I found this dude off our porch and took a pic to identify him. Unfortunately there is not a snake in the 33 species listed as occurring in Kentucky that looks a lick like this one. Anyone have any ideas?
This is just a guess since I can't see the full head detail, but I believe it is a Hognose snake (Heterodon Platyrhinos). It is non-venemous but does have some physical characteristics of the copperhead. They are known to play dead when threatened. I used to see alot of these as a kid in South East Texas. Initially they would scare the Begeesus out of you, then we took them home to scare Mom.
We have hog-nosed here but I've never seen one with color like this plus his nose wasn't turned up. His head is pictured but he flattened it and was hissing something fierce at one of the cats.
The "hissing" would be consistent with the behavior of a hognose snake. That is a common reaction before they "play dead". Looking closer at the picture I can see what looks like a protrusion at the tip of his nose. It may not be turned up, but I would almost bet that it is a hognose.
KC,
TAC5 has it about right. Hognose have a wide color variation. Some of them mimic pygmy rattlers, others (like yours) remind me more of a canebrake rattler. They rarely get over 18", and make up for it by putting on a great hissy fit when cornered.
My son had a pet hognose he named "Conan". He would take frogs and water right out of your hand, and sleep in a pocket. He would hiss violently at the cats, but never once offered to bite.
Interesting about the nose, because without a turned up nose, it's definitely not a hognose snake. It's just too hard to tell without a good shot of the whole body.
I believe both of you are correct. I had no idea that they had color variants like this among the species. I found this pic on google (http://fwie.fw.vt.edu/VHS/Heterodon%20platirhinos%20(Eastern%20hog-nosed%20Snake)0006.jpg this site wouldn't let me post the image) and it looks to be the same pattern. All of the hognose snakes I've seen around the farm have been drab by comparison.
As for his nose it could be I didn't notice it due to looking top down at him. I also had a stick holding the ivy back to take the photo and harrassed him with it a bit, he never struck or played dead.