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What kind of snake is this? (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter bamabluebird
- Start date
bamabluebird
Well-known member
i live in central alabama if that's what you mean. i live out in the country so there are lots of open fields around my house. i haven't seen him since so hopefully he was "just passin' thru" and won't bother any of my birds.
keith richter
Well-known member
it looks poisonous. becuse if you look at the head if it is like a diamond it is poisonous. and i think it is a rat snake
bamabluebird
Well-known member
Me too
bamabluebird
Well-known member
well, at least i know for sure what it was. haven't seen it since. i didn't think it was poisonous. it obviously wasn't aggressive either. my boyfriend was taking the pictures of it (and getting kind of close to do that) and trying to steer it clear of the bird feeding area (it was headed straight for it!) and it didn't even try to strike.
LAF
Registered Member
stronzo1 said:
Exactly. While the majority of colubrids do posses venom glands (formerly viewed as unique organels - Duvernoys glands - but now taken at face value again) there are still some that don't. Additionally, many venomous colubrids do not posses the modified dentition be be classed as rear fanged. For example, in the US Hognosed snake and Lyre snakes are rear fanged and venomous. The coachwhips are venomous but not rear fanged, while the American ratsnakes, kings, milks, gopher/bull snakes are non-venomous. The ratsnake issue can cause confusion as many Asian species are, indeed, venomous. But these are taxonomically very distinct from the American snakes of the same name.
A good bit of background info into this can be found on this PDF:
http://biology.bangor.ac.uk/~bss166/Publications/Colubritoxin.pdf
In the US, the only dangerously venomous snakes are the vipers/rattlers and the coral snake. All of which are easy enough to ID most of the time (biggest risk for confusion being corals/milksnakes and cottonmouth/water snakes).
The diamond shaped head division between ven. and non-ven. is woefully vague and is best forgotton as it doesn't work.
The snake pictured is indeed a ratsnake, Pantherophis obsoleta (Formerly Elaphe obsoleta).
Regards, Lee.
Evanji Axu
Spiteful Cynic
It looks like the black rat snakes we get here. They're very handsome. They bite when cornered but they're not dangerous. I remember seeing one on the road while Dad and I were out biking. He looked kind of kinked up, which, upon research, the rat snakes do when startled.
For the pit vipers, the broad head is the best identification. For coral snakes..."red touch yellow/dangerous fellow/red touch black/safe for Jack"
For the pit vipers, the broad head is the best identification. For coral snakes..."red touch yellow/dangerous fellow/red touch black/safe for Jack"
SalidMonster
Well-known member
BRsnake
I think it looks like the species is Rat snake. Black, Gray, Baird's, Texas, Yellow and Everglades Rat Snakes are all subspecies of Rat Snake. I would say yours subspecies is the Black Rat Snake - a very common snake in the south east.
bamabluebird said:
I think it looks like the species is Rat snake. Black, Gray, Baird's, Texas, Yellow and Everglades Rat Snakes are all subspecies of Rat Snake. I would say yours subspecies is the Black Rat Snake - a very common snake in the south east.
motacilla oenenthe
Well-known member
LAF said:
i seem to remember something about indian cobras escaping into the wild in florida some time ago.....
keith richter
Well-known member
im not a snake expert. 
