Is there a herpetologist or -phile in the house?

I took Madeline for a walk today and opted to cut it short after seeing a snake. I'm not familiar with the native reptiles, so I opted not to chance it. Didn't get a real good look at it. It was about three feet long, dark grey with yellow stripes running lengthwise. It didn't make a sound, just dove for cover into a bush. I'm thinking some kind of garter snake.

 

Garter chicken

 

Yeah that's the one! I think we both had a panic attack. Maddy was all "whatev"

 

Here is a good resource for you Tam, http://www.californiaherps.com/index.html its good to be fimilar with what is and what isn't deadly. Just be glad you don't live in Australlia!

 

Jon is a GREAT Herp guy.

 

I try Ron, Best rule when dealing with snakes... If you don't know what it is, LEAVE IT ALONE!

 

Yeah, that was my exact response.

 

you do realize how hard it is for me not to take this thread totally sideways right????? :erm:

 

well, we're waiting....

 

anxiously waiting at that. lol

 

opcorn: Maybe he's busy? he did mention something hard and taking it sideways. Maybe it got stuck?

 

Ooooh snake.

 

I've been waiting for someone to "go there". Have at it, Cam...

Great site, Jon. I think I found it. Alameda Striped Racer...



It freaked me out, one because its a snake and I haven't seen one "in the wild" in like 10 years and two because it looked so damned exotic.

 

All this talk of snakes has made Cam run to the bathroon to find his worm... errrr snake.

 

heh...inch worm...heh...

 

I figure if it doesn't have any sort of diamond shaped designs, or rings on it and doesn't rattle it's probably ok... lol

 

Yeah, ordinarily that's my response too. Just this time I had Madeline in the stroller and the snake darting across the sidewalk at her feet, so mommy-mode kicked in. I feel kind of stupid walking briskly back to the apartment after seeing a snake, but I was freaked out at the time.

 

You can't always go by that Dave, Sometimes rings can be misleading. Here are a few examples, If you notice the difference between the two coral snakes the western Coral doesn't have yellow (red and yellow, kill a fellow). If you look at all the other examples of non venomous (King snakes and Milk snakes) the red is touching the black (red touchs black, venom lack)

Coral snake,


Western Coral Snake,


Pueblan milk snake,


California mountain kingsnake,


Scarlet Kingsnake,

 

i had a kingsnake i found as a pet for a few years.

growing up in california and spending a lot of time in the bush (snicker), ive found the best practice is to keep your distance from anything. i am pretty familiar with all snakes in these parts so i pick up a lot of ones i know are safe. diamonds are great to look for because most vipers have them, the main rule of thumb though is to look at the head of the snake. if its diamond shaped, stay away.

 

Growing up in Kentucky/Tennessee, we had copperheads, rattlesnakes, water or black mocassins (sp) (all poisonous), black snakes or racers and chicken snakes (non-poisonous). Basically we just steered clear of everything.

Also, whenever my brother or I hollered "Snake!", my short little mom would come running with a garden implement and hack said snake into tiny pieces.

I'm glad she wasn't there for this one, as apparently the poor little guy is a protected species.