Snake!

[Kegger]

+1000 for corn snake.

And wook at all the big bad men who's afwaid of a widdle snake or spider.....

I love both, and you'll know it when you see me by my tattoos alone.

[Guest bkelm18]

Milk Snake:

Corn Snake:

Snake in Question:

Red Rat snake:

Aren't Corn Snakes and Red Rat Snakes the same thing?

[Guest crotalus01]

bkelm18, you are opening a can of worms with that question - short answer is no. Corn snakes are Elaphe gutata gutata, Red Rat Snakes are Elaphe moellendorfii. Same family (Elaphe) different subfamily. Subfamilys in snakes are determined by the number and type of scales on the head, bone struture and count differences, etc. Coloration and pattern rarely play into this, there are many different color morphs for all subspecies that do not affect the subfamily. A cornsnake is still gutata gutata regardless if it is albino, heterozygous, solid red, candy corn etc.

The picture you label red rat snake is actually a corn snake by the way.

Edited May 11, 2009 by crotalus01

[Guest bkelm18]

bkelm18, you are opening a can of worms with that question - short answer is no. Corn snakes are Elaphe gutata gutata, Red Rat Snakes are Elaphe moellendorfii. Same family (Elaphe) different subfamily. Subfamilys in snakes are determined by the number and type of scales on the head, bone struture and count differences, etc. Coloration and pattern rarely play into this, there are many different color morphs for all subspecies that do not affect the subfamily. A cornsnake is still gutata gutata regardless if it is albino, heterozygous, solid red, candy corn etc.

Ah ok sorry. I'm actually in the process of researching snakes because I want to get one as a pet. I think on one of the numerous websites I have read, they said the Corn and the Red Rat were the same.

[Guest canynracer]

woops! my bad....

Red Rat Snake

Edited May 11, 2009 by canynracer

[Guest SUNTZU]

I miss my boas.

:SIGH: Me too, bud.

[strickj]

Now that thing just looks down right deadly!

I would highly suggest the immediate removal of that boa for her protection!

[Guest kdpate]

GAH!!!

[texfrazer]

I miss my boas.

Did "The Body" get them from you in a cage match???

[Good_Steward]

I know about the eyes and pits, but I'll be damned if I'm going to get close enough to look.

I'll bet you see a LOT of copperheads on Signal.

You have to be more worried about the poison ivy up here. I swear, I moved up here 3 years ago, and I have NEVER seen so much poison ivy in one place in my life. I think it's the official city plant.

Snakes and Spiders = not too bad

Poison Ivy = get ya in a second

[memphismason]

[Guest JavaGuy]

You know, this thread kind of reminds me of when I was a kid. I remember neighborhood kids telling me that those "bluetail lizards are poison" and that "hoop snakes had a stinger in their tail."

Fact - Tennessee is home to rattlesnakes (couple of varieties iirc), copperheads (again, a couple of varieties) and the cottonmouth moccasin. Seems like I recall seeing somewhere that the range of the coral snake was further south. Still that gives us some venomous snakes to watch out for.

Snakes of Tennessee

Fact - many people misidentify ANY snake as being venomous because:

a) it scared the snot out of them when they almost stepped on it (from not watching where they were going and where they put their feet)

it was in a defensive posture (coiled and ready to strike, mouth open). Golly, it must be a poisonous snake to be a-doing that....

c) people are just generally scared of snakes, spiders and other creepy crawlies.

My understanding is that the usual range for cottonmouth moccasins is more of a west TN thing.. with some in the river country of western mid TN. However, last I heard they had quit map reading classes for snakes so some of them might stray a bit... ha!

Rattlers.. Copperheads.. Both have a range that extends across the entire state.

Yes, I'd probably off any venomous snake that was in my yard; otherwise, Mr Snake is more than welcome to eat the little critters.

Grin.. it's still up to you to watch where you step, what you pick up and where you plop your butt down.

[Guest mustangdave]

True stuff. illegal to kill snakes in these parts, the law makes no allowance for a snake being poisonous.

I ain't a fan of them either, but they do help with vermon. I am definitley not down with the vermon.

Mike...ya might wanna hire one on as chipmunk ninja...save on traps and such

[Guest crotalus01]

Rattlers are really the only ones you really need to be concerned about, they can deliver enough venom to kill, and if bitten its a definite hospital trip and all the associated costs, plus its an extremely painful bite. They can cause perminant loss of the use of a limb, nerve damage, and in really bad cases amputation can be the only option.

Coral snakes can range into eastern TN but they are very rare and they almost never bite.

Copperheads have a very painful bite but are almost never life threatening. Same for moccasins although you have a better chance of needing to see a doctor for a moccasin bite. FWIW moccasins have a very undeserved and exagerrated reputation for being aggressive - they will stand their ground against a person but if you don't mess with them they very rarely will mess with you (notable exception is when you are in the water with them).

[Guest JavaGuy]

Back in '82, my wife and I (relatively newly married then) went camping at Fall Creek Falls. Major accomplishment there.. she's scared of anything that flies, creeps or crawls...

At any rate, I set up my little tent and got most of our stuff unloaded before deciding to go rustle up some wood before it got dark. I was about to go looking for some good dry stuff and stopped to talk to the young couple in the site next to mine.

I could tell from his accent that he wasn't from the South so I asked where he was from...

Him - Maine.

Me - Okay.. do you have many snakes up in Maine?

Him - Nope.

Me - Ahhhhh.... okay, before we go looking for wood... don't pick up anything without looking around it for snakes. Watch where you put your feet. Don't step down onto the back side of a log without looking to see that it's clear.

Him - Okay

We went down the hill behind the family campgrounds.. lots of trees down in the bottom, lots of dead wood to be burned at the campfire. We had been picking up wood for about five minutes when he called me.

Him - Is this one of the snakes you were telling me about?

I tippie-toed back over and took a look. It was the biggest copperhead I've seen outside a zoo's reptile house. Its body was literally as fat as my wrist. Coiled and locked.

Me - Yes. I think we've got enough wood. Let's go.

And we tippie-toed back up to the top of the hill. When the wood ran out, we split a bag of charcoal between the two campsites.

[Smith]

Jeez you guys are bunch of wussies...

Fact - most (87%) snake bites occur because the person is trying to kill the snake. Also, copperheads are not very dangerous, even if one were to bite you you likely wouldnt even have to go see a doctor. I have been bitten twice by copperheads and I didnt bother with a doctor (I used to raise venomous snakes).

Identifying venomous/nonvenomous snakes is best done by looking at the underside of the tail (yeah not possible for you fearful ones) - look at the belly scales directly below the anal vent. Venomous looks like this: ______

____

___

__

Non-venomous looks like this: )(

)(

)(

)(

Elliptical pupils and triangular heads are not good identifiers because they are traits shared by both venomous and non-venomous snakes. Belly scales or looking in the mouth for fangs are the only completely reliable ways to identify if you are unsure.

I'm not checking out anything or anyones anal vent!

[Guest JHatmaker]

...look at the belly scales directly below the anal vent.

Now there's a first, never in a million years did I think I'd hear the word "anal vent" on a gun forum.

Wife - "Honey, come quick! There's a snake in the kitchen!!"

Husband - "Ehh, I'm right in the middle of Guns and Ammo TV, they're depating which is better; Glocks or XD's"

Wife - "But what if it's poisonous"

Husband - "Check it's anal vent!! I hope XD's win...."

[jgrauman]

Now there's a first, never in a million years did I think I'd hear the word "anal vent" on a gun forum.

Wife - "Honey, come quick! There's a snake in the kitchen!!"

Husband - "Ehh, I'm right in the middle of Guns and Ammo TV, they're depating which is better; Glocks or XD's"

Wife - "But what if it's poisonous"

Husband - "Check it's anal vent!! I hope XD's win...."

:rofl:

[Guest crotalus01]

You check the belly scale below the vent, not the vent itself. I see the humor, but I really wish more people here were willing to just leave the animals alone, or make the effort to relocate them to a more "appropriate" location rather than kill them.

Snakes serve a very important role in rodent control - just ask the folks in Texas where they had rattlesnake roundups followed shortly thereafter by an outbreak of Hanta virus because the rodent population spiralled out of control due to the removal of said rattlers.

At any rate, if you are really concerned there are better options than killing the snake - leave it be, or call the local pest removal person.

[jgrauman]

You check the belly scale below the vent, not the vent itself. I see the humor, but I really wish more people here were willing to just leave the animals alone, or make the effort to relocate them to a more "appropriate" location rather than kill them.

Snakes serve a very important role in rodent control - just ask the folks in Texas where they had rattlesnake roundups followed shortly thereafter by an outbreak of Hanta virus because the rodent population spiralled out of control due to the removal of said rattlers.

At any rate, if you are really concerned there are better options than killing the snake - leave it be, or call the local pest removal person.

very true. i love snakes! id rather have a snake in my walls than a disease carrying rat!

[Wingshooter]

Anal vent... I here I always thought that hissing sound was coming from their mouth

I see snakes swimming on top of the water at least a couple of times every summer on the Hiwassee and TN rivers (and where the two meet) around North Bradley and Hamilton Co. Do other snakes besides cottonmouths swim? I hope so.

I am pretty far to the East in TN.

[Guest Dean_JC78]

We got a Black Rat Snake here at my house. Actually I think we have 2-3 of them but am not sure. At least 2.

Anyway after we moved in here a couple years ago, my wife saw one of them first and freaked. She wanted me to kill it. After checking it out and figuring it was a black snake I left it alone.

After a few years we still them every now and then. Recently in just the past couple weeks we have seen the big one (about 4 1/2 feet) climbing a bush we have trying to get into a birds nest. My wife still asks me to kill it...

Personally I feel comfortable with it around. I have always heard (but have never seen) that Black Rat Snakes will take on the venom snakes. Who knows, but as stated by others here, they have a purpose and cause us no harm.

Now back in Central Virginia where I am from we supposedly had a lot of Rattlesnakes but in all my years I never saw one. However Copperheads seemed to be all over. Nasty and agressive IMO.

[Fadex]

I'm not gonna take the chance and look into it's eyes or check the scales near it's "anal vent". Poisonous or non poisonous, I don't want it anywhere near me.

[Guest JavaGuy]

Do other snakes besides cottonmouths swim?

Yes. I'm probably safe in saying all of them can swim. Obviously some snakes are more likely to be found in the water than others, but cottonmouths aren't the only snakes to be found in the water.

[Smith]

Water moccasins are found in water and can be very aggressive. They have been know to kill.