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Flame #472211 05/18/17 04:40 PM
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great story ken....lol


Fishing has never been about the fish....

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catmandoo,
Snakes have very dirty mouths, so you might take precautions to prevent infection if you haven't done so already.
A couple days ago I saw a black rat snake that had climbed up the side of my chicken house to get at a bird's nest. The birds attacked it, and it dropped off, but the next day the birds weren't going back to the nest, so I guess the snake got their chicks during the night.

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Rather get bit on the tongue than lose my worm !


Do nature a favor, spay/neuter your pets and any weird friends or relatives.
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O.K. you Texas guys. What kind of a snake is this?


I was at a clients/friends place near Miller Grove last month, and he saw about 18" of this guy sticking out of a wood duck nesting box. I hurried up, grabbed a ladder, climbed up and yanked it out of the nesting box after he guessed that it was NOT a cottonmouth. It had only swallowed one egg, and it wasn't very happy that I interrupted it's meal.

He then said "Look in there to make sure there isn't another one in there!" Oh He.. No I said, there ain't no way I'm sticking my eyeball up to the hole to look inside, but I did stick my phone in and took a picture. There were still 13 eggs in the nesting box.

I picked it up and we drove it about 1/2 mile away and relocated it. It was a bit over 4' long and about 3" across at the thickest part. It was NOT a happy snake...........

I was surprised at how strong it was.


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Diamond back water snake would be my guess if it was in a duck nest box

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Looks like a rat snake to me.

http://srelherp.uga.edu/snakes/elaobs.htm


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Prairie king snake?

Flame #472352 05/20/17 11:59 AM
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+1 on rat snake, maybe the gray variant or a juvenile (nice picture of one on the link wbuffetjr posted)


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Flame #472357 05/20/17 01:17 PM
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Rat snake makes sense based on their arboreal habits.

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I don't want to know, nor do I know much about Texas snakes.

I' no herpetologist. I've spent enough time in the outdoors over the last six decades to know the bad ones from those that people just don't like.

But, if I would have run run across a snake in any pond, river, or lake in this area, that looked like the one in your picture, I would probably have labeled it either a common water snake or a northern water snake (probably not probable in Texas).

Because of their markings and coloration, they are frequently identified around here as being "really big copperheads" which they ain't.

The water snakes in our area get quite a bit bigger than copperheads. If you find a 4-5 footer, you can be pretty well assured it isn't a copperhead.

From my experience with water snakes, they aren't harmless, but they also are not much more than a nuisance where people with odiophobia ophiophobia are rampant.

I've encountered a lot of them in and around water. I've never been bitten, but they can act quite aggressively. Much of their lives ares spent as being the "buzzards" of the water. They obviously don't use germ killing mouth wash. Their bites need to be thoroughly cleaned to prevent infections. If I ever get bit by one, I expect I would go to an emergency room to have the bite properly cleaned.

Names of snakes change greatly with localities. A "rat snake" in this area, it is usually a fairly stout black snake with a lot of white on its chin and belly, and sometimes on its body. They are similar looking to black racer snakes, but our black racers usually have white that doesn't go too far back from their chin. I think each of them have at last a dozen local different names. The juveniles of both look somewhat similar to juvenile the water snakes.

Time to go blow all of the debris away from around the house, decks and garages. I'm starting to see various kinds of snakes looking for love.

Here are a couple of my non-scary snake posts from over the years.

Snakeprise in the Tomato Patch

Bad Attitude

Slithery Ken


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This wood duck nesting box was on a metal pole, maybe 100 feet from the water and it had an inverted metal funnel for a snake guard that was about 24" across. It was firmly attached to the pole, it didn't tip back and forth, so I'm assuming that is how the snake was able to slither up and over the edge of it.

I had no idea how long it was, as it only had it's tail sticking out of the hole, and was slowly making it's way completely into the nest box. Once the ladder was in place I had to get up there fast and grab it before it went completely inside.

My face, when I was standing at the top of the "A" frame ladder was a few inches below the hole going into the nesting box, so when it looked like it's head was coming out of the box, I gave it a good fling away from me. It landed about 20' away and curled up like you see it. When I started to poke and prod it so I could pin it's head to the ground, it regurgitated the one egg that it had swallowed, but it had broken inside of it on it's trip to the ground.


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Originally Posted By: catmandoo

Names of snakes change greatly with localities. A "rat snake" in this area, it is usually a fairly stout black snake with a lot of white on its chin and belly, and sometimes on its body. They are similar looking to black racer snakes, but our black racers usually have white that doesn't go too far back from their chin. I think each of them have at last a dozen local different names. The juveniles of both look somewhat similar to juvenile the water snakes.


Rat snakes actually have a few different color phases. Check out the photos in the link I posted. The black with white chin phase is one of the pics. I have caught them like that in TN, but every single one I have ever caught in GA looks identical to the one Esshup posted.

They are amazing climbers. One time, I caught one climbing straight up a vertical concrete wall of a tunnel under the interstate. It was going after bats in the tunnel. Shortly after I grabbed him he threw up a bat.


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I had to Google rat snake to see all the color forms. I also had only seen black ones. We really have no poisonous snakes at our location so I encourage the snakes.

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Originally Posted By: wbuffetjr
Originally Posted By: catmandoo

Names of snakes change greatly with localities. A "rat snake" in this area, it is usually a fairly stout black snake with a lot of white on its chin and belly, and sometimes on its body. They are similar looking to black racer snakes, but our black racers usually have white that doesn't go too far back from their chin. I think each of them have at last a dozen local different names. The juveniles of both look somewhat similar to juvenile the water snakes.


Rat snakes actually have a few different color phases. Check out the photos in the link I posted. The black with white chin phase is one of the pics. I have caught them like that in TN, but every single one I have ever caught in GA looks identical to the one Esshup posted.

They are amazing climbers. One time, I caught one climbing straight up a vertical concrete wall of a tunnel under the interstate. It was going after bats in the tunnel. Shortly after I grabbed him he threw up a bat.


wbuffetjr,

It would be great to have a serious hobbyist or professional herpetologist here on the Pond Boss site. Maybe you are that person. We get a lot of questions about snakes.

I'm not sure who started it -- probably (a trouble maker like one of my really good friends ... grin) Dave Davidson. Since then, many of us long-time Pond Boss members have continued to identify most pond-related unidentified snake photos as those dreaded "copper-headed rattle moccasins".

I've seen one heck of a lot of different kinds of snakes in my 70 years. Growing up where I did, I could pretty much identify any snake that came across my path.

Since our Uncle Sam invited me to visit many places without ice and snow many years ago, I have become somewhat leery of the snakes I had not met in my non-native territory. My career took me to many places above and below the equator. Few of the snakes I met looked like those around the Lake Superior Basin. Many didn't look friendly. I knew that not all snakes are unfriendly. I've found that except for some very minor differences, way too many friendly vs. grouchy snakes all look very similar in their different stages of life.

It is kind of like differentiating a Texoma Texan from a Texoma Oklahoman. Then, throw in a ****** wannabe who tries to look and sound like one of them. It doesn't take long to find that somebody has just cut off a piece of someone's ear!

Anyway, snake identifying and description inputs like yours would be greatly appreciated. It could help to keep our legless neighbors from being harmed, while helping those of us with legs and arms from being harmed.

Regards,
Ken



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Originally Posted By: catmandoo


wbuffetjr,

It would be great to have a serious hobbyist or professional herpetologist here on the Pond Boss site. Maybe you are that person. We get a lot of questions about snakes.

I'm not sure who started it -- probably (a trouble maker like one of my really good friends ... grin) Dave Davidson. Since then, many of us long-time Pond Boss members have continued to identify most pond-related unidentified snake photos as those dreaded "copper-headed rattle moccasins".

I've seen one heck of a lot of different kinds of snakes in my 70 years. Growing up where I did, I could pretty much identify any snake that came across my path.

Since our Uncle Sam invited me to visit many places without ice and snow many years ago, I have become somewhat leery of the snakes I had not met in my non-native territory. My career took me to many places above and below the equator. Few of the snakes I met looked like those around the Lake Superior Basin. Many didn't look friendly. I knew that not all snakes are unfriendly. I've found that except for some very minor differences, way too many friendly vs. grouchy snakes all look very similar in their different stages of life.

It is kind of like differentiating a Texoma Texan from a Texoma Oklahoman. Then, throw in a ****** wannabe who tries to look and sound like one of them. It doesn't take long to find that somebody has just cut off a piece of someone's ear!

Anyway, snake identifying and description inputs like yours would be greatly appreciated. It could help to keep our legless neighbors from being harmed, while helping those of us with legs and arms from being harmed.

Regards,
Ken



Haha, well I could probably qualify for serious hobbyist, but not a professional herpetologist. My youngest brother and I have been into snakes most of our lives. Between the two of us we have had all kinds of critters, especially snakes/reptiles. We had everything from Rat Snakes to Copperheads and Cobras to Rhinoceros Vipers. My brother actually had a cobra get loose inside his house! Shortly after that he got out of the venomous stuff. At one point I even had a Nile Crocodile. For YEARS we would go snake hunting with friends just to see what we could catch. Over the last few years I have gotten out of the hobby. These days I only have a small Eastern Kingsnake for my son that we caught in our yard. However, my youngest brother has gone on to become one of the top Reticulated Python breeders in the country and has more snakes than ever.


Sooo, MOST of the time I can ID a snake pic as easily as you guys ID all those fish pics. There are only a couple non venomous species in North America that can be tough and then I can narrow it down to one or another. That's probably where my lack of true professionalism shows.


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Originally Posted By: esshup
O.K. you Texas guys. What kind of a snake is this?


I was at a clients/friends place near Miller Grove last month, and he saw about 18" of this guy sticking out of a wood duck nesting box. I hurried up, grabbed a ladder, climbed up and yanked it out of the nesting box after he guessed that it was NOT a cottonmouth. It had only swallowed one egg, and it wasn't very happy that I interrupted it's meal.

He then said "Look in there to make sure there isn't another one in there!" Oh He.. No I said, there ain't no way I'm sticking my eyeball up to the hole to look inside, but I did stick my phone in and took a picture. There were still 13 eggs in the nesting box.

I picked it up and we drove it about 1/2 mile away and relocated it. It was a bit over 4' long and about 3" across at the thickest part. It was NOT a happy snake...........

I was surprised at how strong it was.


esshup, What kind of snake is this? Ha! Under the same conditions, it would be a dead snake smile


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Tracy
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I understand the instinctive fear and desire to kill snakes by some (my father is of the same mind). However, snakes play an important role in the ecosystem and many species are becoming rare. Especially for non-venomous snakes, please try to just avoid contact. Losing a species due to unfounded fear, especially a beneficial species, is sad. They are called rat snakes for a reason.

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Rah, I am not afraid of all snakes, and have let many slide by, but the water snakes tried to take over the pond. I had too many(seeing 15 a day is too many) and if I had one going into or out of my duck boxes, he would be gone. I want ducks , not egg eating snakes. I also don't want copperheads or rattlers or water moc's. all of them are here, along with coral snakes also(so I hear) never seen one. You posted u r in an area with little to no venomous snakes. That is not the case here and attitudes change, mine did.


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I got a call from one of my rural neighbors about a month ago. he asked about a guy hunting rattlers on my place. He's a professional and sells the meat, rattles and skins. I don't worry about them unless they are around the house or ponds. Others get a pass. Then he called back to say it wasn't going to happen. Evidently, there is a quota of 8,000 pounds on our region and it had been reached. I had no idea.


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Originally Posted By: Dave Davidson1
Evidently, there is a quota of 8,000 pounds on our region and it had been reached.


yikes!


Fishing has never been about the fish....

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I get it on the poisonous snakes, not so much on the water snakes. We have a lot of those and they are welcome at our ponds and wetlands. Although very aggressive, I have no problem with them. My son found they do not make very good pets:) Not sure how many times I caught non-venomous snakes as a kid or how many times I got bit. Compared with disturbing ground-nesting hornets (yellow jackets), a little nip from a snake is nothing to me. Hornets are met much more aggressively by me. To each his or her own.

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Originally Posted By: Zep
Originally Posted By: Dave Davidson1
Evidently, there is a quota of 8,000 pounds on our region and it had been reached.


yikes!


+1 on the Yikes! That is a lot of rattlers.


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Originally Posted By: Dave Davidson1
I got a call from one of my rural neighbors about a month ago. he asked about a guy hunting rattlers on my place. He's a professional and sells the meat, rattles and skins. I don't worry about them unless they are around the house or ponds. Others get a pass. Then he called back to say it wasn't going to happen. Evidently, there is a quota of 8,000 pounds on our region and it had been reached. I had no idea.


Note to self.

Don't EVER accept an invitation to Dave Davidson's farm. Definitely, DON'T EVER think about asking my wife to accompany me on such a visit -- even though she really enjoys Dave's company and thinks he is a somewhat sane and normal person (like me). grin cry



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Ken, I don't worry about the snakes and days go by without seeing one. They prefer the sweeter meat of Scandahoovian Hillbillies.

Actually, I very rarely see one and don't even watch for them or where I walk. I know they are there but aren't much of a problem. On the rare occasion that I do see one, they get a pass unless they are around the house or ponds. And that's probably been 3 or 4 years.


It's not about the fish. It's about the pond. Take care of the pond and the fish will be fine. PB subscriber since before it was in color.

Without a sense of urgency, Nothing ever gets done.

Boy, if I say "sic em", you'd better look for something to bite. Sam Shelley Rancher and Farmer Muleshoe Texas 1892-1985 RIP
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That snake looks too big-bodied to be a rat snake compared to the two I've seen at my place.

My wife and I picked up a small-city advertising periodical in Lumberton, ms. on Saturday morning and there was an add placed by someone who said they would come to your property to catch rattle snakes and water moccasins for FREE! Jodi and I pondered why they would do it for free. From this thread, I guess they sell the rattle snake meat but what about the moccasins? Is there market for the venom or meat?


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