# What is a Pilot snake?



## Kreed5821

I've always heard my grandparents talk about "pilots".  Today while on my way to their house,  I killed a copperhead.  My grandpa wanted to see it to make sure it wasn't a pilot.  He said he couldn't tell because its head was so messed up 

!  That was my doing!  Anyway,  I asked him how to tell the difference and he said they (pilots) don't have as shiny of a head and are bigger.  This leads me to believe that pilots are copperheads with dull color.  I've seen two copperheads together once when one had recently shed its skin and was very brightly colored compared to the one next to it.  You wouldn't have thought them to be the same kind of snake at first glance.  Do ya'll have any idea about "pilots"?


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## raghorn

Snakeman can give you all the infromation you ever needed or wanted to know about no-shoulders.


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## Woody's Janitor

I was always led to believe they where copperheads.


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## Al33

Until now, I had never heard of a pilot snake.  

Just curious, how did the "pilot" name for a snake come to be?


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## fredw

*Think it is a black rat snake*

BLACK RAT SNAKE
Elaphe obseleta obseleta

HABITS AND HABITATS
These snakes are primarily diurnal or daylight active but typically stay close to protective cover as they prowl for their prey, mostly rats, mice, and other small rodents. They are excellent climbers and are often found high in trees where they may sometimes feed on nesting birds, bird eggs, and even squirrels. They may occupy many types of habitats ranging from deep woods to forest edges, overgrown fields and meadows. They often enter abandoned or little used buildings, barns and even attics and wall spaces in search of rodents, making these snakes valuable but often unwelcome guests as they feed on destructive pests. Black Rat Snakes usually breed in Spring and the eggs are laid during early summer, usually in rotting stumps or in decaying vegetation. Garden mulch piles are often utilized, resulting in frantic human behavior when hatchlings or eggs are discovered! The young snakes, when cornered or threatened, will often coil in a defensive posture, hiss, and strike repeatedly. They also rapidly shake or vibrate the tail resulting in many people mistaking this dangerous-looking small snake for a baby rattlesnake or even a copperhead due to its bold behavior and color pattern, Many adult Black Rat Snakes also react in the same manner when threatened with danger. 

HISTORY
Old timers sometimes refer to the Black Rat Snake as the "Pilot Snake" in the mistaken belief that this Snake pilots or guides the venomous rattlesnake to safe denning areas in the forest. Another common name is the Chicken Snake because the Black Rat is sometimes found near chicken coops and henhouses where they may sometimes feed on chicken eggs. Because of its adaptability to a variety of habitats including those close to people, humans often encounter the Black Rat Snake. Although it is one of our most valuable snakes, human fear and prejudice against all snakes often result in this shy and beneficial species being killed on sight.


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## bukhuntr

My guess would be a gold digging stewardess.


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## Kreed5821

My grandparents don't consider a black snake as a pilot.  They say a pilot is poisonous and a lot like a copperhead.  They had a black snake on their porch last night.


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## GA DAWG

I've also always thought a pilot and copperhead was the same thing.My grandpa calls them pilot snakes anyhow.


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## Vernon Holt

*Pilot Snake*

In my South, the Pilot has always been a Copperhead.  Have also heard the Copperhead referred to a "Highland Moccasin".

You can see in this the problem with common names.  If you see some critter which is unknown to you, just name it yourself.  The alternative is to learn the accepted name for the birds and bees.  Better still, learn the Scientific Names.

Vernon


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## No. GA. Mt. Man

Up in mine and Mr. Holt's neck of the woods old folks called copperheads pilot snakes.


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## Kreed5821

No. GA. Mt. Man said:
			
		

> Up in mine and Mr. Holt's neck of the woods old folks called copperheads pilot snakes.


I'm not far at all from your neck of the woods.  We live in northern Habersham County.  My grandparents are 75 years old.  Guess that qualifies them as some of them old folks,  but don't tell PaPa that!


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## Vernon Holt

*Pilot Snake*

No sweat kreed, if your Grandpop is 75 he already knows he is an old codger.

Vernon


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## Ga-Spur

Maybe he is saying "python".


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## Augie

fredw said:
			
		

> BLACK RAT SNAKE
> Elaphe obseleta obseleta
> 
> HABITS AND HABITATS
> These snakes are primarily diurnal or daylight active but typically stay close to protective cover as they prowl for their prey, mostly rats, mice, and other small rodents. They are excellent climbers and are often found high in trees where they may sometimes feed on nesting birds, bird eggs, and even squirrels. They may occupy many types of habitats ranging from deep woods to forest edges, overgrown fields and meadows. They often enter abandoned or little used buildings, barns and even attics and wall spaces in search of rodents, making these snakes valuable but often unwelcome guests as they feed on destructive pests. Black Rat Snakes usually breed in Spring and the eggs are laid during early summer, usually in rotting stumps or in decaying vegetation. Garden mulch piles are often utilized, resulting in frantic human behavior when hatchlings or eggs are discovered! The young snakes, when cornered or threatened, will often coil in a defensive posture, hiss, and strike repeatedly. They also rapidly shake or vibrate the tail resulting in many people mistaking this dangerous-looking small snake for a baby rattlesnake or even a copperhead due to its bold behavior and color pattern, Many adult Black Rat Snakes also react in the same manner when threatened with danger.
> 
> HISTORY
> Old timers sometimes refer to the Black Rat Snake as the "Pilot Snake" in the mistaken belief that this Snake pilots or guides the venomous rattlesnake to safe denning areas in the forest. Another common name is the Chicken Snake because the Black Rat is sometimes found near chicken coops and henhouses where they may sometimes feed on chicken eggs. Because of its adaptability to a variety of habitats including those close to people, humans often encounter the Black Rat Snake. Although it is one of our most valuable snakes, human fear and prejudice against all snakes often result in this shy and beneficial species being killed on sight.




This link with a picture is from Wi. but seems to be the same as Freds post described.
http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/land/er/herps/snakes/blackrat.htm


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## Kreed5821

Vernon Holt said:
			
		

> No sweat kreed, if your Grandpop is 75 he already knows he is an old codger.
> 
> Vernon[/QUOT/]
> 
> 
> You are right,  sir.  I just don't mention it to him.  He was stouter than me until he hit 65 or so.  At 55 he could still carry three 100lb bags of hog feed up a fifteen foot bank to his hog house.


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## Kreed5821

Thanks for the link Augie,  now I know what a pilot snake is.  But it is not what my grandparents have known as a pilot.  What they know as  a pilot is a poisonous snake with slightly different color than a copperhead.  Somewhere along the way,  someone must have mistakenly called a copperhead a pilot because of its duller color compared to another copperhead and the name stuck.  That is all I can figure.  My grandpa is very accustomed to black snakes.  As I said,  they found one on their porch the other night when I killed the copperhead.  I've actually seen one shake its tail in dry leaves trying to imitate a rattler.  There is another snake in GA that has something like cartiledge in its throat to make a rattling sound.  I've only seen them at a USFS demonstration when I was in school.  Anything that rattles is enough to scare me in the woods!  Especially if I hear it and can't see it!


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## meriwether john

a lot of dirrerence between a black rat snake and a copperhead. have heard the term pilot snake before but can't remember what snake it referred to. when it comes to it I'll take Mr. Vernon's word over most text material. it may be different regions of the country commonly call different kinds of snakes "pilots". Interesting and informative post-- good question--Thanks,  Kreed.


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## deersled

I always thought it was a rat snake also. Ratsnakes appearance change  as they age. A young one could "maybe" be confused with a copperhead. An immature (1-3 ft) ratsnake looks alot different than a mature (5-7ft) one. But they are very, very beneficial. Just leave them rat eating machines alone.


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## Kreed5821

I asked my other Grandpa, who is several years younger than the first,  about it and he said he has heard a lot of people call copperheads pilots.  I know my Grandpa wouldn't mistake a black snake for a copperhead.  I've been able to tell the difference for as long as I can remember.  When you grow up hunting every chance ya get and playing in the woods every day,  you'd best find out the dangers.  The road I grew up on has always had a lot of copperheads killed on it.  My Grandpa's fenceline is mostly in the woods off of that road.  I've seen plenty of copperheads.  Never seen a rattler over in here though.


Anyway,  thanks for the info ya'll!


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## JOHN D. CASTLEBERRY

The snake I have always refered to as a rattlesnake pilot or highland moccasin is not colored the same as the common copperhead, but is colored much like the timber rattler and has a pointed tail with no rattles. I have never seen a copperhead over about 3.5 feet. I have personally dispatched a highland moccasin over 5 feet in length. I guess it is possible it is copperhead in a different color phase, but the snake I recognize as a rattlesnake pilot or highland moccasin does not resemble a copperhead. The highland moccasin is most certainly poisonous.

I killed a huge one when I was about 16 yrs. old that my cousin took home and coiled in a phone booth on Houston Ave. in Macon. You should have witnessed that !!!


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## Vernon Holt

*Pilot Snake*



			
				JOHN D. CASTLEBERRY said:
			
		

> . *"The highland moccasin is most certainly poisonous."*
> 
> John D: There is one minor problem with your version of the "Pilot Snake". If it is poisonous and if it is found in Georgia then it would have to be one of these: Cottonmouth Moccasin, Diamondback Rattler, Timber Rattler, Canebreak Rattler, Pigmy Rattler, Copperhead or the Coral Snake.
> 
> *"is colored much like the timber rattler and has a pointed tail with no rattles"*
> 
> Your description of the Rattlesnake Pilot (Highland Moccasin) does not fit the description of any poisonous snake found in Georgia. Apparently the snake that you have in mind is not poisonous, or it is one the Poisonous Snakes named above.
> 
> All of this points out to the fallacy of using "common names" or names that are of local usage.
> 
> Let me say with emphasis that it is not my intent to be critical of your interpretation of the term "Pilot Snake". I simply felt that is needful to point out the seeming conflict as presented in your post.
> 
> Vernon


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## Kreed5821

Don't forget about the copperhead.  I see more of them than any other kind of snake around here.  Thanks for the input ya'll.  I've wondered about pilot snakes for years.


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## Killdee

I remember growing up,my Uncle Mutt calling a copperhead a pilot snake.He also told me the  common water snake was a copperbelly and was deadly ****onous.
KD


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## Kreed5821

Killdee,  ha ha reckon he just wanted you to stay away from all snakes?


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## Killdee

Yeah , its likely he knew we didnt have sense enought to not pick up a fanged one.
KD


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## Kreed5821

I've told my son that even though all snakes aren't poisonous,  he'd best stay away from all of them.


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## OconeeJim

check this out: "





> The Rattlesnakes are readily told at once by the rattle.
> 
> But the Moccasins are not so easy. There are two kinds ; the Water Moccasin, or Cotton-mouth, found in South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, --Alabama, and Louisiana, and the Copperhead, which is the Highland, or Northern Moccasin or Pilot Snake, found from Massachusetts to Florida and west to Illinois and Texas.


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## Kreed5821

Where was that quoted from?


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## shaggybill

The pilot snake got its name because many people once thought that this snake guided timber rattlers and copperheads to safety when being pursued by people, predators, etc. The reason they thought this was because pilot snakes (which are black rat snakes - elaphe guttata guttata) often den up with copperheads and rattlesnakes during the winter, and can often be found in the same vincinity of these two snakes.

I was over by a hunt club between Waverly Hall and Talbottom on 208 a few weeks ago and found this juvenile timber rattler crossing the dirt road that runs through the club.







Met a super nice guy who managed the club and it surprised me when he allowed me let it go without him wanting to kill it first.

Live and let live.     (unless you're actually hunting the animal    )


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## Vernon Holt

*Pilot Snake*

Shaggybill:  Nice story, but you would have a hard time convincing my Father that a Pilot snake was a black snake.  He would steadfastly contend that a Black Snake was none other than a Black Snake.  He would further contend, as JimT2 did, that a Pilot Snake was none other than a common Copperhead.

I rather agree with my Father, as I almost always did.

Vernon


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## No. GA. Mt. Man

My daddy was right on the pilot snake/copperhead too Mr. Vernon.


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## Kreed5821

I first asked ya'll about it because of hearing my Grandpa talk about them.  He'd laugh at anyone saying it's a black snake.  I'm sure big or darker colored copperheads are what he is referring to as a pilot.  I've never actually seen one that he considered a pilot though.  Anytime we killed a copperhead,  he called it a copperhead,  but would always want to see it to make sure it wasn't a pilot.


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## shaggybill

Hi Vernon, I guess it just depends on what you grew up hearing, huh? I was talking to a friend of mine the other day and he said that his grandparents called common water snakes Water Moccasins, even though they knew these snakes were harmless. 

Now if his grandparents would have come up to me and told me that there was a Water Moccasin out in the yard, I would have thought they meant a Cottonmouth, the other common name for the venomous Water Moccasin ( agkistrodon p. piscivorous).

Too many common names if you ask me...


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## LJay

I thought the pilot snake was the one that flew airplanes.


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## Mac

*Thats what my Dad and Grad pa always said*



			
				Vernon Holt said:
			
		

> In my South, the Pilot has always been a Copperhead.  Have also heard the Copperhead referred to a "Highland Moccasin".
> 
> You can see in this the problem with common names.  If you see some critter which is unknown to you, just name it yourself.  The alternative is to learn the accepted name for the birds and bees.  Better still, learn the Scientific Names.
> 
> Vernon




agree with you


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## gunguy101

*Growing up in SC Pilot snake is same as Copperhead*

I always have heard that the Pilot Snake and the Copperhead are indeed the same snake, even verified that through an Encyclopedia.


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## Artfuldodger

One only has to google "pilot snake" to see that depending on the location, some call it a black snake and others a Copperhead.

Lots of folklore on the Pilot Snake.

I grew up hearing the term "Highland Moccasin" for a Copperhead in South Georgia. We also called Crappie  speckled perch or specks and bass were called trout.

I've also heard skunks called polecats. Then there was a big woodpecker we called Lord Gods. Flicker woodpeckers were "yeller hammers."


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## Artfuldodger

deersled said:


> I always thought it was a rat snake also. Ratsnakes appearance change  as they age. A young one could "maybe" be confused with a copperhead. An immature (1-3 ft) ratsnake looks alot different than a mature (5-7ft) one. But they are very, very beneficial. Just leave them rat eating machines alone.



"Black Ratsnakes are often confused with Northern Black Racers (Coluber c. constrictor), Black Kingsnakes (Lampropeltis g. nigra), Cornsnakes (Elaphe g. guttata), Eastern Milksnakes (Lampropeltis t. triangulum), and sometimes Northern Copperheads (Agkistrodon contortrix mokasen)."

The juveniles do look way different than the adults;

http://www.marshall.edu/herp/snakes/black_ratsnake.htm

Apparently, Copperheads in parts of the mountains are gray. Maybe the gray ones are called Pilots. That wouldn't explain the OP's grandparents wanting to see the head to make sure.  His grandparents distinguished color and head shininess to differentiate.
I think even the gray ones have "copper" heads.


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## Nicodemus

Vernon Holt said:


> In my South, the Pilot has always been a Copperhead.  Have also heard the Copperhead referred to a "Highland Moccasin".
> 
> You can see in this the problem with common names.  If you see some critter which is unknown to you, just name it yourself.  The alternative is to learn the accepted name for the birds and bees.  Better still, learn the Scientific Names.
> 
> Vernon



The same here, Mr. Vernon. Around home nobody called em a copperhead either. It was always a highland moccasin.



Artfuldodger said:


> One only has to google "pilot snake" to see that depending on the location, some call it a black snake and others a Copperhead.
> 
> Lots of folklore on the Pilot Snake.
> 
> I grew up hearing the term "Highland Moccasin" for a Copperhead in South Georgia. We also called Crappie  speckled perch or specks and bass were called trout.
> 
> I've also heard skunks called polecats. Then there was a big woodpecker we called Lord Gods. Flicker woodpeckers were "yeller hammers."




Yea, speckled or white perch, and trout. Daddy said when he was little there were two kinds of those big woodpeckers. There was the "Lord God" woodpecker, and there was one that looked a lot like it called the wood hen. He said the Lord God woodpecker was a little bit bigger than the wood hen and had more white on its back.  He also said there were a lot more wood hens than Lord Gods and they had different calls. He never heard the names Ivorybill and Pileated woodpeckers until I was a grown man and explained it to him. 

He also said that they were both good to eat.


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## Dirtroad Johnson

I've never heard of a pilot snake.


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## blood on the ground

Nicodemus said:


> The same here, Mr. Vernon. Around home nobody called em a copperhead either. It was always a highland moccasin.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Yea, speckled or white perch, and trout. Daddy said when he was little there were two kinds of those big woodpeckers. There was the "Lord God" woodpecker, and there was one that looked a lot like it called the wood hen. He said the Lord God woodpecker was a little bit bigger than the wood hen and had more white on its back.  He also said there were a lot more wood hens than Lord Gods and they had different calls. He never heard the names Ivorybill and Pileated woodpeckers until I was a grown man and explained it to him.
> 
> He also said that they were both good to eat.


Well thats a first ... Eating woodpeckers. I guess when you get right down to it, its all just meat.


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## Artfuldodger

Nicodemus said:


> The same here, Mr. Vernon. Around home nobody called em a copperhead either. It was always a highland moccasin.
> 
> Yea, speckled or white perch, and trout. Daddy said when he was little there were two kinds of those big woodpeckers. There was the "Lord God" woodpecker, and there was one that looked a lot like it called the wood hen. He said the Lord God woodpecker was a little bit bigger than the wood hen and had more white on its back.  He also said there were a lot more wood hens than Lord Gods and they had different calls. He never heard the names Ivorybill and Pileated woodpeckers until I was a grown man and explained it to him.
> 
> He also said that they were both good to eat.



Dad used to say he saw a healthy Poor Joe in a dead live oak.


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## Nicodemus

Artfuldodger said:


> Dad used to say he saw a healthy Poor Joe in a dead live oak.



Lot of Po Joe`s around here too.


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## Artfuldodger

blood on the ground said:


> Well thats a first ... Eating woodpeckers. I guess when you get right down to it, its all just meat.



We ate lots of Yellow Hammer Woodpeckers. (Flickers)

It's amazing how one can go up a few counties, cross a state line, or up to the mountains and here different names for things.
For instance tomato gravy or hoe cake has different meanings. Oh and a Brush Axe. Some call it a brush axe and others call it a _______.


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## Artfuldodger

Nicodemus said:


> Lot of Po Joe`s around here too.



What is a Po Joe bird?


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## Nicodemus

Artfuldodger said:


> What is a Po Joe bird?





Great blue heron.


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## Nicodemus

blood on the ground said:


> Well thats a first ... Eating woodpeckers. I guess when you get right down to it, its all just meat.





There`s lots of birds that eat good. I`ve told elsewhere here in the past about Daddy and them thrashing robins. And Mama making bird pies for us. And also eating with the seasons. The South Georgia flatwoods were and still are full of food.


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## NE GA Pappy

Killdee said:


> I remember growing up,my Uncle Mutt calling a copperhead a pilot snake.He also told me the  common water snake was a copperbelly and was deadly ****onous.
> KD



I had a Uncle Mutt too... he was from the Roach side of my family.


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## Nicodemus

Yea, when I was a youngun I was showed a copperbelly and told that I wouldn`t make it from the pond to the house if I was ever bit by one. They was turrible pizen.


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## NCHillbilly

Nicodemus said:


> The same here, Mr. Vernon. Around home nobody called em a copperhead either. It was always a highland moccasin.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Yea, speckled or white perch, and trout. Daddy said when he was little there were two kinds of those big woodpeckers. There was the "Lord God" woodpecker, and there was one that looked a lot like it called the wood hen. He said the Lord God woodpecker was a little bit bigger than the wood hen and had more white on its back.  He also said there were a lot more wood hens than Lord Gods and they had different calls. He never heard the names Ivorybill and Pileated woodpeckers until I was a grown man and explained it to him.
> 
> He also said that they were both good to eat.



All the old timers around here call pileated woodpeckers "wood hens," too. And grandpa used to shoot 'em and eat 'em. 

What I have heard called a pilot snake here is just a big, grayish color-phase copperhead. The old timers swore they were two different snakes. They also said hoop snakes would roll down a hill and chase you, and stick you with the deadly stinger on the ends of their tails; and that if you chopped a joint snake up, the pieces would crawl around until they found each other and would grow back together.


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## Nicodemus

NCHillbilly said:


> All the old timers around here call pileated woodpeckers "wood hens," too. And grandpa used to shoot 'em and eat 'em.
> 
> What I have heard called a pilot snake here is just a big, grayish color-phase copperhead. The old timers swore they were two different snakes. They also said hoop snakes would roll down a hill and chase you, and stick you with the deadly stinger on the ends of their tails; and that if you chopped a joint snake up, the pieces would crawl around until they found each other and would grow back together.





Back in 2006 before I retired, we were working the 115,000 volt line that runs through Chickasawhatchee WMA down here and I saw this rascal rolling towards us. Everybody jumped in the trucks and shut the doors and I stayed up in the bucket on my truck and got this shot as it came by. Luckily, it was in a hurry and went on outa sight. Only one I`ve ever seen.


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## NCHillbilly

Nicodemus said:


> Back in 2006 before I retired, we were working the 115,000 volt line that runs through Chickasawhatchee WMA down here and I saw this rascal rolling towards us. Everybody jumped in the trucks and shut the doors and I stayed up in the bucket on my truck and got this shot as it came by. Luckily, it was in a hurry and went on outa sight. Only one I`ve ever seen.



You were a lucky man. Feller near here got chased by one and he saw it was gonna catch him, so he ducked around behind a big tulip poplar. That thing went to hit him and stuck its stinger in the tree trunk. Every leaf on that tree was wilted down and dead within an hour. 


(Actual story I heard growing up.)


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## Woody's Janitor

Still a good read.


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## KyDawg

Nicodemus said:


> Back in 2006 before I retired, we were working the 115,000 volt line that runs through Chickasawhatchee WMA down here and I saw this rascal rolling towards us. Everybody jumped in the trucks and shut the doors and I stayed up in the bucket on my truck and got this shot as it came by. Luckily, it was in a hurry and went on outa sight. Only one I`ve ever seen.



Them Hoop snakes aint nothing to mess with.


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## Mr Bya Lungshot

My snake book identifies a black rat as a pilot common name.


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## Redbow

A Copperhead was called a Pilot by just about all the country folks while I was living in SC...I never heard anyone in the part of NC I grew up in call a Snake a Pilot..There was a woman in our neighborhood that swore Hoop Snakes did exist she said one chased her when she was a little girl....An old man living in our neighborhood told me and some teenage friends of mine that he came across a Sting Snake one day back in his younger years. Seems someone put out a large bounty for a Sting Snake back then if someone could produce one for him to see they would get the money. But no-one ever did..


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