What kind of snake is this? (Pics)

[Catalytic]

Found this in the driveway tonight, scale pattern says it's in the pit viper family, but I can't quite match it to any of the pictures. Facebook comments say it's a cottonmouth. Can anyone tell me for sure? (No we didn't use the bolt cutters on him!)

[naturelover]

I'd say juvenile cottonmouth. Here's some young cottonmouths with similar patterns.






.

[Txsteader]

Agreed with NL.....juvenile cottonmouth.

[pheasantplucker]

Did you cut the head off? Still have it? I'd agree with Naturelover...I'd guess copperhead but if you had the head you could better tell.

[charmd2]

Not a copperhead. They have hershey kisses patterns.

[CarolT]

I am guessing it had single scales after the vent?

BTW, my vote is also cottonmouth

[Catalytic]

When we bought this house a year ago (this month!) I made hubby buy me a revolver (because nothing peeves me off more than a semi-auto jamming) and "snake shot" shells for it. Last night, we finally got to use it, so his head is ummm, obliterated :blush: (This isn't our first snake, but the others were in spots it wasn't safe to shoot them, like the well house, or the chicken coop, but the chickens took care of him lol)

Yes, it has single scales below the vent. The underside of the tip of the tail is yellow, I think I read that as part of a cottonmouth description, too, but his pattern didn't really seem to quite match anything I saw pics of.

[DryHeat]

I go with cottonmouth, too, juvenile since you can see the yellow tip on its tail. Only thing that would make me think copperhead more likely would be if there's no pond or swamp or river or anything within a mile or so. Definitely, 100%, one or the other, a venomous pit viper. Offhand, I recall copperheads as having fewer of the hourglass-shaped bands on their backs than do cottonmouths. (Full adult cottonmouths, 3'+ in length, often are quite dark in color.)

[Horse Fork Farm]

You really need to not shoot the head off! ALL poisonous snakes will have the elliptical shaped pupil. If you see a round pupil its non-venomous. Also, its easy to count the pits on the head to help verify. I understand your fear, I hate them too. But I like knowing for sure what is crawling in my yard so I force myself to shoot lower on the body so I can identify safely. Sometimes I'll bite the bullet and go after it with a shovel if I have to. Anything I can identify before shooting as harmless gets to go free.

[Txsteader]

Originally Posted by Catalytic

The underside of the tip of the tail is yellow, I think I read that as part of a cottonmouth description, too, but his pattern didn't really seem to quite match anything I saw pics of.

That yellow tip on its tail indicates it's definitely a cottonmouth.

[motdaugrnds]

It looks more like a copperhead. The cotton mouths here are very dark; and for the size of the snake shown, it is not "young" at all.

We've had a few copperheads (grown) on our place and that is exactly what they look like.

[jen74145]

1) Evil little beastie *shudder*
2) You shot it into obliteration *giggle* Do you also swat flies with Buicks?
3) Agreed, cottonmouth. See point #1.

[Terri in WV]

A dead one!

Sorry, I couldn't resist

[Bearfootfarm]

It looks more like a copperhead. The cotton mouths here are very dark

Cottonmouths don't turn dark until they are much older.

That's a young one

Copperhead markings are a different shape and have less color variation:


http://images.google.com/imgres?q=ju...12&tx=77&ty=79

[Txsteader]

Copperheads also don't have the spots like a cottonmouth.

There are (I think) 3 subspecies of cottonmouth that accounts for the variations, some being very nearly black.

Old-timers here tell some hair-raising stories about some giants getting washed inland during hurricanes. Biggest I've ever seen was a 6'-er that was as big around as my arm.

[fordy]

...............I don't think it's a CM because a CM is a short , thick bodied , heavy snake ! That headless one in the pic looks too....Skinny.....to me to be a CM .
...............Look at the first pic of the CM , notice how quickly the girth of the body decreases as you get closer too the tail , Now , contrast that with the headless snake , notice how the decreasing diameter of the body is spreadout over a much longer section of the snake ! I don't know what it IS , but I don't believe it is either a CM or a Copperhead . , fordy

[Catalytic]

Originally Posted by DryHeat

I go with cottonmouth, too, juvenile since you can see the yellow tip on its tail. Only thing that would make me think copperhead more likely would be if there's no pond or swamp or river or anything within a mile or so. Definitely, 100%, one or the other, a venomous pit viper. Offhand, I recall copperheads as having fewer of the hourglass-shaped bands on their backs than do cottonmouths. (Full adult cottonmouths, 3'+ in length, often are quite dark in color.)

There's a creek about 6 square acres from where it was. It was laying on my driveway, with its head and maybe 6" of the body straight up off the ground. (I thought it was a stick until I got closer, was dark out) Another thing I read about cottonmouths is they stand their ground, and this one definitely did, he seemed totally unfazed by the headlights. We thought it was a rattler, which is why we shot it, but after death we realized it wasn't. (We knew it didn't have a rattle, but we've seen 3 Eastern Diamondbacks this year without them)

Originally Posted by Heartstrings

You really need to not shoot the head off! ALL poisonous snakes will have the elliptical shaped pupil. If you see a round pupil its non-venomous. Also, its easy to count the pits on the head to help verify. I understand your fear, I hate them too. But I like knowing for sure what is crawling in my yard so I force myself to shoot lower on the body so I can identify safely. Sometimes I'll bite the bullet and go after it with a shovel if I have to. Anything I can identify before shooting as harmless gets to go free.

Hubby will shoot it lower in the future The only snake I'll let go free will be an indigo, I positively detest crawly things. Indigo gets a pass since it's protected by law, and we had one when I was a teenager that thought our front step was the best sunning place in the world, s/he was 6-8' long, so I know very well what they look like.

Originally Posted by jen74145

2) You shot it into obliteration *giggle* Do you also swat flies with Buicks?

Nah, Buick is old-school, we use a Chevy for flies

Originally Posted by Terri in WV

A dead one!

Sorry, I couldn't resist

LOL, the only good snake is a dead one! (Though I will say I was nice and let a baby non-venomous one go at my best friend's house earlier this summer, rather than kill it)

[stormwalker]

Snakes aren't bad simply because they interfere with our existence.
It doesn't look like the copperheads I grew up with.

[Ravenlost]

I agree...juvenile cottonmouth. They're the only kind of snake we kill here on our farm (only because we've seen no rattlesnakes, copperheads or coral snakes). Harmless snakes are allowed to stay and do their job keeping down the rat/mouse population.

Here's one of the cottonmouths hubby has killed here:

[barber lady]

I'd be checking any body of water close to you. If you have babies you have adults. They usually make a nest in the bank of a river or pond. I have seen dozens in those nests. They are crazy snakes and have been known to attach a person in the water together. Kind of like a swarm. These are very dangerous. Be careful. You really need a professional to check this out. They have this miniature flame thrower like you would use to burn brush to burn them out. And protective gear! Even if it's a copper head there will be a nest. I burnt out 2 copperhead nests when I fist moved here.