Snake ID needed!

Hello folks,

Not sure this is the right forum but I'll start here. Today I was cleaning up a saw dust
bin that the previous owner used for the horse stalls. As I was digging out the
very old sawdust, I threw four baby snakes along with the saw dust with the shovel.
They looked nasty - curled up and looked like they wanted to bite!

I can't find them in my N. American Reptile Guide book. I'm a bit nervous that
they might be rattle snakes. (I'm not a big fan of snakes but I keep trying to convince
myself some a good to have - like black snakes. But these are not black snakes)
Can you help me ID them?

Four pictures - Here's the first.

Tam

Here's a close-up (used a digital camera and got as close as I could so its not
really crisp but its the best I could do.)

Another with two - one stretched out & one ready to get me!
Tam

Last shot.
Tam

OK - maybe they're not rattlesnakes. I don't see any rattle.
But I do want to know what they are!
Tam

I feel silly now - after a few minutes googling Snake ID pages I found its a
Black Rat Snake. Just babies. The big ones are all black and I've seen
several here. Tam

I don't like spiders or snakes. Except black snakes who I see first and black and yellow writing spiders. GRRRRRRRRRR

It favors our NC Copperheads which look like that in the fall. They will be safe as they are not close to me.
We have dog pens and raise German Shephards so snake are not in our yard much.

Lavina

I don't like Spiders and Snakes and that ain;t what it takes to love me-you fool you foll

remember that song from the 70s or 80s. LOL

Yup Tammy - those are just Black Rat Snake babies. This time of year I have them all over the place - especially around the barn & around the manure/compost piles where I'm sure mom probably laid her eggs since it's so moist & warm.

I'm sure you already know how harmless they are & how terrific it is to have them around the barn as rodent control.

Yep. I'm with Lavina "I don't like Spiders and Snakes and that aint' what its takes... " but I know they
are both great allies in the war against pests. :-)

Glad they turned out to be something not so bad. But they did give me quite a scare!!!

Tam

Can't help but say they are just beautiful!!! I love the color of the blue. I've never seen young black snakes. I have some good pictures of ring snakes and garter snakes but I sure would love to have a good photo of these beauties.

Designart - the snake appearing "blue" is just due to the photographs/lighting.

In reality the snakes are a greyish putty color with brown markings. There is absolutely no blue in them at all - not even the slightest hint.

Oh...I'm brokenhearted...

thanks for the info!

Lol - I know. Wouldn't it be nice if they actually were that blue color?

This tiime of year the youngsters are popping up everywhere as the adult females absolutely ADORE my warm manure/compost piles for egglaying.

Since I find snakes so interesting, one year I kept a Black Rat snake youngster over the winter in a terrarium - just to observe it. I let it go come springtime. All in all, it was a very tame & friendly snake to deal with. I fed it frozen baby mice from the local pet store, which - as much as I also like pet mice - always gave me the giggles. The individually frozen baby mice were packaged under the name "Mice On Ice", & had pics of mice ice skating on the outside.

that's too funny. Mice on Ice. LOL You sure are a lot braver than me
to keep (even a baby) snake in the house!

And Designart - you're not far from me at all in Schwenksville! I just love
that town's name. And sorry the color was so misleading.

They sure are fierce looking babies! Did you see the way they coiled up,
poised to bite me? ooooo... could never have one in the house. I did find
them a few weeks later snuggled into my mulch pile. I managed to pick 'em
up (with my gloved hand) to put it somewhere safe while I got out the mulch
to spread.

Tam

Hi Tam...yes I guess we are pretty close to each other. If you're ever in Schwenksville stop in and say hello!