No, I don’t mean “Freddy” or “Jake”. I mean please tell me what in the heck kind of snake this is. If you consider the fact that the wildest thing I’ve ever seen on my nightly walks in the ‘hood is a standard poodle, this was a big deal. It was long, it was slithery, and I want to know what it is.
P.S. The imp named him Tuchi.
24 Comments
July 8, 2008 at 8:59 pm
I looked it up here: http://www.oplin.org/snake/fact%20pages/fox_snake/fox_snake.html
It *might* be this, but I dunno. Click on “Quick ID” and it’s a cool online snake identification tool. Yikes!
July 8, 2008 at 9:18 pm
I am sorry to offend, but if this snake was near my house, my wife would demand that I be of the dead snake variety. My son loves snakes and we spent one whole day on our vacation visiting snake exhibits and parks.
It is hard to tell by not seeing its’ stomach and throat, but this may be some kind of Diamondback or Northern Water Snake.
I think you have only three or four kinds of poisonous snakes in your state…Cottonhead, Coppermouths and Rattle snakes. This doesn’t look like any of them…but I would still have to kill it to keep my wife happy.
Sorry!
July 8, 2008 at 9:35 pm
My sister had a snake. A very big snake. One day, it escaped. Wee children must have died as a result. Surely.
Your snake does not look friendly and snakes make nice shoes, not Gucci but Tuchi.
I would not be caught dead walking in your neighborhood. EVER. With all due respect.
July 8, 2008 at 11:16 pm
In my experience with herpatology, etc., I would have to say that this snake is . . . .
REALLY FREAKING BIG.
Sorry. I couldn’t help myself.
July 9, 2008 at 1:19 am
Gick. That is one huge nasty ole snake. Did you scream? If I were a betting gal I’d say no. So did you?
July 9, 2008 at 4:24 am
I do believe you have yourself a rather large “Rat Snake.”
http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/ReptilesAmphibians/Facts/FactSheets/Blackratsnake.cfm
I wish we had more snakes around here; although, the skin I found shed out by the garage day before yesterday indicates I might!
Hey, at least it spiced up your walk a bit!
July 9, 2008 at 6:44 am
Coincidentally I was just reading the handy-dandy “A Guide to the Snakes of Virginia” guide that my son brought back from the state park he camped at with my parents. I’d say it’s about 50/50 that what you saw was an Eastern Milk Snake or a dark colored Rat Snake. Fiddling around, the best photos I saw in your neck of the woods were in Kentucky. Here’s a nice little subsection called Backyard Snakes.
July 9, 2008 at 8:05 am
I’m not sure, but as far as I’m concearned there are only two kinds of snakes…. Rattlesnakes & Cobras. So if it doesn’t have rattles… its a Cobra.
July 9, 2008 at 8:13 am
Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!!! I would never leave my house again if I saw something like that!!! Im terrified of snakes. Yuck!! You got so close to it. I even have cornfields in my front yard and have never seen one like that ( I know they are out there though). Was A, Z or M with you when you were walking and saw this monster ?
July 9, 2008 at 8:59 am
EEEK!!! You even stopped to take a picture you brave brave women. Even Indiana Jones was smart enough to hate snakes, and there you are just close enough to pet it! I dont know anything about snakes, but it looks like the kind that slither and that whole tongue thing
*shivers* It even looks like it might be the kind that would bite. Be afraid. Be very afraid.
July 9, 2008 at 9:02 am
As a firsthand witness to this event, I would like to attest that this picture is 100% the real deal… she did indeed get as close as it seems and did not simply zoom in from far away. Yes, I agree, my neighbor is CRAZY! My contribution was to stand WELL behind her (and I mean at least ten feet behind her) and to occasionally scream like a girl. I have a new-found respect for my gutsy friend!
July 9, 2008 at 9:28 am
Good Lord, it couldn’t just be a big snake, it has to be a RAT snake? Does it get any worse?
July 9, 2008 at 9:50 am
Sorry, I don’t know either. It certainly appears to resemble a diamondback, but I really don’t know. If it’s got fangs, I do know you want to stay away from it! On a cautionary note: I was once walking along a road through rain forest in Costa Rica, when I came upon a boa constrictor. I approached it, foolishly, to take a picture. I was so engrossed with it that I failed to notice a VW bug come up from behind me. It ran over the snake, which then, injured, proceeded to throw itself its full length (six feet!) across the highway into the jungle. Later on I found out that they can indeed propel themselves through the air for long distances. I had no weapons, and boas are very, very strong. I could have easily been attacked, as it had turned towards me just before being run over. I would have died right there but for that timely VW.
My point is: don’t get too close! It will be seen as a threatening move, and all snakes can jump pretty far. If it had two fangs, it is poisonous, so stay far away.
July 9, 2008 at 9:56 am
Yuck. Snakes make me loose my appetite. Yeesh, it kind of looks like it was coming right at you! Was the little one freaked out?
July 9, 2008 at 10:05 am
Oh good god, I can’t believe you got close enough to take those pictures! I dislike snakes even if they are behind glass. I would have freaked!
July 9, 2008 at 10:38 am
Re: Pamajama: Well, it’s called a rat snake because it EATS rats. That would make it better, right?
Uh, right?
July 9, 2008 at 11:55 am
Random and usually useless trivia alert: Something I didn’t ever expect to need to know is about to explode forthwith!
…ah…sorry about that. My friends installed the warning system a while ago…
It’s a “Dark Colored Rat Snake” and based on the head shape and white throat, I’d guess male.
This little piece of trivia is brought to you by too many hours in a pet store with snakes that give me the willies. I’ve been up close and personal with a couple of raters. Thankfully they’re non-aggressive and help keep the vermin population down in the wild.
What is gonna REALLY wig you out when you think about it, is that the only thing that would coerce that thing out into the open like that is the scent trail of a (probably larger) female of the same species…
…like, in the dark…where you were standing…
July 9, 2008 at 12:35 pm
Dead Charming, are you calling Allison a snake?
Hmmm… – Tim
P.S. Here’s another vote for “dark rat snake.” Such are pretty common a couple of hours south, so it seems reasonable for you to have one of these.
July 9, 2008 at 2:56 pm
lol at Sarah.
O’Mao…awesome story! Also pretty much exactly what I warned my wife about after I found out she had gotten very close to it. I’m assuming that a non-poisonous snake could still administer some pain! She’s crazy, but we love her. Also, our daughter naming the snake “tuchi” (after seeing a pic…no she wasn’t near the thing) makes the snake seem a little bit cuter.
July 9, 2008 at 2:56 pm
p.s. Of course, my warning about how the snake could have made a quick move toward her went in one ear and out the other as she was already planning her blog entry.
July 9, 2008 at 9:28 pm
I will name that snake. “Scary”.
July 10, 2008 at 6:02 am
Many thanks to all who played ‘Name that Snake’. And the winner is….Dark Rat Snake. Thanks also to my neighbor, Sarah, who stopped me from stretching him out to determine his length. (Kidding, of course.)
July 10, 2008 at 8:20 am
Allison is only partially kidding.
July 10, 2008 at 6:01 pm
ugh!!!!! You stood there and took that thing’s picture!??!!? I would’ve pooed myself and shuffled on home! (and yes “shuffle”, ’cause you know, hard to run at break-neck speed when there’s poo in your pants).