# Snake Identification



## Yankee Moved South (May 7, 2009)

This seemed like the best place for this thread : My wife took these pictures this afternoon, I think I've ID'ed the snake but anyone want to take a shot at it ?


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## Seth carter (May 7, 2009)

banded king snake


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## Nicodemus (May 7, 2009)

That is a fine lookin` king snake. And it looks like it has just eaten another snake.


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## Swede (May 7, 2009)

Black Goldenrod Mamba.

Deadliest snake in  North America


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## dawg2 (May 7, 2009)

King snake, and I HOPE (PRAY) you let it go.  If there is any snake you always let live, it is kings and black racers, because they will eat venomous snakes.....


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## Redneck Maguiver (May 7, 2009)

Blackbandedcopperheadedrattlinwatermoccosin with no shoulders.......    2 Cents..


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## Seth carter (May 7, 2009)

dawg2 said:


> King snake, and I HOPE (PRAY) you let it go.  If there is any snake you always let live, it is kings and black racers, because they will eat venomous snakes.....



its also illegal to kill one


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## Yankee Moved South (May 7, 2009)

WOW . You guys are fast ! Took me 20 minutes on the web ..Eastern Kingsnake. He's still alive and will stay that way if he stays out of the road !


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## Ta-ton-ka chips (May 7, 2009)

Yankee Moved South said:


> WOW . You guys are fast ! Took me 20 minutes on the web ..Eastern Kingsnake. He's still alive and will stay that way if he stays out of the road !



Keep it as a pet. You could feed it some kittens. 
http://forum.gon.com/showthread.php?t=345888


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## Seth carter (May 7, 2009)

Ta-ton-ka chips said:


> Keep it as a pet. You could feed it some kittens.
> http://forum.gon.com/showthread.php?t=345888



that threads gone now


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## swamp hunter (May 7, 2009)

Raised a few back in the day. Throw another snake in with them. bout 1 minute of flickin tounge,s , then hammer time. They... ARE ...your Friends.


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## Swamprat (May 7, 2009)

I think at our local Chinese fast food place it qualifies as the "Poo Poo Platter"

King snake....let it go to watch it grow. (Courtesy of the QKSA - Quality King Snake Associaton)


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## JR (May 7, 2009)

Huh.... Curveball....  

Let's see here, checking my trusty snake chart...


Black = Cobra... But it has coloration...

Multi-colored = Coral... But it doesn't have red...

Design on it's back = Copperhead... But it's not brown...

No rattles, so that rules out Rattlesnake...

Whew, it must be an in-bred, mutated serpent!!!!  RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!!!!!


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## radams1228 (May 7, 2009)

Looks like it weighs 97 pounds!!


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## Nicodemus (May 7, 2009)

JR said:


> Huh.... Curveball....
> 
> Let's see here, checking my trusty snake chart...
> 
> ...





That`s the kind of snake that hides, and "looks" at you. You never see it, you don`t know where it is, you don`t even know it`s  around, but it is. It just "looks" at you, constantly. Eventually, you start to feel unnnerved, and then, it eases out and let you see it, while it "looks" at you. Drives some folks insane...


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## JR (May 7, 2009)

Nicodemus said:


> That`s the kind of snake that hides, and "looks" at you. You never see it, you don`t know where it is, you don`t even know it`s  around, but it is. It just "looks" at you, constantly. Eventually, you start to feel unnnerved, and then, it eases out and let you see it, while it "looks" at you. Drives some folks insane...



It would "drive me" to ten toes up!!!!


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## shortround1 (May 8, 2009)

Nicodemus said:


> That`s the kind of snake that hides, and "looks" at you. You never see it, you don`t know where it is, you don`t even know it`s  around, but it is. It just "looks" at you, constantly. Eventually, you start to feel unnnerved, and then, it eases out and let you see it, while it "looks" at you. Drives some folks insane...


i beg to differ nick. i have  king that lives in our cabin, i see skins over my bed. i have seen it twice in two years. i caught it near a pond and transplanted it to the cabin, no mice found!


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## stillman (May 8, 2009)

Saw two snakes in our shed today. The one I got a good look at had a similar pattern but the coloring was very subdued. 

I couldn't decide if they were kings or something else. They were not aggressive and I was pretty sure they were king, coach whip, black, indigo... so I didn't shoot them. One of them was over 4 feet long. I couldn't tell how large the other one was, all I could see was it's head.

Any input from you snake handlers?



BTW, my not shooting the snakes today is in large part due to those of you who share your knowledge about what snakes are venomous and what snakes are not. I was not able to discern exactly what snakes I had but I knew they were not venomous.


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## GAX (May 8, 2009)

Beautiful King!!


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## GAX (May 8, 2009)

stillman said:


> Saw two snakes in our shed today. The one I got a good look at had a similar pattern but the coloring was very subdued.
> 
> I couldn't decide if they were kings or something else. They were not aggressive and I was pretty sure they were king, coach whip, black, indigo... so I didn't shoot them. One of them was over 4 feet long. I couldn't tell how large the other one was, all I could see was it's head.
> 
> ...


In the shed... Were they black or Gray?  I'm gonna say because of location, Oak Snakes (Gray Rat Snake), but just a guess without more info..


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## T_Fish (May 8, 2009)

i stopped today and got a 4 ft king out of the road, before he got run over


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## Redbow (May 8, 2009)

The King will keep the bad snakes in check for you ! I had a Black Snake in my shop all last summer and most of the fall, this past winter we had no mice in my shop at all ! Hope he comes back this year !


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## Tightliner (May 8, 2009)

JR said:


> It would "drive me" to ten toes up!!!!



Just think of them as long skinny kitty cats with no legs or hair..

Later.............


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## swamp hunter (May 8, 2009)

When they flick their tounges at you ,Their just blowin little kisses.


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## stillman (May 8, 2009)

gaxtreme said:


> In the shed... Were they black or Gray?  I'm gonna say because of location, Oak Snakes (Gray Rat Snake), but just a guess without more info..




Black and the pattern was very faint.


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## Lightninrod (May 8, 2009)

stillman said:


> Black and the pattern was very faint.




I agree.  That probably was a harmless and beneficial Gray Rat or Oak snake.


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## Handgunner (May 8, 2009)

It's a cotton-headed rattler-moccasin...


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## germag (May 8, 2009)

stillman said:


> Saw two snakes in our shed today. The one I got a good look at had a similar pattern but the coloring was very subdued.
> 
> I couldn't decide if they were kings or something else. They were not aggressive and I was pretty sure they were king, coach whip, black, indigo... so I didn't shoot them. One of them was over 4 feet long. I couldn't tell how large the other one was, all I could see was it's head.
> 
> ...



Most likely rat snakes or king snakes. There are no indigo snakes in Henry County, unless they are captives.


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## Doc_5729 (May 8, 2009)

Thanks to you and your wife for letting that one crawl bud. And deserving so.

That's a beautiful creature that needs to fed another day.


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## CountryCowboy (May 8, 2009)

OK - couple questions.

1. Is it confirmed that this is a king snake?  Also are they very poisonous?
2. WHere do yall get so good at learnin yer snakes and what do ya look for to tell em apart.  I never know which ones are the really bad ones.  Is there any easy way.

PS - Im in Texas so we probly got some different ones than yall out there in GA.


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## GAX (May 8, 2009)

germag said:


> Most likely rat snakes or king snakes. There are no indigo snakes in Henry County, unless they are captives.




Not trying to argue, but can you be certain of this statement?


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## germag (May 8, 2009)

gaxtreme said:


> Not trying to argue, but can you be certain of this statement?



Yep. I can be dead certain....since I spent about 30 years studying and breeding the _Drymarchon_ group I'm pretty sure of the range where the different species and subspecies occur. There are Eastern Indigos in Georgia, but definitely not in Henry County. They have a very restricted range in coastal Georgia.


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## germag (May 8, 2009)

CountryCowboy said:


> OK - couple questions.
> 
> 1. Is it confirmed that this is a king snake?  Also are they very poisonous?
> 2. WHere do yall get so good at learnin yer snakes and what do ya look for to tell em apart.  I never know which ones are the really bad ones.  Is there any easy way.
> ...




The snake in the photos is most assuredly a king snake. It is not dangerous to humans in the least. 

Once you know your snakes, it is very easy to identify them at a glance in 99.9% of cases. Some of the more obscure, smaller (especially fossorial and seldom encountered) species can be a little more difficult.

You have species in Texas that are very closely related to the species found in Georgia. You have Brazos Water Snakes, similar to our species of water snakes in Georgia, you have Texas Rat Snakes and Trans Pecos Rat snakes, you have Trans Pecos Copperheads, Gray-banded King Snakes, You have Western Cottonmouths in eastern Texas, you have Western Diamondback rattlesnakes.....you have a plethora of species that have very similar counterparts in Georgia.


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## GAX (May 8, 2009)

germag said:


> Yep. I can be dead certain....since I spent about 30 years studying and breeding the _Drymarchon_ group I'm pretty sure of the range where the different species and subspecies occur. There are Eastern Indigos in Georgia, but definitely not in Henry County. They have a very restricted range in coastal Georgia.



10-4... Interesting fact's... I have only seen one, in my lifetime but form eye witnesses, and descriptions.. there are more that what I have seen...


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## germag (May 8, 2009)

gaxtreme said:


> 10-4... Interesting fact's... I have only seen one, in my lifetime but form eye witnesses, and descriptions.. there are more that what I have seen...



Yeah, once you understand the habits of Indigos and the natural history and habitat requirements, it's easy to understand that they simply couldn't survive and proliferate in Henry County...or Fulton County or Cherokee County or really anywhere other than the coastal areas where they do occur. 

Snakes are the most commonly misidentified creatures on earth. I've heard so much of it over the years that I just usually don't even bother arguing or trying to correct them any more. It's not worth it and you're never going to convince these folks that they are mistaken about what they think they've seen....I just let them think what they want to now.


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## dawg2 (May 8, 2009)

germag said:


> Yeah, once you understand the habits of Indigos and the natural history and habitat requirements, it's easy to understand that they simply couldn't survive and proliferate in Henry County...or Fulton County or Cherokee County or really anywhere other than the coastal areas where they do occur.
> 
> Snakes are the most commonly misidentified creatures on earth. I've heard so much of it over the years that I just usually don't even bother arguing or trying to correct them any more. It's not worth it and you're never going to convince these folks that they are mistaken about what they think they've seen....I just let them think what they want to now.


Especially non-venomous water snakes almost always being Copperheads or Water Moccasins.


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## germag (May 8, 2009)

Yep. That's the most common misidentification in this area, followed closely by corn snake/copperhead confusion.


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## JR (May 8, 2009)

germag said:


> Snakes are the most commonly misidentified creatures on earth.



That's how come this feller has lived as long as he has... I avoid them ALL.  No worry on any of the details of "misidentification"...


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## kg4ghn (May 9, 2009)

Nice snake.  I have kept a few as pets for awhile when I was a teen, always let them go after a month or so though.

Had those and rat and corn snakes. 

Had a guy bring a rat snake back from florida he thought it was something else that was poisonous.  When he found out it wasn't and he couldn't sell it  he gave it to me b/c his wife was scared of it.  I let it go under the house, haven't seen any mice since.  Also had a king get loose in the house a few months ago, haven't seen him since I figure he found him a hole to get out somewhere they are good at that.


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## Phoelix (May 9, 2009)

My Lab claimed one that looked exactly like that last week, was sporting it around in his mouth like a trophy....Crazy dog...


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