Snake

[JDaniel]

Well, the old ticker must be strong, because I simultaneously saw and almost stepped on the first snake of the season.... In my own front yard..... About 20 feet from my open garage door...... In the flower bed where my daughter's swing is....

Sorry, no pics. Didn't have time. I got Mrs. JD out to see it, and we watched it for 5 minutes or so before it disappeared down a hole.

I'm not afraid of them. And this was just some kind of black snake (rat snake maybe? or racer?). It was about 12', I mean 4', long! I do have a healthy respect for them, as I was bitten by a cotton-mouth when I was 12 or so.

However, almost stepping on one almost scared the bejesus out of me.

We usually see about two a month somewhere on the property. I've never seen a poisonous one yet, although we have all kinds here.

JD

 

[fotno]

Sounds like a Rat Snake, I don't think most racers every get anywhere near that long, and that's a fairly small Rat Snake.

I did nearly the same thing a couple years back... I was climbing on my riding mower, early in the mowing season, and a black Rat Snake about 12' err uhm , 4' or 5' came sliding out from under the deck. I have never stood up so tall or so fast in my life.

 

[Dan ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ]

Had one of those bastards fall out of a pine tree near where I was sitting on the back deck last year. I jumped as high as he fell fell.
To quote Jim Stafford, "I don't like spiders and snakes..."

 

[Sandy G]

A Black Snake got baled up in a straw bale at our farm once. I saw him, pulled him out, he'd been cut on his side. I held him up close to my chest, stroked his head,& carried him over to the side of the field. Put him down, he took off like a shot. But I think he sensed I wasn't going to hurt him. Black snakes are good-they keep the rats & the Rattle-Headed Copper Moccasin types of snakes in check.

 

[opt80]

Woulldn't that snake be called a Source snake as rat shack is no more ? streeeeetch!!!!


Alan

 

[fotno]

My Granddaddy would never kill a Black Snake, he had one in his barnyard he called Fred. That Sunofagun had to have been near 7' long - Boy, as long as 'ol Fred was living we never had a problem with rats in the cattle feed.

 

[Sandy G]

I saw a BEAUTIFUL Albino Python in a pet shop once-Sucker was about the color of orange sherbet & cream- was about 12' long, I guess-it was all curled up, & was at least as big around as my thigh. They wanted $850 for it, which was at least $849 more than I was willing to pay, but man ! it was pretty...But WTF can you do w/ a huge-ass snake ? Ok, it's pretty 'n' all, but....I don't know if pythons are good to eat, at $850, be a pretty expensive dinner...You could maybe make a belt or out of its skin, but again, that would be kinda dear.

 

[gonzo]

I have Freia a 12ft Columbian Redtail in my classroom,shes a sweetie.My road buddy TB and I both teach high school biology.One summer we were out road chasing reptiles in west Texas,you sit on the shoulder of the road idling in park with binoculars.When one crosses the road you take off like a bat of of hell,lockem up and give chase.One summer we came across a run over rat snake still alive,poor dude had burnt the points off of both sides of his tongue.TB nursed him back to health and fed him hamburger balls,he lived another 5 years.They are the ultimate in stealth.

 

[jerryjg]

I was a hackin' away at a ol cactus patch here two seasons ago, when i heard the unmistakeable rattle of a Western Diamondback. I backed off fast-like, and out slithered a 6 to 8 foot adult Diamondback Rattlesnake. Thats the closest call I have ever had. Fortunately he(she) saw me before I saw him, and rattled out that warning. I hear those snakes can strike at their full bodylength. Getting bit by a rattler is one thing I do not want to try, even once!

 

[Sandy G]

I did a bad thing w/a little green snake once. A friend of mine had this pond that he'd stocked w/ Largemouth Bass. They were practically pets, the family fed 'em bread, you could stick your foot in the pond from the pier, & the fish would come up & nibble on it. Anyhow, once I was over there, looked down & saw a little Green Snake about 8-10" long crawling in the grass. I picked him up, & I could see Daddy Bass over in the pond, following me, hoping to get fed. I tossed the snake in the general direction of the fish, but he made it back to the bank. But Daddy Bass had been alerted...I pitched the poor little snake back a second time, that fish jumped out of the water, his mouth expanding to where it looked like he could swallow a 55-gallon drum, & that was the end of the snake...That was mean. That little guy hadn't done anything to me, & here I fed him to this fish. Well, I guess the fish was grateful...