This small snake is in my yard in southcentral Texas. Anybody know it?
This message was edited Sep 26, 2009 11:19 PM
Snake ID
Copper head. A venomous pit viper.
Oh...that's not good! I've been hearing more snake stories lately and then I saw this one last night. A lot of people or pets have been bitten by snakes this year in drought-stricken areas in Texas. Much more than normal. Guess the recent rains wouldn't automatically make us safer from them.
I have a copperhead that shows up in my backyard from time to time, so I'm very familiar with that color/pattern. Also, if you look closely in your photo, you can see the cat-like [slit] pupil in its eye. That is a definite sign that this is a venomous pit viper and not a look alike. When you see that type of eye, keep away.
I don't know whether dry condition make snake bites more likely, but I do know that wet conditions will not prevent them. We get an average 52in of rain annually. It is hot, humid, and wet here, but we still have plenty of snakes.
To dissuade the copperhead that was hanging around my house, I stopped feeding the birds. I hated to do that, but the bird seed was attracting rats/mice from the nearby forest. The combination of birds nests with eggs and baby birds along with rats and mice (outside), was attracting the snakes to my backyard. Food (mice, rats, bird eggs, baby birds, etc) attract snakes. I haven't seen the snake for 2 years now since I took down the bird feeder (which I really hated to do).
With snakes in the area, it's a good idea to be careful where you step and where you put your hands. Don't walk in tall grass, weeds, etc. Don't stick your hand into thick vegetation (as when picking vegetables, pruning, or weeding) without making a careful visual check first. The one thing that surprised me about the copperhead that used to be in my yard a lot was its tendency to stand its ground when I came near it. I always thought that snakes would hear or see me and leave the area, but that was not the case with the copperhead. It always seemed to freeze and stay put as I walked near it. I found this especially scary as I figured if I failed to see it (and it didn't run away) I would be at greater risk of being bitten.
I also started wearing knee high, rubber garden boots when working in the back yard. They won't necessarily provide 100% protection but may deflect a bite enough to prevent or minimize the injection of venom. Before I removed the bird feeders and thus his food source, I [reluctantly] shared the backyard with the copperhead for some 4yrs. During that time I ran across the snake way more times than I care to think about. By taking precautions to watch where I walked and where I put my hands, I managed to stay safe.
If you want to get rid of it, you might check around to see if you can find a snake specialist in your area who will come and get the snake. Often these people will come and get venomous snakes from populated areas and relocated them to areas away from people. Many do this at no charge. They do it because they care about the snakes and wish to move them away from humans for the benefit of all concerned.
Good luck to you. Hopefully you won't see him/her around again.
I have been feeding birds and deer and putting out containers of water for wildlife, because the drought got so severe everything was starving to a point I've never seen in my lifetime. The theory I've heard about the snake bites and the extreme drought was that the snakes already living not too far from us that would normally tend to mostly stay away from people were suffering (like all wildlife were) and moved to a better habitat...yards that were watered or had water features...or at least they were doing their hunting in such yards. We had about 14 inches of rain last year (less than half our normal rainfall) and this year was following that pattern, with the added stress of unusually high temps this summer...both high temps, low rainfall and low aquifer levels were setting all-time records during the summer. Even the mosquitos completely disappeared for about a month and a half...I'd never seen that happen in the summer, ever! Unfortunately the mosquitos are back now. Other insects are coming back a lot more slowly. Yeah, I'd hate to stop feeding the birds now. The migrating birds are coming through and won't find much of anything to eat in the wild, even after the rains we had. I might consider trying to trap the snake if I see it again...maybe call some snake organization. I don't hate snakes or anything. The harmless snakes that normally are around here I don't worry about. They are welcome to stay.