Venomous snakes

[SSG Pete C.]

South Africa is going to fight Somalia?

From what I understand we're going to provide protection to humanitarian workers in southern Somalia and try to comb the sea around it for pirates, our role is limited but necessary as the UN peacekeeper's aren't doing their job.

Good luck, hopefully you guys don't go full on into the fighting like America did when they were there.

[Woods Walker]

This is from my second entry in the mock bug out contest. Enter the contest and get a free patch! Get out and work on those skills.

viewtopic.php?f=14&t=80601

Rattlesnake den.

This is prime rattlesnake country. Tons of rodents, water, timber and a good terrain for dens plus little or no road access. What more could a rattler want? Looks like one of a thousand chipmunk holes.



My latest encounter occurred within 100 feel of camp during the hike out. Despite knowing the high probability both myself and “Buddy” where surprised.

Buddy moving off the trail. I followed but being 5-miles hard hike from the road took care. Acting stupid and getting hit would be bad news. These critters would rather move off than bite anyone as there is nothing to gain.











Being surprised the snake rattled from the get go and didn’t stop much until we parted ways. The timber almost looked like a yellow morph, every other snake I seen in the area were black morph. Not sure if this is more or less common up north. I made this little YouTube video.

http://youtu.be/DGwpnSWxS5Y

[Woods Walker]

Some more Timber rattlesnake photos from another trip to the same area.

[Woods Walker]

Also made these two videos for your enjoyment.

[CitizenZ]

Here there are NO venomous snakes of any kind. Or brown bears, but a 400 lb goat killed someone recently.

[xxxDarksidexxx]

not venomous but i found this guy today after work. i found him at a place called ten mile creek. its on my way home from work, so i often stop in to see whats going on. there is also a spill way here that is known for some monster snook. there is also a decent trail here that i have hiked.

its a yellow rat snake. this one is actually yellow, but can often be seen in some what darker shades of yellowish/brown. this one was about 4-5ft long.

not able to be seen in the photos, but it appeared to have a couple small lumps in its body. that means it probably had a meal ( or two ) not so long ago. he wasnt moving so fast and could have probably picked him up for some additional photos, but decided against it this time... gut feeling said no i guess. i have found that a snake is "usually" safer to handle after eating ( and i only make this statement based off snakes i have owned ) so dont go picking up a snake because you thinks its not hungry.


FACT - ALL SNAKES CAN AND WILL BITE!

[JoeTosco]

Not Venomous, but...

Boa constrictor.

[Woods Walker]

Darkside.

Cool looking rat snake.

Joe.

I had a boa for years. They can bite like hell so guessing you didn't just pick that one up in the woods. Then again I never been in your AO.

Some very dangerous snakes I encountered a few weeks ago.

The Northern Brown snake, better known as the New England King Brown. This one struck multiple times.



I literally have life or death in the palm of my hand.



Garter snake in a tree. This one looks about ready to shed.



A common Northern Water snake. This snake like the above two isn't venomous but will musk your hands and has an anti-coagulant within its saliva. The bite will bleed more than expected. Between the biting and sh@ting I leave them alone.

[xxxDarksidexxx]

i pissed myself in fear when i saw this!

i agree the garter looks like it will shed in a few days due to the milky eyes.

nice pics WW.

[Woods Walker]

i pissed myself in fear when i saw this!

Another name for the New England King Brown is the Two Step.

[KnightoftheRoc]

i pissed myself in fear when i saw this!

Another name for the New England King Brown is the Two Step.

Oh, that's just silly- everyone KNOWS snakes don't have any legs or feet!

[Woods Walker]

Oh, that's just silly- everyone KNOWS snakes don't have any legs or feet!

I believe the common name "Two Step" alludes to the number of actual foot falls the victim has before their heart gives out.

[JoeTosco]

Yes, it belonged to a guy I just met in the trail, but the pic is cool.

[jamoni]

My son and I went down to Snake Road this weekend. This is in Larue Pine Hills, Illinois, in the Shawnee National forest.
The road has bluffs all along one side, and swampy wetlands on another. It is perfect snake territory. In the fall, snakes migrate from the swamps to the bluffs, where they will den up and mate for the winter. In the spring, they all migrate back out to the swamp. The Forest Service closes down the whole road during these migrations, except for foot traffic.
This year we saw 6 snakes, 4 of them Cottonmouths. We also saw a fox, a raccoon, 5 frogs, about 30 turtles, a milipede longer than my hand, and exactly zero squirrels, mice, or other small rodents.
Without further ado:

Yearling Cottonmouth, trying to find a den.

Black Rat Snake holed up in a tiny crack. Some crazy man told us to "Go off the path by the cliff before the water, then climb the rock, and look in the crack, and you'll find him." Worst directions ever, but we did it!

Ribbon Snake. Very friendly fellow.

Big Cottonmouth. Okay, my kid saw this guy from like 30 feet away, across a path, past me, and a couple feet into a mucky swamp. I was 5 feet away and couldn't see him till my kid pointed him out 4 or 5 times. And I had my glasses on. Sheesh.
Anyway, it was a grand old time, and we cooked stew over a campfire and swapped tall tales til we hit the sack in our cozy tent, and life was awesome.

[jamoni]

[Woods Walker]

Great post and video jamoni.

[buck85]

I have only been bitten by snakes that I have pick up. Until 13years ago I was always lucky.I found out the hard way that the king snake I was playing was a large coral snake.

[jamoni]

Well, then you should learn to identify venomous and non-venomous snakes before handling them.

[buck85]

Well, then you should learn to identify venomous and non-venomous snakes before handling them.

That was the problem. I thought I did know the difference. I have seen king snake on my property for years,but never a coral snake until then. I was under the impression that most coral snake were less than 20 inches. This was close to 28. Now if I pick up any snake I am real careful and more times then not just look.

[Tennessee Rebel]

Thats a pretty black timber pic. I have never seen one that dark before. In the southern appalachian hills of tennessee where im from we call em black and yellow rattlers and they are everywhere around here along with copperheads and a few cottonmouths in the valley. The second pic you posted is more of what you will find here in a timber rattler. That is the basic pattern with more black or more yellow on the snakes contrast. I have always found them to be beautiful snakes and I look for them everytime I hike.

[omega_man]

Tagged for future reference. Before too long I'll have my B.S. in wildlife biology, so I've had some good snake learnin'! I also have access to an army of professors and professionals to solicite advice from.

[Cherokee John]

Kind of wish there were rattlers and cottonmouths around where I bush wack now. They're usually non-aggressive unless you really bug them .

Currently I got these to contend with Banded kraits and Green Bamboo Vipers which I see a lot and they're not afraid of anything.



Still not as bad as the Tiger head Hornets!




or the packs of wild dogs.

[Siggy01]

Living in Florida means living with all kinds of snakes, rattlesnakes, copperheads, cottonmouths, and coral snakes. I used to hike a lot and do a fair share of fresh water fishing. Having been a boy scout, I learned what to look for, but you still can be caught off guard. I was once fishing out of a canal and decided to jump onto and across a few large rocks to get a better cast while fishing. Luckily my friend had yelled/pointed out, that between the dead branch/rock next to me had a 5 foot cottonmouth sleeping on it. I caught a few bass that day but luckily no snake bites.

[xxxDarksidexxx]

found this little guy while re-mulching one of the flower beds in my backyard. i moved a piece of coral rock and there he was laying under it. ive handled snakes before, and like to think i know a little about the snakes in my local area, but i wasnt quick to grab this one.... i poked at hime with a stick and he was quick to strike, in fact he struck at the stick several times. within seconds of removing the rock and poking at hime he "lit" up. his colors seemed to brighten real fast, and his whole body flattened out.

needless to say i soon left him alone to go about his business, but im wondering what type of snake it is. i dont belive it is posionus, though could be wrong.

i did some research on FL snakes and cant seem to find a match...

any ideas folks?