OT: What kind of snake has ...

[J Miller]

..... a black head, little black beady eyes, and red and black stripes that run lengthwise the entire length of the body?

I just mowed my yard, 'er forest, my mower crapped out and it took me a while to get it running again so the grass and weeds were pretty deep. The snake was under a garbage barrel. I figure maybe 24" +/- if stretched out.

Joe

Oh, I gave him/her a head start before I mowed that area. I think he/she escaped. At least there wasn't any bloody snake parts splattered around the area.

[alnitak]

There are a couple of options...need closer inspection to verify.

It could be a garter snake -- they generally have three longitudinal stripes that can vary in color from yellow to orange to red; a redstripe ribbon snake (though normally not as glossy-black as you describe); or a rainbow snake (glossy black with red stripes; belly has two rows of dark spots and often reddish also...http://warnell.forestry.uga.edu/ughs/do ... 9,Farancia erytrogramma Rainbow Snake). It's unlikely that it's the Red-Black Striped snake (found in West Africa -- http://research.calacademy.org/research ... es/e15.htm).

The good news is that if it has stripes rather than rings, it's not poisonous.

Here's a link to the Illinois DNR...http://dnr.state.il.us/Lands/education/ ... allery.htm

[Mike D.]

Just a common garter snake and highly beneficial.

[jeepnik]

Just a common garter snake and highly beneficial.

All snakes are beneficial. It's just that in some cases they would benefet from being elsewhere.

[AJMD429]

People cringe when you tell them, but with only two exceptions (a rare snake called the 'cat-eyed snake' which is harmless, and the coral snake which is venemous), all other snakes in the U.S. which are poisonous have distinctly cat-like pupils, and all the nonpoisonous have round pupils. Thus, if you can see the eye (and no, you don't have to be THAT close) the only other issues is if it looks like a coral snake, it could be one of the kingsnakes which looks very similar.

Even the venomous ones are no different than any other potentially dangerous animal, and we leave them alone when they're on their own turf, just like we would not shoot a wolf or bear 'on sight' - but we relocate any we find where young kids might come upon them.

[J Miller]

As far as snakes go, I leave them alone unless they are poisonous and at my door step.
If they are out in boonies I just walk around them.

Joe

[Andrew]

Sounds like a the gardener snake.

[J Miller]

I looked at every snake in all the sites alnitak posted and the closest snake was the yellow and black garter snake in the IL DNR site. The only difference was the yellow stripes on this snake was reddish.

Joe

[Andrew]

I looked at every snake in all the sites alnitak posted and the closest snake was the yellow and black garter snake in the IL DNR site. The only difference was the yellow stripes on this snake was reddish.

Joe

They can be different depending on how agitated the snake is. They tend to be mostly black with little coloring when they are real calm, then the bright colors show up when they get angry.

[Pete44ru]

[What kind of snake has a black head, little black beady eyes, and red and black stripes that run lengthwise the entire length of the body?]

Why, a "snake in the grass", Silly !

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[J Miller]

[What kind of snake has a black head, little black beady eyes, and red and black stripes that run lengthwise the entire length of the body?]

Why, a "snake in the grass", Silly !

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Wow!!! Why didn't I think of that ....

Joe

[TX50Cal]

I don't believe there are any poisonous snakes in the U.S.
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There are venomous snakes, but you can eat them so they are not poisonous.
used to drive my mom crazy telling her that:)

[AmBraCol]

I don't believe there are any poisonous snakes in the U.S.
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There are venomous snakes, but you can eat them so they are not poisonous.
used to drive my mom crazy telling her that:)

Now THAT'S one I can use!!! Thanks!

[DixieBoy]

Not that I think you've got a coral snake there, but for those who've wondered, the quick method for ID'ing a coral snake is, of course, black head, and then, just remember the old ryhme - "Red touch Yellow, kill a fellow. Red touch black, good for Jack." - DixieBoy

[J Miller]

DixieBoy,

Yep, I remembered that. But this guy had lengthwise stripes rather than circular bands.

Not that I was gonna make cuddly friends with him. Nuh Huh, NOT JOEY. That's for sure. Snakes, no matter what kind, are leaverights.

Joe

[Ysabel Kid]

Joe -

You did the right thing. Snakes keep down vermin, and are beneficial to have around as long as they stay outdoors.

A couple/few years ago I did something rather stupid (not the first time; won't be the last). I was in my home office working when my wife came in screaming "there's a snake in the road, there's a snake in the road". I ignored her at first - my wife is petrified of all snakes, but she insisted that I go out and "do something". She said "it is REALLY big". Now, anything larger than an earthworm is a "really big" snake to her, so I didn't expect I'd see much.

Boy was I wrong!

I'm pretty sure it was a "Black Racer", but it was the biggest one I've ever seen. Darn thing was slithering across the street alright, towards our yard, and almost stretched the width of the street. This monster was huge!

Well, I like these ones because they kill the copperheads around here - which are venomous. But I knew my wife wouldn't sleep until it was relocated, so I decided to pitch it in the woods behind our house. I've handled snakes before, and figured what the heck, I've seen a bunch of episodes of the "Crocodile Hunter" (this was before Steve Irwin met his untimely death), so decided to grab the fellow and carry him off. This was mistake # 1. Mistake # 2 was not grabbing a pair of gloves I had right in the garage. Mistake # 3 was bound to happen after combining mistakes # 1 & 2.

I grabbed a rake and used it to pin the head of the snake so I could grab it. I did, but didn't grab him close enough to the head. When I released the rake the snake - now quite upset - double on himself and bit me right in the web of my hand. Must have knicked a vein or something because I bled like a stuck pig. Wife and kids freaked out, and I'm standing there cussing like a sailor in port about how stupid I was.

Well, I didn't have to relocate the snake after all because he decided that the woods would be a better spot for him and made a bee-line for it after tasting my hand. Was sore as all get out for a couple days afterwards - but really smarting from the embarassment!

[mescalero1]

[Hobie]

I found 3 black snakes in Mom's wood pile when I moved it this past spring. One was about 4½ feet long. Cold so they were a bit sluggish. IME that's the best time to handle snakes. Don't ask me how I know.

BTW, snakes freak out my wife, too.

[J Miller]

My mom was deathly afraid of spiders. Any spiders. Speaking of freaking out if she saw a big wolf spider it was call in the SWAT team.
But snakes fascinated her. One time out in the AZ desert we stopped in the middle of a road which was maybe 10' wide and watched as the biggest snake I've ever seen in the desert cross the road.
To this day I have no idea what kind it was but it was huge. A nondescript color and about as big around as my arm.
Anyway, the snake's borrow was about 3 feet off the left side of the road and when it's head went into the borrow the end of the snakes body was still three or four feet past the right side of the road.
It was in no hurry and we got out of my Land Cruiser and just stood there and watched as this gargantuan serpent slithered down it's hole.
We had no camera with us that day.

My wife isn't afraid of snakes either. But one morning in the desert we actually came across a rattle snake sunning itself on some rocks by the edge of the dirt road. I saw it, she didn't. So I slowly pulled up beside the snake and stopped the truck. I asked her if she'd seen the snake? She said what snake. I told her to look out the side window at the ground. She did and I said; that snake. We saw three that morning. Most I've ever seen in AZ.

I just leave them alone.

Joe

[rjohns94]

kind of funny this topic came up. My son works at a Christian outdoor retreat and has had the bug to get a snake. We spent sunday afternoon coming up with all the items it takes to keep a snake well in captivity. We purchased a corn snake and he reported it ate a pink (baby hairless mouse) yesterday and was a viscious eater. If I only ate once a week, I would be too. Glad you let the snake clear the area. harmless snakes are good, can't tolerate venemous snakes near the homestead
blessings

[FLINT]

J. Miller,

Most likely a garter snake or a ribbon snake, both species are variable and both have several subspecies, some of which frequently have red stripes.

There is a species that lives in the southeast us coastal plain called the rainbow snake that does have red and black longitudinal stripes - but if you are in Illinois, that it wouldn't be that.

Ysabel Kid, hahaha, you are right. The snake you caught was probably a black rat snake, they can get huge and I've been bit several times by them. they ususally just leave several little pin arrogant idiots but can bleed pretty good I've never been bit by a black racer, not saying they wont bite. They are much thinner than the rat snake and are black all over and are circular in circumference. Black rat snakes have a mottled black and white chin and belly and have a flat belly. The worst ones for biting though are definitely the northern or brown water snakes - everyone always thinks they are copperheads or 'mokasins' and many are unfortunately killed - but anyways, those guys will not ever hesitate to chomp on you a little

I'm very pleased to see how many people advocate relocating snakes instead of killing them. I've relocated quite a few copperheads and rattlesnakes around here and won't kill them - but I can understand not wanting family members to get bitten.

[45Jack]

Well Joe, if you had said "beady eyes and pin-stripes" I would have said it's a politician.
But it sounds like a garter snake.
Jack

[J Miller]

Well Joe, if you had said "beady eyes and pin-stripes" I would have said it's a politician.
But it sounds like a garter snake.
Jack

Jack, you are quite right. And that would be one kind of snake I'd run over with the mower.

Joe

[slickrock]

rattlesnakes in mating dance in texas, north of amarillo.

biggest western diamondback i ever saw was 6.5 feet long, weighed barely under 10 pounds. and they get moved once, if they come back or are pregnant females they get gone. a baby rattler coiled is not much more than a quarter in size, but deadly lethal to a child or small animal. with only a button they dont rattle, kids think rattlers sound like lawn sprinklers anyway til you teach them that noise is bad. same with dogs.

the comment on wolves and bears..easy to be in favor of bears and wolves in florida or anywhere they arent, but try em in your driveway and backyard then say you are in favor of them. they get shot on sight where I lived in wyoming, wapitit and dubois, if you've ever had your colts or calves eaten by bears and wolves you wont smile when you see either.

the change in bear behavior is extreme from back when we could hunt them and how they are now. totally different bears from the 60s and 70s. believe it or not , that said, i was not and am not in favor of delisting them.