Any snakeolegests out there?

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retired

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I lost a dog to snakebite a couple years ago. Since then I have been trying to learn a little about snakes. I've never been a big fan. Like most things, every time I think I am learning something, I find out I don't know as much as I thought I did. I'm tired of watching the same video clips eleventeen times and ending up feeling dumber than when I started.

Anyone out there feel like sharing a little info that I can't seem to find on my own? Thanks Y'all!
 
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I used to help dad hunt them for meat and hides does that count? I'm in the South east so I know about 3 species of rattler, copper heads, a bit about cotton mouths, black racers, king snakes and I know to run from a coral snake like its the devil. are you catching, cooking, killing, or just want to know how long you have to get to the hospital or in the Coral snake's case, morgue. an angry bite has enough venom to kill 5 adults. fortunately they are rare and reclusive.

https://www.outdoorhub.com/stories/2016/06/03/top-10-deadliest-snakes-north-america/
 
I just want to get a little wiser than I am about snakes. I've got a lot of ash down from the emerald ash borer and it has turned into snake havan since I have been laid up healthwise for 3 years now.
All my life I've heard blacksnakes eat other snakes. True, but it's the black king snake. Not the black rat snake. I can not find how to tell them apart!
 
Coral snakes are not able to inject venom through a strike. They have to chew on you. Chicken and rat snakes will imitate a rattle snake when POed at you but are non venomous. Due to size they can be intimidating but if bellies are full they are slow moving. Copperhead snakes are venomous but prefer to hide and they hide well unless you step on them and get too close. Generally anti venom is administered rarely. I only know one out of 10 bites requiring anti venom. Know several in lastmonth. Cotton mouths are always angry and mean. When I smell one I back up and look carefully. Only way to tell difference between cotton mouth and water snake is really the white in mouth, stubtail and body bulk. Top of water usually. Only have pigmy rattlers here and not familiar with the others. Coach whip will chase you only ones I kill are copperheads and rat or chicken snakes
 
I disagree on copperheads, I had one cross the trail on me while out hiking, he deliberately curled up on my side of the road and waited on me, I was going to let him go. the coons ate well.
 
I'd get a field guide for reptiles and amphibians that you can use to help with identification. There are some that specialize in animals in certain regions.

If you or a pet gets bitten by a poisonous snake, taking some Diphenhydramine, the ingredient in Benadryl and sleeping medications can be given to slow down the venom while transporting for further medical help.
https://pets.webmd.com/dogs/can-i-give-my-dog-benadryl#1
 
I disagree on copperheads, I had one cross the trail on me while out hiking, he deliberately curled up on my side of the road and waited on me, I was going to let him go. the coons ate well.
I concur. Poisonous snakes are so rare where I live that you might as well just say that we don't have them here. But when I was working in North Missouri they had both timber rattlers and copperheads there, and the locals were far more concerned about the copperheads. They said timber rattlers weren't a problem unless you put your hands near or under a log (or a railroad tie) without looking first. But copperheads tended to have bad attitudes and wouldn't tolerate your presence within ten feet of them. Luckily I only saw the rattlers when I was there, and the only ones I saw were sunning themselves on the limestone boulders at the quarry south of Trenton...
 
Take 1 6" rattler (or pretty much any snake.) Gutted and skinned and cut into 4" chunks.

2 eggs per foot of snake beaten with 1/2 cup of water per foot of snake.

In a large kettle, combine the eggs and the snake and let sit to soak about ten minutes.

Roll the snake in a 50/50 mix of corn meal and flour and put into hot lard for a slow fry.

While frying, dust with an equal mix of poultry seasoning, garlic salt, black pepper and oregano. a table spoon of each mixed in a bag should do a 6' snake.

Fry like fish. does NOT taste like chicken! I want to try this on an anaconda!
 
Well those Russians poured vodka on it, I heard that makes fish tough too.
 
@retired
What exactly is your question?
I found this photo of a black king snake.
1660095025388.png

and this one too:

1660095084407.png


Whereas, a black rat snake:
1660095142720.png


https://srelherp.uga.edu/snakes/elaobs.htmRat snakes are more docile. I know king snakes are not skiddish, you know this too.
 
Take 1 6" rattler (or pretty much any snake.) Gutted and skinned and cut into 4" chunks.

2 eggs per foot of snake beaten with 1/2 cup of water per foot of snake.

In a large kettle, combine the eggs and the snake and let sit to soak about ten minutes.

Roll the snake in a 50/50 mix of corn meal and flour and put into hot lard for a slow fry.

While frying, dust with an equal mix of poultry seasoning, garlic salt, black pepper and oregano. a table spoon of each mixed in a bag should do a 6' snake.

Fry like fish. does NOT taste like chicken! I want to try this on an anaconda!
Years ago I was working near Pine Bluff, Wyoming. That area is infested with Prairie rattlers. We were killing 6 or more a day out on the tracks. Some of the guys started skinning them and taking them back to the hotel after work. They put various seasonings on them and grilled them over charcoal. Personally I think Slap Yo Mama would be just right for snake meat...
 
@retired
What exactly is your question?
I found this photo of a black king snake.
View attachment 92340
and this one too:

View attachment 92341

Whereas, a black rat snake:
View attachment 92342

https://srelherp.uga.edu/snakes/elaobs.htmRat snakes are more docile. I know king snakes are not skiddish, you know this too.
Ah, black with yellow spots. They were our pets when I was a kid and one of the few I give a pass to today. Nothing dangerous even looks like them, unmistakable.:)
I think what @retired is looking for is a few great pictures of the most common venomous snakes to make them easy for him to identify.
For me it is simple... if the head is way wider than it's neck, off with it's head.:waiting:
 
Ah, black with yellow spots. They were our pets when I was a kid and one of the few I give a pass to today. Nothing dangerous even looks like them, unmistakable.:)
I think what @retired is looking for is a few great pictures of the most common venomous snakes to make them easy for him to identify.
For me it is simple... if the head is way wider than it's neck, off with it's head.:waiting:
Can you please show me where he said that, I thought he was looking for the differences between black rat snakes and black kingsnakes. Venomous snakes...ergh
 
Can you please show me where he said that, I thought he was looking for the differences between black rat snakes and black kingsnakes. Venomous snakes...ergh
I was going by his first post:
I lost a dog to snakebite a couple years ago. Since then I have been trying to learn a little about snakes. I've never been a big fan. Like most things, every time I think I am learning something, I find out I don't know as much as I thought I did.
Another clue, the venomous ones are almost always short and fat.
I am going to steal @hashbrown 's picture for a minute...
This is a good copperhead:
87002-2942D81A-1E1A-4F71-81FD-B75A4BB351C0.png

Kill every one you see, do not hesitate.
 
Short and tubby poisonous snakes, makes ya wonder how they move so fast. Have seen the non-venomous mocassin in our nearby woods, daughter almost stepped on it, except I screamed like a banshee from 25 feet away (don't know how I saw that). He was a long one. King snake in our yard, 6 foot! @Supervisor42
 
@retired Search the internet for a herpetarium near you. They'll have snakes, easier to learn the difference when you can see them behind glass.

Copperheads are nasty little #$%s. I used to see 8 or 10 a year. Don't spend as much time in the woods as I used to. A rattler will warn you, a cottonmouth will bluff you (very convincingly). But a copperhead strikes, always! If you step within reach you're getting popped! Seriously, I wore snake gaiters for years because of them, still keep a pair in my truck.
 
Thanks Y'all! Per usual, clear as mud again! I didn't know I could complicate things so easily! Yes, I have concerns about poisonous snakes, but, the question was "how to tell king snakes from rat snakes" because each comes in 4-5 different variants!"

I do appreciate your assistance!
Thank you!
Have a great day!
 
On a side note, you can make some really decent snake gators out of PVC pipe and latex band.

<-------Picked berries on Brimstone Mountain. home of the black timber rattler!
 
I can say from experience that both Black Rat snakes and King Snakes will eat a poisonous (or any other) snake that they come across. I had a very large pen with a pond in it that I would put snakes in that I'd catch or that I collected when neighbors (up to a mile away) would call me to come get. I had many Black Rat Snakes and many King Snakes and typically it was only the biggest that would survive and I'd only keep one at a time. I would put copperheads in there for them to eat which both types of snake would. I even had a Rat Snake eat a King Snake that was smaller (before I knew better than to put them together). I've read many "its a myth" about things that were absolutely not correct just because it wasn't really fully known or investigated.
 
Good topic anyway.
I want to try anaconda! if its as good as rattler, I might just take a Florida vacation!
 

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