Just minding his (her) own business, catching some rays, when rudely interrupted.

[Unregistered User 8]

catching some rays when rudely interrupted.

Excellent photograph DW58. This image is either an extreme crop, or you do not look very tasty to the snake !!! Well taken mate.

[DW58]

Thanks pjv!


Snake was stretched out in the driveway and measured about 3'. Half its body was in the frame originally. Got down pretty close to her level for the angle though.

[Unregistered User 8]

They are beautiful creatures. Unfortunately here in Australia, I think we have 9 of the top 10 most venomous snakes in the world.

[DW58]

I'm content with the fact that we have no poisonous ones around here. I like having them around. Wife hates 'em though.

[goatsNdonkey]

The same with the northern half of Illinois, only a few poisonous snakes in very specific habitats, with non-poisonous constrictors everywhere else. That doesn't mean that many people in the region don't "think" they have seen poisonous snakes. If they see a snake in the water, they assume it is a water moccasin and not the equally large and very common northern water snake. Then, too, non-poisonous snakes sometimes use threatening behaviors to defend themselves. Bull snakes are known to puff themselves up and use false strikes to frighten would-be predators. If a fox snake is disturbed, it vibrates its tail, and if it is in dry grass it can sound like a rattle snake. The blue racer, a beautiful bluish-gray creature, slithers unbelievably fast in the direction of anything that frightens it. This is incredibly startling to human or wild predators. By the time you recover your composure, often from having jumped higher than you thought you could, you have no idea where the snake actually went -- for as, soon as you became disoriented, the snake headed for nearby cover, never to be seen again!

Most of our non-poisonous snakes eat rodents, and sometimes when someone kills a big snake with the garden hoe there is subsequently a rodent population explosion in their neighborhood. An exception are the members of the king snake group, who like to eat other snakes (People who don't like snakes should love these guys!). I heard a story about an old farmer who had the quirky reputation in his rural neighborhood of being the guy you could phone if you wanted a big snake removed from your place. He didn't kill any of the snakes he collected; rather, he took them home and released them around his grain bins and corn cribs to keep down the mice and rats.

People who are afraid of snakes can think they are much bigger than they actually are. People who lived near a park where I worked phoned to see if someone could come do something about a gigantic snake they saw in their yard. It was the end of the day and I drove by to see if I could be of help before I drove home. I was told the snake was over 3 inches thick, as the people pointed to the rubbish pile where they said the side of the snake could still be seen. I uncovered the snake and discovered it was a baby black rat snake, not over a 1/2 inch thick and hardly more than 18 inches long. I released in some woods down the road. An adult black rat snake, 4-6 feet long would have been very beneficial to have living in one's back yard...but those folks were too frightened to listen to reason.

[mole]

Very handsome portrait of your handsome neighbor. Thanks for sharing!

Oh, and to goatsNdonkey - your story sounds like one we could easily repeat here in the East Tennessee State Parks - I get numerous calls about "fierce and dangerous huge snakes" that usually turn out to be small and quite harmless (or sometimes big and quite harmless). I have to do some hard work and careful searching in remote places to even find one of our few native venomous snakes.

[goatsNdonkey]

mole, it is not hard to reasonably imagine that the snake is much more frightened. It might be four feet long, but only two inches tall, and looking up at humans dozens of times taller. Even if it were a poisonous snake, it would normally seek cover when sensing human foot steps...unless it hasn't warmed up enough to be active.

It is a little surprising that DW58 didn't get to witness -- up close and personally -- the bull snake's false strikes. Perhaps it needed to bask longer and was hoping that he hadn't really noticed it, camouflaged as it was in its surroundings. The picture seems to be evidence of a very stealthy photographer, and perhaps a more patient than usual bull snake!

[DW58]

I saw this snake basking in the sun while I was on the riding lawn mower. Stopped what I was doing and got the camera. Not knowing how much time I had I did not change to a longer lens. Snapping pictures from a distance at first, I slowly got closer. This is one of the last shots I got. By this time I was on my knees and scrunched down as low as these old bones would allow. She finally had enough of my intrusion and was on the move when this was taken. Never showed any signs of aggression. Two days earlier I had to remove a Bull Snake from our greenhouse for my wife. By the size it could have been the same one. Maybe it was just used to me.


Did anyone notice the white marking on top of its head just behind the eyes? Almost looks like the number 30. Snakes getting tattoos. What next?

[goatsNdonkey]

No doubt the greenhouse snake emailed your picture to all its friends to say that you're a safe human.

[DW58]

No doubt the greenhouse snake emailed your picture to all its friends to say that you're a safe human.

We're a bit tech challenged out here in the boonies so I'm guessing they use snail mail.

[goatsNdonkey]

We're a bit tech challenged out here in the boonies so I'm guessing they use snail mail.

I had heard that snakes and snails see eye-to-eye!

[Adam]

Just minding his (her) own business, catching some rays, when rudely interrupted.

Nice timing with the tongue!

[Mikesul]

Just minding his (her) own business, catching some rays, when rudely interrupted.

Nice color on the bull snake.

[DW58]

Nice color on the bull snake.

I remember him. Hope he's doing well.