What Kind of Snake ??

[Rikkn]

Popped this one off my dock a few minutes ago. Not sure what is is, a fisherman pointed it out to me. Our littlest puppy too close for comfort so I called him away, grabbed a very old S&W, a couple shot shells, and this is what I got. Had to see what the bulge was, poor fishy. The fisherman said it was a copperhead, I am trying to ID it now. First shot hit it square in the nose, pulled it out of the water, was still trying to hiss, second shot sort of removed the head. Any suggestions ? We are on a lake in Upstate South Carolina.

 

[Rikkn]

Added Picture

It was just under 4 foot long, and had "cat-eyes"

 

[elcruisr]

Kinda looks lika a copper head to me but I'm no expert!

 

[tdan]

This is either a Banded water snake or a Midland water snake depending on how far north and west you live in S.C. At any rate, a harmless reptile killed out of ignorance.

 

[cass]

First of all, it is NOT a Copperhead, and is NOT venemous. That's for certain. It is definately a watersnake, most probably a Northern watersnake, Nerodia sipedon ( previously called Natrix sipedon).

 

[Rikkn]

Not a northern watersnake, out of their range, and markings are different. Our lake is known for copperheads, black snakes, and cottonmouths.

 

[cass]

One of the subspecies of the Northern Watersnake is the Midland watersnake (Nerodia sipedon pleuralis). It could very well be like tdan suspected, and within your range. The ventral surface sure looks like sipedon to me.

 

[ChuckS1]

To paraphrase Phil Sheridan, it's a good one...

 

[red14]

It's a Watersnake.

A Copperhead has the classic diamond shaped head of a viper.

Too bad. I love snakes.

 

[Bucco]

Not poisonous. Anything that has a long skinny tail, and does not have a diamond shaped head, is not poisonous (except for coral snakes). Pit vipers= diamond shaped head. Short, fat tails (or rattlers). You know there's only 4 poisonous snakes (in US) - Rattlers, moccosins, copperheads (diamond shaped heads) and the Coral snake. I forget the saying about Coral snakes v King snakes...red against yellow, good fellow...or is it bad fellow? Anyhow....

 

[onegunshort]

I forget the saying about Coral snakes v King snakes...red against yellow, good fellow...or is it bad fellow? Anyhow....

It's "Red touches yellow, you're a dead fellow, red touches black you're ok jack."

 

[bmhiii]

Coral snakes - Red and black, venom lack, red and yellow, kill a fellow.

 

[Bucco]

Yeah, yeah. I knew it was one of those. Been in FL 30 some years. Never seen a coral snake. I hear they're only about as big as your finger anyway. Just lookin out for the bigguns..

 

[tom turner]

What kind of snake?

DEFINITELY a "Dead" snake!

Also a Banded Watersnake. Typically pretty harmless, except to frogs and such, though some can get quite aggressive.

In a nation where every bear is a Grizzly, Banded Watersnakes seem to always be considered Water Moccasins.

All told though, I'd have probably killed him too.

T.

 

[windjammer]

Bill Hass had a really big Coral Snake in Miami. It was 17" long. He milked snakes daily. He said of all snakes, the Coral was the hardest to keep alive in captivity.

He said a 17" Coral Snake was very unusual.

 

[cshoff]

I'm guessing it's a Brown Watersnake:

http://www.uga.edu/srelherp/snakes/nertax.htm

 

[Texas Star]

Bill Hass had a really big Coral Snake in Miami. It was 17" long. He milked snakes daily. He said of all snakes, the Coral was the hardest to keep alive in captivity.

He said a 17" Coral Snake was very unusual.

The last name is spelled Haas or Haast, (I think the latter) and he almost died of a coral snake bite, I believe. He has been bitten by many venomous snakes, and feels that he has developed a degree of immunity. He also survived bites by a blue krait and king cobra. Incredible!

I'm not sure if he' s still living, though.

T-Star

 

[84CJ]

Try This
http://www.snakesandfrogs.com/scra/snakes/scsnake.htm

 

[Rikkn]

Looks more like a cottonmouth when comparing it to the pictures.

 

[Zilmo]

It looks good dead. I hate snakes.