13 replies to this topic

[Us burros]

After a morning of climbing ladders etc to paint second floor windows, I sat down on the front porch for a "pre-lunch relaxin'."  Well, right there in front of me, about fifteen feet away, this Black Rat Snake was "frozen" in a dogwood tree.

 P5150011.JPG   164.92K   28 downloads

After a few minutes, it decided maybe it shouldn't continue its trip to the ground, so it turned around and went back up and climbed into the next tree farther away from my watch.

 P5150017.JPG   232.43K   29 downloads    P5150019.JPG   119.89K   21 downloads

It stayed  in that tree until I left.

Checking back after lunch, I found it had gone on and was no longer in the trees.

Harold

[Meadowlark]

Hi, there! Great pictures of the rat snake. Thank you so much for not killing it. It's sad how many people react to things like snakes, spiders, etc by killing them.
Lovely snake.

[Debbie/ Riley & Bud]

Nice shots!  You have to get closer next time   Or get a longer lens to get some head shots

[Us burros]

Debbie/ Riley & Bud, on 27 September 2012 - 11:15 AM, said:

Nice shots!  You have to get closer next time   Or get a longer lens to get some head shots

Thanks for the suggestion Debbie/ Riley & Bud.

I've been there, done that.
 P8080001.JPG   62.12K   12 downloads (Black) Rat Snake
 P4270591.JPG   48.98K   12 downloads Corn Snake
 P4270583.JPG   52.28K   11 downloads Corn Snake
 2002-03 Good Springs Photos(142).JPG   113.86K   15 downloads Southern Copperhead
 2002-03 Good Springs Photos(136).JPG   87.52K   19 downloads Yellow-bellied Watersnake
 1-196.JPG   49.07K   17 downloads Yellow-bellied Watersnake
 P1242645.JPG   49.52K   12 downloads Eastern Hognose (Sometimes called "puff adders")
 P6130002.JPG   43.02K   3 downloads Mud Snake
 P5250004.JPG   81.42K   2 downloads Speckled Kingsnake

Harold

Edited by Us burros, 01 October 2012 - 07:13 AM.

[Eric Mayer]

Is the one snake eating a frog?  I can't figure it out, so my guess is a frog, or a strange looking perch of some kind!

Eric  

[Us burros]

Eric Mayer, on 27 September 2012 - 02:37 PM, said:

Is the one snake eating a frog?  I can't figure it out, so my guess is a frog, or a strange looking perch of some kind!

Eric  

Eric, that is a Yellow-bellied Water Snake working on getting a toad down. I don't know if the toad's back legs are spread to make it harder on the snake or if that's just a natural occurrence.

Harold

[pemsit]

Great photos

[Debbie/ Riley & Bud]

Nice shots!  I hardly every see snakes when I am out with the camera. I am envious

[SeeStars]

Us burros, on 27 September 2012 - 04:02 PM, said:

Eric Mayer, on 27 September 2012 - 02:37 PM, said:

Is the one snake eating a frog?  I can't figure it out, so my guess is a frog, or a strange looking perch of some kind!

Eric  

Eric, that is a Yellow-bellied Water Snake working on getting a toad down. I don't know if the toad's back legs are spread to make it harder on the snake or if that's just a natural occurrence.

Harold

Great pictures, Harold.  How about labeling or otherwise identifying each of your pictures with the species (common mame) of the snake?

Charlie

[Us burros]

SeeStars, on 01 October 2012 - 03:54 AM, said:

Us burros, on 27 September 2012 - 04:02 PM, said:

Eric Mayer, on 27 September 2012 - 02:37 PM, said:

Is the one snake eating a frog?  I can't figure it out, so my guess is a frog, or a strange looking perch of some kind!

Eric  

Eric, that is a Yellow-bellied Water Snake working on getting a toad down. I don't know if the toad's back legs are spread to make it harder on the snake or if that's just a natural occurrence.

Harold

Great pictures, Harold.  How about labeling or otherwise identifying each of your pictures with the species (common mame) of the snake?

Charlie

Charlie,

Your request is my command. Plus, I added two more pictures of snakes that I can identify.

I also want to explain that all of these pictures were taken within 100 feet of our front door, except for that Copperhead. That particular one was about 100 yards away (I almost stepped on it before seeing it), but they too have been pictured closeby.

Harold

[SeeStars]

Us burros, on 01 October 2012 - 07:26 AM, said:

SeeStars, on 01 October 2012 - 03:54 AM, said:

Us burros, on 27 September 2012 - 04:02 PM, said:

Eric Mayer, on 27 September 2012 - 02:37 PM, said:

Is the one snake eating a frog?  I can't figure it out, so my guess is a frog, or a strange looking perch of some kind!

Eric  

Eric, that is a Yellow-bellied Water Snake working on getting a toad down. I don't know if the toad's back legs are spread to make it harder on the snake or if that's just a natural occurrence.

Harold

Great pictures, Harold.  How about labeling or otherwise identifying each of your pictures with the species (common mame) of the snake?

Charlie

Charlie,

Your request is my command. Plus, I added two more pictures of snakes that I can identify.

I also want to explain that all of these pictures were taken within 100 feet of our front door, except for that Copperhead. That particular one was about 100 yards away (I almost stepped on it before seeing it), but they too have been pictured closeby.

Harold

Thanks, Harold.  Very informative.  I had occasion recently to dispatch a copperhead as it transited my garage opening during the day while I was walking from the garage to the car to unload groceries.  It was a mere 4 feet away from me when I saw it moving perpendicular to my path toward me.  It was large enough that it would have caused me some grief.  Can't tolerate them in the garage. If I just chase them out, then where are they?  They are in the woods behind our house and my son's black Lab was bitten on its hind leg once upon a time.  Dog survived and snake slithered away I presume.  My wife stepped on one's tail a couple of years ago, but fortunately it was nearly into the brush and kept on going.

We have several different species of snakes around here and in my yard.  The ones I think I have identified, besides copperheads, are the common king snake (beautiful animal!), black snake, green snake (beautiful again!), and earth snake.

The owls and hawks keep the population checked somewhat, and they do the same thing to the mice, voles, and squirrels.

Charlie

[Us burros]

SeeStars, on 01 October 2012 - 04:14 PM, said:

Thanks, Harold.  Very informative.  I had occasion recently to dispatch a copperhead as it transited my garage opening during the day while I was walking from the garage to the car to unload groceries.  It was a mere 4 feet away from me when I saw it moving perpendicular to my path toward me.  It was large enough that it would have caused me some grief.  Can't tolerate them in the garage. If I just chase them out, then where are they?  They are in the woods behind our house and my son's black Lab was bitten on its hind leg once upon a time.  Dog survived and snake slithered away I presume.  My wife stepped on one's tail a couple of years ago, but fortunately it was nearly into the brush and kept on going.

We have several different species of snakes around here and in my yard.  The ones I think I have identified, besides copperheads, are the common king snake (beautiful animal!), black snake, green snake (beautiful again!), and earth snake.

The owls and hawks keep the population checked somewhat, and they do the same thing to the mice, voles, and squirrels.

Charlie

Charlie:

Copperheads make people nervous.

Today I was running late for an appointment when Julie comes in saying "There's a baby copperhead in the pool skimmer basket. Would you please kill it?"

My answer was "I take care of it, but I don't like killing snakes, even copperheads."

I hurried out and immediately determined it was not a copperhead. When I transported it to a safe area and dumped it on the ground this is what I saw.
 PA020003.JPG   152.88K   4 downloads Eastern Hognose Snake

I do not believe I have ever seen an Eastern Hognose Snake patterned like this, but that is what it was. Read about them HERE. I learned several things from that writeup. I only wish I could have gotten better pictures of this new to me snake.

Harold

[Kurt M]

I'm really enjoying your pics, Harold. I used to love playing with hognose snakes as a kid ...... but then, as a kid I also used to go cottonmouth hunting in the rice canals, with the objective of seeing how large a one we could bring back. My record was 5'-9", but a neighbor kid down the road fetched in our little all-time record of 6'-3". I am happy to report that I grew up to become something of a naturalist and conservationist, not a wild-eyed bloodthirsty killer.

Snakes are beautiful animals, and it's really great to see you putting a positive spin on them. Thank you!

[Meadowlark]

Hi, Harold,
Great job on the snake photos! I'm sorry to hear some folks still kill them. We had copperheads where I grew up in Michigan and they never bothered us. While my mother was terrified of snakes, I managed to convince her (even as a kid) that as long as they stayed in the woodpiles, we wouldn't have mice getting into the house.  And we didn't.  (she hated rodents even more than she was afraid of snakes).  I learned to be able to tell a copperhead by their scent, believe it or not. They smell lemony!
Copperheads are fairly well mannered and docile. Not to mean they can be played with but...when I was stationed at Ft. Bragg, NC, I learned that cottonmouths can be aggressive. And don't get me started on the Egyptian cobra I saw in Saudi Arabia........woohoo, that thing had an ATTITUDE.
Not to plug for another website, but my husband, Dennis, is an avid photographer and is a member of the Nature Photographer's Network. (http://www.naturephotographers.net)  There's a lot of good picture folks on that. Me, I can't focus a camera well enough to get a good result. So I stick to the point and shoot cameras.