Well I was warned... while I was away today, Unfriendly returned.
Bob was able to get this picture since the water was clear. The dark circle under him is a shadow from a flower pot, otherwise the camera would only have captured the reflection of the sky. He's about 3 feet long.
We were scheduled for a storm later today and tomorrow so I haven't put out the Moth Balls YET!!!
If you could I ID him for me, it would be most appreciated.
Judy
I'm not familiar with a lot of snakes but if you can see the pupil of it's eye, that should indicate whether or not it's poisonous. I can't tell for sure from the pic, but they look round. Here's a statement from a Kentucky Snakes website.
The black part in the center of the eye (pupil) of harmless snakes is round. Poisonous snakes have egg-shaped or cat-like (elliptical) pupils
I can identify a copperhead, after my run in last summer, they have dark brownish red hourglass shapes down their backs, and a rat snake, but that's about it, sorry.
Also, most poisonous/viper type snakes have more of a triangle shaped head.
Hope you're able to get it identified.
Vicki
It may be a banded water snake.
looks like a florida Green Water Snake...bandeds are usually darker with more distinct markings but the copyright kind of blocks out his/her head in your pic
Water snakes are generally nasty. Not poisonous. Not a Mocassin or a copperhead.. If he is PIA then move him or kill him. Moving might be illegal, so do it on the sly.
Strictly, some uneducated guessing .. but it may could be a Queen snake.
The water distorts the pattern a bit, but they are certainly a water-loving crawly vermin!
Active day and night. Highly aquatic and an excellent swimmer. Drops into water when disturbed.
Magpye, Ohhhhhh!! While trying to find a picture of your Queen snake, I think I found him...
Copper-bellied & Yellow-bellied Watersnake
For a picture http://frogsandsnakes.homestead.com/plain.html
A quote from the below website, "Juveniles have vivid dark blotches down back, alternating with dark crossbars on sides."http://www.enature.com/fieldguides/detail.asp?recnum=AR0194
If this is him, it's endangered (dang!!)
What do ya'll think, I'm not good at this!!
Judy
I have never seen this type of snake before. I also think it is about to shed.
it certainly doesn't look like a cottonmouth. Also, in the first picture, I was not able to see the pits under their eyes, as is in all pit vipers.
Feed him goldfish and he will stay more.friendly.
trois
I enlarged the eye area, hopefully this will help
Judy
Maybe the above is a bit too blown up.... here is another.
What is that white area, where it's about to shed?
This message was edited Apr 7, 2006 9:10 AM
Google on Banded Water Snakes and I think you will find him. There are a lot of sites, but all the info on many of them point to that as the ID for Unfriendly.
ginni
edited to say that I agree that he is fixing to shed. This will tend to make him somewhat more aggressive, as his vision will be limited and he will be more likely to strike. While he is most likely non-poisonous, a bite will still be painful, and cause a nasty infection. It might be best to wait on putting out the mothballs, as you don't want to "trap" him inside your pool area.
This message was edited Apr 7, 2006 9:21 AM
Judy,
I know in my neck of the woods you can call wildlife rescue guys that will relocate the snake for you. It doesn't look poisonious, and kinda like the one we had in our pond. Ours was there to eat toads, and once it ate it left the pond.
Judy, I am sending four pictures. In the first is a cottonmouth in bright sun, with a very thin verticle slit in the pupil.
The second is one that was captured, and is very angry. He or she has raised her horns, and her pupil has become round.
The third is a broadbanded water snake, a favorite food of the cottonmouth, which in turn is a favorite food of Yellow Crowned Night Herons.
This message was edited Apr 7, 2006 11:11 AM
Number 2, the captured snake changed appearance with viper horns and round pupil.
number 3.
A broadbanded water snake in my lily pond.
And, a number 4. I ran across this pic of a newborn Cottonmouth. Momma cottonmouth comes to our lily pond 2 or 3 times each summer and gives birth to 2 12 inch young, then she leaves. Most of the young leave when they reach 18 inches or so. If they become agressive, we shoot them.
Sounds to me like you should get rid of him.
Magpye, you're pretty sharp to catch the shedding!
This message was edited Apr 7, 2006 8:28 PM
Easy for me to say - it's not my pond. But I would probably leave a nonpoisonous snake in place and appreciate the opportunity to see another aspect of the natural world.
I had a friend who raises geckos. She contends that it stretches us to feel close to non-mammalian animal companions and that the rewards are there but more suble than we experience with creatures with feathers or fur.
Julie
and you save money on your car insurance
.. LOL .. Kikisdad!! ..
The ol Coot luvs those commercials! The geniuses behind the Geico Gecko have certainly lent the lil guy such a credible personage .. haven't they!?!
billyporter .. I’d had my razor bran that mornin'! .. (hee)
(sorry, Judy) .. I'll get back on track - pronto!
Have you come any closer in determining what this lil slithering varmint mite be -?-
I'm at a loss for any other suggestions: other than a Common or Northern Water snake. (Believe someone may have already mentioned the possibility, on one of your threads).
- Magpye
LOLOLOL!! Good one kikisdad. ROFLOL!
I like the 'snake turn' this thread has taken, no need to get back on track. LOL
Well ... a man Bob knows down in Alabama who is with USDA said from what he could tell it was a Cotton Mouth. Also several people who have seen the pictures on my website emailed me the same. After looking at all the above pictures I have to agree.
It goes against our nature to kill anything, so I'm going to try everything possible to run it off.
I've gotten the Moth Balls and Lime has also been suggested. I'm planning on catching him in the pool then put down Moth Balls and Lime between him and the house. I'm going to try to only leave an open area, which leads back into the woods. When I see he is no longer in the pool, I'm going to start with the balls and lime from the outside of the pool and gradually work my way toward the woods.
Meanwhile I'm going to be contacting the Wildlife Agency asking for additional suggestions and if they can help me relocate it.
I have 2 'strays that came to say' who pride themselves on being snake dogs and have had puffy faces more than once, but they are not interested in this snake.... maybe one puffy face too many!! The other one is female miniature Spitz, who doesn't waste her time doing what she can make them do. lol lol
I don't have a soft place in my heart, I have a soft place in my head!!
Judy
It does not look like a cotton mouth to me. The shape of the head is all wrong. It does look like a water snake. They have round pupils. Borrow a pit bull. As a general rule they love to tangle with snakes. My Lil was a snake killing machine.
Kikisdad that was quick on the draw! Laughing!
Judy, if the inside of his mouth is white, then cottonmouth.
.. Judy ..
I've continued to search & tinker about .. in trying to find a species of snake that comes close to matching your 'unfriendly' ... and wanted you to take a gander at these various colorations/patterning of the Southern Water Snake.
Pay a bit of close attention to the 3rd & 4th images, in particular .. along with the 'warning' message (in RED) .. in the center of the text > http://www.enature.com/fieldguides/detail.asp?shape=1060&color=937&color=938&color=935&habitat=1060&curRegionID=2209&Submit=Search&curGroupID=7&lgfromWhere=&curPageNum=1
At the same web site .. one can perform an Advanced Search .. to
find a species by its colors, habitat, region, size, etc. ... Here > http://www.enature.com/fieldguides/index.asp
* Along with oodles of other wonderful tidbits about nature, of course!
((huggs))
- Magpye
You are such a Dear. I've been so busy I've tried my best to ignore him. He left for a few days, but comes back often. We have a lake/pond about 90 yards away.
This guy is unfriendly, but at the same time if he sees me coming as most time he does, he goes under water. His tongue flicks out constantly when he is above water, but he isn't extremely aggressive. It has never stood it's ground and opened it's mouth, as I would think a CottonMouth would do. If he wouldn't eat my fish I think we could get along. (Did I really type that!!!)
Judy
I’ve nothing of which to base my suspicions ... but, something deep in my ol nastee gut, jes don’t wash with the possibilities of him/her being a Mocassin ...
Jes don’t you go pushin’ the issue with this clever crawly varmint, tho' – k? .. (lol)
((huggs))
- Magpye
I totally respect him/her!!
I figure we're both ill tempered so neither of us should push it. (lol lol)
Dang I just took on a whole gang of 3-4 wheelers. Told them, that was once and if they came back on the property again, I would call the law.
A couple of weeks ago returning from town I happened to see a blue jeans pants leg easing it's way up into the weeds. I got out of my van and said, "Who are you? Come out, you are in deep trouble". It was a couple of kids skipping school. I told them they should keep their naughty business away from my farm.
Bob & I rescue all sorts of animals and it would really go against our nature to do harm to it.
Judy
When I tried to catch the snake because he was eating the goldfish and scaring the dickens out of me, evidently I punctured the lining on the Goldfish Pool because it was leaking badly. On Monday, we started removing the plants, to put in a new liner and there was the snake in the pool. The man who was helping to build raised flower beds asked if we wanted to kill it. My "yes" was louder than Bob's 'no relocate'. What a chase he gave us before he jumped out of the pool and the helper was able to detain him. I believe it was a Cottonmouth. Too bad I didn't think to take a picture before he went in the trash.
Eeeeekers, Judy !! ...
I shall softly .. (but not TOO regrettably so; for YOUR sakes) .. hum 'taps' for the long elusive booger. (lol)
Hate to hear about the liner puncture .. but am glad you'd not sustained a puncture by any fang, thru any of this either !!
((huggs))
- Magpye
Oh JUdy , I wish I had seen this earlier!! Hon, it looked like what we call an Oak snake, some call it a Chicken Snake! It has "almost" diamonds on its back like a rattle snake. Some people confuse it with a rattler! They usually stay in trees and attac k birds so finding them in a barn or chicken house is common! They do swim and eat fish,but are not poisonous! They will go where ever the water is if there has been a drought for "easy Pickins"
Eufaula, this dang snake scared me one to many times and so did the other one, big ole black/rat snake. This one stayed in the pool as much as he could. I'd get after him and he would disappear for a few days then right back he would come. He liked his body totally in the water with his head raised up out of the water. We have more than our share of the rain so no drought for sure.
If someone would bring me a snake and say "Judy, this is a rat snake" I wouldn't mind having it around, but the unknown is what got to me. The rat snake wasn't unfriendly but this guy was.
Click here to read about the Rat Snake http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/463875/
Slim Jim Tucker thought he was a dog.....
This message was edited Jun 4, 2006 9:28 AM
Yep, Ive litterally been chased by an oak snake! She was mad cause I had hit her with a hoe! She struck at me and then charged me but the Hoe won!!!!
I usually dont kill "good' snakes because they take care of any mice and field rats trying to get the chicken feed in the barn! But some times you do what you have to do,Besides run!LOL
