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Reptiles & Amphibians

what is this snake ?

9 years ago

Hi,
I usually don't post here and no nothing about snakes.
I accidentally weed whacked this one while tending my flower bed. I almost got bitten by this kind of snake while weeding the flower bed before.
I heard that urban legend has it that the only venomous snakes on the north America Continent are in the reptile house at the zoo. Is this true?
I would like to know what it is and if i can pick them up safely and release them into the woods when i find one ?

thanks

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Comments (4)

User
9 years ago
It is pretty tough to tell from that photo, but that appears to be a young Racer (Coluber constrictor). They are blotched like this as juveniles but end up solid colored as adults. The color of the adults depends on where in North American you are.

I heard that urban legend has it that the only venomous snakes on the north America Continent are in the reptile house at the zoo. Is this true?

No. That is completely untrue.

In the US there are:
Eastern Coralsnake (Micrurus fulvius)
Texas Coralsnake (Micrurus tener)
Arizona Coralsnake (Micruroides euryxanthus)
Copperheads (Agkistrodon contortrix)
Cottonmouths (Agkistrodon piscivorus)
and 19 species of Rattlesnake

Of course, only a few of these species live in any one area of the US.

If your "North America" includes Mexico, there area another 30 or so species to include.

All that considered, most people who live in the US spend their whole lives without seeing a venomous snake in the wild.
dirt_farmer
Original Author
9 years ago
Hi,
Thanks for the info.
I found a better pic of the snake and would like to post that now.
Maybe it will help to positively id it.
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The only venomous species up that far are the Timber Rattlesnake and Massasauga. It certainly isn't a Massasauga and it doesn't look right for the pattern of a Timber Rattlesnake. Both of those species are restricted to the very SE corner of the state and the Massasauga may be extirpated. Actually, the snake it looks most like to me based on pattern and body morph is an African Puff Adder which doesn't occur in North America. Are you 100% sure of the photo origin (i.e. did you take it)? Lots of photos get passed around the internet with dubious or deliberately changed locations.
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It is not a copperhead. Baby copperheads looks just like adult copperheads (and nothing like this). This is a harmless baby Racer (Coluber constrictor). It probably wandered in through some small opening somewhere. Sweep it up with a broom and release it outside and neither of you will be the worse for the experience.
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User
9 years ago
Oops. That isn't a racer. That is a small Eastern or Red Milksnake (depending where you live). You didn't say where you were.

Milksnakes (Lampropeltis triangulum) are harmless rodent eaters.
lazy_gardens
9 years ago
Dirt_Farmer

Learn which snakes live in your area and what they look like as adults and juveniles ... the harmless ones outnumber the venomous ones in almost all areas.

Also learn where they like to hang out, and when they are most active. Despite the numbers of rattlesnakes in the metro Phoenix area, very few people are bitten because the snakes and people are seldom in the same area at the same time. Early spring, when humans are hiking and snakes are active in the morning is about the only time you have collissions.

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