Author Topic: identifying poisonous snakes. (Read 3565 times)

geronimotwo · « **on:** May 03, 2013, 10:10:54 AM »

my daughter caught a lovely specimen about 4 feet long. it is likely an eastern water snake, but i don't trust blotchy colored snakes in general.

http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/imgs/512x768/0000_0000/0502/0289.jpeg

it's markings are very similar to the lower one in the photo, i just don't like the look of the head as it is slightly triangular when seen from the top. when it strikes i don't see any fangs, but it is so quick that i'm not sure. i hate to kill it, as snakes do a lot of good around here. is there any way to diffinitevly tell whether it is poisonous?

roo_ster · « **Reply #1 on:** May 03, 2013, 10:19:39 AM »

Take a gander at Banded Water Snake photos (non-venomous) nd Copperhead (venomous) photos.

Might be the former, which are good snakes to have around.

dogmush · « **Reply #2 on:** May 03, 2013, 10:22:00 AM »

Got A rabbit handy?

Jamisjockey · « **Reply #3 on:** May 03, 2013, 10:27:18 AM »

Pics?

AJ Dual · « **Reply #4 on:** May 03, 2013, 10:28:07 AM »

If your foot looks like this... it was probably venomous.

geronimotwo · « **Reply #5 on:** May 03, 2013, 11:04:47 AM »

Quote from: jamisjockey on May 03, 2013, 10:27:18 AM

Pics?

i'll get some the next time i go out to my daughters "zoo".

Gowen · « **Reply #6 on:** May 03, 2013, 12:22:26 PM »

Why take a chance? Take it out into the woods somewhere and turn it loose. If it was me, I'd hate for my kids to get hurt or anyone else for that matter.

Jim147 · « **Reply #7 on:** May 03, 2013, 01:55:01 PM »

You got a pool? Throw it in. If the whole body is on top of the water when it's swimming you get moving target practice.

jim

geronimotwo · « **Reply #8 on:** May 03, 2013, 02:00:47 PM »

Quote from: Jim147 on May 03, 2013, 01:55:01 PM

You got a pool? Throw it in. If the whole body is on top of the water when it's swimming you get moving target practice.

jim

so, if it's a duck we have dinner?

RoadKingLarry · « **Reply #9 on:** May 03, 2013, 02:42:57 PM »

Quote from: Gowen on May 03, 2013, 12:22:26 PM

Why take a chance? ~~Take it out into the woods somewhere and turn it loose. If it was me, I'd hate for my kids to get hurt or anyone else for that matter.~~ Lift off and nuke the site from high orbit, it's the only way to be sure.

FTFY

Non-venomous snakes get a pass IF they aren't into the chickens or in the house. Poisonous sankes get terminated with extreme prejudice.

brimic · « **Reply #10 on:** May 03, 2013, 03:25:27 PM »

Quote

so, if it's a duck we have dinner?

If it floats on water then its heavy as wood?

vaskidmark · « **Reply #11 on:** May 03, 2013, 03:29:03 PM »

Put it in a glass jar/tupperware container with a tight lid and hie it, yourself, and daughterr to your local Cooperative Extension Service - the same folks you get soil sample results from before deciding it's not worth the time and money to spread 8 tons of lime just to grow grass that the neighborhood dogs will pee on and kill off anyhow.

They know stuff. Arcane stuff.

stay safe.

BobR · « **Reply #12 on:** May 03, 2013, 03:31:29 PM »

Quote from: brimic on May 03, 2013, 03:25:27 PM

If it floats on water then its heavy as wood?

Unless it's a Natalie Wood.

bob

Lee · « **Reply #13 on:** May 03, 2013, 04:09:49 PM »

Why kill it - even if it is poisonous?

Harold Tuttle · « **Reply #14 on:** May 03, 2013, 06:45:16 PM »

if its poisonous, don't eat it

Harold Tuttle · « **Reply #15 on:** May 03, 2013, 06:47:19 PM »

copperheads have a very triangular head compared to a common watersnake

common watersnakes have the angriest disposition of any snake.

Tallpine · « **Reply #16 on:** May 03, 2013, 07:42:04 PM »

We have rattlesnakes and "bull" snakes around here. They look a lot alike at first glance. The bull (gopher) snakes don't have rattles and are a lot easier to see. The rattlesnakes are the same gray-green color as the summer grass :(

geronimotwo · « **Reply #17 on:** May 03, 2013, 09:46:31 PM »

Quote from: Harold Tuttle on May 03, 2013, 06:47:19 PM

copperheads have a very triangular head compared to a common watersnake

common watersnakes have the angriest disposition of any snake.

this one strikes at anything that gets near.

Azrael256 · « **Reply #18 on:** May 03, 2013, 10:39:04 PM »

Dice the little bastard and ask a herpetologist to examine the chunks.

Cliffh · « **Reply #19 on:** May 03, 2013, 11:12:09 PM »

Quote from: Lee on May 03, 2013, 04:09:49 PM

Why kill it - even if it is poisonous?

Because it's a snake.

Harold Tuttle · « **Reply #20 on:** May 03, 2013, 11:17:11 PM »

commonwater snakes never calm down and become pet snakes

they will bite you every day for a month, there are many other snakes that make better pets

Jim147 · « **Reply #21 on:** May 03, 2013, 11:59:39 PM »

Quote from: geronimotwo on May 03, 2013, 02:00:47 PM

so, if it's a duck we have dinner?

The cottonmouth is the only snake that swims with its whole body on the surface of the water.

Quote from: Lee on May 03, 2013, 04:09:49 PM

Why kill it - even if it is poisonous?

They like to lie in the paths to the water to sun. Many vet trips and the losing big T to a bite have made me treat any snake that I can't ID and doesn't flee when I walk up the same as a rabid animal. I now have a little girl that likes to run wild and doesn't watch where she steps near as well as I would like.

I'm in a snake rich area but I give the common bug and rat eaters a free pass.

jim

cassandra and sara's daddy · « **Reply #22 on:** May 04, 2013, 07:45:01 AM »

same roe here

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using Tapatalk 2

280plus · « **Reply #23 on:** May 04, 2013, 08:39:23 AM »

I expected a pic or two of the current administration.

lupinus · « **Reply #24 on:** May 04, 2013, 09:29:14 AM »

Kind of hard to tell without pics. But my general rule is poisonous, or I'm on the fence and leaning towards poisonous, it gets a one way ticket to the great gopher field in the sky.

Non-poisonous snakes are good critters to have around. They do the same thing just as well without the potential risks

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Author Topic: identifying poisonous snakes. (Read 3565 times)