[Boleyz]

OK,

Here's a couple of pictures of a baby snake that crawled up on my patio tonight. It's alive in the first one (I picked it up by the tail like Steve Irwin used to do)...and dead in the second one (trusty Leatherman)

It was brown with no markings...I dunno what a baby copperhead looks like, but this one was copper-colored...I hope there's not a big copperhead in my yard. My kids swim in a pool about 40 feet from where I found this little guy.

Can anyone identify it for me?

 

[BaronsMom]

Its pupils are round correct? In our area, that's a good thing...but don't know about where you live.

The following Snake ID site is for Nebraska, but will give you a good idea what to look for on the snake to decide if dangerous or not...

Snake photos and key - http://snrs.unl.edu/herpneb/snake/basicsnakekey.html

Description of what to look for with a venomous snake:

http://snrs.unl.edu/herpneb/snake/Poisonsnakes1.html


Good luck

 

[Ravenlost]

It is NOT a Copperhead, nor is it a poisonous snake. You can tell that by the shape of the head. I think it's just a Brown Snake:

http://www.kentuckysnakes.org/snake_details.cfm?snake_number=4&option=patterned

http://www.camo-store.com/US poisonous snakes.htm

 

[Boleyz]

Yeah, I did some searching and came to the same conclusion...Thanks!

 

[susieM]

Small snakes are not always babies. Vipers are small, for instance.

 

[Ozark-Dew]

glad it was not a copperhead. two nights ago we found one just outside the door, coiled up against the house, 6 inches from the screen door. Thankfully our son heard it and was able to dispatch it before anyone was struck.

 

[comfortablynumb]

why did ya kill it?

 

[unregistered6474]

Poor little snake

 

[big rockpile]

I'm thinking Earth Snake

http://www.mdc.mo.gov/nathis/herpetol/snake/snake1.htm

big rockpile

 

[Danaus29]

Not a Brown Snake, they have black markings on their backs. Earth Snake:
http://www.kentuckysnakes.org/snake_details.cfm?snake_number=8&option=solid

This is a young copperhead, note the yellow tail and diamond shaped head:
http://www.snakesandfrogs.com/scra/snakes/images/scopperjuv4.jpg

 

[Anita in NC]

My rule is that I kill poisonous snakes but not harmless ones like, king snakes, rat snakes, worm snakes, corn snakes etc....

I kill the poisonous ones because I have small kids and a dog. I've trained the kids to come get me if they see a snake and I'll identify it. Often if they are small and harmless we'll pick them up and have a look at them.

Guess, I'm wondering why you would kill a harmless snake.

 

[DrippingSprings]

My rule is I dont kill any snakes. I dont see any reason to kill them. They serve a function. So I leave them alone.

Now free ranging cats? SSS They are singlehandedly responsibe for the very serious decline and possible extinctionof many of the birds.

 

[titansrunfarm]

Sad you killed it before finding out if it was a beneficial critter. I'm told skinny head, round pupils are usually harmless.

 

[gracegarden]

Great Website Rockpile! Love it!
I always called them "brown worm snakes" because of their color and diet.
They are very plentiful in my compost area.

I was thinking "flathead" variety, but then read the part about rocky areas. That doesn't go with the environment where I find them.

Anyway, love the website!

 

[matt633]

Absolutely NOT a copperhead. I have been around them all my life (so much that daddy kept a shovel on the porch to chop their heads off w/!). A copperhead would already have markings, or crossbands,even as a baby. Juveniles also have yellow on their tails (very noticeable). and even a young copperhead, would have a more diamond shaped head.

This snake is nonpoisonous, probably a coachwhip or earth snake.

I noticed that you were in KY, you may want to check into getting this book: Snakes of the Southeast by Whit Gibbons and Mike Dorcas. We bought it for our kids to learn about snake ID when we bought our land. My dd10 can tell you what any snake we find in our yard is! It is great, it has lots of pics, size, desciption, what they eat, habitat, and best of all a map of where they have been found so far! It would be good for you to learn to ID snakes so you don't kill the "good" ones. We have a 6-7 ft king snake that we will not kill (unless it gets in the chicken coop) b/c he will eat the poisonous snakes (which must be working as I haven't seen any since we have lived here and I KNOW copperheads are abundant in this area!). Besides, I prefer to know what I am picking up before I do so!!! Even if you don't familiarize yourself w/ many, learn all you can about the few poisonous snakes in the southeast (copperhead, cottonmouth/water mocassin, timber/canebrake, pygmy, or eastern diamondback , rattlers, and coral snakes). Those are the ones that matter!!

Rachael

 

[Anita in NC]

I have killed the poisonous ones as I said because I have kids and a dog.

When we first moved here we had a lot of copperheads and after you pay a few hundred dollars in vet bills because the dogs got bitten you take care of the copperheads.

One time one of my dogs got bitten on the tongue by a copperhead and her tongue swelled so much that she could barely breath. This was on a Saturday night at midnight when I'm 9 months pregnant and DH is out with his friends. Nothing like trying to drag a 80 pound dog to the car when you're about to pop.

If I didn't have kids or a dog (use to be dogs) I'd leave all the snakes alone.

 

[Boleyz]

I figured some of ya would bust my chops for killing it, but if I find any kind of unknown snake 30 feet from where my kids run and play barefooted in their swimming suits, well, he's a gonner. Sorry if that chaps ya up.

Here's the biggest water mocassin I ever saw in my life. I killed it in June at Lake Sinclare in GA where my parents have a place on the lake. He was in the little dockhouse. I killed him with my trusty mattock...

 

[Cabin Fever]

Hey, Boleyz...nice flip flops (*snicker*)

 

[MTTMATSUA]

A question re: these snakes...

I am a native Californian, but as you can see we are planning on moving east in a couple of years. My question is what snakes should we watch for in Indiana??

Out here it's rattlesnakes, gopher snakes and garter/garden snakes...and a mess of lizards (we are in east County San Diego, so very desert-like)

I may miss snakes that make sounds :lookout: if I am having to watch each step! teehee!!

Also, if anyone has any info on the spiders out there and what they look like that would be great!

(Mammals I can deal with...grew up in NorCal in the mtn's w/ bear, mountain lions and elk...)

thanks a bunch!!!!
Bonnie the big chicken!!

 

[patnewmex]

What's the matter with those flip flops????????? (harrumph!)