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Know your snakes

48,005 Views | 75 Replies | Last: 6 yr ago by DatTallArchitect
12f Mane
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12:28a, 4/21/12
AG
A few photos of some of the venomous snakes of Texas and snakes commonly confused with them. I encourage yall to learn to differentiate species, or at least learn to identify the venomous, and leave the rest alone.

Milksnake


Coral snake


Yellowbelly water snake


Diamondback water snake


Broadbanded watersnake


Cottonmouth


Hognose


Speckled kingsnake


Prairie kingsnake


Texas ratsnake


Brownsnake


Copperheads
east Texas version


central/north Texas version


Western diamondback rattlesnake


Timber/canebrake rattlesnake


Pygmy rattlesnake


Massasauga (ground rattler)


Coachwhip
eastern version


western version


Racer
eastern version


western version


Ribbon snake


Bullsnake


Rough green snake


Texas (blue) Indigo


one chowing on a diamondback





There's quite a few more species in Texas, but these seem to be the most commonly questioned or encountered. Hope this helps.

ib4onlygoodsnakeisadeadsnake and killthemall

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JD Shellnut
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1:06a, 4/21/12
AG
I always thought the pygmy and ground rattler were two different names for the same snake. Interesting.
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beam
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1:18a, 4/21/12
AG
Which one is referred to as a chicken snake? This is a term I heard all the time as a child. Nonpoisonous and usually very long.
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Robk
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1:43a, 4/21/12
Love the last two. Did you see that when not the dirty diapers in SOTEX a few weeks ago, LOL. Team B for the win!!!!

If I am making no sense to you sorry, I have you confused with somebody else.



[This message has been edited by Robk (edited 4/21/2012 12:53a).]
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ursusguy
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1:49a, 4/21/12
AG
Edit-beam that would be the rat snake

[This message has been edited by ursusguy (edited 4/21/2012 12:50a).]
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Old Sarge
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2:04a, 4/21/12
AG
I used to have a deerleae south of Berclair in Bee Co. We loved the Blue Indigos. We saw some that were truly awe inspiring in length. You could get out of the vehicle and almost walk right up to them. Seemingly very docile. The fact they ate rattlers for desert made it better. I saw one from a tree blind, that judging by the oak leaves he was going over had a diameter of almost my lower thigh. Did not get to see the length, just saw him for a little in my binoculars.

I know that sounds crazy. However, in 12 years in Bee Co., the smallest rattler we killed was 4 ft. long. I have a pick from circa 1987 from that lease with a small 11 pt in one hand and a 6 ft rattler in the other both killed the same morning hunt.

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YellowPot_97
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2:36a, 4/21/12
AG
sad thing is most people see snake, and think kill.

TPWD posted a pic of some water snakes on their facebook page a couple days ago. 80% of the comments were some form of "kill them". one person's comment was, "Well, I'm never going to that park."

I just don't get the irrational fear of a small, harmless animal.
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SanAntoneAg
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2:48a, 4/21/12
AG
Don't forget that any snake found near water is either a cottonmouth or a water moccasin.
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centexag06
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6:07a, 4/21/12
AG
Caught a Coral at a friends ranch a short time back. First time I have seen one in the Centeral Texas area. I usually think kill when I see snakes, mostly because I don't know a the diffrence, I did't kill the coral because I thought it was the other, then apon moving it from the house, I took a second look at it's colors.. carrying it around on this little 2 foot stick.. I think I am going back to my first thought..Strike first admire later. But then I am a city boy relocated to the hill country.
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12f Mane
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8:05a, 4/21/12
AG
Drifter- I think some people call them that as well.

Rob- Team B representing! Those shots were from a trip the year before though.
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DriftwoodAg
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8:51a, 4/21/12
AG

caught a 2 foot version of this on a sticky trap the other day. I tried to set him free, but in the process he got himself more stuck, so I gave up and tossed the whole thing in the trash. That made for a very interesting situation later when my wife went to throw something away and he had unstuck himself and was slithering around the lid.
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ursusguy
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9:36a, 4/21/12
AG
Spend a few summers with rattlesnake living under you tent, and you get pretty used to them. In the mornings we just looked down to make sure we weren't stepping on one. I will admit it is bit of a pucker factor, when you are sitting in the latrine and one crawls in and joins you.--By the way, there are some areas around Philmont with a lot of rattlesnakes.
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HuntingGMan
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9:47a, 4/21/12
AG
Nice pic's.

Would it be possible, for instructional purposes, to indicate which of the pictured snakes are venomous and which are not?
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10:04a, 4/21/12
DriftwoodAg
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10:04a, 4/21/12
AG
I believe just the coral snake, cotton mouth, copperheads and rattle snakes
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bushman
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10:06a, 4/21/12
AG
I can help with that, Gman.

There are only 4 species of venomous snakes in Texas: Rattlesnakes, Copperheads, Cotton Mouths and Coral Snakes.

I have always had an affinity for snakes, they are very cool critters. As a boy, I studied them and could identify all species native to our area by probably age 6-7.
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HuntingGMan
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10:10a, 4/21/12
AG
Thanks fellas.
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tupa96
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10:36a, 4/21/12
I plead the fifth
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ursusguy
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11:05a, 4/21/12
AG
With Ursus Jr. (2 going on 3), we have pretty well hammered home "don't touch, tell daddy". Which to date has worked extremely well. Earlier this week, as I was locking up the house, I hear "dada I see snake". Sure enough there was a small rat snake in the yard. Jr. has been in a herpetarium at least once a month since he was a year old. For a 2 year old, his snake id is pretty good (shocker he is a little animal nerd).--He really likes the photos y'all posted.
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12f Mane
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4:28p, 4/21/12
AG
hot rod- that's Glossy snake, and a good mice eater to have around. Where do you live?


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oneeyedag
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6:22p, 4/21/12
Since we've move to central Virginia my son and I spend a lot of time in the national forest fishing and hiking. Most of the other fisherman have told us only to worry about canebreaks/timber rattlers and copperheads which we have seen several of the latter. Anybody else have experience with snake in these parts.
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CrockerAg98
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8:13p, 4/21/12
AG
That should be about right. I live in north Georgia, and when I'm out on trails, I just worry about copperheads and assorted rattlers.

I think you're a bit far north for moccasins and coral snakes.
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DriftwoodAg
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9:02p, 4/21/12
AG
I live just outside of Kyle. I found it in my garage, so I escorted it out. Hopefully it found several mice while it was hanging out
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SWCBonfire
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11:33p, 4/21/12
AG
It's a banner year for snakes by all accounts... I saw one of these sunning on the patio the other day, and had to look it up. Not my pic, the one I saw was blacker than this but I'm pretty sure it was a Texas long-nose snake:

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MouthBQ98
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12:17a, 4/22/12
AG
I think its both funny and sad that people are so afraid of snakes, and want to kill them.

I've been bit by several non venomous snakes, and it isn't any big deal...
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Average Joe
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12:20a, 4/22/12
AG
I ran across a coral snake at a customer's house the other day. When I first approached the lady about it I just asked if she had a shovel or hoe I could borrow and she told me they were in the side shed. The husband was gone, and the wife did nothing but freak out once I told her what the shovel was for. It would have been alright but the snake decided to camp in front of the driver door of my truck. I go to get a shovel out of her shed when I hear 3 blasts from an 870. Needless to say, not more coral snake. She was also very close to doing some major damage to my work truck (Chevy 3500 express box truck with a somewhat exposed gas tank). The way she freaked out afterwards also makes me believe that she probably hasn't been out of the house since.
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Sean98
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8:22a, 4/22/12
AG
She shot your truck?? I hope she wrote you a big check.
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Sean98
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8:26a, 4/22/12
AG
quote:
I think its both funny and sad that people are so afraid of snakes, and want to kill them.

I've been bit by several non venomous snakes, and it isn't any big deal...


This. I've been bit many multiples of times and it was always because I was F'ing with them.
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b.astutus
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9:03a, 4/22/12
AG
I don't understand the absolute unwarranted fear of snakes by so many folks. Especially the outdoor types. Like stated before, know the four venomous ones & all the rest are harmless. Learn & know what you are dealing with. Anyone can learn to identify four types of snakes. I've been bitten by more nonvenomous snakes than I can recall. Of course I always mess with (capture, examine, & release) most snakes I come across so I'll say that just about 100% of those bites were provoked by me. NEVER a venomous one. I bleed & suffer more pain from picking dewberries than any nonvenomous snake bite. Not a big deal.
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ursusguy
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9:11a, 4/22/12
AG
I can yell from personal experience, if you intentionally let a large bull snake latch onto you, the chick you are trying to impress, won't be impressed. Plus you get to pick out teeth for about two weeks. Even more sad, I was 25 or 26 when I decided to learn this lesson.

Yeah, all my snakebites (I think 3, been a while), were the direct result of jacking around with them. So I can't really blame them.
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Robk
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11:00a, 4/22/12
Swcbonfire - what county did you see it in. They are pretty common in west and south Texas.
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Average Joe
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12:25p, 4/22/12
AG
quote:
She shot your truck??


She didn't shoot the truck directly, but instead shot the ground underneath and bounced some pellets into the bottom of the truck. There wasn't any damage that I could find. Being on a dirt driveway helped. I can't imagine what would have happened if it was a concrete driveway.
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Aggielandma12
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7:58a, 6/4/15
AG
So for the non snake lovers, can you edit the OP and breakout the venomous vs non venomous?
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CrockerCock00
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In reply to Aggielandma12 • 9:04a, 6/4/15
AG
quote:
So for the non snake lovers, can you edit the OP and breakout the venomous vs non venomous?
Texas only has a very small handful of venomous types:
Copperhead
Coral (I've yet to see one of these in the wild, but I haven't been hunting for them either)
Rattle (multiple versions as seen above)
Cottonmouth, aka water moccasin

You can find some additional info here.
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12f Mane
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In reply to Aggielandma12 • 9:52a, 6/4/15
AG
quote:
So for the non snake lovers, can you edit the OP and breakout the venomous vs non venomous?


Yeah I'll do that and maybe add some additional shots.

That TPWD isn't very well done. Herps oftexas.org is a better resource.
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