A beautiful snake

[Field28]

@Field28 - those Big TONGs for that Tiny Garter Snake ?? I can only hope there is a Woman holding those tongs? Or someone “training” to be a woman

There were actually two female sales agents freaking out because it was in their office. Had to act fast and get it out of there.

 

[Field28]

Freaking hate cottonmouths! If you are attentive, you can often smell them.

But I wouldn’t count on it.

I hate the damn things too. Rattlesnakes and copperheads generally get a pass from me unless I have to come back across their path in the dark or if they're in the yard, they have to die in those cases.
The copperhead that I posted the pic of, I just moved him along with a stick.

Only ever seen a couple of coral snakes in the wild and those were both very deep in swamps in old rotten logs while turkey hunting. They were both docile and didn't even notice me.

Moccasins on the other hand I have no use for!

 

[Hunt anything]

@odonata , as far as cottonmouth’s go that is a pretty one. In my neck of the swamp when they are adults they tend to turn black.

@Flipper Dude , I can vouch for smelling those things, sniffed out a few back when I was catching them to sell for research studies at Auburn.

 

[Field28]

Freaking hate cottonmouths! If you are attentive, you can often smell them.

But I wouldn’t count on it.

I've definitely smelled moccasins when they were in breeding balls in creeks.

I've always heard that copperheads smell like cucumbers, I never got close enough to a live one to find that out!

 

[Wyatt Smith]

@Wyatt Smith - we have “plenty” of Black Snakes AND Copperheads on my property in VA: Black Racers, Black Rat, and the beautiful Copperhead.

I’m sure you’re right. It always sounded like an old wives tale to me. I like to keep a black snake around the shed, they are pretty hard on mice.

 

[Field28]

I'm not a big housecat fan, but I will say that it's hard to beat a good old farm or country cat when it comes to keeping venomous snakes out of the yard.

I've also seen domestic pigs stomp and eat rattlesnakes while take multiple hits with no effect.

 

[WyoBull]

Yes, pigs are wicked in snakes. If you want to see a pig go bat sh— crazy, throw a snake in their pen.

 

[odonata]

@odonata , as far as cottonmouth’s go that is a pretty one. In my neck of the swamp when they are adults they tend to turn black.

The last one I had bumped into had turned dark as well. That's pretty common:

I scooped this pretty copper-colored juvenile cottonmouth out of the swimming pool with a net:

This copperhead was also by the pool. Being right next to a stream & snake habitat makes that a common occurrence:

But most of the time, it's just relocating the western black rat snakes out of the chicken coop:

 

[HankBuck]

There were actually two female sales agents freaking out because it was in their office. Had to act fast and get it out of there.

@Field28 - all the more reason to “Bare hand it” and impress those Ladies !

 

[HankBuck]

The last one I had bumped into had turned dark as well. That's pretty common:

View attachment 643156

I scooped this pretty copper-colored juvenile cottonmouth out of the swimming pool with a net:

View attachment 643157

This copperhead was also by the pool. Being right next to a stream & snake habitat makes that a common occurrence:

View attachment 643158

But most of the time, it's just relocating the western black rat snakes out of the chicken coop:

View attachment 643159

@odonata - thats a nice Fat Black snake - rarely see them that fat in the East —- also a nice Copperhead

 

[Hunt anything]

@odonata , finding snakes around the house is a common occurrence for me as well, various species of water snakes, grey rat snakes, corn snakes, scarlet king snakes among the most common non venomous snakes but far and away the most common is the cottonmouth. I work on a farm a mile away and at least once a week my wife calls me to come home and remove a snake that is too close to the house.

I had a big old Chesapeake Bay retriever that relished killing snakes, I think I had to medicate him a half a dozen times for bites. He would actually bring me the dead cottonmouths.

 

[HankBuck]

@odonata , finding snakes around the house is a common occurrence for me as well, various species of water snakes, grey rat snakes, corn snakes, scarlet king snakes among the most common non venomous snakes but far and away the most common is the cottonmouth. I work on a farm a mile away and at least once a week my wife calls me to come home and remove a snake that is too close to the house.

@Hunt anything - I have Never seen a Scarlet King Snake and would love to catch & photograph one….that would be a rare treat for me, Corn Snakes would be #2 on my wish list. Sounds like you live in a great area with a healthy and diverse reptile population

 

[odonata]

@odonata - thats a nice Fat Black snake - rarely see them that fat in the East —- also a nice Copperhead

In Arkansas, the black rat snakes tend to be long, fat & numerous...

 

[Hunt anything]

The scarlets are very secretive, the ones I’ve seen have been in rotten logs and leaf litter, makes you jump for a second when you see that flash of colors when moving a log. We do have the eastern coral snake but have not run into one yet.

 

[Hunt anything]

This is one of the scarlet king snakes that has come by for a visit. At first I thought it was a milk snake but the red nose is diagnostic to the king snake.

 

[Hunt anything]

Here’s another one that doesn’t get seen very often, crawfish snake. They mostly inhabit crawfish holes.

 

[odonata]

Mostly I see black rat snakes, cottonmouths & copperheads. Some of the less common ones are:

Speckled Kingsnake out by the mailbox.

A yellow-bellied watersnake by the back door.

Where's Waldo?

The pygmy rattlesnake from the previous photo.

A dark prairie kingsnake in the driveway.

 

[Hunt anything]

I’ve only seen 1 speckled king snake and it got away before I could catch it to get a good look at it, I’ve seen several Pygmy rattlesnakes on one of the barrier islands south of me but most of them are hamburger on the roads. There may be some on my place but I just haven’t seen one.

 

[odonata]

...on one of the barrier islands south of me...

I've seen snake markings in the sand on the barrier islands off the coast of Mississippi and the panhandle of Florida so I know they're there. But I don't think I've ever seen a live snake out in the open that I could identify. For some reason, I've never been to the barrier islands of Alabama.

A good friend of mine (our daughters were on the same soccer team), built a 14' drift boat in his barn. So we take it out to East Ship Island & Horn Island to camp & fish. We usually have the entire place to ourselves for days.

You can see Pascagoula off in the distance.

 

[Hunt anything]

On our piece of property on Bon Secour bay I’ve seen salt marsh snakes but they are like most other water snakes and are mean as hell. So I leave the alone.