It is always interesting to see what creatures you find each Spring This little critter gave me a good scare and I gave it plenty of room in return.





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Cheers,Bob
USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 6a
It's Spring!

Hello Bob,

Yikes!
That was a great idea...giving it space, that is...and I'm sure LOTS of it too!
Thanks for sharing your adventure...

Susan Louise
from Branford CT/ live in Lincoln NE
Zone 5

I am with Susan Louise on this one. Especially since DH and I found a 3 foot snake in our bluebird house this morning.

I will not apoligize for what happened to that snake.

We have since moved the birdhouse to another location and if another snake decides to move in on my bluebird house it will meet the same fate.

Dianne
Southeast Alabama
Heat Zone 8
Sunset Zone 31

I'm not great at herp IDs, but it looks a bit like a plains kingsnake.
Try enature.org, then type in your zip code.

Laura
Elsberry, MO
Zone 5b

I did a search and can't seem to find a match on enature.com

http://tinyurl.com/d8rgtp

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Cheers,Bob
USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 6a
Lexington,Ky.
It's Spring!

Bob,

I don't know if you saw the snake in Florida or back in Kentucky?
Anyway, here's a site with ID's to 33 snakes of Kentucky...
http://www.kentuckysnakes.org/
Hope that helps


Susan Louise
from Branford CT/ live in Lincoln NE
Zone 5

The only ID I have is that it is a snake and the one thing in nature that I am terrified of.

Penny
Niagara Falls, NY
USDA zone 6a/6b
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39

Hey Bob!

Nic pics..wish I had a profile view. I am ignorant of Ky. herps, but my first guess would be the Adder family..probably a Hognose? Now they vary widely in coloration, and like I said...without a side view this isn't foolproof. Did the animal "puff up" at you perchance? Here are a few links with pics of Hognose you can peruse:

http://forums.kingsnake.com/view.php?id=1671831,1671831

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heterodon

http://forums.kingsnake.com/view.php?id=1665210,1665210

At Kingsnake.com look under "Forums" and choose "Snake Forums" then "Snakes-what Kind?" and post those pics. I'll wager somebody will be able to tell you right quick.

Maryjane
W Ga
Zone 8a

Hey Bob
If you could speak parseltongue you could aske the snake directly what kind he is. Alas only wizards that are direct decendents of Salyzar Slitheran are born with the ability to speak in parseltongue..

Penny
Niagara Falls, NY
USDA zone 6a/6b
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39

Hey Bob!

Looks like what you have there is a very plump, just-out-of-hibernation and probably loaded-up-on-a-bunch-of-earthworms-and-toads... Eastern Garter Snake. Identifiers are the 3 light stripes (the 2 on the sides are mottled with a checker pattern and don't look much like stripes) and the shape of its head. There's a great deal of color and pattern variation with garter snakes from one region to the next, so it might be difficult to find an image of a snake that looks just like yours. I have seen garter snakes "puff up" as a defense mechanism in the wild. It also appears that it might be ready for a good skin-shedding (sloughing) after which its coloration would be brighter, more distinct and closer to what you might expect of a garter snake.

Bud
Southwest Ohio
USDA Plant Zone 6a

Camera: Pentax K20D
Lens: Pentax DA*300 f/4, Sigma 180 f/3.5 Macro
There's 1 or 2 more hummingbird / butterfly pics located here...
http://www.pbase.com/budohio

Diane,

Have you tried this type of baffle on your bluebird houses? I have a trail of 13 houses in a local park and I (knocking on wood here) haven't ever had that problem. Of course, snakes are more prevalent in your area, but I know others have beed succesful with using the pole and baffle method.

http://www.sialis.org/baffle.htm


The house and baffle on the left is actually a picture of one of my blubird houses. (not my website, a friends)

Pam NJ 6B

That was taken the other day in Lexington,Ky.,near a lake.



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Cheers,Bob
USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 6a
Lexington,Ky.
It's Spring!

Yes,I'd say it did "puff up" and was ready to strike.

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Cheers,Bob
USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 6a
Lexington,Ky.
It's Spring!

http://forums.kingsnake.com/view.php?id=1673621,1673621

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Cheers,Bob
USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 6a
Lexington,Ky.
It's Spring!

Does not matter to me what kind, I am terrified of all snakes!

Linda
ne AL
zone 7b

If it puffed up my guess (and this is only a guess based on a snake that wandered into my yard from the levee between my house and the Red River years ago) is that it is some type of adder. My dog at the time got between me and the snake but as I recall it looked a lot like yours but then I am not well versed on snakes and I don't stick around to check them out real close either.

Penny
Niagara Falls, NY
USDA zone 6a/6b
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39

I think Bud has it, an Eastern Garter Snake(Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis) ...And thanks Bud for your quick reply, this was driving me nuts last night when I saw it, so different from the ones I see over here!

http://tinyurl.com/dhloqh

Ruth
Everett, WA
Zone 8

Yikes,Bob,
I have to hand it to you for taking a picture of that snake.I would have been running for the hills!!

Fran

Cool, now I know what a garter snake looks like. I've always been preoccupied with vipers and exotics, so I have zilch for experience with the likes of cornsnakes and garters, etc.

Now had it been a morelia viridis (Chondropython)..I could tell you what island in the Indonesian chain it was from..LOL!!!

Maryjane
W Ga
Zone 8a

Yikes I hate snakes. We had so many when we moved here. I dont see that many anymore

Garter snake Thamnophis sirtalis it is

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Cheers,Bob
USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 6a
Lexington,Ky.
It's Spring!