Gun Dog Forum

It was waiting next to my front door this am.

Pic is gone as the snake? Where do you live? We have bull snakes here that seem to like the heat concrete gives off.

the picture is gone

invisible snake

sorry bout that, it's back up.

I was raised in Houston. Anyway, I have no idea what that is. It looks like a rattlesnake from coloring but it is obviously not. The brown and rat snakes in the area don't look like that. Not a TX King snake. Not a copperhead or water moccasin. Hmmm...... sorry.

The kind that I usually destroy with the shovel! I will be looking forward to finding out as well.

Nitrex

I think it's just a rat snake, but I'm not sure.

edit - I googled 'texas rat snake' and the images it returned resembled that picture the most.

I followed the instructions at a snake ID link I found and it told me it was an eastern hognose, but comparing the pics, I think that's wrong.
So, Regis, I'm going with texas rat snake. final answer.

Be careful if you dont know how to handle a snake, some altho not poisonous can still break the skin and give you some bad infections. Shovel behind the head then bury the thing if you are afraid. A rat snake does more good than bad IMO.

most poisoness snakes have a wedge shaped head..this snake does not seem to be shaped that way. Also usually a poisoness snake will have pupils like a cat instead of a round pupil and they will have a extra set of holes in the nasal area. Does look like a scary snake and I woud not kill it due to ignorance. Just move it outside to another area. They keep the mice and moles ect under control. Its def. not a rattler so be cool. Maybe its something that got away from a collector in the area. Good luck

It looks like a Fox snake to me. BTW - lots of snakes like this will "rattle" their tail like a rattle snake to freak you out!! I hope you keep it around.....

a non poisoious beneficial one let it go

look at the eyes if they have a pupil thats a vertical slit they are venomous, if they have a round pupil they are good to have around. This works for everything in the US except coral snakes

Dead if it was at my house

Its def. not a rattler so be cool.

Maybe its something that got away from a collector in the area.

:roll:

Yea, probably why no one can id it,,,,, as it's a rare possionous varriety from another country.

Might box it up and mail it COD to some of the folks here that are quite fond of it. Other wise..... get the shovel.

Jeeze.

Rodger

I have an email shout out to the Houston Audobon Society for you. They have some snake photos on their site, but it's still hard to identify anything. It's late now, but hopefully someone will get back to me tomorrow. In my mind, letting it leave would be a good idea or safely move it to another location. To kill something, when you're not threatened, just because you don't know what it is :roll: ....................hmmmm. Could be the last of a species (although I doubt it). Will get back to you. Denise

When I first sam it I thought bull or goffer snake. They are the same family and look simular but the pattern on that snake is differnt. I am going to guess you have some water around you there cause what you have there is a Diamondback water snake. It is a non-venomous snake.

I am going to guess you have some water around you there cause what you have there is a Diamondback water snake. It is a non-venomous snake.

I agree. Looks like one to me as well. They are quite active this time of year. You will probably be seeing more.

Roger...ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

Rat snake (aka: "egg eater" in this part of the country) or harmless water snake. Hard to tell which from the photo, but if it scared you, it's probably done what harm it's capable of.

Its a bore snake. Clean your gun with that sucka.

Everyone is so quick to "By god I'll hack one into tiny peices with a hoe" If people took time to see how many disease carrying rodents snakes eat,may I point out also that the rodents also carry parasites that carry disease that very well could end up on your dogs when they come to look for lost dog food kernels in your kennel.Ever wonder why Rat snakes hang out in barns?Oh,yeah,and how they got their name?Also several snakes,such as King snakes EAT poisonous ones as their number one source of food. Educate yourselves.I can spot all posionous snakes in my area in 1 second.Its not hard to do....

PowerPoint wrote:Everyone is so quick to "By god I'll hack one into tiny peices with a hoe" If people took time to see how many disease carrying rodents snakes eat,may I point out also that the rodents also carry parasites that carry disease that very well could end up on your dogs when they come to look for lost dog food kernels in your kennel.Ever wonder why Rat snakes hang out in barns?Oh,yeah,and how they got their name? Educate yourselves.I can spot all posionous snakes in my area in 1 second.Its not hard to do....

I second that the snake is harmless to you but maybe very helpfull so why harm it. People should get over their fears and wise up a little.

It looks very similar to some snakes that have been turning up in the hangars at my work. People have been killing them and sending emails to watch out for everything from copperheads to rattlesnakes. My brief search turned up a Midland Watersnake. Although I am no expert I don't think the snake you have there or the ones found here were poisonous. my dogs killed a good snake in the back yard the other day, a nice size king snake. Which eat not only rodents but bad snakes. So not only do they need snake broke but they got one of the good guys.

Non poisonous rat snake or bull snake of some sort. What snakes are commonly called in a local area is going to vary a great deal from one area to the next.

Here is a good resource for looking up Texas Reptiles.

http://www.zo.utexas.edu/research/txherps/snakes/

Depends on how big it is.



that's a gopher snake



That"s a bull snake.

I am 99 percent sure this is a juvinile Diamondback water snake. I bred snakes for 10 years. Here is a pic of one. Here is how I came up with this. The head shape is the first thing, plus with vertical lines on the sides. The pattern on the back is the same as the sides but it is offset the exact same with as the side stripe as to be totally opposite. So, as I said in my post the first thing in my head was a gopher or a bull but the pattern of the vertical lines on the sides just don't match. Then I came up with this snake.

Here is the same snake from wildrose's link. It is an older snake and alot darker (alot of snakes can vary in color) but the pattern is still there exactly like the original poster pic.

http://www.zo.utexas.edu/research/txher ... bifer.html

I'm gonna have to agree with you on the diamondback water snake identification. Looks like you've got a nerodia rhombifer that's a little lost.

I was leaning toward fangtoothis Scareus to deathus

RGT wrote:It was waiting next to my front door this am.

Kind of reminds me of one morning when I opened the door to the garage from inside the house, only to find this fella waiting for me on the steps.

Ah, yes, chelydra serpentina. (I'm just showin' off now ) They make good soup, too. mmmmm, snapper soup

PowerPoint wrote:I was leaning toward fangtoothis Scareus to deathus

ROTFLMAO!!!!!!

Dat's funny right there. i don't care who you are, that's funny!

Caught a 4 ft bull snake today, put him in the feed barn to keep mice down. Snakes are very useful critters. He tried to get me but I was too fast my son was impressed, I told him the snake will bite him and to leave em alone or come get me which is what he did when he found him sunning. Didnt want the dogs to get after him, he is safe now and should have plenty to eat

The only bad thing about this non poisonus snake is it will eat quail eggs!! I know they do more good than harm but they do consume a lot of quail eggs so I usually dispatch the ones I find. I don't believe I'm harming the population any!!