Trouble indentifying a snake in our yard (photo warning)

[Omaha Steve]

Marta was clearing away some leaves in the yard. She uncovered this very small ANGRY snake. It kept snapping it's jaws at her. Any herpetologists know what kind of snake this is?

We had a 6 foot rat snake last year BTW.

[darkangel218]

1. It looks like a baby rattle snake. but im not sure :/

[Omaha Steve]

11. Rattle Snakes aren't native to our area, but....

They have been know to ride in on trains and move into an area. We live very near the BNSF main line. There are no homes or structures between the tracks and our house.

[darkangel218]

20. Whatever you do, please dont hurt it

He will go away on its own x

[Omaha Steve]

34. Marta used a glass to capture him safely for both parties

She released him or her outside our back fence. No harm to either of them. We didn't want to hit him with the mower etc.

He is about 8 inches long.

[kestrel91316]

30. Got no rattles.

[darkangel218]

32. Do they have rattles as babies?

[kestrel91316]

46. I do believe so. Not many, but probably 1 or 2.

That snake simply doesn't have the equipment.

[Politicalboi]

57. Yes, I do believe so

And their bite is more dangerous than an adult, because babies tend to use all of their venom, and they are quick swimmers. Saw some babies at Needles Ca in 1980.

[Le Taz Hot]

67. The rattles are added after each skin shedding

so if the baby hasn't shed yet, no rattles but still as venomous. They're actually more deadly because, even though they shake their tales (as most snakes do before they strike), with no rattles there's no sound and, therefore, no warning.

[Bay Boy]

78. That would make sense...

...wouldn't it? You know; baby rattle, whatever.

[darkangel218]

89. Youre wrong, see the answer above you.

[Bay Boy]

92. Oh dear...

...my sad attempt at humor failed. Babies and rattles... rattles and babies. Whatever.

[Control-Z]

112. I got it.

And I thought it was cute!

[jberryhill]

97. Didn't you?

[cliffordu]

73. NOT a rattlesnake.

[JimDandy]

2. Kicking so you can get an answer. n/t

[Sherman A1]

5. Another Kick

Looks rather unfriendly, but I have no idea as to what it might be.

[NRaleighLiberal]

4. Eastern Garter Snake I think - their colors vary quite a bit

[darkangel218]

14. Garter snakes are beautiful x

All snakes are beautiful.

[a la izquierda]

47. +1

[RebelOne]

15. Markings look close to the garter snake.

We have had an outbreak of water moccasins here in Georgia, but I doubt it is one,

[Control-Z]

113. Those are very dangerous snakes, aren't they?

I remember when I was a kid in Connecticut, my mom was always on the look out for water moccasins when we had picnics, or swam in the river.

[GoCubsGo]

48. Yep.

The size is about right for a garter snake, too.

[csziggy]

50. And garter snakes will act really aggressive to scare predators

I've had them curl up and strike just like a classic rattler

[BanzaiBonnie]

102. In the western states. our garter snakes have different colors

But I can attest to their aggresiveness. I had one bite me when it took exception to my picking it up.

[csziggy]

105. Garter snakes come in an amazing range of colors

Where I am in North Florida, we get some of the "special" colors from the semi-tropical peninsula as well as the various colors seen throughout the South East. They are cool snakes and I love when I see them.

[KansDem]

53. I was thinking "House Republican"

But I could be wrong...

[pink-o]

114. Don't insult the snake!

It has more integrity than ANY House Republican.

[H2O Man]

115. Correct.

I've been bitten by a few. Doesn't hurt a bit. They are just trying to defend themselves. They are a good thing to have around your house & garden.

[GreenEyedLefty]

6. Spotted house snake or northern brown snake

[Solly Mack]

77. I think it's a northern brown as well.

Browns are moving into Nebraska and can be found in several counties there now.

[nadinbrzezinski]

7. No idea, but babies tend to be more aggressive than adults.

Yesterday I had fun with a rattler.

[East Coast Pirate]

63. Huh?

[nadinbrzezinski]

64. Baby snakes tend to be more aggressive than adults

Let me repeat this again in English, baby snakes to be more aggressive than adults.

[jberryhill]

76. That's not English

"Let me repeat this again in English, baby snakes to be more aggressive than adults."

English has a sentence structure involving a subject, an object, and a verb. The verb ties together the subject and object in terms of how one acted on, with or in response to the other.

[Bay Boy]

79. Good response...

...to a snarky response.

[frylock]

8. looks like a gopher snake..

don't know if you guys have them out there.

[frogmarch]

9. It looks like a bull snake

Non-poisonous, but their bite can get infected.

A bull snake by my house coiled up, hissed and struck like a rattler. He was a good 4 ft. long.

[nebenaube]

41. Anything with a head like that dies here... n/t

[antigone382]

74. You know that rattlesnakes are a protected species, right?

It isn't that hard to avoid getting bitten by a venomous snake...most of them are non-aggressive. And for that matter, most of the snakes you're gonna see in your daily life are not venomous...just like the snake in the post you replied to. I would advise against killing critical components of our ecosystem because of vague superstitious fears. They are easy to avoid.

[nebenaube]

82. Some rattlesnakes are...

Given the range they can strike at, sorry, endangered species act or not. Self defence is self defence.

[antigone382]

84. It isn't self defense if they are extremely unlikely to strike. n/t

[nebenaube]

90. If you...

Any snake in that pose is going to strike.

[Kali]

107. meh after your child gets bit you tend to get a little less concerned about protecting deadly snakes

I kill them when they come around the headquarters. Non-venemous snakes can take care of rodents just as well as rattlers. vague superstitious fears ain't my problem.

western diamondbacks aren't on any lists, not that it matters when you have one on your front step or under your desk.

warning bloody dead snake photo: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x9428335

[Whisp]

10. Looks like he's mad because he missed his Plane.

No Snake on the Plane!

[Scuba]

12. Darrell Issa.

[NRaleighLiberal]

16. or Dick Cheney?

[Bigmack]

23. Hey... You and NRaleigh...

... lay off the snakes!

Comparing them to e.coli like Issa and Cheney is totally unfair.

[alphafemale]

13. not posioness whatever it is

No triancgular head.

[Viking12]

40. No snakes are poisonous

Some are venomous, though.

[alphafemale]

59. Thank you for reminding the internet of how clever you are.

Otherwise it may have forgotton.

[Bay Boy]

81. Actually...

... it was a very informative response to your (apparently) drunk text.

[alphafemale]

88. Yeah. You are also clever.

So I suck at type screen...hate it.

But I excel in the real world.

Just a hint... If you want to interact with real live people?

You don't say things like that.

[Bay Boy]

91. I'm not even sure what...

...'type screen' means but whatever.

[Logical]

95. No, it was being sarcastic. You obviously have trouble understanding that. n-t

[Logical]

96. Wow, you are really smart! n-t

[djean111]

17. I don't see pits or rattles, so likely not a rattler.

Maybe a coach whip snake? They will act aggressively when cornered or surprised, but not venomous.

[Teach29]

18. Quite a few opinions. I'll add one

Maybe a type of Racer? They tend to become all black when they get older but the juveniles tend to look like this one.

[Warpy]

24. That looks most like it to me

non poisonous but scary when you disturb one and it tries to strike. You don't want to get bitten, either, because bites can get infected.

It's a beautiful animal who will be hard on your backyard rodents, so back away and let him go before you rake the rest of the leaves.

[Canuckistanian]

49. That looks very close

Oh, and welcome to DU!

[hrmjustin]

54. Welcome to DU my friend!

[In_The_Wind]

62. It took a snake to bring you out of lurking since '07.

Nice to see you ~ [img][/img]

[Occulus]

66. Like a pane of glass, no?

Like a pane of glass.

[Bay Boy]

83. Lurking since '07?

Holy crap, is that some kind of record?

[pinboy3niner]

19. Grumpy Snake

New meme!

[OneGrassRoot]

42. ...

[johnp3907]

22. Hope it doesn't eat the bird!

[Autumn]

25. It looks like a bull snake to me. We have one in our hay shed occasionally.

I stay away from it and it stays away from me. But the mice are gone. They are not poisonous but the bite is very painful.

[olddots]

26. A getthefuckoutof there snake

It's best to be 20 yards away protected by a beer bottle and chips .

[scarletwoman]

27. Might be a bull snake. They imitate rattle snakes when they feel threatened,

and act very aggressive. They are nonvenomous. Look up bull snake and/or gopher snake on google or wikipedia. I'd say chances are good that that's what you found.

[longship]

28. Definitely not poisonous.

Leave it alone and it will help control varmits. Mice, crickets, etc.

Snakes are a part of nature's check and balance, as long as they're not Burmese pythons in the Everglades, or mother fuckin' snakes on a mother fuckin' plane (the latter will have you pissed off fairly quickly).

But if you see a snake like that in your yard, just leave it alone and let it do its job.

[Arkansas Granny]

29. I don't know what it is, but it looks pretty harmless.

If I found it in my yard, I'd just leave it be.

[MineralMan]

31. That is a great example of an American

Harmless Snake. A young one. If you leave it alone, it my become an adult of the species. Just walk away, and it will go somewhere else.

[MuseRider]

33. YES! 100% n/t

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

35. Non-venomous, you can tell by the shape of the head.

I'm guessing it's a bull snake.

[voteearlyvoteoften]

36. My first thought was pine snake

Maybe a young one

[Yo_Mama]

37. It sure does not look like a rattlesnake

You will normally see a bulb thingie on the end of the tail of even a little bittie. That head looks way too small.

To me this looks like a garter snake from the head, markings and tail. However I'm not very good at identifying any snakes except the poisonous ones I have to deal with.

There are several regional types of rattlesnake, and I think at least one grassland one might not have the bulb.

Garter snakes can be grumpy and seems somewhat aggressive at times, but they are utterly harmless.

If you are in Nebraska, this site is useful:
http://snr.unl.edu/herpneb/

[cntrfthrs]

60. Very true...

I grew up in north & south dakota and ignorantly killed many as a kid. The young are born with a button and rattles form after each shedding of skin. As for this one, not sure. Could be a young racer...

[Freddie]

38. My first thought was Republican neighbors

[antigone382]

75. That is completely unfair and cruel.

Snakes are beautiful, intelligent, critical members of the ecosystem.

[kaiden]

39. Garter snake.

When my son was in grade school, several of these were loose in the house. They're a'ight when they're tiny, but when they get this big, they have a "Amy's Baking Company" attitude.

[Aerows]

65. Except

I don't think they are as crazy as those two. It's not possible for one being to possess that much crazy - it takes two bodies to inhabit that much batshit.

[Bay Boy]

85. Reminds me of a childhood story...

...we caught a bunch of garter stakes in an area near a railroad track. We filled half of a 5 gallon pail with a bunch of the writhing things. We decided it would be a good idea to keep them in my buddies basement. We put a board over the top of the bucket but some how they managed to get out. His mom was none to happy.

[bunnies]

43. Is that a freeking gigantic centipede next to the snake?

omg. omg. omg.

[Omaha Steve]

44. Because of the close up shot

It is magnified way past the actual size. Depending on your monitor it is really about a third of it's photo size. Same with the tiny snake.

Hmm. We do live near a nuclear weapons air base????

[jberryhill]

99. I thought it WAS the snake

[bunnies]

101. Seriously!

It was the first thing I noticed when I clicked on the OP. That snake is a babeh kitteh compared to that squirmy zillion-legged thing!
Wonder where it hides its fangs. I know theyre somewhere.

[Demo_Chris]

45. Definately a Tahitian Jumping Choola snake. Very rare and dangerous.

Okay, I just made that up.

[jberryhill]

100. Ah, or perhaps the One-Eyed Trouser Adder

[rightsideout]

51. Yep, looks like a Garter Snake

I found a baby one in my backyard yesterday. Almost weed whacked it.

[KansDem]

52. Remember: Treat it nicely! A strange snake is a friend you haven't met yet...

Or something like that...

Or as my stepfather used to say: "It's more afraid of you than you are of it!"

[bluestate10]

55. Eric Cantor's skin. nt

[beevul]

56. I'm 99 percent certain thats a bull snake.

Its behavior certainly fits.

[Matariki]

58. Is that snake sitting on a gigantic millipede?

What is that, just above it's tail? *That's* what I'd be afraid of, not the snake

[Liberal_in_LA]

69. me too!

[Bay Boy]

86. I saw that and thought it was...

...a big fat worm. But you might be right.

[NBachers]

61. I saw a little snake once that acted like that-it was also beating it's tail against the dry leaves

to simulate a rattle noise. They seem to know all the tricks. I don't see enough snakes these days.

[Liberal_in_LA]

68. ewwwww. is that a big centipede near it? ewwwwwww

[Kali]

70. looks like some type of garter to me

for anybody that comes back to this thread - rattlers have their first button when they hatch (I know this because when my youngest was 18 months he was bitten by a hatchling)

the garters we have around here will try to strike and bite when cornered, and if you pick them up they will evert their cloaca and eject a foul-smelling liquid on you.

[Rhiannon12866]

104. Thanks for the information

We don't have s lot of snakes around here except near the water. When I had a summer job driving a swan boat, we had a water snake that used to sun himself and I'd shoo him back into the water so nobody would freak out and complain...

[Kali]

106. you found my post faster than I did!

what is a swan boat? (hell, what is water? )

[Rhiannon12866]

108. And I was on my phone, LOL

A swan boat is the kind of boat they have in the park in Boston, tourists sit in the boat and the driver sits in the swan part. I worked at an amusement park during the summers when I was in school. My first job there was Cinderella... *sigh* This is the closest I could come...

[Kali]

109. omg it really IS a swan

I was trying to picture some technical thing that could be the reason it was called that!. does it have a motor or is it like a foot paddle boat?

I want one! picture it on an old muddy cattle pond instead of a nice park!

[Rhiannon12866]

110. LOL! Except my boats were an actual boat with a swan in the back where I'd sit

The only other ones I've seen were in Boston and were much the same. And it does have a motor with a propeller in the back, would have to start it up with my foot and the driver's job is to steer. The tough part was keeping it from getting stuck in the weeds, would get wound around the propeller. I'd have to ask the occupants to help me rock the boat to get unstuck, pretty embarrassing, especially when I had a boat full of Japanese tourists who had no idea what I was saying...

[pipoman]

71. We have black rat snakes..this looks like a baby black rat snake..

I've seen a few and they vary in color and pattern..

[Bay Boy]

93. Thread killer...

... you just had to enter it's color into the discussion, didn't you? Oh "it's a 'black' snake" like it's color is important.

[Arugula Latte]

72. It's probably just a baskelisk containing the nefarious identity of a

beyond-evil villain intent on regaining human form, becoming omnipotent and destroying all muggles and those who sympathize with muggles. So, don't worry.

[Rhiannon12866]

103. Do you speak parceltongue?

[bvar22]

80. Definitely NOT a Garter Snake.

My best guess is either a Bull Snake,
or maybe a Gopher Snake.
I believe the two are related,
or could even be the same snake with different names.

Harmless either way.

[wtmusic]

87. It's an Eastern Garter Snake

http://roswell.patch.com/articles/georgia-snakes-101-8#photo-6440353

[LancetChick]

94. It's some kind of gopher snake.

My cat brought one home one day, and I thought it was a rattlesnake too. It hissed and rattled its non-rattled tail, and scared the hell out of me, especially since it was in my bedroom. Gopher snakes are often mistaken for rattlesnakes. (Whoever said bull snake, maybe it's that... bull snakes are a type of gopher snake, but I'm not educated enough to know which variety is which).

[womanofthehills]

111. I've seen lots of bullsnakes and rattlers on my land

out here in NM. They look so similar but you can see the rattles on the baby rattlers tails. The bulls make a hissing sound that almost sounds like a rattlesnake If I chase them with a water hose, the rattlers zip away on land while the bull usually goes up a tree. I've only killed one snake - a bullsnake as he/she was wrapped around one of my baby chickens. Your snake definitely has the markings of a bull.