My snake or a close relative

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silvercamaro · #1 Post by **silvercamaro** » Sat Jun 28, 2008 7:55 pm

Okay, herpetologists among us. Can anybody tell me what kind of snake this is?

This is not the exact snake that got into my house, but I took this photo from my kitchen through a glass patio door smudged by puppy nose prints. This snake would have been happy to come inside, if he could have reached the door handle.

Evil Squirrel · #2 Post by **Evil Squirrel** » Sat Jun 28, 2008 8:01 pm

I hope it can't climb trees!

a1mamacat · #3 Post by **a1mamacat** » Sat Jun 28, 2008 8:03 pm

screeeeech

jayhawker536 · #4 Post by **jayhawker536** » Sat Jun 28, 2008 8:32 pm

Ask hubby and we both agree, it's probably a python, almost certain it is in the constrictor family.

A neighbor must have "pets". Said neighbor would most certainly not be one of my favorite peoples, considering there is not much in this world I dislike more than snakes. Hell, I jump a foot in the air when I run up against a little 8 inch garden snake.

BackInTex · #5 Post by **BackInTex** » Sat Jun 28, 2008 8:46 pm

I can't tell from that picture but I don't think it is a python. Pythons have a sort of triangular head, IIRC.

Bring it inside where the light is better and take another picture.

silvercamaro · #6 Post by **silvercamaro** » Sat Jun 28, 2008 8:53 pm

BackInTex wrote:I can't tell from that picture but I don't think it is a python. Pythons have a sort of triangular head, IIRC.

Bring it inside where the light is better and take another picture.

Right. If it weren't for that slab of glass between us, there's no way I would have been close enough to it to take its picture. I'm very brave behind barriers.

a1mamacat · #7 Post by **a1mamacat** » Sat Jun 28, 2008 8:57 pm

http://www.oksnakes.org/index.cfm?snake ... id=0&all=1

is this your friend?

VAdame · #8 Post by **VAdame** » Sat Jun 28, 2008 9:01 pm

Texas Rat Snake, I think:

Feisty & hungry but harmless! And yes, they can indeed climb trees! They like bird eggs.

A neighbor must have "pets". Said neighbor would most certainly not be one of my favorite peoples, considering there is not much in this world I dislike more than snakes. Hell, I jump a foot in the air when I run up against a little 8 inch garden snake.

OK, we won't bring our pretty Cleo to visit you then. I will try to take a pic of her & post it in a minute.

silvercamaro · #9 Post by **silvercamaro** » Sat Jun 28, 2008 9:04 pm

a1mamacat wrote:http://www.oksnakes.org/index.cfm?snake ... id=0&all=1

is this your friend?

No, the markings are different -- particularly on the belly, which was pale (perhaps white, but the light wasn't all that great.)

silvercamaro · #10 Post by **silvercamaro** » Sat Jun 28, 2008 9:07 pm

VAdame wrote:Texas Rat Snake, I think:

That may be it. Google tells me that some kinds of rat snakes have white bellies.

The markings were interesting, in that they appeared yellow with the light at some angles and a strong orange at a slightly different angle. (Your photo demonstrates a bit of that.) Similarly, the dark part looked black sometimes and brownish sometimes. I didn't know about the light refracting qualities of scales.

VAdame · #11 Post by **VAdame** » Sat Jun 28, 2008 9:17 pm

OK, we won't bring our pretty Cleo to visit you then. I will try to take a pic of her & post it in a minute.

Here's our girl! She's a Corn Snake.

silvercamaro · #12 Post by **silvercamaro** » Sat Jun 28, 2008 9:27 pm

VAdame wrote:
Here's our girl! She's a Corn Snake.

She's very pretty. I'm glad she's yours and not mine. (She can be happy about that, too.)

silvercamaro · #13 Post by **silvercamaro** » Sat Jun 28, 2008 9:38 pm

jayhawker536 wrote:Ask hubby and we both agree, it's probably a python, almost certain it is in the constrictor family.

A neighbor must have "pets". Said neighbor would most certainly not be one of my favorite peoples, considering there is not much in this world I dislike more than snakes. Hell, I jump a foot in the air when I run up against a little 8 inch garden snake.

Anita, if VAdame is right about it being a rat snake, that's a constrictor, too. I don't even know what you saw in the picture to tell you that. You have my admiration for knowing the difference.

The pet theory came up early, and I even asked my next door neighbor -- before the police arrived -- if he had a pet snake. (He freaked at the thought.) I sort of ruled out the likelihood of that when I saw the two other snakes on the back porch on the day I took the photographs. At that point, I figured they all came from the same nest somewhere nearby.

VAdame · #14 Post by **VAdame** » Sat Jun 28, 2008 9:45 pm

I'm pretty sure that most non-venomous snakes are constrictors!

ulysses5019 · #15 Post by **ulysses5019** » Sat Jun 28, 2008 9:56 pm

Snakes and toads???? Snake skins and toad stools? Is this part of the global warming conspiracy?

Bob Juch · #16 Post by **Bob Juch** » Sat Jun 28, 2008 9:58 pm

That's a rat snake. Can I borrow her? I have a mouse problem.

silvercamaro · #17 Post by **silvercamaro** » Sat Jun 28, 2008 10:03 pm

Bob Juch wrote:That's a rat snake. Can I borrow her? I have a mouse problem.

I would love for you to have that snake! I can't send it, though. Come and collect that snake and all the snaklet brothers and sisters any time it's convenient.