Why is every snake a copperhead or rattler or moccasin

[jsharr ★]

Somebody on Facebook killed a rat snake but claims it is a copperhead.  Pisses me off.

Most snakes are simply snakes, very few are venomous and most are good to have around to keep rodents and pests under control.

 

If that is copper head then I am a Yankee.

[maddmaxx ★]

You're right about one thing.  A snake is a snake is a snake.

[Razors Edge ★]

My three year old niece was ecstatic to see a little garter snake on the trail today.  She chased it as it wriggled off into the woods.

We don't have many poisonous snakes in our immediate area.  Generally gotta hit Shenandoah area to get some.

[JerrySTL ★]

When I happen upon a snake, it scares me. However I will just back away and let the snake do it's thing. I did kill a rattlesnake decades ago when I was rabbit hunting in New Mexico. It coiled up right in front of me, but fortunately for me I had my .410 shotgun pointed down while I was walking and only had to take the safety off and pull the trigger.

I may have unintentionally killed a few snakes by riding my bicycle over them. In a couple of cases it was a rattlesnake and I had my feet up on the top tube. A few years ago I swerved to miss what was an actual copperhead.

I just remember that a couple of years ago a 4 foot black snake was laying across a bike path in the shade. I got off my bike and started walking towards it hoping that it would move off the trail before getting run over. As I got close it turned around right at me. OK then. I found a long stick and convinced the snake to move.

[BuffJim]

Even those snakes won't hurt you. Unless you get bit. Full grown adults rarely die from Copperhead bites, but they can from Rattlers and Water Moccasins.

I never had much of a vocabulary. In fact, my friend Bob Schneider would still be alive today if I'd known the difference between "antidote" and "anecdote". He got bitten by a copperhead, and I'm telling him funny stories out of Reader's Digest. His head started to swell, I said "This ain't working". He goes, "READ FASTER!!"

 

[jsharr ★]

4 minutes ago, BuffJim said:

Even those snakes won't hurt you. Unless you get bit. Full grown adults rarely die from Copperhead bites, but they can from Rattlers and Water Moccasins.

I never had much of a vocabulary. In fact, my friend Bob Schneider would still be alive today if I'd known the difference between "antidote" and "anecdote". He got bitten by a copperhead, and I'm telling him funny stories out of Reader's Digest. His head started to swell, I said "This ain't working". He goes, "READ FASTER!!"

 

I was out for a horseback ride with a buddy.  He took a piss on a cactus and got bit on his pecker by a rattle snake who was coiled up by the cactus.  I rode back into town to get the doc and he told me all I had to do was make a cut over the snake bite and suck out the poison.

So I rode back out as fast as I could and told my buddy he was gonna die.

[Wilbur ★]

4 minutes ago, jsharr said:

I was out for a horseback ride with a buddy.  He took a piss on a cactus and got bit on his pecker by a rattle snake who was coiled up by the cactus.  I rode back into town to get the doc and he told me all I had to do was make a cut over the snake bite and suck out the poison.

So I rode back out as fast as I could and told my buddy he was gonna die.

You heard that from Grandpappysharr! 

[team scooter]

I ran over what I thought was a stick. It turned out to be a garter snake sunning itself on the bike path. It got so pizzed it spun around and grabbed hold of my shoelace and wouldn't let go. When Mrs heard me cussing, she turned around to see me trying to kick the snake off my leg. So instead of offering assistance she called out "Maybe you should ride a little faster"... 

Dang wildlife.

[ChrisL]

We’re pretty lucky in that our poisonous snakes have rattles.  Coral snakes are pretty rare in SoCal.  So basically if it doesn’t have a rattle your good. 

To be honest I killed every snake I came across in the Army.  I’m not about to figure out if it’s a water moccasin, cotton mouth or rat snake, especially when my buddies are crawling around the same bushes I am.  

All snake was dead snake.

[jsharr ★]

Just now, ChrisL said:

We’re pretty lucky in that our poisonous snakes have rattles.  Coral snakes are pretty rare in SoCal.  So basically if it doesn’t have a rattle your good. 

To be honest I killed every snake I came across in the Army.  I’m not about to figure out if it’s a water moccasin, cotton mouth or rat snake, especially when my buddies are crawling around the same bushes I am.  

All snake was dead snake.

and they all tasted like chicken I hope.

[ChrisL]

1 minute ago, jsharr said:

and they all tasted like chicken I hope.

Well not exactly...

[ChrisL]

34 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

My three year old niece was ecstatic to see a little garter snake on the trail today.  She chased it as it wriggled off into the woods.

We don't have many poisonous snakes in our immediate area.  Generally gotta hit Shenandoah area to get some.

I’m sure it’s all built out now but the swamps around Belvoir and AP Hill we’re crawling with them.  I actually preferred winter exersizes as there were no snakes...

[ChrisL]

Speaking of garter snakes, as a kid my two cousins & I were camping in Oregon with our families.  We were fishing and I kicked over a rotted stump and dozens of little garter snakes came slithering out.  With the tip of my fishing pole I flicked one at the younger cousin and it wrapped around his leg.

Well the younger cousin isn’t afraid of snakes & just looked at me like dude seriously.  Well unbeknownst to me older cousin who was standing next to him was deathly afraid of snakes & he’s dancing around hopping up & down thinking I flicked it at him.  

40 year later we still laugh over that.

[MickinMD ★]

Most snakes are harmless, though you should know which markings to look for in terms of venomous.

There was a 2+ foot long garter snake sitting around the rim of a bucket in my house. I've been catching garter snakes since I was a kid. I caught him with a quick hand-grab behind his head and dropped him off in the woods.

Last winter was the first time I didn't have a single mouse in the house.  I wondered if I had gotten another snake and said, if so, I was going to let him stay in the house.  That really freaked some people out.  In reality, I'd surely get rid of it but if I didn't, I wouldn't worry about it attacking me.

[Tizeye]

Living across the street from a lake have never seen a water moccasin or copperhead, and that includes many of my canoe trips around the lake. Usually, the only snakes I see in my yard are black ravers.  Likewise when I go out to the wetlands park, never seen a snake other than a pattern in the dirt where crossed. Far more alligators which are quite common. Even a heron photo was a water snake in its beak as I zoomed in for a closer look. Lat week when riding my bike, on the way home was a crushed snake in the road could have been a juvenile copperhead, but pattern appeared like that snake at the top. I didn't turn around to take a closer look

That is not to say that I haven't seen poisonous snakes. Like last week when riding the bike, I don't see them until the last minute and try not to run over. I did come up on a coral snake in the road and I unclipped so fast with feet up at the handlebars as I rolled by. Another time taking photos of a very rural house and wanted picture of lake. Followed an overgrown path to the lake and keeping a attentive eye as I learned during my adolescent years when exploring the woods, sure enough there was a water moccasin at the base of a tree 10' off the trail at water's edge. I motioned for the Realtor following me to halt and pointed. She saw it and took off. 

There are rattlesnakes in the area but have never run across one. There have been news reports of pigmy rattler bites in local WalMart Garden Centers. Largest I ever saw was when heading to class in high school. At a street sign someone had draped (tied) it over sign and it reached the ground with rattles removed. Also, about that same time was fishing, went under a tree limb and a water moccasin dropped into the boat. My buddy pulled out his .45 and blew holes in the bottom of the boat. OOPS!

The only one I have killed was actually one of my best shots ever. Out plinking with a .22 in a bird sanctuary (technically a phosphate mine that they labels a bird sanctuary so wouldn't have to fill it in - but the hills made great, safe backstops. We were on top of the hill, about 100' above the water and about 300' down was a huge snake crossing from shore to shore. As luck would have it, my magazine was empty so digging in my pocket and single loading. Estimated windage and had at very bottom of scope. Solid thus sound and snake curled around itself. Digging in pocket again to reload and used the same sighting but a broader target and again a solid thud sound as the snake slipped below the water. Due to the terrain, couldn't go over to investigate...and probably good that we didn't.

 

[Tizeye]

Here is a nice little guy that I saw as walking halfway up the boardwalk on an ancient Indian midden near New Smyrna Beach. Held there just long enough for me before scurrying off.

 

[az_cyclist]

Gopher snakes in Arizona have markings similar to a diamondback rattlesnake, and they have moved their tail in leaves to simulate a rattle.  With all of the desert rats and rabbits, we really need snakes, and coyotes, to keep that population down.  rattlers usually dont bother you unless you step by them, and they usually rattle first.

[Ralphie ★]

Thankfully I’ve only really encountered “garden” snikes and black snikes. Crickey!

[Prophet Zacharia]

12 hours ago, jsharr said:

I rode back out as fast as I could and told my buddy he was gonna die.

That was the anecdote I was expecting @BuffJim to have shared with “Bob”.

[Further]

We have copperheads and timber rattlers. I've seen rattlers a few times when climbing around rocky out croppings.

Black snakes are pretty common, they get about 6 feet long but are pretty docile, excellent rodent control predators.

[Parr8hed]

Brown County State Park in central Indiana is a great place for mountain biking.  It is also a rattlesnake sanctuary.  Lots of videos out there of HUGE snakes.  Language warning in this one.