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West Virginia Species?

tyflier said:
If you find a snake in the road, are you comfortable with leaving it there, knowing that it has a decent chance of being run over and killed? It's OK if you are, it's a personal choice. I'm not, so I carry a hook.

For the record, I also use my hooks for removing any road kill I see to prevent another animal being killed while trying to eat it...
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I think that I probably would try to move the snake out of the way, but I think my only real use for a hook is flipping over rocks and such things, and avoiding possible bites. Also, considering the WV laws, it's legal to bring roadkill home for dinner, by the way. :puke01:

Nanci said:
Why wouldn't you want to catch any non-venomous snakes you find? That's the best way to get nice pictures of them.
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Aside from garters, I can't identify snakes for my life, quite literally. I see a brownsnake, and a more experienced person sees a copperhead staring right up at me. I love snakes, and I love playing around with them, but around where I live, you're very lucky if you see anything outside of a garter. Down in WV, copperheads and timber rattlers are much more common. I'm not really going to risk my life for a few good pictures because of my inexperience.
 
patm1313 said:
I'm going down to West Virginia over the July 4th weekend, and figured that since I'm going to be camping and rafting/kayaking down there, and will be outdoors a lot, that I might as well do some herping. There's plenty of opportunities, and the best place to find snakes is in between the rocks that run along the river that I will be paddling.

So here's my question, What are the main species of snakes down there? I know to watch out for those eastern rattlers, they love the rocky parts of WV. But aside from that, is there anything worth herping for? Also, are there any other venomous snakes outside of the eastern rattler that I should be aware of?
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Sorry to say you won't be finding any corns here unless you're extremely lucky. I'm a member of the Marshall herp lab and our records for corns in WV are very few and only from a limited area. I didn't see you mention where you'll be in the state, but that will have a big effect on your potential snake sightings. I wouldn't worry too much about the rattlers and copperheads here-I go out of my way to find snakes any chance I get and I don't turn up either species with much frequency. However, if you're in the right spot you may have much better luck-especially since it sounds like you'll be in the mountains (I'm assuming since you'll be kayaking). Still, I wouldn't be all that concerned about them if you're leary of the venemous species.

If you're after bigger snakes, I'd bet you'll have the best luck turning these guys up. This one's not even from the mountains-they get really dark there.

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Kevin S. said:
Sorry to say you won't be finding any corns here unless you're extremely lucky. I'm a member of the Marshall herp lab and our records for corns in WV are very few and only from a limited area. I didn't see you mention where you'll be in the state, but that will have a big effect on your potential snake sightings. I wouldn't worry too much about the rattlers and copperheads here-I go out of my way to find snakes any chance I get and I don't turn up either species with much frequency. However, if you're in the right spot you may have much better luck-especially since it sounds like you'll be in the mountains (I'm assuming since you'll be kayaking). Still, I wouldn't be all that concerned about them if you're leary of the venemous species.

If you're after bigger snakes, I'd bet you'll have the best luck turning these guys up. This one's not even from the mountains-they get really dark there.
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There's a Marshall herp lab?!? I live like 10 minutes from Marshall!
 
Thanks Kevin. I will be paddling the New river, by the way. The rocks around that river are just goldmines as far as snakes go. I will be staying in central WV, so it seems that my only chance of finding corns would be if I stop in Morgan county.
 
Here is my guide to keep you safe in West Virginia. 1. If it has a rattle, don't mess with it. Unless you are safely moving it out of the road. 2. If it looks like it has Hershey's Kisses on it, don't mess with it. Unless you are safely moving it out of the road.
 
Hey, did you know that the toothbrush was invented in West Virginia?

Want to know how I know that?

It's because if the toothbrush had been invented anywhere else, it would have been called a teethbrush. :)
 
Pat, do you mind if I tell a long WV story in your thread, about how the nicest people are from there?
 
Voodoo said:
There's a Marshall herp lab?!? I live like 10 minutes from Marshall!
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Yep, Dr. Pauley will have somewhere around 15 grad students working on herp projects this fall. Also, it seems I can't edit my last post so please ignore the fact that I spelled venomous wrong...that's what I get for playing on here at work. :headbang:
 
patm1313 said:
Thanks Kevin. I will be paddling the New river, by the way. The rocks around that river are just goldmines as far as snakes go. I will be staying in central WV, so it seems that my only chance of finding corns would be if I stop in Morgan county.
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I imagine you'll be seeing quite a few water snakes then. I turn them up in just about any stream with rocky cover and they're definitely one of our most abundant species. So you may want to make sure you're familiar enough with them to distinguish them from copperheads (like Nanci said the pattern is a pretty obvious distinction if you know what to look for).
 
Nanci said:
Here is my guide to keep you safe in West Virginia. 1. If it has a rattle, don't mess with it. Unless you are safely moving it out of the road. 2. If it looks like it has Hershey's Kisses on it, don't mess with it. Unless you are safely moving it out of the road.
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Good to know, thanks Nanci.

Nanci said:
Pat, do you mind if I tell a long WV story in your thread, about how the nicest people are from there?
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Sure, have at it.
 
Nanci said:
Pat, do you mind if I tell a long WV story in your thread, about how the nicest people are from there?
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I was going mountain biking in North Carolina, driving my elderly Ford Explorer up to meet a friend driving in from Raleigh. In the mountains, in the rain, my transmission went out. No shoulder to pull over- just a brick wall. This couple from WV towed me up the mountain to the next town with their Suburban, then unloaded my stuff from my truck into theirs and drove me to the campground and decided to stay overnight. They cooked me dinner while I waited for my friend. My friend arrived and we took his car to get more of my stuff from my truck. His car DIED. Some people drove by and stopped and took me and John and all our gear to the campsite. The West Virginia people drove us into Asheville the next morning to rent a car for the week! My truck was towed to a nearby town for a rebuilt tranny, which took the whole week. We spent many hours fixing John's Toyota ourselves- tracking down parts in junkyards. What a great vacation- but I'll always remember how nice everyone was, and how helpful, and how they went WAY out of their way to help.
 
Yep, people in WV are pretty nice. The most common thing I see is the differences in driving. In the fast lane in PA you can get held back by someone who's going too slow, and that person doesn't give a hoot . But in WV that person will always, always pull over to the slower lane if they realize that you want to pass them.
 
Hey.

I'm down in WV and last weekend I kayaked the New. At the end of that trip I found either a black ratsnake or a black racer, but I wasn't able to pick it up due to the fact that it was down under a rock and my hand couldn't fit far enough down. The only bad news is that it was at the end of the trip down the river, which meant I didn't have my camera, and I couldn't take any pictures. :(

I still have a lot of time though, I'm staying down here until the weekend after next. I'm also running the river two more times this weekend. :)

I do have some pictures from down here though, but I have to wait until I get home to post them, so expect to see some more pictures in another week and a half.
 
stephen said:
you shoulda had a snake hook! :grin01:
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Yah, I know... That's what I found myself saying as I walked away.

In other news, I'm still down here, and I've found some other things.

And guess what....

I found a rattle snake!

Ok.... Now that I've gotten that out of the way, I regret to inform you that it was dead when I found it. It had been run over. Ironic, huh, guys?I did take some pictures, but I have to get home before I can upload them and post them.
 
patm1313 said:
Yah, I know... That's what I found myself saying as I walked away.

In other news, I'm still down here, and I've found some other things.

And guess what....

I found a rattle snake!

Ok.... Now that I've gotten that out of the way, I regret to inform you that it was dead when I found it. It had been run over. Ironic, huh, guys?I did take some pictures, but I have to get home before I can upload them and post them.
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What kind?

And since it hasn't been mentioned before, I'll mention it now...DEAD RATTLERS CAN STILL ENVENOMATE!! Never trust a dead rattlesnake. Their fangs can still inject venom into you, and their nerves can cause LOTS of movement and even biting. As well...I have approached several "dead on road" rattlers onmly to have them LEAP off the pavement towards me the moment my hook touched them(yea...they weren't quite dead yet). Just be aware...don't find out the hard way.
 
That is a Timber Rattler, also sometimes called a Canebrake, but recently the timber and the canebrake have been re-classified as the same species.

Anyhow...Nice Find!
 
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