# The official GA Snake ID thread



## repoman34

It's officially hot outside now, and the snakes are moving around quite a bit. I always see people posting threads wanting a snake identified, so I've decided to post a thread just for that purpose. I'll try to cover all of the GA native snakes here so everyone can have a reference. Maybe this will help keep someone here from getting bit by a snake they shouldn't have been bothering.

I'll start with the venomous snakes. Georgia has 4 main types of venomous snakes. Copperheads, Rattlesnakes, Cottonmouth (water-moccassin), and Coral snake. Some of these do have more than one species here. I'm going to try to post a pic, and a brief description of each one;

Southern Copperhead





Copperheads are one of the most common venomous snakes we have here. Coloration may very from very light, to very dark depending on the snakes age, gender, and habitat. These snakes usually stay pretty short, around 2-3 feet long, but can be bigger. They like to hang out in the leaves on the ground, around rocks, rivers, streams, etc. Bites from these snakes usually occurs when someone steps on one because they didn't see it. In my opinion, the Copperhead has the best camouflage of any snake we have here. They are usually a light tan color, with dark, reddish brown hourglass pattern all over them. At a glance, the coloration and pattern is close enough, that a lot of people will mistake these for a non-venomous Banded Water Snake, and vice-versa. Regardless of popular belief, these are actually not aggressive snakes even though they are venomous. If you see one, simply move around it at a safe disatnce, and let it be.

Cottonmouth (Water Moccassin)








I've posted 2 pictures of the Cottonmouth to show you that the coloration of these snakes can vary greatly. Some are a dark brown or olive color with a defined black pattern on them, others can be solid brown, or solid olive. Juvenile Cottonmouth colors can vary even more than that. Cottonmouths usually grow from 3-4 feet long, but can be bigger. Last time I checked, the state record for a cottonmouth was somewhere around 7 feet long. They have fat bodies, and when threatened will coil and puff their bodies up even bigger. They'll open their mouth wide and generally stay put in that position, unless provoked further. These snakes love to hang out close to the waters edge, under rocks, roots, logs, etc, and in tree branches. I have seen these snakes in tree branches that were 8-10 feet off the ground. Always keep your eyes open for them. These snakes produce an extremely nasty bite.

Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake




The Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake is North America's largest venomous snake. It feeds on rabbits, squirrels, rats and birds. This snake is most likely to be found in pine flatwoods and fallow, brushy fields bordered by forests. The Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake is considered by some people the most dangerous snake found in the southeastern U.S.; however, it is becoming increasingly rare. Specimens have been captured as a large as 8 feet long and weighing 15 pounds, but the average size is about 5 feet. Between 7 and 18 young are born in August or September. Fortunately this snake is unlikely to strike at a person unless provoked.The sound of a rattlesnake is loud and distinctive - easily audible up to 30 feet away in an outdoor setting. 

Timber Rattlesnake (aka: Canebrake)




Timber rattlesnakes, which are called canebrake rattlesnake in the Coastal Plain of the Southeast, are large, heavy bodied snakes with the characteristic rattles on the end of the tail. Adults range from 30-60 in (76-152 cm) with the record being more than 6 feet (183 cm) long. Canebrakes are usually gray and may even have a pink hue and a pinkish, yellow, orange, or brown stripe running the length of the back. Timber rattlers are typically more brown or yellowish and may even be black. Both forms have solid black tails that appear almost velvet and black chevrons on the back and sides with the point of the (V) pointing forward. The babies are miniatures of the adults but are usually a lighter gray and have only a single button (rattle) on the tip of the tail at birth. Males get larger than females.
canebrake rattlesnakes have a wide distribution in the eastern United States but the species is absent from most of Florida. This snake occurs in a wide variety of terrestrial habitat including lowland cane thickets, high areas around swamps and river floodplains, hardwood and pine forests, mountainous areas, and rural habitats in farming areas. Canebrakes are active during both day and night but spend the majority of their time coiled in ambush positions ready to capture prey. 

Pygmy Rattlesnake




The Dusky Pigmy Rattlesnake are small heavy bodied snakes. They are usually grey or a grayish brown with dark blotches, and a gold or orange stripe that runs down the back of the snake. Some are very light in coloration while some that are found in Florida are very dark. In several counties in northern South Carolina and southern North Carolina the Carolina Pigmy Rattlesnakes are sometimes very bright red. The juveniles of both subspecies look identical to the adults, except for they have a sulfur yellow tail. The average length for a Carolina Pigmy is between 14-20 inches. The longest recorded was just over 2ft. The average length for a Dusky Pigmy Rattlesnake is 20 inches and the longest record is at 31 inches. Pigmy Rattlesnake lives in boggy wetlands, coastal pinewoods, scrub oak inhabitant of sandy substrates. Farther inland they can be found in the both pine and open, mixed woodlands, near water sources and in driers areas. The Dusky Pigmy Rattlesnake is mostly found in the Longleaf Pine/Saw Pine habitat that is common in Florida, southern Georgia, and southern Alabama. The can also be found in bottomland hardwood forest, wet saw-grass, dry hammocks, and the prairies.

Coral Snake




You'll probably never see one of these snakes in the wild; they generally stay away from people. If you do encounter one, they aren't at all agressive, and they actually have trouble trying to inject venom into a human due to the fact that they have very small fangs that are fixed into the back of their mouth, not the front like all of our other venomous snakes. That doesn't mean that they can't get you though, so handling them isn't recommended. They usually grow to be about 2 1/2 feet long and stay pretty slender. They DO NOT have a diamond shaped head like our other venomous snakes. I posted the pic above to show how easily you can confuse a Coral snake with a non-venomous Scarlett King Snake. The old saying goes " Red on yellow; kill a fellow. Red on black; friend of Jack".


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## repoman34

For the NON-VENOMOUS SNAKES, I'm just going to post pics with the names for everyone's reference. If you get bit by one of these, it may hurt a little, but not going to kill you.

DeKay Snake (aka Northern Brown Snake)





Eastern Ringneck Snake





Smooth Earth Snake





Eastern Worm Snake





Black Rat Snake





Grey Rat Snake





Yellow Rat Snake





Midland Water Snake (aka; Banded Water Snake, or Common Water Snake)





Queen Snake





Rough Green Snake





Black Racer





Eastern King Snake





Black King Snake





Mole King Snake





Scarlett King Snake





Eastern Hognose Snake





Corn Snake





Eastern Ribbon Snake





Eastern Mud Snake





Eastern Garter Snake





Indigo Snake (endangered species. Do not let the game warden catch you bothering these in any way, shape, form, or fashion. You will go to jail, and get up to a $10,000 fine)






I know there are some that I missed, but I did post all of the most common snakes. Georgia actually has over 200 different species of non-venomous snakes. If you encounter one that I haven't posted here, please feel free to add it to the thread.

Let's try not to hijack this thread either people. I put this here in hopes that it may actually help someone out who doesn't really know much about snakes, and could use a good reference .


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## repoman34

Can we have a sticky or something put on this one so it stays where people can see it when they need to reference it?


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## slip

http://www.uga.edu/srelherp/snakes/index.htm

i post this link every time someone askes about a snake, there is a ton of info on it. maybe it will help people from killing a non-venomous one day.


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## germag

Not that it's a particularly important point, but this:

"_If you do encounter one, they aren't at all agressive, and they actually have trouble trying to inject venom into a human due to the fact that they have very small fangs that are fixed into the back of their mouth, not the front like all of our other venomous snakes. _"


Is not accurate. Coral Snakes are elapid snakes, like cobras, mambas, kraits, taipans, etc...they DO have front fangs. Coral snakes are generally non-offensive and may even appear to be docile and may tolerate handling.....but NOT ALWAYS. I've seen several that were actually pretty inclined to try to bite. They can bite you and deliver venom a lot more easily than people seem to think. A coral snake bite is certainly no joke.....if it envenomates you it is easily capable of producing a fatality. However, since the introduction of a specific antivenin, there has only been one death reported from a coral snake bite in the last 40+ years (2009), there were 2 in the 1950s, just before the antivenin was introduced. This snake has a high incidence of "dry bites"....in nearly half of all coral snake bites, no venom is injected....and they generally are relatively reluctant to bite in the first place. However, if they do bite, it is potentially an extremely dangerous bite. The venom has a very high toxicity in humans and has the capacity to kill within 2 hours. The estimated LD100 for humans (extrapolation from LD50 figures for laboratory mice) is about 4mg (dried)....the snake is capable of delivering anywhere from 2mg to 12mg (dried). 

The largest coral snake I ever collected was in South Florida and measured 41". An extremely dangerous snake. That one was certainly willing to bite.


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## jonesey

Great thread.. Thanks


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## southwoodshunter

Great thread... 
although I am not fond of the venomus ones, there are some beautiful snakes in Georgia, 
didn't know we had that many species..


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## MonroeTaco

_The largest coral snake I ever collected was in South Florida and measured 41". An extremely dangerous snake. That one was certainly willing to bite._

That was a monster of a Coral snake. I've only encountered 2 in my "hunting"' and both were less than 
2', and pretty docile. I had a Eastern King years ago I named Lucifer, he was the meanest King you would ever run across, ALWAYS in a bad mood. When he bit me on the face 3 times, I decided we should part ways.


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## slip

germag said:


> Not that it's a particularly important point, but this:
> 
> "_If you do encounter one, they aren't at all agressive, and they actually have trouble trying to inject venom into a human due to the fact that they have very small fangs that are fixed into the back of their mouth, not the front like all of our other venomous snakes. _"
> 
> 
> Is not accurate. Coral Snakes are elapid snakes, like cobras, mambas, kraits, taipans, etc...they DO have front fangs. Coral snakes are generally non-offensive and may even appear to be docile and may tolerate handling.....but NOT ALWAYS. I've seen several that were actually pretty inclined to try to bite. They can bite you and deliver venom a lot more easily than people seem to think. A coral snake bite is certainly no joke.....if it envenomates you it is easily capable of producing a fatality. However, since the introduction of a specific antivenin, there has only been one death reported from a coral snake bite in the last 40+ years (2009), there were 2 in the 1950s, just before the antivenin was introduced. This snake has a high incidence of "dry bites"....in nearly half of all coral snake bites, no venom is injected....and they generally are relatively reluctant to bite in the first place. However, if they do bite, it is potentially an extremely dangerous bite. The venom has a very high toxicity in humans and has the capacity to kill within 2 hours. The estimated LD100 for humans (extrapolation from LD50 figures for laboratory mice) is about 4mg (dried)....the snake is capable of delivering anywhere from 2mg to 12mg (dried).
> 
> The largest coral snake I ever collected was in South Florida and measured 41". An extremely dangerous snake. That one was certainly willing to bite.



yeah but i mean...what do you know about snakes anyway?


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## germag

slip said:


> yeah but i mean...what do you know about snakes anyway?



Nuttin'


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## Resica

Do you have any other Milk snakes besides the Scarlet Kingsnake?


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## germag

Yeah. The Eastern Milk Snake....which actually intergrades with the Scarlet King Snake in north Georgia.


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## boneboy96

slip said:


> yeah but i mean...what do you know about snakes anyway?



Classic Slip...classic!


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## Resica

How about the Rough Green Snake ,Queen Snake ,Ribbon Snake ,Northern Redbelly Snake ,Eastern Smooth Green Snake ,Kirtland's Snake . I guess no Massasauga rattlers?


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## Nicodemus

Resica said:


> How about the Rough Green Snake ,Queen Snake ,Ribbon Snake ,Northern Redbelly Snake ,Eastern Smooth Green Snake ,Kirtland's Snake . I guess no Massasauga rattlers?






Those are Yankee rattlers.


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## Resica

Nicodemus said:


> [/COLOR]
> 
> 
> 
> Those are Yankee rattlers.



 Better watch out.


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## Nicodemus

Resica said:


> Better watch out.


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## Capt Quirk

Certainly not hijacking, but had two comments. Your banded Watersnake is missing, could you fix the pic? And your Eastern Ringnecks are quite different from the ones I've encountered in Florida. Ours have a thin red ring around the neck, and usually a orangish belly. Other than that, it was a well done thread, thanks for putting it together, and in a format we can understand... not like that show off Germag, and his fancy big words...


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## dawg2

slip said:


> http://www.uga.edu/srelherp/snakes/index.htm
> 
> i post this link every time someone askes about a snake, there is a ton of info on it. maybe it will help people from killing a non-venomous one day.



That is an EXCELLENT link


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## contender*

I came across a mole king snake yesterday in the front yard. Almost killed him for a copperhead because I couldn't see his head. his color pattern was very close to a copperhead unlike the one pictured above. I calmed down and dug his head out of the leaves and figured out it wasn't a copperhead so I just played with him a while and let him go under the porch. Hope he hangs around.  He was a good 2 1/2 to 3 feet long.


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## mattech

Resica said:


> How about the Rough Green Snake ,Queen Snake ,Ribbon Snake ,*Northern Redbelly *Snake ,Eastern Smooth Green Snake ,Kirtland's Snake . I guess no Massasauga rattlers?



Why would the south have a Northern snake?


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## Resica

mattech said:


> Why would the south have a Northern snake?


It's all relative!! Why would the south have a Canada Goose or for that matter, a Snow Goose?


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## mattech

Resica said:


> It's all relative!! Why would the south have a Canada Goose or for that matter, a Snow Goose?



trust me, we don't want your stinkin' geese down hear.


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## repoman34

So it looks like this one didn't get the sticky. oh well. Hope it helps someone here anyway


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## davis211

Nice pics, thanks.  I've had trouble with copperheads around here and have had a couple of dogs get bit.  The vet said that the copperhead's bite was not near as bad as a rattler's bite.  The dogs were given antibiotics and benedryl - seemed fine a few days later.  I've only seen rattler bites on tv and they were really bad - at least they normally give you a warning.


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## patchestc

cool thread, thanks.


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## germag

davis211 said:


> Nice pics, thanks.  I've had trouble with copperheads around here and have had a couple of dogs get bit.  The vet said that the copperhead's bite was not near as bad as a rattler's bite.  The dogs were given antibiotics and benedryl - seemed fine a few days later.  I've only seen rattler bites on tv and they were really bad - at least they normally give you a warning.



Don't count on a warning. From what I've seen, they will rattle about maybe half the time. A lot of them won't rattle until you are directly harrssing them in some way...trying to catch or kill them or acting like an idiot and poking them with a stick or something like that. The weather seems to play a part in that too.....when it's cold outside and you catch a big old EDB sunning itself outside a gopher burrow it's likely not to rattle....or, if it does it's a sort of half-hearted rattle. I've captured a number of them that never rattled at all during the entire capture....and some that wouldn't quit rattling even after they were in a bag or tranport box.

Their first-line strategy is usually to lay still and quiet and hope you'll go away.


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## fishinbub

No pic of a black rat snake? It's the most common by far on our place. Saw two yesterday, one was a good 6-7 feet long and at least as big around as my wrist. Not poisonous but if he got a hold of you, you would most definitely know it. If I see him again I'll post a pic for reference.


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## repoman34

Black Rat Snake


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## Cleburne

Good thread. I hate snakes and all snakes must die.


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## gatorbob

*Snakes*

Great tutorial on Georgia snakes, Thanks


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## Twenty five ought six

repoman34 said:


> Black Rat Snake




Black rat snake is non-venomous, but they haven't gotten the word yet.

Everyone I've ever dealt with was perfectly willing to try and take a plug out of me.

I've caught several right at 6 feet in Oconee County.


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## germag

Black Rat snakes are not non-venomous. They are harmless to humans. There is a difference.


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## mattellis2

germag said:


> Black Rat snakes are not non-venomous. They are harmless to humans. There is a difference.



interesting...i had never heard that before.  i also did not realize you were a snake guy.  do you keep any?

here is the last black rat i caught around my house.


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## germag

mattellis2 said:


> interesting...i had never heard that before.  i also did not realize you were a snake guy.  do you keep any?
> 
> here is the last black rat i caught around my house.



Yeah, I'm a snake guy.....35 years on and off working in herpetology/herpetoculture in one discipline or another. I do not keep any animals any more, but I have kept as many as 250 animals under my direct care at times. 

In reality, the only snakes known to actually be non-venomous are the boids (boas and pythons). If you have any background in toxicology, herpetology, or venom studies, for some interesting reading, look up some of the papers by Bryan G Fry. A good start would be to google Alpha Colubritoxin and go from there.


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## bigox911

One of those rat snakes parachuted out of a tree and tried to carry off TNGirl last year at FPG.   They're vicious!

<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/7DMZ8D2r2AY&hl=en_US&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/7DMZ8D2r2AY&hl=en_US&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>

She had to stop filming and


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## DCHunter

If I ever come across a Hognose snake, I'm going to have to assume it's a water moccasin and kill it.


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## crackerdave

The very first snake repo listed - "southern copperhead" - says right below "timber rattlesnake." A copperhead is NOT a rattlesnake.


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## JustUs4All

RIP Repoman. 
This was, in my opinion, his best thread.  I was not around for the banishment but many tried to warn him over and over.


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## swamp hunter

Yea , I miss him already. Shame to see the real Pot Stirrers Booted out sooner or later. Good thread RepoMan RIP.


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## Sweetwater

Bout to drink a double of turkey on the rocks in honor of Germag....Georgia needs more men like him. Georgia also needs to find someone like Okefenokee Joe to travel to elementary schools across the state educating kids about snakes they will encounter. I'm 46...and have never forgotten the demonstration ole Joe came and did at Winston Elem.

We as outdoorsmen encounter more snakes than the average person because of our love of the woods and water...of places away from civilization. If one was raised or taught the proper ways of an outdoorsman...I was by a pure blooded Cherokee named Wayne Alexander...a good guy who couldn't handle the fire water....We are taught to respect the fish and game we chase...to respect their homes....to respect all forms of life in the wild. If we didn't put it there...if it is in it's habitat and home...not ours...leave it alone. Killing anything for no good reason..ignorance is not a good reason...is a sin and an affront to the fishing and hunting gods. All animals are there for a reason...to do a job as a part of nature's grand scheme. 

It saddens me...and it makes me question the "country" of some folks....who come on the forum with snake killing posts. The ones involving shooting them with high powered firearms out from under a truck parked near houses makes me cringe. I understand if a venomous snake is in someone's yard. I understand if a copperhead takes up near someone's koi pond. But I do not understand folks that kill every snake they see in the woods or on the water. Snakes that would not hurt them as long as they did not step on it...or go messing with it when they shouldn't. It saddens me to know that thousands of banded water snakes will die because they resemble cottonmouths.

While I find snakes to be gorgeous animals...I know most find them repulsive....and cringe at the thought of one being within 100 feet alive. I understand that. I understand and fully back the right of folks to kill any and all on their property...even if the snakes they are killing are non venomous and in doing so are opening up territory for a venomous one to replace it.

But all outdoorsman should educate themselves on how to ID all venomous snakes..and the most beneficial non venomous ones: King snakes...banded water snakes...rat snakes..indigo snakes...corn snakes...so those snakes can get the respect they deserve. All outdoorsman should make it personal policy to leave any and all snakes alone they encounter in the wild unless it is absolutely necessary not to.


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## southernboy2147

is it just me or does have the pictures not show up on this thread?


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## rhbama3

southernboy2147 said:


> is it just me or does have the pictures not show up on this thread?



old thread and  OP. Sometimes the photo link goes when the poster is banned.


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