattlesnake act, S-curves, lunges towards us, and tail vibrating so fast it actually made a whirring sound like a faint rattle. We got to laughing so hard at the act he was putting on, that he finally gave up trying to scare us, turned and stomped off into the brush radiating disgust. Ever seen a snake stomp? Well, I assure you this one did...

[MtGun44]

I agree with the 'live and let live' approach. I usually ask snake killers if they like rats and
mice? I have picked up and moved coral snakes in FLA years ago. They are VERY slow and
lethargic, and if you pin the head with a stick and pick them up by the tail, they will just hang
down. After about 10-20 sec of this they start to try to 'climb' back up on you, but a moderate
down-up motion increases the loads so they can't do it and are strung out straight again.

I'd carry them away from the chicken house and drop them in the woods 75 yds away. Never
worried about being bit. The mouth is small, teeth short, and no poison pressure injection
like a pit viper has. Coral snake has to chew on you for a bit to get any poison in, it has to
be released a the base of the short, non-folding teeth and follow a groove down the outside
of the tooth and be worked in. If you pull one off instantly, no poison or nearly none.

Fiddle with rattlers, cotton-mouth or copper head? Not a chance in this life. Lightning fast,
pressure injected through hollow teeth like a hypo. . . . . not to be messed with.

Bill

[Reg]

Actually ALL of you are very, very wrong. It actually is a very rare three toed skink. Normally found high in the Colorado Rockies and only above 10,00 feet.
Mean little beggers. Have been know to attack the rare High Altitude Buffalo and in some cases, bring them down.
Only known protection is homemade wine, generously used
Yup, mean little beggers.
Where did I leave my glass?

:2 drunk buddies: