Is this is rat/chicken snake?

[Spiffy]

I was gonna run what I thought was a black snake off the concrete drive one time for Mom to get in the car (she's deathly afraid of snakes) with a water hose.....it coiled and struck at the water stream.....I don't think it was a black snake after all!

[Jamie Jackson]

As I was attempting to move it from my yard, it climbed the fence and posed for several pictures. It stayed right there on the fence for a good 5 minutes. 

 

 

It obviously found your yard a nice place to be. :pleased:

We get a good bit of 'em in our yard each summer. We have chipmunks scurrying about and they seem to find them quite tasty...

 

Great photo btw.

 

I was gonna run what I thought was a black snake off the concrete drive one time for Mom to get in the car (she's deathly afraid of snakes) with a water hose.....it coiled and struck at the water stream.....I don't think it was a black snake after all!

 

 

My wife doesn't care for snakes one bit spiff. We are both from SW MS and way too many poisonous snakes back there for her to forget. So they have to leave our property...one way or another... :cool:

 

 

I have killed a total of 4 snakes in our house in the 9 years we've lived here. We live in a suburban neighborhood in West Knoxville, not out in the country.

2 were in a crawlspace, one in the basement bedroom, and one upstairs...I still haven't figured out the upstairs one yet...sneaky devils they are.

[OldHat63]

I was gonna run what I thought was a black snake off the concrete drive one time for Mom to get in the car (she's deathly afraid of snakes) with a water hose.....it coiled and struck at the water stream.....I don't think it was a black snake after all!

 

A cornered or pissed-off black racer will put on a good show in order to get you to go away and leave it alone. They'll do their best impersonation of a rattler, cobra, etc. by coiling up and striking as you describe.

 

And even though they don't have fangs, they have enough very sharp, backwards-pointing teeth to make a bite painful... and hard to get loose from your delicate hide when they clamp down and hang on.

 

I still have some very faint scars at the base of my right thumb from one such encounter.

... which is probably better than the bullet holes I almost got due to the same snake. :ugh:

( No, the Racer wasn't packin' a gun. The owner of the truck I hopped off of to go catch it was though... and also had a rather severe phobia regarding snakes. He "objected" when I offered to bring him the snake to inspect.  Let me have a look at his very nice S&W snubby instead... from the muzzle end. :eek:  )

Edited July 19, 2015 by OldHat63

[Sidewinder]

In the three years we've lived here, this is the first snake we've seen.
Is it a rat/chicken snake?

Would you happen to have a bird house attached to that fence? If so, he's looking for a meal. He will swallow small birds ( baby Blue Birds) whole and can wipe out a complete hatching in one visit!

[dawgdoc]

Would you happen to have a bird house attached to that fence? If so, he's looking for a meal. He will swallow small birds ( baby Blue Birds) whole and can wipe out a complete hatching in one visit!

 

At Ft. Stewart, which had habitat for the Red Pileated Woodpecker (which was I think a threatened species at the time), they would put anti-snake devices to keep the rat and corn snakes from getting into their nests.

 

In south Georgia, we had yellow rat snakes, black rat snakes, and gray rat snakes with overlapping ranges, so we ended up with a lot of intergrades that didn't really fit the traditional pictures found in snake identification guides.  They can also get very long and fat (longer than 6 ft), but they get very docile in captivity.  I once fed a captive rat snake a mouse leg (rather than a whole mice); to my surprise, it scarfed it down like Homer Simpson eating a drumstick.  

[Omega]

A cornered or pissed-off black racer will put on a good show in order to get you to go away and leave it alone. They'll do their best impersonation of a rattler, cobra, etc. by coiling up and striking as you describe.
 
And even though they don't have fangs, they have enough very sharp, backwards-pointing teeth to make a bite painful... and hard to get loose from your delicate hide when they clamp down and hang on.
 
I still have some very faint scars at the base of my right thumb from one such encounter.
... which is probably better than the bullet holes I almost got due to the same snake. :ugh:
( No, the Racer wasn't packin' a gun. The owner of the truck I hopped off of to go catch it was though... and also had a rather severe phobia regarding snakes. He "objected" when I offered to bring him the snake to inspect.  Let me have a look at his very nice S&W snubby instead... from the muzzle end. :eek:  )

Yea, much to the demise of one, I came upon one when dove hunting one day. It "rattled" next to me so I shot it, if it had not done that I may not even noticed it, or at least let it live.

[TripleDigitRide]

Would you happen to have a bird house attached to that fence? If so, he's looking for a meal. He will swallow small birds ( baby Blue Birds) whole and can wipe out a complete hatching in one visit!

I don't have any bird feeders, but my neighbor has several. Hopefully this snake thinks the birds taste better than our 5 pound chihuahua/yorkie/maltese mix.

[mikegideon]

It grows to 17', and eats Chihuahuas like tater-tots. 

 

That's what I call a pretty good snake.

[OldHat63]

That's what I call a pretty good snake.

 

 

It'd be even better if it grew to 30 feet and ate ex-wives....

 

I'd be breedin' the things.

[mikegideon]

It'd be even better if it grew to 30 feet and ate ex-wives....

 

I'd be breedin' the things.

 

Why am I not surprised at that response? :) You doin' alright?

[OldHat63]

Why am I not surprised at that response?  You doin' alright?

 

Muddlin' along... 

 

Sorry about the "change of face" as it were.  Kind'a lost the old password to the previous account and had to make another. David said something about merging the accounts when I spoke to him about it. I suppose he'll get there when he has time. :shrug:

 

I figured Oh Shoot would know me right off, if I posted in a snake thread first.  I guess he's too busy wranglin' them mountaintop cotton mouths... :devil:

[mikegideon]

Muddlin' along... 

 

Sorry about the "change of face" as it were.  Kind'a lost the old password to the previous account and had to make another. David said something about merging the accounts when I spoke to him about it. I suppose he'll get there when he has time. :shrug:

 

I figured Oh Shoot would know me right off, if I posted in a snake thread first.  I guess he's too busy wranglin' them mountaintop cotton mouths... :devil:

 

Actually, OhShoot and I were having a conversation about you a few days ago. Were your ears burning? Welcome back!

Edited July 20, 2015 by mikegideon

[OldHat63]

Actually, OhShoot and I were having a conversation about you a few days ago. Were your ears burning? Welcome back!

 

No more so than usual... Needless to say there's more than a few folks talkin' about me these days. Most of 'em not happy at all.

 

Sucks to be them, is all I've got to say.

 

I'm still here on my hill with my dogs, watchin' the world go by. :pleased:

 

Speaking of that, I did end up losin' one of 'em last month, out of the clear blue.  The one I went down to meet Sgt. Joe and Capbyrd and get back in 2010 got sick May 29th, and died on June 5th... after a nearly $500 trip to the vet. The doc said there was something wrong with her liver that was causing her to lose all of her red blood cells.

 

The odd thing is, she was the "replacement" for one I'd lost suddenly 5 years before... and the youngest dog here.

 

Oh, and as you've no doubt figured, the... um... individual? who I was having so much trouble with back in 2012 is no longer here. And yes, there's a long ugly story to that.   Ah well... at least I managed to get the kid up past 18 before things went completely to :poop:.

 

Hope you and the rest have been having a more pleasant time than I have while I was MIA.

Edited July 20, 2015 by OldHat63

[mikegideon]

No more so than usual... Needless to say there's more than a few folks talkin' about me these days. Most of 'em not happy at all.

 

Sucks to be them, is all I've got to say.

 

I'm still here on my hill with my dogs, watchin' the world go by. :pleased:

 

Speaking of that, I did end up losin' one of 'em last month, out of the clear blue.  The one I went down to meet Sgt. Joe and Capbyrd and get back in 2010 got sick May 20th, and died on June 5th... after a nearly $500 trip to the vet. The doc said there was something wrong with her liver that was causing her to lose all of her red blood cells.

 

The odd thing is, she was the "replacement" for one I'd lost suddenly 5 years before... and the youngest dog here.

 

Oh, and as you've no doubt figured, the... um... individual? who I was having so much trouble with back in 2012 is no longer here. And yes, there's a long ugly story to that.   Ah well... at least I managed to get the kid up past 18 before things went completely to :poop:.

 

Hope you and the rest have been having a more pleasant time than I have while I was MIA.

 

I figured that turned into a big ugly fight. Sounds like you came out OK. Nothing much changed around here. OhShoot still gets cranky when he forgets his Geritol :)

[OldHat63]

I figured that turned into a big ugly fight. Sounds like you came out OK. Nothing much changed around here. OhShoot still gets cranky when he forgets his Geritol :)

 

OhShoot just needs to quit washin' that Geritol down with cheap whiskey and he'll be fine. :drunk: :panic: :D

[mikegideon]

OhShoot just needs to quit washin' that Geritol down with cheap whiskey and he'll be fine. :drunk: :panic: :D

 

He quit drinking years ago. I think he's just naturally cranky, and the Geritol suppresses it

[OldHat63]

He quit drinking years ago....

 

Well no wonder he's cranky...

 

If it weren't for nicotine, caffeine, and alcohol, I'd probably have gotten myself killed decades ago. Or at very least, gotten a whole new prison built, just for me.

 

It's also quite possible that, take away those three things, I might die of malnutrition. :ugh:

[KaNaPaPi]

When I was a youngster, I learned the hard way, that even though it's not poisonous, they still have very sharp teeth!  

[Oh Shoot]

Well no wonder he's cranky...

 

If it weren't for nicotine, caffeine, and alcohol, I'd probably have gotten myself killed decades ago. Or at very least, gotten a whole new prison built, just for me.

 

It's also quite possible that, take away those three things, I might die of malnutrition. :ugh:

 

Welcome back Jamie, you old fellow reprobate!

 

I fought the good fight with the booze for 30 years, but it finally turned into more foe than friend, sad to say...over 18 years ago now, unbelievable.

 

Cut out booze, cut out cigs, cut out dames ... cut out paper dolls. ;)

 

- OS

Edited July 20, 2015 by Oh Shoot

[mikegideon]

Welcome back Jamie, you old fellow reprobate!

 

I fought the good fight with the booze for 30 years, but it finally turned into more foe than friend, sad to say...over 18 years ago now, unbelievable.

 

Cut out booze, cut out cigs, cut out dames ... cut out paper dolls. ;)

 

- OS

 

Fwiw, I quit drinking and smoking, except for a stogie every once in awhile. Haven't given up women yet, even though they can be the most harmful of the whole bunch.

[monkeylizard]

Happiness is a good martini, a good meal, a good cigar and a good woman . . . or a bad woman, depending on how much happiness you can stand.

-George Burns-

[OldHat63]

When I was a youngster, I learned the hard way, that even though it's not poisonous, they still have very sharp teeth!  

 

Pardon me for bein' confused, but since the conversation has digressed a bit, I gotta ask...  Are you talkin' about snakes or women here? :squint:

 

Could be either, based on personal experience... though I might have to argue the "poisonous" part in regard to women. :unsure:

 

Then again, maybe I'm just better at telling which is which with snakes, and not so much with the females of our species. :shrug:

[OldHat63]

Welcome back Jamie, you old fellow reprobate!

 

I fought the good fight with the booze for 30 years, but it finally turned into more foe than friend, sad to say...over 18 years ago now, unbelievable.

 

Cut out booze, cut out cigs, cut out dames ... cut out paper dolls. ;)

 

- OS

 

Howdy, Oh Shoot. Glad to be back.

 

Seems to me you could simplify that last statement by simply saying "Cut out all the fun". :death: :(

[OldHat63]

Fwiw, I quit drinking and smoking, except for a stogie every once in awhile. Haven't given up women yet, even though they can be the most harmful of the whole bunch.

 

Aw, you haven't quit smoking then, you've just slowed down.

 

As for alcohol, believe it or not, my doc says it's okay to use for pain management caused by neuropathy (nerve damage ), provided I don't over-do it. I have a rather odd metabolism, and pain meds just don't have the same effect on me as they do the rest of the world. Bourbon and rum work just fine though.  Lucky me. :drunk:

 

He still wants me to quit smoking though... but has learned I can say "go to hell" as quickly and as often as he can suggest it, so doesn't really bother anymore. :devil:

[OldHat63]

Happiness is a good martini, a good meal, a good cigar and a good woman . . . or a bad woman, depending on how much happiness you can stand.

-George Burns-

 

George must've been onto something, given how old he lived to be.

 

I must just have a low tolerance to "happiness" though, 'cause one bad woman was way past enough for me. :shake:

Edited July 20, 2015 by OldHat63