I came home to find the back portion of this snake trying to force it's way down a hole in front of my garage. Can't find it in my snake book. Snake has disappeared....down hole. Can anyone identify it? It's the same color as in the photo. Rat snake?.....I hope. Didn't even know there was a hole there....and I go in and out of the garage door all the time. Stuck hose into hole and it keeps running, and not filling up. It's under the driveway. Must be big hole!
Bubbles, here is a great site for us central Texans to help identify snakes and such.
http://www.bugsinthenews.com/snakes_in_central_texas_friend_or%20foe.htm
I think you have a blotched water snake. I've had a couple of those, too, especially since we have a large water garden. Fortunately, they are non-venomous, but I think they can be a bit aggressive. Had a sprinkler repairman out to do some work and the first thing he found was foot long snake (almost same color) in the valve box. Reminded me to never stick my hands in the valve boxes without poking around with a stick first.
Hope you're not filling your foundation with water!
Thanks Julie.....I think you're right. We do have a small water fountain in the front courtyard that some frogs have been enjoying each night. 'And a small pond in backyard. The photo of the blotched snake in my handbook (TX Monthly's Field Guide) was the closest to what we were seeing....but the coloring was a little different...that maroonish brown. The section we saw going into the hole was about 2" in diameter....according to DH. It was just huge..... according to me. I'll be a little more cautious poking around the pond now.
Appreciate the response and the great identification website. Sandi
Hope he's not after your froggies......:(
"eyes"
He's welcome to all those frogs he can catch. The noise they make premeates the walls of our house, as well as our neighbors'. We've had to catch buckets of them after 10 PM many times, and release them at the creek so the neighbors could sleep.... They come looking for a mate after a rain....
And there are no rats under your driveway. ;-)
Be like me, take him to a swap in a plant! Oh, how embarrassing that was.
Yeah Kristi....I think God punished me for laughing so hard about your snake incident.
Nothing's coming out from under the driveway now, CJ..... DH cemented the hole ....lots of cement...it kept falling down the hole. Maybe there's a cavern under the driveway.....he sure pumped a lot of water in before giving up forcing the snake out.
'Been a weird week......, burglary last Thurs in our quiet subdivision, and a forced entry the next day. Followed by... a woman pulled out of her driveway at 5:30 AM and a man popped the back window and tried to get in. We have lots of workmen still in the area because of the storm damage in May. And the sheriff's dept plans to "sweep" the creek area to make sure no one's camping there. I've started waiting till daylight to get the newspaper. Did I mention the coyote sightings early in the mornings? And we caught one of the raccoons that wrecked my pond and ate my water lilies night before last. Snake today was just the icing on the cake!
Raccoons wreck ponds and eat water lilies? Oh, my.
We've had our first raccoon (here) this year. I actually left out cat food for it for a couple of nights, until Patricia and a couple of others convinced me that wasn't a wise thing to do. It comes for the bird seed, and it's broken a couple of feeders in the process. But it hasn't bothered the pond or the pond plants or the pond critters.
It DID solve one mystery. One night one of my son's friends came over with a bunch of fish he'd caught, that he had no idea what to do with. My DH showed him how to clean and fry them, and then sent him where I was sitting outside to present me with the scraps for my compost. Well, I was relaxing and wasn't in the mood for burying fish heads, so I set the bag down to deal with later. Then I forgot about it and came inside. The next day, when I went out to deal with them, the whole thing was gone--bag and all. Not a sign that it was ever there. I couldn't figure out where in the world it went, until a couple of weeks later when I looked outside and saw a raccoon.
Good morning from Wildlife Central....wasn't room for the raccoons after this guy ate the bait last night, I guess. And (not to alarm, but) now we learn possums/rodents/cats are carrying typhus, and fleas are getting into homes and sickening humans in Austin.
pb....DH caught raccoon with apple slices, and possum dined on Cheddar's chicken tender....which goes to show you....they'll eat anything. Loved your fish story. Bet that raccoon told all his friends about your "restaurant!"
Boy, have I ever come a long way! Am horribly afraid of snakes...any kind...any size. Yesterday I moved a flower pot and a brown grass snake wiggled away. Stopped in a crack between the sand stone patio and tried to look dead. I didn't scream or run. Went about my business and when he thought I wasn't looking, he scrambled away. Heretofore, I would have been a block away and screaming my head off. All these threads about snakes lately has calmed me down some. But one as big that one...now that calls for screams and running.
Hope he won't come back.
Christi
Unless he figures out another exit, he won't be coming back, Christi. I'm not squeamish about most snakes anymore either. I think this one might be the one the tree trimmers showed me in the courtyard......the beeeg snake. I looked at it's head, as it was scurrying away, and said it was not poisonous because it's head was round and it was okay. I figured it fell out of the tree (rat snake) during the storms. (OT...I posted my mini baskets for you to see on antique forum) Sandi
we used to have a old metal bread shelve beside the door to the shed. One day going to the shed I heard rattling. Come to find out there was a rattler sitting on the shelf about in line with my arms. I have never run so fast or far.... Got the neighbor to kill it for me.
Just reading about that rattler made my skin crawl. I almost stepped on one when we lived in Tucson. It was curled up in the middle of a path. Luckily my DH grabbed me by the shoulders and swung my around. He killed it with a large brick. It was across the street from our house.
frog loving snakes/ hog nosed rattlers, can spread their neck like a cobras hood n hiss. Dont recall them being poisonous, but they look like a rattler n i"ve chopped em in 2 automatically, found in areas around water n are food specific. Water moccasins tend to leave foamy froth on plants where they r from their poison, yellow bellied black water snakes(stink! when alarmed), have a close cousin with mottled skin. Chicken snakes, rat snakes get over 7' long n live in the same holes as toads where we live, n are usually after eggs, chicks, rabbits n any rat that they can catch when hungry, tho usually the rule is they eat anything no larger than 3 times the size of their mouth. Copperheads live in holes in deep heat, under leaves where moist, under rocks, under houses, r typically a bit less aggressive than rattlers unless u catch them shedding n r a coppery or orange brown color that darkens with the time since they last shed (as most snakeskins). A Copperheads tail, well, their bodies are thick until the last bit which thins rather quickly.
Just back from the lake. We carried our latest "house guests" up there and relocated them somewhere near the Perdenales.............They had a hardy meal last evening of ham and strawberries. Catching two at a time means we must have a bunch more!
Awwww! I think they're purty cute! Personally, I feed them dried dog food because they don't cause any problems for me. Keeps 'em out of my trash cans. You can always drive them down here and I'll be happy to have the little monsters. They would have plenty of wildlife refuge next to me.
Hmmmm....be careful what you say. I just might take a few to your place. We're running out of drop-off spots. Set the trap last night, but forgot to bait it. Caught a 'coon this morning. It's endless..... Now they just want to get in even without any food.
I've got plenty of pasture/pecan orchards to accomodate. Besides....it might get you down here. Heehee.
Caught another one last night....beeeg one.... Running out of leftovers. Might have to start cooking again..nah...... Our neighbor told me I needed to get rid of the pond so we wouldn't attract wild animals. This from someone who has huge bird feeders with corn scattered under (so the squirrels won't jump on the feeder). 'Wife told me she keeps seeing rats...during the day... scurrying by the patio door! 'Can't figure why they're in her yard. I just bite my lip/tongue.....
I took the bird feeders down in our yard, thinking they were attracting night time visitors. We still have lots of birds. They eat over there, and get a drink at our place!
