Be Careful Snakes Are Out

[Carolina Tom]

Be careful when you are out hunting. I ran across this little fellow last weekend... blends in really well with the grass.

 

[TrpnBils]

That would be the best find of a day in my opinion!

<--- (as evidenced by my profile picture)

 

[Carolina Tom]

That would be the best find of a day in my opinion!

<--- (as evidenced by my profile picture)

I like the snakes too. I save the turtles and the snakes whenever I see them. I was really careful with this one, as I didn't want to get bitten, he was a little agitated at having been caught. I took the little rascal up into the woods and let him go... hopefully, no one will bother him and he can go about his "snake business". GL&HH... an watch your step...

PS: That is the second copperhead that I caught in a week.

 

[mikeraydj]

Never get me close to a poisonous snake! We have rattlers here.

 

[dirtlooter]

I haven't seen one of those in at least a week, looks like a small one, it will still make you pretty sick. one of the reasons I always look down and watch where
I step. Between them, the ground rattlers, the timber rattlers and the cotton mouths you need to be alert. I have moved a few, have killed a few where little kids were present. not as nimble as I once was but still catch them and show the kids or adults the fangs and why you have to respect them. great pics Tom!

 

[penzfan]

The old 38 Special Shot Shells work great on those guys

 

[Tnmountains]

Good looking copper head. Looks like it has just molted. Wicked bite be careful friend of mine lost two fingers to one.

 

[Peyton Manning]

beautiful snake, good on ya for saving him

 

[Rawhide]

If its in the yard of house it dies. I cut em up in pieces and bury them various corners of the yard. They mate with black snakes too, so any snake is not to be toyed with. As a child I would catch tham and chase the adults and get a whoopin. But it was worth it.

I live in the desert now, no copperheads here. But I have stepped on few small rattlers. They didnt bite just moved away and took a stance and let me know they were there. I dont mess with em in wilderness. Now once came across a small den of babys, didnt like that at all.

 

[CoilyGirl]

Yeah he's a pretty good lookin snake I guess as far as snakes go.

 

[luvsdux]

Rattlers, but no copperhead out here in N Idaho. Pretty snake and as long as it wasn't a threat I'm glad you let it go.
luvsdux

 

[mamabear]

Copperheads can pack a powerful hurt, but a man died a couple weeks ago from one. They said it bit him twice & I guess he had a severe reaction to the venom. I have seen more of these little monsters this yr then in any other yr.

 

[Ocean7]

yep picked up a 4 foot PVC pipe this past weekend that was half sunk in the dirt. Out popped a 3 foot snake. Was I surprised! *L* harmless one though - I watched him head into the rocks.

 

[TrpnBils]

They mate with black snakes too, so any snake is not to be toyed with.

As a biologist I have to speak up on this. THAT statement is entirely false, and speaks volumes about the amount of ignorance surrounding snakes in general. You're not the first person I've heard say this, unfortunately.

"Black snakes" (i.e. Black Rat Snakes, or less often, Black Racers -- 2 different but similar looking species) are oviparous...they lay eggs. Copperheads (and the rattlesnakes, for that matter) give birth to live young. These two reproductive strategies are COMPLETELY incompatible and it doesn't matter how many times they give it the ole "college try", they'd never, ever successfully reproduce. Don't believe me? The PA Fish and Boat Commission even addresses this on their website: Frequently asked questions - amphibians and reptiles

Also, South Park addresses species incompatibility in their episode "An Elephant Makes Love to a Pig"....having them cross breed is just as likely as the situation above: Link

 

[Frankn]

I don't like poison snakes, but have none on my property in Maryland. A neighbor about 1/2 mile away in PA. has copperheads that live in rocks at the river banks. I have big black snakes and red rat snakes. I gurss thay keep the coppers away. Black snakes eat copperheads. I also have about 6" long thin black snakes with a gold band around there neck. I have seen one snake I could not identify. It was a between 2' and 3' long, about 2"+ in dia and had a green zig zag stripe down his back. His body was black. Maybe I discovered a new species! lol I once watched two big black snakes mate, boy are they well hung while in action which is slow motion.
Frank...-

 

[DigIron2]

cool find,glad you didn't step on it.Them suckers really blend in with leaves too.Last summer I almost stepped on one curled up with his head tucked on his back, sleeping in the shade by a creek.He was about as big around as a baseball.I didn't kill it,but I had to mess with him.I took a stick and touched him on the head and he didn't move,my first thought was that maybe it was dead,the second time I touched it he struck the stick like lightning, with a BIG mouth spand.It wouldn't have been a good time had I stepped on it!I wont kill them in the woods,I figure they have a purpose too!But gotta be careful letting them linger around your place.They are active at night as well.

 

[TrpnBils]

I don't like poison snakes, but have none on my property in Maryland. A neighbor about 1/2 mile away in PA. has copperheads that live in rocks at the river banks. I have big black snakes and red rat snakes. I gurss thay keep the coppers away. Black snakes eat copperheads. I also have about 6" long thin black snakes with a gold band around there neck. I have seen one snake I could not identify. It was a between 2' and 3' long, about 2"+ in dia and had a green zig zag stripe down his back. His body was black. Maybe I discovered a new species! lol I once watched two big black snakes mate, boy are they well hung while in action which is slow motion.
Frank...-

Those ones you're talking about with the yellow ring around the neck also have a yellow/orange belly, right? They're called Northern ringneck snakes - eat salamanders, etc. They're pretty neat little guys and max out around a foot most of the time. Couldn't tell you about the other one though, but my guess is it would be a melanistic-type garter snake. Their patterns are VERY variable, especially in PA and surrounding areas. There are full melanistic (black) ones that live in various places, specifically further north in their ranges (I know of one population in northern Ohio, but there certainly are others. My guess is you found a hypermelanistic version, even though it had some other colors on it.

 

[Tnmountains]

As a biologist I have to speak up on this. THAT statement is entirely false, and speaks volumes about the amount of ignorance surrounding snakes in general. You're not the first person I've heard say this, unfortunately.

"Black snakes" (i.e. Black Rat Snakes, or less often, Black Racers -- 2 different but similar looking species) are oviparous...they lay eggs. Copperheads (and the rattlesnakes, for that matter) give birth to live young. These two reproductive strategies are COMPLETELY incompatible and it doesn't matter how many times they give it the ole "college try", they'd never, ever successfully reproduce. Don't believe me? The PA Fish and Boat Commission even addresses this on their website: Frequently asked questions - amphibians and reptiles

Also, South Park addresses species incompatibility in their episode "An Elephant Makes Love to a Pig"....having them cross breed is just as likely as the situation above: Link

I agree. No cross breading there. I have a picture somewhere I took of a pile of copper heads trying to mate a female The snake you do want around is the King snake. It will eat other snakes and is immune from the bite. They like a black snake and rattler will beat their tail when annoyed.

 

[OldJerseyGirl]

I love in Southern New Jersey and have never seen a poisonous snake. We have plenty of the big black snakes. In fact that is all I have seen in the last maybe eight or ten years. We used to find many of the Eastern Hog Nosed snakes. Beautiful and very docile. Loved them. But have not seen one in years. I think our wild turkey population, which has exploded here, have killed them off. Too many turkeys. Sad to see them go. That is what happens when they bring in these animals that are not native to this area.
P.S. Now we have coyotes that they introduced to control the turkeys. Trouble is the ones we have seen are as big a a small German Shepherd? Never ends.

 

[Peyton Manning]

nope, humans are sooooo smart!