Snake ID?

[fullmetaljesus]

i should not have opened this thread, not i've got the heeby geebies. *shudder*

 

[delwin]

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How about this little one on my driveway last week.

That looks like it might be a young Timber rattler to me, although it's not outside the realm of possibility that it's a hognose snake.

 

[AtTheMurph]

That looks like it might be a young Timber rattler to me, although it's not outside the realm of possibility that it's a hognose snake.

My best guess was northern water snake but certainly no expert on snakes.

 

[spencer rifle]

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How about this little one on my driveway last week. It was small, maybe total of 16in long, maybe only 12 inches. It was an aggressive little SOB but I left him alone and he went about his way. Can't figure out what exactly it is.

Most likely a hognose. Their pattern is highly variable, and they will bluff aggressiveness and flatten their head and body out before they either slither away or play dead. NOT a rattler or anything else venomous. And I am a snake expert.

Though there still is the possibility of n water, but they are usually browner.

 

[AtTheMurph]

Most likely a hognose. Their pattern is highly variable, and they will bluff aggressiveness and flatten their head and body out before they either slither away or play dead. NOT a rattler or anything else venomous. And I am a snake expert.

Though there still is the possibility of n water, but they are usually browner.

Right on! I suspected the water snake wasn't it because it was found on my drive. Plus it was so gray but the marking looked right. Thanks.

 

[BigBoxaJunk]

View attachment 60211

How about this little one on my driveway last week. It was small, maybe total of 16in long, maybe only 12 inches. It was an aggressive little SOB but I left him alone and he went about his way. Can't figure out what exactly it is.

Based just on pattern, I'd say Common Water Snake. It has a big head like a rattler, but even a hatchling rattler has a button on the end of the tail. And, baby water snakes are as vile-tempered as any snake you'll find.


Edit: After reading Spencer Rifle's post above, he's probably right about it being a Hognosed Snake. I always forget about those, since they aren't found where I live and I've only seen one Eastern Hognose (seen lots of the Western ones). I guess that shows why he's the expert.

The one Eastern Hognosed snake I've seen was one that my son and I caught in down south, and it was a really pretty snake, pale yellow with brown-edged olive green blotches. We kept him for a while, but as much as we tried, we couldn't get him to eat mice. All he would eat were toads and frogs. We released him later that summer.

 

[spencer rifle]

All he would eat were toads and frogs. We released him later that summer.

Hognoses are toad specialists. They can eat them without any harm from the skin poisons, and will use their nose to dig sand and loose dirt to get them. They also won't turn their nose up at a frog.

 

[BigBoxaJunk]

Hognoses are toad specialists. They can eat them without any harm from the skin poisons, and will use their nose to dig sand and loose dirt to get them. They also won't turn their nose up at a frog.

A lot of King and Milk snakes eat predominantly lizards and other snakes in the wild, and hatchlings will refuse to eat pinky mice at first. If you work at it, you can get them to learn to eat mice and they will do fine. But I've heard that it's about impossible to get an Eastern Hognose snake to eat mice, and the one I had never did. I used to see a few Western Hognose snakes at the Reptile show at the Fairgrounds, so I'd assume you can get them to eat mice.

The other funny thing about the Eastern Hognose Snake that I caught was that he didn't act aggressive and he didn't play dead. Once I caught him, he settled right down and let me hold him. I had heard that good handling hognose snakes are rare.

 

[hammer24]

Hognose snakes will often musk when they play dead as well. Smell rotten like they've been ripening in the sun for a week, and if if you handle them, good luck getting that smell off of yourself for a while.

 

[yetti462]

Looks like a common water snake

 

[bwframe]

This guy was sunning at the back of my intended fishing platform. Got a pic, but cannot see a head or tail. After the pic, I attempted to move him from my fishing spot. He slithered under it. Anyone help with ID from just the pattern?

 

[Gaffer]

Bit tougher to tell without head, but it looks like a Northern Watersnake, which would make some sense that you found him near water. They do enjoy basking in the sun.

Ron

 

[bwframe]

I'm hoping it's a Watersnake. I've been standing bare legged in water and had them swim between my legs.

I'd hate to rattle a copperhead's day by rattling around his rock house.

 

[spencer rifle]

Copperhead scales are at most weakly keeled. These are strongly keeled, so most likely a Nerodia water snake, probably northern.

 

[rhino]

How big can those water snakes get?

Back in the mid 1980s, I used to look at them on the edges of the lakes on the Rose-Hulman campus and some of them were freakin' yooge!

 

[Vigilant]

To answer the OPs question, LIVE. There are only two types of snakes, live ones, and dead ones. It’s up to the individual snake I meet as to which one it’s classified as. Don’t start none, won’t be none!

 

[BigBoxaJunk]

I also vote Northern Water Snake:

I've never been afraid of snakes, but social events with people terrify me.

 

[rhino]

Should I be worried if this is in my canoe?

 

[LEaSH]

As long as you're not needing to use your canoe, you're fine.

 

[KJQ6945]

Should I be worried if this is in my canoe?

Thats a juvenile Water Moccasin, since you live damn near in Canada, I wouldn't sweat it. You live farther north than they do.