Hey guys Im not an expert on snakes. But Saturday my wife and I were cleaning up the yard of a place we are buying and I looked down on the sidewalk was a (what looked like a baby) snake.
It had the pattern similar to a copperhead but was brown/tan. (I live in south east Ohio)
It was strange, when I was close to it its neck flatten and it rose its head "like a cobra does"
Well I killed it. I examined its eyes and they were round and black.
what kind of snake do you think this is?
sorry no pics
It sounds like a Milk snake. many snakes will flatten thier heads when they feel threatend
The color don't make sense, but they do change with local areas. I would say for the reaction of the snake it should be a spreading adder. We have those in AR. Not harmful, but cool. I caught one the other day and showed my kiddos. They are usually short and stout built, dark colored with a dim pattern, around here anyway.
God Bless,
Nathan
see if this come through. did it look like this?
http://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view;_ylt=A0PDoS0cCVtQ8z4A_7mJzbkF;_ylu=X3oDMTBlMTQ4cGxyBHNlYwNzcgRzbGsDaW1n?back=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.search.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%2Fimages%3Fp%3 Dmilk%2Bsnake%26ei%3DUTF-8%26fr%3Dyfp-t-521-s%26fr2%3Dtab-web%26tab%3Dorganic%26ri%3D5&w=1024&h=768&imgurl=i199.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Faa220%2Fslybirdsly%2FHerping%2FAllegany%2 52007%2FMilkSnake1.jpg&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fslybird.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F06%2Fallegany-state-park-herping-trip.html&size=290.4+KB&name=The+Milk+Snakes+were+plenty+aggressive.+Both+ex hibited+fake+tail+...&p=milk+snake&oid=f8d37bf7508f9dfa30005b21fb993110&fr2=tab-web&fr=yfp-t-521-s&tt=The%2BMilk%2BSnakes%2Bwere%2Bplenty%2Baggressive.%2BBoth%2Bexhibited%2Bfake%2B tail%2B...&b=0&ni=21&no=5&ts=&tab=organic&sigr=129l4916k&sigb=13e5e3uis&sigi=12hdoi3nn&.crumb=7Nw7wpxrOqU (http://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view;_ylt=A0PDoS0cCVtQ8z4A_7mJzbkF;_ylu=X3oDMTBlMTQ4cGxyBHNlYwNzcgRzbGsDaW1n?back=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.search.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%2Fimages%3Fp%3Dmilk%2Bsnake%26ei%3DUTF-8%26fr%3Dyfp-t-521-s%26fr2%3Dtab-web%26tab%3Dorganic%26ri%3D5&w=1024&h=768&imgurl=i199.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Faa220%2Fslybirdsly%2FHerping%2FAllegany%252007%2FMilkSnake1.jpg&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fslybird.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F06%2Fallegany-state-park-herping-trip.html&size=290.4+KB&name=The+Milk+Snakes+were+plenty+aggressive.+Both+exhibited+fake+tail+...&p=milk+snake&oid=f8d37bf7508f9dfa30005b21fb993110&fr2=tab-web&fr=yfp-t-521-s&tt=The%2BMilk%2BSnakes%2Bwere%2Bplenty%2Baggressive.%2BBoth%2Bexhibited%2Bfake%2Btail%2B...&b=0&ni=21&no=5&ts=&tab=organic&sigr=129l4916k&sigb=13e5e3uis&sigi=12hdoi3nn&.crumb=7Nw7wpxrOqU)
hognose snake. They will also play dead.
QuoteOriginally posted by Slickhead:
Hey guys Im not an expert on snakes. But Saturday my wife and I were cleaning up the yard of a place we are buying and I looked down on the sidewalk was a (what looked like a baby) snake.
It had the pattern similar to a copperhead but was brown/tan. (I live in south east Ohio)
It was strange, when I was close to it its neck flatten and it rose its head "like a cobra does"
Well I killed it. I examined its eyes and they were round and black.
what kind of snake do you think this is?
sorry no pics
You just described about half the snakes in america, especially if it was a "baby." :biglaugh:
As suggested, it could have been a milk snake or hognose snake (spreading adder). Also could have been a northern water snake, a banded water snake, a juvenile black racer, one of the various subspecies of rat snakes, a Dekay's snake, or a host of others.
No pics?
looks like it was probably a milksnake
Thanks
So, why did you kill it?
sounds like a hognose snake
1 vote for hognose...not sure though.
Landman
I dont like snakes
You can argue the benifits all day, but to me the only good snake is the one backing a bow.
Sorry if that offends those who like them.
Hognose Snake
As stated,definitely a hognose snake.They vary in color and babies may vary slightly from the adult color.They are the only snake in North America that flattens out it's head and neck like that.As fierce as they look,displaying like that,they are extremely harmless.They will also play "possum" if the spreading doesn't work.Their diet consists,at least as adults,almost completely of toads.
Hognose, we used to find them all the time in West Michigan as kids and tell girls we caught a "cobra", good times...
QuoteOriginally posted by JimB:
They are the only snake in North America that flattens out it's head and neck like that.
Not entirely true. Many snakes will flatten out their heads. Hognosed snakes take to to an extreme that others don't though.
QuoteOriginally posted by KOOK68:
hognose snake. They will also play dead.
Apparently this one wasn't "playing" :biglaugh:
I also think it was a hognose--those are protected in some states. Totally harmless--unless you are a toad.
I don't know of any other snake that will put on the show they do--spread the head and neck like a cobra (hence the name "spreading adder" or "spreadenadder" around here--said as one word). They will hiss, even strike--but the strike is ALWAYS away from an object. Say you put your hand to the left of it's head, it will strike to the right, and vice-versa--they will NOT bite you (unless you smell like a toad).
If this display doesn't work, then it's on to Act II. It will convulse, roll...act like it's been poisoned, and wind up on it's back "dead", complete with it's tongue hanging out. Funny thing is if you roll it on it's belly, it will roll over on it's back and continue to play dead until it thinks the threat has passed.
One of God's great creations--lots of fun to watch, rare around here--I've only seen one is the last several years.
Snakes are like guns--some people are terrified of them because they are uneducated about them. The answer isn't to get rid of the guns, or snakes. The answer is to educate yourself on them, and eliminate the fear.
Yep, hognose. I always enjoyed watching their antics many years ago when I lived in Texas. Wish we had them in Wyoming. A very cool snake.
Lots of eastern hognose snakes here where we live. Just stopped and moved a big one, pushing 40"s, out the road a couple days ago. Was laying there soaking up some heat. They are pretty cool snakes.
"Snakes are like guns--some people are terrified of them because they are uneducated about them. The answer isn't to get rid of the guns, or snakes. The answer is to educate yourself on them, and eliminate the fear."
Chad, I love you. :D
Killdeer
Fantastic post LBR...really got me to thinkin.
The hognose also have a fourth act in their display. If you keep on messing with them while they are playing dead,they will poop on you. You will leave them alone after that.
LBR was spot on.
My boys and I recently caught one of these most interesting snakes. He really put on a show and did everything except for the playing dead part. But he ended up doing that part later on at home in the living room floor. They're one of the most interesting snakes there are. Only one I've ever heard hiss. We had to let it go because it's very difficult to get them to eat, since they have a very limited diet: toads.
Hognose snakes are regulars around our place. I came home the other day and this dude was enjoying my carport. I made it go through all its tricks before moving it to a safer place.
They will also throw up.
(http://i544.photobucket.com/albums/hh338/spikeknife/today021_zpsc7a50534.jpg)
Dead. Maybe unwarranted? Why not capture it, look it up on the internet, identify it, then determine its fate?
A lot of harmless beneficial snakes are killed by the slaughter without reason mentality.
I walk around rattlers if they are not in the path. I move them off the roads.
The only snake we have here in Western Washington is the Garter snake which is harmless and generally left alone.
I agree that most of us should take the time to learn about some of nature's other creatures besides deer.
Great post LBR...and love the pic Cliff.
http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/Home/species_a_to_z/AZReptilesandAmphibians/tabid/17914/Default.aspx
Lists all species of snakes found in Ohio.
QuoteOriginally posted by Liquid Amber:
Hognose snakes are regulars around our place. I came home the other day and this dude was enjoying my carport. I made it go through all its tricks before moving it to a safer place.
They will also throw up.
(http://i544.photobucket.com/albums/hh338/spikeknife/today021_zpsc7a50534.jpg)
Us Hoosiers call these "Puffing Adders".
So, is a puffing adder and a hognose the same snake?
Our puffing adders sound like a bad tire losing air quick! Do hognoses make the same sound when excited?
Best regards, Skychief.
Killy, I'm still at a loss for words...and that ain't often!
Skychief, yes--same snake. They come in Eastern and Western varieties, but put on the same show. Sometimes they don't go through the whole routine, some are more prone to hiss, etc.
QuoteOriginally posted by centaur:
Yep, hognose. I always enjoyed watching their antics many years ago when I lived in Texas. Wish we had them in Wyoming. A very cool snake.
We have them in eastern Montana.
without a pic, I'd be heistant to veture a guess, but the round eyes tell you it' non-venomous. U.S. venomous species have vertical slit pupils.
I do agree with some of the previous comments. Young snakes usually have a blotchy pattern, even on snakes that are solid blakc as adults.
(As you might guess from my handle, I'm a bit of a snake guy . . ."
Kingsnake
QuoteOriginally posted by Slickhead:
Hey guys Im not an expert on snakes. But Saturday my wife and I were cleaning up the yard of a place we are buying and I looked down on the sidewalk was a (what looked like a baby) snake.
It had the pattern similar to a copperhead but was brown/tan. (I live in south east Ohio)
It was strange, when I was close to it its neck flatten and it rose its head "like a cobra does"
Well I killed it. I examined its eyes and they were round and black.
what kind of snake do you think this is?
sorry no pics
Did it look like this??...I did'nt kill this one but I can tell it was very aggresive.
(http://i1117.photobucket.com/albums/k585/rustic1955/4218b02f.jpg)
I saw a Hog nose a couple of weeks ago while scouting. It was almost black. It went thru all it's tricks except for playing dead. I haven't saw but a few, this one was by far the biggest. They are cool snakes.
QuoteOriginally posted by landman:
So, why did you kill it?
Dude. His wife was there, nuf said....
We had one slither over my wife's foot while cleaning up leaves. She wouldn't go back out in the yard until she saw a dead snake. Hated to do it since I kinda like snakes.
Probaby a corn snake
Wimminx!
Pretend to be all scaredy helpless, and then demand a death. Most bloodthirsty critters I have ever run across. I have no patience with them.
Killdeer :rolleyes:
Slickhead's snake sounds like a hognose snake. They do a great imitation of a cobra. We used to see them all the time in Florida.
Rustic,
That looks like a baby black rat snake. They mostly eat eggs, even climb trees to get to birds' nests. I remove the big ones from our property for their safety-they always come back. The boss lady doesn't stop stabbing/chopping until all movement has ceased.
Rustic's snake is a juvenile black racer.They look similar to rat snakes but not quite.Racers are pretty fiesty,young and old.
Sounds like a small hognose snake to me. I had a couple when I was a kid in Alabama.
Mike
hognose
JimB . . .you know your snakes! I'm impressed.
Killy . . .I love that you have the appropriate quote for everything! You are the sharpest postal worker I have ever known. Wait . . .that didn't sound as complimentary as I meant it. Oh, nevermind . . .you know what I mean. :jumper:
Kingsnake
Just quoting LBR (about the snakes, not the wimminxes) in this thread. With copy and paste, even I, with the memory of a goldfish could do it.
Chad said it better than I could. It bore repeating.
Killdeer