Prairie Snakes

[AGeese]

Ideas on what type of snake this is? Found it sunning itself by my arbors, wasn't very aggressive. Pretty sure I've seen this one or another like it in the past. I attempted to move it along and it slithered back under my old barn foundation (the barn is gone.) It wasn't aggressive compared to others I've come across.

 

[Callender Girl]

I admire that you, unlike many folks, relocated the snake rather than killing it.

In the second photo, it kind of looks like a bull snake. Of course, all I see around here is garters and bull snakes, so maybe that colored my opinion.

But in my experience, bull snakes almost always put up an aggressive front, shaking their rattle-less tails and hissing with their venom-less mouths. I like their attitude, but it still gets them (safely) moved away from the house and poultry.

 

[123RedBeard]

I'm not really sure, other than it's non-venomous, as it has large scales on top of its face, then small scales on the rest of its body ...

This is a black rat snake, which is non-venomous, even though it's trying to puff out its cheeks to look like it has a triangle head, it's all a bluff ...

I pulled it out of my house and sent it packing!

What state are you in?

 

[McChooky]

They aren't wanted around here

 

[AGeese]

I admire that you, unlike many folks, relocated the snake rather than killing it.

In the second photo, it kind of looks like a bull snake. Of course, all I see around here is garters and bull snakes, so maybe that colored my opinion.

But in my experience, bull snakes almost always put up an aggressive front, shaking their rattle-less tails and hissing with their venom-less mouths. I like their attitude, but it still gets them (safely) moved away from the house and poultry.

Being out in the country I figure most things have been around before I came to town and serve some sort of purpose. I've near stepped on a snake almost every year since I've had my land. Never killed one and never really had a mouse problem though I see many mice in the field and graced with the occasional seasonal intruders that must be dealt with.

I try to snap a shot of 'em if I have my phone with me so I can run them through a search engine, but figured this time I'd share to see if the community has any input.

If they're small enough I'll try to pick them up with a shovel and set them down on the wooded end of my lot where I know they'll have a bounty of mice. This one was too big for that.

My general policy is if the snake is large enough to eat a chicken or do me some harm and anywhere in the immediate vicinity of the house or where my birds roost they've crossed into the kill zone if I can't relocate them.

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The little ones above were hissy and shaking their tails like a rattler and attacked my shovel. I figured they were some kind of prairie rattler, but you might be right they're probably bull snakes.

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I'm not really sure, other than it's non-venomous, as it has large scales on top of its face, then small scales on the rest of its body ...

This is a black rat snake, which is non-venomous, even though it's trying to puff out its cheeks to look like it has a triangle head, it's all a bluff ...

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I pulled it out of my house and sent it packing!

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What state are you in?

That's thing is a beast! I'm in Central Iowa.

 

[123RedBeard]

That's thing is a beast! I'm in Central Iowa.

It was about 4.5' long ... I first was surprised it was up in my pipes in the basement ...

When I tried to pull it out, it got quite cantankerous!

Caught this little one in the crawl space next to my basement, under my bedrooms ... This is a rat snake too ...

I let my 10 month old barn kitties play with it, figured it was good practice for them to learn about snakes ... Better than a copperhead for their first encounter!

Then two days later found ANOTHER rat snake in the crawl space!

That one would throw it's whole body at the cats in attack, cats thought it was fun to swat it down! Glad it wasn't a copperhead!

Last fall I was rototilling my garden, and my very young kittens were digging in the soft soil ... I took the bucket on my tractor to dig a little more, up came a whole nest of baby copperheads!

I'm down in Southwest Missouri.

 

[AGeese]

Looks like you tilled up the hornets nest! You must have an abundance of prey down there like me. Besides mice the squinny population around the homestead is booming.

 

[123RedBeard]

My four kitties have been working hard on the mice and moles this spring, now that they are getting older, they will be year old this July ... All four brothers.

 

[AGeese]

I may need to attract more stray cats, there's always one around the property hiding out or passing through.

 

[McChooky]

I'd rather have 10 cats than one snake