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help identify a snake!
gearheaddad
Member Posts: 15,091 ✭✭✭
I found this guy in my front yard. (Northern Illinois) Any ideas what kind of snake it is? It shook his tail like a rattler would, but there was no rattle! Thanks!! Ed
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Comments
A lot of snakes will shake their tail when approached.
Take a look here to see if this looks right:
http://www.naherpetology.org/detail.asp?id=134
I cannot see the photo, but since corn snakes do not occur anywhere near Northern (or any other part of) Illinois, my guess would be a fox snake. Also in the rat snake group, Elaphe, the species name is Elaphe vulpina (fox, right?)
Take a look here to see if this looks right:
http://www.naherpetology.org/detail.asp?id=134
Corn snakes live in every state in the US...
http://www.chicagoherp.org/herps/species.htm
It is true that they fairly rarely bite defensively, but there is no way to know going in whether they will or won't this time.
You do not know what you are talking about. Neither of the subspecies is found west of New Mexico, the corn snake is not found North of Southern Tennessee.
Get your facts straight before you publish, or you will be embarassed in print.
The genus Elaphe has undergone a good bit of revision in the last decade based on DNA evidence, with some suggesting most of the species should be allocated to the genus Pituophis with the gopher snakesw. While not all of the evidence is in on the taxonomy issue, it is a simple faxt that not every state has a even a single species of either Elaphe or Putupophis to say nothing of the corn snake occuring (outside of captivity) in every state.
quote:Corn snakes live in every state in the US...
You do not know what you are talking about. Neither of the subspecies is found west of New Mexico, the corn snake is not found North of Southern Tennessee.
Get your facts straight before you publish, or you will be embarassed in print.
hmmm you may want to talk to the Chicago Herp society then..
Key Characters: Spear-shaped pattern on top of head; body scales keeled; * plate divided.
Similar Species: Prairie kingsnake, milk snake, fox snake, rat snake.
Description: Moderately large (up to 120 cm TL), blotched snake with gray or light brown back sporting 25 to 50 black-bordered, nearly square, dark brown or red-brown blotches. Tail with 8-20 dark spots or bands. Belly checkered black and white.
Habitat: Rocky, wooded hillsides, hill prairies, bluffs, and adjacent brushy fields.
Natural History: This nocturnal snake mates in April or May and lays 3-30 eggs a few weeks later. The young, 30-35 cm TL, hatch in August. Diet includes mammals, birds, and bird eggs. Medium-sized mammals and raptors are the main predators.
Status: Threatened in Illinois. Found only along the Mississippi River bluffs from Jersey to Randolph counties, where its main threat is highway traffic (see distribution map, above).
gearhead from the looks of that floor, you weren't shooting nails at him were you?
NO![:D][:D]
Driveway. Those are little "seedlings" from the trees.
It is still alive. It was tangled up in plastic webbing that was spread out by the landscapers with straw over new grass seed. I cut him loose. Around here, the general consensus is Bull Snake. But no one seems to know for sure! Thanks for everyones help.
I certainly do not consider the Chicago Herp society authoritative on zoogeography.
Gotcha.. but you are?
How about a gopher snake!
We always called then gopher snakes, and I have seen that behavior from them before. They shake their tail (to imitate a rattler) in brush or leaves.
Margaret Thatcher
"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics."
Mark Twain
http://dnr.state.il.us/Lands/education/snakes/toc.htm
quote:Originally posted by Laredo Lefty
How about a gopher snake!
We always called then gopher snakes, and I have seen that behavior from them before. They shake their tail (to imitate a rattler) in brush or leaves.
How about we say it is a "rat snake" of SOME variety!
Only dangerous to vermin.
Doesn't that feel good![:p][:D]
gearhead from the looks of that floor, you weren't shooting nails at him were you?
Those are seeds. Either glasses or a new monitor is in your future.
Margaret Thatcher
"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics."
Mark Twain
http://www.naherpetology.org/
If you are asking if I am a recognized authority on the distribution of North American reptiles, the answer is no. I have, however, been a professional herpetologist for over 35 years, and do have a very clear idea of which are and which are not autoritative resources and how to use them.
I cannot see the photo, but since corn snakes do not occur anywhere near Northern (or any other part of) Illinois, my guess would be a fox snake. Also in the rat snake group, Elaphe, the species name is Elaphe vulpina (fox, right?)
Take a look here to see if this looks right:
http://www.naherpetology.org/detail.asp?id=134
He Dog, it is close match.
Gagirl if you want a more authoritative site to look to than an orgainization of pet keepers, try this one:
http://www.naherpetology.org/
If you are asking if I am a recognized authority on the distribution of North American reptiles, the answer is no. I have, however, been a professional herpetologist for over 35 years, and do have a very clear idea of which are and which are not autoritative resources and how to use them.
But you will never know more than Gagirl. Don
Looks like a Bull snake to me. Caught hundreds of them as a kid, neat fellers.
Rat snakes have smallish, thin heads.
too long and thin for a hognose.
ill go with the concensus.
Former Member U.S. Navy Shooting Team
Former NSSA All American
Navy Distinguished Pistol Shot
MO, CT, VA.
In my driveway they are called DEAD SNAKES !
Why, are you afraid of them?