Identify this Snake!

[JohnRich 4]

I had such good luck with the knowledgeable people here identifying the black-bellied whistler ducks which inhabit Skydive Houston, I thought I would give this kind of thing another try.

I saw this cute fellow (photo attached) Sunday while hiking along the Brazos River, west of Houston, Texas. Can anyone identify what type of snake it is?

The brown spot on his head is just mud. He was a very squirmy guy, trying like hell to get away from me, while I was trying like hell to get him to sit still just long enough for me to get a photo. I won the wrestling match, then released him unharmed. Yes, that's my walking stick I'm holding him with - I wasn't going to stick my hand in there!

My guess is a cottonmouth water moccasin. (Ack!) But I don't know my snakes very well.

I also spotted three groups of deer, about a dozen total, some tiny frogs no bigger than my pinkie fingernail, one wabbit, some carp, four raccoons, and about a billion spiders. The best of all was a baby raccoon who hadn't even learned how to easily climb a tree yet - I watched him fumble his way up to a "Y" in the trunk, where he rested and peered down at me. But my camera started malfunctioning on me in the rain, and I missed out on some terrific photos.

[tr027 0]

I'll guess western diamondback, even though we can't really see the face.

"The evil of the world is made possible by nothing but the sanction you give it. " -John Galt from Atlas Shrugged, 1957

[CSpenceFLY 1]

Our Cotton mouths don't have that much of a pattern if any at all.I stepped on one a few weeks ago.My bet is on some kind of rattle snake.Thanks for not killing it.They are trying to get away from you as mush as you are trying to get away from them.

[tspillers 0]

Looks like a rattler to me. You can almost see something that looks like a rattle on the tail.

I am not totally useless, I can be used as a bad example.

[Hooknswoop 19]

I think you are right, a cotton mouth/water moccasin. Big fangs, very poisonous, nasty disposition. They tend to release a musty odor. No reason to kill it, glad you didn't.

Derek

[BillyVance 35]

I found a 3 foot long copperhead right under my front door just behind the door mat. I started messing with it. Kind of got it pissed too.

There wasn't any way I was going to let it roam around the house with my cats going in and out, so off with its head via axe.

That day I happened to walk out the door with Tevas and no socks on. I was that close to getting a bite and going to the hospital.

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[cocheese 0]

That's Tommy
Lee taking a piss in the woods.

[bluskidave 0]

John, its a water mocassin,cotton mouth.Killed a bunch of them in and around the old gravel pits around Victoria Texas as a kid.They are one of a few aggresive snakes and are known for hanging in low branches along the river bank.Lots of fun when one drops in your John boat running trout lines at night.Nasty critters. Are you jumping at Ballunar this year? Blue Skies, Dave

[mnealtx 0]

Almost looks like a timber rattler...

Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706

[voodew1 0]

I think its a anaconda -- just a baby though

The pimp hand is powdered up ... say something stupid

[waltappel 1]

Look familiar? clicky

Walt

[RhondaLea 4]

My best guess is genus Nerodia--water snake.

Did you happen to get a look at its face? If it had heat pits, I'm wrong, but the snake--taken as a whole--does not look like a viper to me, particularly in the shape of the head.

rl

If you don't know where you're going, you should know where you came from. Gullah Proverb

[riddler 0]

Looks like a water mocassin to me. But I've never seen one that big!

Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

[Zennie 0]

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But I've never seen one that big!

That's cuz EVERYTHING'S big in... well, you get the idea.

Around here, if it has a triangular head, no rattle, and is close to water, then it's probably a water mocassin.

If it has eight legs, it's a spider.

- Z
"Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

[JohnRich 4]

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I'll guess western diamondback, even though we can't really see the face.

Nope - no rattle. Those have a very distinct pattern, and I've seen a good number of them on desert hikes. Like the one below, which was hiding in a bush and started rattling as I walked past him...

Thankfully, they aren't aggressive.

[JohnRich 4]

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Our Cotton mouths don't have that much of a pattern if any at all.

Looking up cottonmouths on Google revealed a wide variety of color patterns for these fellars, from brown with patterns, to solid black. There seem to be a large variety of them. Which lends to my confusion as to what this one was.

[JohnRich 4]

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John, its a water mocassin,cotton mouth.Killed a bunch of them in and around the old gravel pits around Victoria Texas as a kid.They are one of a few aggresive snakes and are known for hanging in low branches along the river bank.Lots of fun when one drops in your John boat running trout lines at night.Nasty critters. Are you jumping at Ballunar this year?

Thanks for the ID.

This one wasn't aggressive, other than trying to get away. He never turned on me or tried to strike.

As for hanging on branches, now you're really getting me scared. I have enough anxiety worrying about just stepping on them...

Yep, doing Ballunar, on Larry's team.

[JohnRich 4]

Quote

My best guess is genus Nerodia--water snake.

Did you happen to get a look at its face? If it had heat pits, I'm wrong, but the snake--taken as a whole--does not look like a viper to me, particularly in the shape of the head.

He never held still long enough for me to get a good look at his head - he was squirming constantly, and facing away from me. But I agree that his head is not as triangular as I'm used to seeing on poisonous snakes.

Typed in "Nerodia" in Google, and found a site called "Snakes of Texas". I'll have to poke around in there and see if anything looks familiar.

http://www.zo.utexas.edu/research/txherps/snakes/

[skybill 22]

Hi John,
From the looks of the tail, it hasa stackof pancakes so that'sa dead giveaway for a rattler. One thing about snakes, seems like they resemble their surroundings a lot. I don't know if it's dumb luck or natural selection (Darwin stuff??) Cute kid, glad youl let him go.

SCR-2034, SCS-680

III%,
Deli-out

[Casurf1978 0]

Cool pic. Glad you didn't kill it. I was in Sedona and came across a tiny scorpian in our cabin. Cute critter in his own way. Caught him in a plastic cup and released him in the back yard.

[RhondaLea 4]

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Hi John,
From the looks of the tail...

The tail looks to me like it tapers to a point, and what you're seeing appears to be ground debris.

But John couldn't have missed the tail from where he was standing, so...

John?

rl

If you don't know where you're going, you should know where you came from. Gullah Proverb

[crotalus01 0]

NOT a rattlesnake. definitely some type of watersnake, most likely a water mocassin, but the only way to tell for sure is to look at the belly scale pattern directly past the anal vent and extending down to the tip of the tail: scales above the vent look like this: ____
____
____
____
if the scales continue in this type pattern past the anal vent: ___
__
_
_
-
it is venomous.
if they change after the vent to this pattern: __
)(
)(
)(
)(
it is harmless.
hope that makes sense. i was a herpetology minor in college.

edit to add thanks for not killing it. snakes serve a very useful purpose, even venomous ones. best to just leave them alone if you have no experience handling them (i used to breed eyelash vipers and trust me, you do NOT want to take a bite from ANY venomous snake).

As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD...

[Zennie 0]

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The tail looks to me like it tapers to a point, and what you're seeing appears to be ground debris.

But John couldn't have missed the tail from where he was standing, so...

I'm pretty sure that thing would have been rattling like mad if it were a rattler. They don't like being pinned down like that heh.

- Z
"Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

[crotalus01 0]

yep, rattlers make a LOT of noise, so there is no way to miss what you are dealing with (unless its a pygmy rattler, they sound like a bee buzzing and can be fairly hard to hear).
again, i am 95% its a mocassin.

As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD...

[JohnRich 4]

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The tail looks to me like it tapers to a point, and what you're seeing appears to be ground debris. But John couldn't have missed the tail from where he was standing, so... John?

There was no rattler. What some are seeing is just leaf debris on the ground, where his tail happens to end. The tail tapered to a tip.

crotalus01: Thanks for the expert tips. I didn't get to flip him over to see his belly. He was struggling so hard to escape I was lucky just to get that one photo.

For those who haven't encountered a rattler before: it doesn't really make a rattling sound. It's more of a buzzing noise. But before you can react and jump out of the way, you have to determine from which direction the buzzing is coming, so you can go the opposite direction. You don't want to end up jumping right on top of him. And that half-second that it takes your brain to recognize the sound and figure out which way to jump, is a scary sumbeech!

The last time I had a rattler encounter, was in the first mile of about a 10-mile day hike. I was spooked the entire remainder of the hike. Every time I heard a buzzing noise, I freaked out. That included the noise my camera makes, and the sound of bees. I felt pretty silly afterwards jumping from the noise of my own camera!