Pygmy Rattlesnakes

[Cil]

Yikes, Jdarg! That is one "inclusion" you can live without!
Thanks for the confirmation, SJ.
I've seen snakes all summer but I was always pretty sure they were just harmless garter snakes like the ones my brothers used to catch.
This one was very different, and when I came home and googled pygmy, the picture was identical to what I'd seen.
I was so brave! :ats self on back:: ;-)

 

[Jdarg]

You were smart to get out of its way! Bdarg poked it with a stick trying to get a good look at it, then we took closeup pics. THEN we were told it was a pygmy rattle snake. In Bdarg's defense, we couldn't see the rattle until he came all the way out from between the deck steps.

 

[Uncle Timmy]

I found a snake skin in my backyard yesterday. Probably from a black racer I see from time to time. Neat.

However, I have seen far fewer snakes this year than in past years - I am wondering if this could be because I have a new neighbor who lets his dogs wander freely. They come into my yard frequently and I have heard that snakes will move out of an area that has a lot of pet activity. Anyone heard this?

 

[Jdarg]

I found a snake skin in my backyard yesterday. Probably from a black racer I see from time to time. Neat.

However, I have seen far fewer snakes this year than in past years - I am wondering if this could be because I have a new neighbor who lets his dogs wander freely. They come into my yard frequently and I have heard that snakes will move out of an area that has a lot of pet activity. Anyone heard this?

I hope you are right. I don't mind the black snakes, but maybe my 2 dogs will be too much activity for a rattlesnake!!

 

[Smiling JOe]

I found a snake skin in my backyard yesterday. Probably from a black racer I see from time to time. Neat.

However, I have seen far fewer snakes this year than in past years - I am wondering if this could be because I have a new neighbor who lets his dogs wander freely. They come into my yard frequently and I have heard that snakes will move out of an area that has a lot of pet activity. Anyone heard this?

Most likely due to an absence or reduction of food source around your yard. With the lack of rain, up until a few weeks ago, we have not had the frogs and anoles running and hopping around the yard. The Black Racers love to eat both of them, as do other snakes. Now with more sightings of the snakes' food sources, we will probably have more snake sightings, too.

 

[ShallowsNole]

With three dogs, two cats and a teenager, my family follows the "if it looks like a moccasin, kill it" philosophy. (Rattlers are easier to identify). I am sure that we have killed several banded water snakes this year. However, I am not going to stand over a thickish, dark snake to see if its pupils are round or slanted. If you are close enough to tell, you are too close if it is indeed a cottonmouth.

And SJ, darling, I am not about to try to capture it and dump it in a neighbor's yard. Sorry. I admire you for it though.

 

[Smiling JOe]

With three dogs, two cats and a teenager, my family follows the "if it looks like a moccasin, kill it" philosophy. (Rattlers are easier to identify). I am sure that we have killed several banded water snakes this year. However, I am not going to stand over a thickish, dark snake to see if its pupils are round or slanted. If you are close enough to tell, you are too close if it is indeed a cottonmouth.

And SJ, darling, I am not about to try to capture it and dump it in a neighbor's yard. Sorry. I admire you for it though.

If I ever said that I put snakes in my neighbors yard, I certainly must have been drunk. I would never knowingly do such a thing. I do occasionally relocate them into the State Forest, but never into a neighbors yard.

 

[ShallowsNole]

Sorry 'bout that...but if I take them to the state forest, they will just slither back into my neighbors' yards. To take them further into the state forest would involve walking way too far with a snake, and no snakes are going in my car.

Besides, I know I am not Steve Irwin. My nephew tried to be and got bit.

 

[grace]

SJ's picture is NOT a cottonmouth (piscivrus conanti). Most likely a non venomous black racer (constricto constrictor) or black rat (obsoleta obsoleta).
And all of this talk about copperheads.......
maybe in the EXTREME northern parts of the county, but not the southern. Often times the non venomous corn or red rat snake is mistaken for the copperhead.

 

[jodiFL]

(I don't care WHO was here first!)

Learn to fit into nature rather than attempting to make nature fit into your world. ;-)

I think Tatertot should rethink the opinion posted. And I totally agree with the other post. If you are a new resident of Florida I think you probably should have researched exactly where you were relocating to. I hate to tell you but Florida is one of the "wildest" states you could ever move to. The wildlife here is very important to those of us that were attracted to this area for its "wildlife" (and not just the kind you have while partying with friends on the beach). I get really upset when people come to this area and complain or jump on the bandwagon to "kill 'em all" when it comes to snakes, bugs, gators,or sharks, that are just a part of this area. Yes ..we have poisonous snakes, biting bugs, and other LARGE creatures that will make your life miserable unless you respect them and their habitat. I recently created a "Welcome to Florida" brochure that should be given to every person that thinks they are moving "to the beach". You must realize that Florida is so much more than the beach and that you have to take the good with the bad. And to the person that found a "pygmy" rattlesnake....you should have seen the Eastern Diamondback that I saw slithering through my yard today.... he/she was probably 5' long and a beautiful specimen that I kept my distance from and let continue on "to my neighbors yard" or the state forest or wherever it was headed.