snake id (copper head?)

oh wow-that's a cool pattern!

Originally Posted by crotalis40741

This is my vote (Nerodia fasciata) southern water snake

You might be right. I really don't know what baby cottonmouths look like. I was going on head shape alone. But watersnakes are known for head flattening and they have tall heads that are very sharp sided (in other words not as rounded as a rat or corn) and they can be very convincing.

I still think the hopper would be a good test.A rat snake would constrict or grab and attempt a swallow ( no way it's a rat) and a watersnake would probably just bite it (like a cottonmouth) but the outcome would be different.

Yeah found two counties over from me, they guy that has it had that T.V. show Snake Man of the Appalachia. Didn't really like the show though lol Sorry we hijacked your thread.

Originally Posted by Oscarsdad

You might be right. I really don't know what baby cottonmouths look like. I was going on head shape alone. But watersnakes are known for head flattening and they have tall heads that are very sharp sided (in other words not as rounded as a rat or corn) and they can be very convincing.

I still think the hopper would be a good test.A rat snake would constrict or grab and attempt a swallow ( no way it's a rat) and a watersnake would probably just bite it (like a cottonmouth) but the outcome would be different.

The few times I have seen water snakes eat here, the prey was alive and the snake was trying to swallow it. But it was a fish trying to be eaten.

one time a diamondbacked water snake fished a fairly large baby catfish out of my pond & swallowed it whole & alive--I didn't even know we had catfish lol.....oops yeah-sorry for the hijack lol

Yes, the banding looks like a nerodia/Natrix, (and that was my first thought before reading your post) but the OP said it has vertically slit pupils. If that is true it is NOT A HARMLESS SNAKE!!! Tell him to stop handling now! I would love to see a better photo, too, but based on the information given it's either a cottonmouth or a copperhead.

Originally Posted by Chip

Yes, the banding looks like a nerodia/Natrix, (and that was my first thought before reading your post) but the OP said it has vertically slit pupils. If that is true it is NOT A HARMLESS SNAKE!!! Tell him to stop handling now! I would love to see a better photo, too, but based on the information given it's either a cottonmouth or a copperhead.

Unless of course it was an import that got away and he found it... Because you know as well as I do, many exotic snakes may very well be harmless and have slitted pupils... Shoot, there are a few "harmless" (mild venom, not considered harmful to humans) species in NM that have slitted pupils.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say odds are overwhelmingly high that he's found a native species.

Assuming it is a native Alabama species, that would rule out night snakes that have vertical pupils and are relatively (to humans) harmless. All other U.S. snakes (and those in Alabama) with vertical pupils are pit vipers: rattlers, copperheads and cottonmouths.

Based on the last third of the body, however, the distinctive blotches look more like what you would see on water snakes (Nerodia sp.) or ratsnakes (Pantherophis sp.) than a copperhead or cottonmouth (Agkistrodon). I suspect it is a water snake or rat snake but the bad picture and blurred head not help identification.

Nevertheless, I would not free handle a snake that I found and could not properly ID. I would suggest the same for the person who caught this one.

Originally Posted by MotleyMedusa7

one time a diamondbacked water snake fished a fairly large baby catfish out of my pond & swallowed it whole & alive--I didn't even know we had catfish lol.....oops yeah-sorry for the hijack lol

That's what I meant- a watersnake wouldn't constrict it and a venomous snake wouldn't grab it live and attempt a swallow. But both might just bite it and withdraw. The reason I saidhopper was I was thinking that all the movement would draw a reaction strike and the size would be big enough to defray an easy meal.Also mice are not either Cottonmouths nor watersnakes first meal of choice. I don't see a hijack here but that's just me.

I mess with snakes all the time that I don't know what they are. I learned how to identify the handful of venomous snakes in my area and I don't mess with them. I do treat every snake as a venomous snake when handling them until I get a positive ID. To do otherwise is just stupid IMHO.

If it does have vertical pupils- that pretty much trumps any other doubts. .....