Snake experts?

[95NSXT]

I've been starting to see a fair amount of snakes where I fish and I was wondering if anyone could identify them for me. I'm comfortable handling snakes, but I was just wondering if anyone recognized these. I'm in Indiana and obviously near water. The first one came out of the water and onto land near me and the second one left land near me and went into the water.

I found this site but a lot of the snakes look the same to me.

1. This one shook his tail at me, he had no rattle but you could hear it vibrating. He wasn't really jumpy, but didn't like my attention. He coiled back once or twice

2. This one moved slowly, wasn't really bothered by me. He did coil back once though.

Any help would be appreciated :smile:

 

[cmhs75]

I'm no snake expert

ut I'm giving out sound advice

snake= stay away regardless

too many people ended up with perminant damage, due to too much interest in snakes


so be careful my friend

 

[Surff78]

shit!! look out.. the Black Mumba is back lol j/p
watch Wild Boys and im sure they will tell you! :biggrin:

 

[heySkippy]

I think the first one is a Black Racer. Non-poisonous but very aggressive snake. I've seen them shake their tail just like a rattler and when they're young they even have coloration like a pygmy rattler.

I don't know what the second one is although it's clearly not poisonous. Pretty snake though.

 

[95NSXT]

shit!! look out.. the Black Mumba is back lol j/p
watch Wild Boys and im sure they will tell you! :biggrin:

hahah

body, thanks for the info. So far the 3 sources i've asked have all given non consistant answers haha. I'll just keep my distance I guess :smile:

 

[Dave Hardy]

I don't know what the second one is although it's clearly not poisonous. Pretty snake though.

I'm not an expert, but the markings on the second one look sort of like a copperhead, which is poisonous.

 

[heySkippy]

Could be I suppose but it doesn't look like any copperhead I've ever seen. Color is way too light and it'd be unusual to see a copperhead in broad daylight out from under cover of brush or woods. Copperheads (IMO of course) are only annoyingly poisonous as opposed to deadly poisonous like rattlesnakes but still deserving of respect. I grew up in Kansas and when we went golfing we always took our "snake iron" with us to look for balls (plenty of copperheads there).

I'm not scared of snakes I can see. It's the ones you never see that hurt ya.

 

[PoohBEAR]

Looks like a typical Northern Water Snakes. They are one of our most common snakes near water way or wet environment. Because their color patterns aren't always the same, and also because they are often covered with mud, water snakes are confused with other species. It grows over four feet long. They can be brown, gray, reddish, or brownish-black. They have dark cross bands on their necks and dark blotches on the rest of their bodies. Also, the older the snake gets, the darker it gets. An older snake will become black.
The belly of this snake also varies in color. It can be white, yellow, or gray. Usually it also has reddish or black crescents (moon shapes). Northern Water Snakes live near lakes, ponds, marshes, streams, rivers, and canals; just about anywhere there is water. They are active during the day and at night. They are most often seen basking on rocks, stumps, or brush.

During the day, water snakes hunt among plants at the water's edge, looking for small fish, frogs, worms, leeches, crayfish, salamanders, young turtles, and small birds and mammals. At night, they concentrate on minnows and other small fish sleeping in shallow water. Northern Water Snakes mate in April and June. They are live-bearers, which mean they do not lay eggs like most snakes. Instead, they carry them inside their bodies and give birth to baby snakes, each one six to twelve inches long. A female may have as many as 30 young at a time. Babies are born between August and October. Mothers do not care for their young; as soon as they are born, they are on their own.

Northern Water Snakes have many predators, including birds, raccoons, opossums, foxes, snapping turtles, bullfrogs, and other snakes. These snakes defend themselves viciously when they are threatened. If they are picked up by an animal, or person, they will bite, as well as release poop and musk (bad smelling liquid).
Northern Water Snakes often share winter dens with other snakes, such as Copperheads and Black Rat Snakes.

 

[sjs]

Nice pictures. My nickname is grade school was Snake, and for good reason, but that doesn’t make me an expert. However, I can assure you that both are harmless unless you count the potential of a nasty infection after a bite. I don’t think either are water snakes. Although coloration can vary by quite a bit, these don’t’ look right and most adult water snakes are thicker in the body than land snakes. The first looks like one of the “Racers”, probably the common Black Racer. It could be a Blue Racer but it’s hard to say with just one picture and no view of the belly. The coloration is too uniform for most Rat snakes. The second almost certainly is a Black Rat snake, which can range from fairly light to dark enough that the pattern is difficult to make out, but the pattern on this one is textbook.

Of these the Racer tends to be the more aggressive, or at least likely to stand their ground, but neither is as mean as most water snakes. They are very beneficial in maintaining the balance of “critters” so enjoy taking their picture then leave them be.

 

[Joshs]

I've been starting to see a fair amount of snakes where I fish and I was wondering
...
:smile:

My housemate noticed a cal king snake (?) tonite meandering by the pool. He repositioned him down the hill and away from a more densly populated area.

the snake was very friendly considering it was plucked off the ground and handled for 5 minutes or so.

-Josh

 

[95NSXT]

PooH, thanks for the detailed response

sjs, well thanks for enlightening me. I don't plan on messing with any of them. I'm gonna get a redtailed boa when I go back to school. I've had two before and really like them. Now I just gotta figure out this whole frozen mice thing

Joshs, haha well that's random. I had a Cali king snake and he wasn't friendly at all. Every time I tried to handle him he would be jumpy and usually crap on the floor. I tried to handle him as much as I could, but I just got impatient and he got replaced by a boa :biggrin:

 

[squid2004]

My housemate noticed a cal king snake (?) tonite meandering by the pool. He repositioned him down the hill and away from a more densly populated area.

I love my Kings (much better than the boa I had)....

They can be quite pissy, have a nasty bite, but you just have to handle them a lot and then they are cool:

Feeding time is always interesting:

 

[TucAZNSX]

What kind of snake is the black and white striped one?

 

[squid2004]

What kind of snake is the black and white striped one?

California King Snake.... I call him "The Dude" :smile:

The black one is a Mexican King or Nigrita King.

 

[95NSXT]

California King Snake.... I call him "The Dude" :smile:

The black one is a Mexican King or Nigrita King.

You Cali is probably a few inches bigger than mine was. I don't have any pictures off hand, they're all back home. I think your other snake is eating his mouse backwards haha. Have you ever wittnessed one thrown up? diiiigusting

 

[squid2004]

You Cali is probably a few inches bigger than mine was. I don't have any pictures off hand, they're all back home. I think your other snake is eating his mouse backwards haha. Have you ever wittnessed one thrown up? diiiigusting

I've had him since he was a baby. He's grown like crazy.

Yeah for some reason the black one almost always eats them backwards. I haven't witnessed them throwing up but I did happen to turn around one time right when the big one had his tail in the air and sprayed out his poop. The sight and sound together were horrible hahah!

 

[95NSXT]

I've had him since he was a baby. He's grown like crazy.

Yeah for some reason the black one almost always eats them backwards. I haven't witnessed them throwing up but I did happen to turn around one time right when the big one had his tail in the air and sprayed out his poop. The sight and sound together were horrible hahah!

Do you use live of frozen mice?

 

[jlindy]

Do you use live of frozen mice?

I would say live by the picture with the black snake. The poor mouse crapped himself before he got munched.

 

[squid2004]

Do you use live of frozen mice?

Live but I stun them before putting them in the feeder box.


My black snake is brutal with them. I have a video of a feeding and he nails them so hard on the first strike that blood, piss, and poop often come out everywhere. Then he drags them around and whatnot. It's very fascinating but kind of gross at the same time.

 

[PoohBEAR]

She's a beauuuuuuuuuti!!! I am going snake hunting in my backyard now.

 

[squid2004]

Ahaha found another snake this weekend so I decided to feed it to one of the snakes... my bigger one wasn't interested so I gave it to the little guy:

snake vs snake (right click save as 9mb)

 

[95NSXT]

Ahaha found another snake this weekend so I decided to feed it to one of the snakes... my bigger one wasn't interested so I gave it to the little guy:

snake vs snake (right click save as 9mb)

haha that's awesome!

Have you ever tried frozen mice? The problem is that I dont know anywhere around me that sells feeder mice. I haven't really looked hard yet, but yeh. My boa never just struck the crap out of them, but I remember the mouse tail twirling around and then finally stopping. The next reptile show in Indy i'm gonna pick up a red tail

 

[squid2004]

haha that's awesome!

Have you ever tried frozen mice? The problem is that I dont know anywhere around me that sells feeder mice. I haven't really looked hard yet, but yeh. My boa never just struck the crap out of them, but I remember the mouse tail twirling around and then finally stopping. The next reptile show in Indy i'm gonna pick up a red tail

You can find distributors of frozen mice at the reptile shows. They'll overnight ship them to you or whatever and it actually works out to be much cheaper than live.

I just prefer feeding live now and then and not dealing with freezing/thawing, etc.