Snake ID

[FL shaver]

You'll have no problem identifying this snake. Well fed, eh?

Photographed at Lake Wauburg, University of Florida's outdoor rec facility, yesterday. And they routinely have to run small gators off the docks and out of the swim areas.

 

[dsmdylan]

Looks like a cottonmouth. They're usually pretty thick.

 

[Mike H]

I'd stay away from that one. Looks like a cotton mouth to me too.

 

[Jim]

Where is Shelby when you need him?

 

[FL shaver]

Cotton mouth it is! That outline is pretty menacing, no?

 

[f86sabjf]

yeah don't mind rattlers at all cottonmouths just have really bad attitudes

 

[Toothpick]

Where is Shelby when you need him?

we'd be eating that snake right now.

 

[FL shaver]

There is a video that reveals that the meat may have gotten bruised...

 

[k200817]

Those things carry a real bad attitude backed up by some serous venom. Stay far away as you can.

 

[fast14riot]

So glad those don't hang out around here! The rattlers are bad enough. I've even seen some gopher snakes that look so much like rattler (and shake their tail in th dry leaves) that I've not gone back for a second look until see them gliding away and notice the tail. I like snakes, but like any wild animal I'm not hunting or plan to eat, I leave them be while trying not to **** them off!


-Xander

 

[FL shaver]

Here is ONE of today's snakes from my run. The other was a black racer. My immediate thought was it is just a garter snake, but boy did he puff up and flatten his head when cornered. Sticking with Eastern garter and the iPhone photo doesn't capture the green coloring well.

 

[aihpcfl]

Here is ONE of today's snakes from my run. The other was a black racer. My immediate thought was it is just a garter snake, but boy did he puff up and flatten his head when cornered. Sticking with Eastern garter and the iPhone photo doesn't capture the green coloring well.

Pretty one.

Snakes and insects, insects and snakes, just a part of life in Florida.

 

[FL shaver]

The record rain has made it a banner year for snake sightings.

 

[Phantomhive]

did you kill it?

 

[FL shaver]

No. He wasn't a danger to anyone. He scooted off into the grass after taking a lunge at me. It was a little surprising to see him have difficulty slithering on the concrete. Had he stayed in the grass, I never would have gotten a great look at him. He moved so much faster through the grass.

 

[Phantomhive]

Dunno man, cottonmouth near a swim area.... sucker would have been a dead one around me.

 

[aihpcfl]

No. He wasn't a danger to anyone. He scooted off into the grass after taking a lunge at me. It was a little surprising to see him have difficulty slithering on the concrete. Had he stayed in the grass, I never would have gotten a great look at him. He moved so much faster through the grass.

Good on you. I have a snake kill I wish I could take back. It was a diamond back, over 6-1/2 feet long and 13 rattles. My friend and I were teenagers. Now I know we didn't need to kill it. I'm 55+ years old and I still think about that, and still regret it.

I'm far from an animal rights type, and I'm not a tree hugger, so to speak, and no offense to tree huggers. But snakes are good. Learn to deal with them or live with what you have when you don't have the snakes.

I wish I hadn't killed that rattlesnake.

 

[Chadao]

Not a worry for me in Seattle.
But growing up in Texas (Freeport, on the Gulf of Mexico near Houston)...when I was three, my dad had a massive heart attack (1952). They didn't think he would live. In those days children were not allow in what ever intensive care was...so a nurse used to sneak my mom and me in through a back door. One night she opened the door and a Water Moccasin was camped out there in the dark. They killed it just as Mother and I arrived.
Texas has every poisonous snake in the US.
Oh, and Dad did live another 17 years.

 

[aihpcfl]

Not a worry for me in Seattle.
But growing up in Texas (Freeport, on the Gulf of Mexico near Houston)...when I was three, my dad had a massive heart attack (1952). They didn't think he would live. In those days children were not allow in what ever intensive care was...so a nurse used to sneak my mom and me in through a back door. One night she opened the door and a Water Moccasin was camped out there in the dark. They killed it just as Mother and I arrived.
Texas has every poisonous snake in the US.
Oh, and Dad did live another 17 years.

You have to weigh the situation and the location. All things considered, I would rather see the venomous snake moved to safety, for the snake and people. That is not always possible, and I understand that. The point is that the default action is not always kill the snake, or at least it shouldn't be.

 

[aihpcfl]

Not a worry for me in Seattle.
But growing up in Texas (Freeport, on the Gulf of Mexico near Houston)...when I was three, my dad had a massive heart attack (1952). They didn't think he would live. In those days children were not allow in what ever intensive care was...so a nurse used to sneak my mom and me in through a back door. One night she opened the door and a Water Moccasin was camped out there in the dark. They killed it just as Mother and I arrived.
Texas has every poisonous snake in the US.
Oh, and Dad did live another 17 years.

By the way, don't you have slugs the size of house cats? Somehow I'd rather deal with snakes.