I already put this on the wildlife forum, someone gave me an ID, but DH disagrees. Need more opinions from Texans. What do you think it is? I saw it in my yard the other night. It's important for me to know if it's a poisonous snake or not. There's been so many people bitten this year in the drought areas of Texas!
cpperhead?
I'm no snake expert, but I would guess Copperhead too. Something about that triangular head and slit-eyes says "poisonous" to me. I am curious what the experts say.
Carla
It looks like a copperhead to me, too. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agkistrodon_contortrix_laticinctus
Linda, that is a copperhead. We have had more than usual this year too. I've studied up on them because of that. Venemous snakes have a slit shaped pupil and non-venemous have a round pupil. The shape of the head is a clue, also. You were sure brave to get close enough to this one to see the pupil of his eye!
i thought copperhead because it looks like the 2 my husband killed last year
I thought copperhead, too! The wide head always says POISON! Be careful!
A copperhead. I've seen a number of them here on the ranch. Given that a copperhead inflicts the most bites, it's a good one to stay away from.
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/gaston/Pests/reptiles/copperhead.htm
http://www.copperhead-snake.com/
Copperhead was what I got from the other forum also, but DH didn't think so. I think ya'll are right, Texans know! It's small, but probably that doesn't matter. Guess I'm lucky it didn't want to strike while I taking that photo! I'm not always as careful as I should be. Like 10 minutes ago...I picked up a container up off of a bench on the deck and got stung by a scorpion. Ouch! I'm only sitting inside while I keep my finger on an ice pack. Thanks!
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linda, mothballs will keep the snakes away
I am a snake expert and it is a Copperhead.
Thanks, Kenboy! It is not among the usual snakes I see, but then again, this has not been a normal summer. It's been the summer from Hades, glad it is over!
Copperheads are the second most common snake around here, Texas Rat snake being # 1, AKA chicken snake.
I'd say copperhead too. We're getting more coral snakes since the drought. Next door neighbor's terrier "brought" her this one when she opened the sliding door to let him back in. She grabbed a broom and flung it onto a walkway. We killed one in the front yard last year and got much grief from DGers who thought we should have left it alone. 'But we have a small grandson who plays in our yard frequently.
We have lots of copperheads at the lake.
I love the coral snake, it is soo beautiful. I caught one some years back for my friend who keeps poison snakes but it did not live but a few weeks. They are so small it is hard for them to bite you but if they do, ouch. Copperheads will just strike at anything. Years ago I worked at a peacock farm, 1,200 of them, and one evening I was cleaned up and heading out to dinner. I went to the bird pens first to gather eggs and we had one pen that had a box for a nest. I did not want to put my nees in the grass so I got down like I was doing a one arm pushup and reached in the box for the egg. I saw something right in frount of my face but it was so close I could not make it out. It was a copperhead. Two minuets later I thought I was going to have a heart attack. We are now going to pen our chickens up because they do so much damage to the plants on the benches and I am afraid that the bug and snakes will be on the increase.
I'm gonna have nightmares tonight for sure.......
Holy cow, Ken, what kind of snake is that? It is beautiful. And HUGE!
Carla
That is a Texas Rat snake. The buldge just below the flashlight is a peafowl egg. If I can get to the snake before they swallow the egg I take them down the roar to one of the many dairies in the area and let them go. This guy was not so lucky. It had three eggs and I wanted them back. All three eggs did hatch.
Wow, I thought the eggs were crushed once they were inside the snake. So far, the rat snakes we have encountered were on the small side. The water moccasins, on the other hand, have all be big fat guys.
If it had time to wrap itself around a tree or limb or shovel handle they would of been crushed and then the snake would regurgitate the shells.
"Red on black, friend of Jack."
"Red on yellow, kill a fellow!"
Um, that coral snake is poisonous. Glad I memorized the rhyme.
Daughter is volunteering at Westcave Preserve outside Austin. For her orientation, one of the rangers walked her thru to the fern grotto, while explaining the history of the area. There were water moccasins sunning themselves just off the trail. DD said she would definitely get boots to wear there. Part of her spiel to the kids that will be touring the preserve will be identifying various wild animals' scat! Lovely......
The scat means the animal has been there and gone. Much safer!
I have a few coral snakes in my yard, including one I spent about ten minutes trying to herd into a five gallon bucket. All the poor thing wanted to do was get away. I left him be and see him occasionally.
I wish someone would tell the raccoon at the lake that he's supposed to "go...and then... go" because he deposits scat in the same spot all the time......the landing at the head of the bunkhouse stairs. It's his "latrine..." I have to shovel it off....piles of it.
I vote for copperhead also, but the thing about the slit-shaped pupil is not always the case. I shot a large cottonmouth down in my creek, and he had round pupils.
I've had the same experience with cottonmouths that have round pupils. Sometimes, it's even difficult to tell whether they have a wedge shaped head or not. The musky smell is very obvious though.
I have seen Cottonmouths in west Texas ten miles from the nearest water hole. Later I found out that every few years the go cross country to other waters. This keeps down the inbreeding.
Fayette County has so many stock tanks that cottonmouths love it here.
