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Caught, Bitten, ID'd, Released!!

Nanci

Nanci

Alien Lover
I found this little guy when I was out whacking weeds around a small fruit tree, 20 feet from my house. Luckily he wasn't hurt, and I had mowed right before that, so he's doubly lucky! Didn't quite recognize him right away, and after finding the amazing Maizey (wild corn) right in my front yard, I ws hoping for a corn hatchling. But this guy didn't behave like a corn. He bit me repeatedly, and I determined he wasn't a corn, though I didn't know what he was. Brought him in the house and looked him up in my new Lonestar Field Guide to Snakes of Florida. Since he obviously wasn't destined to become a pet, now that I knew what he was, I took him back out to his tree and hoped he'd stick around for a picture. Ok, so this is what he is- Southern Black Racer Juvie. apparently they turn black after they reach 20". This little one was maybe 10". And hot-tempered!!! I love finding snakes in my yard...

Nanci
 

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I'm glad it wasn't a case of looking it up and finding out, "Oh, wow, waddaya know, it's venomous!" after it had been biting you. But I figure you would have known better when you first saw it. LOL
 
Well, not a coral snake (I've only been lucky enough to spot one of those- probably my most-wanted-to-find-snake of all time) and no rattles, so unless I find a baby cottonmouth, I'm ok. I'm not sure I'd recognize that snake. You sure hear about them all the time, here. Everybody's got a story.

My second best snake find ever, I didn't know the snake, just knew it wasn't venomous, and it was headed over the edge of a huge sinkhole, up in the Talahassee area, roughly. So I only had seconds to secure it, and I got bit three times. It was about 15-20 inches long- and this was my second year in FL, so I had no idea what I had. Gray snake, black markings, kind of diamond-y/checker-y. I was doing surface support for a cave dive at the time, and my crew and I had to stay at this site until the divers surfaced at another sink- in case they had problems and turned back. So I got to spend some time with this snake, who calmed down immediately and was even handled by people who were _not_ snake lovers- being very gentle and well-behaved. After a while, I let him go, and he crawled off into the brush. When I got home, I looked him up- Short-tailed Snake, Stilosoma extenuatum. Rare, protected in FL, and the only species in its genus. I'll probably never see another one.
 
What an incredible experience. I hope the first is not the last, Thanx for sharing!
 
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