Banded Water Snake Or Something Else?

[skeeter]

The worst snake bite I've ever had, thankfully no poisonous ones, was a black rat snake that I found in late February along the river after a period of high water. I suspect it had gotten flooded out of its wintering den. It was so sluggish in the 45 degree temperature that when it would stick its tongue out as snakes do, the tongue would just hang there for a few seconds before it got the energy to bring it back in. Being a kid, I began to tease the snake, which was a good five feet long, trying to get it to open its mouth. I poked it with a stick in the face but nothing happened, so I poked it again with my finger, right on its nose. It somehow got the energy to instantly snap down on my finger, and then it wouldn't let go. Those little teeth are curved backwards, and you can't pull your finger out of one's mouth once it has you. The blood was starting to run. I tried to pry its mouth open with a stick, but couldn't. Finally, mercifully, the snake let go.

I'd just as soon not get bit by another snake that size!

With those rearward facing teeth in a constrictor's mouth, you'd think that once they start swallowing some prey it's a one way trip right down the old gullet.

Apparently, Mother Nature has provided the snake with some kind of safety valve or reverse gear because we just encountered a 7 foot black snake on our property that was trying to swallow a squirrel. The big old snake got the squirrel down to about the shoulders and then must have decided it bit off more than it could handle and that's when we spotted it sort of slowly thrashing about and actually disgorging the squirrel carcass. In the short period of time the snake was attempting to swallow the squirrel,the snake's digestive juices had already begun working on the squirrel's head. Don't know how that snake could reverse it's attempted ingestion of the squirrel but it managed to do just that but did not look too happy or healthy afterwards as it crawled off into the Ivy bed.

[Feathers and Fins]

Skeeter; its called regurge and no smell on earth is as unmistakable as it! Odd for a wild snake to do it unless its not healthy or the prey item had something on it that was not palatable. The worse of it is when a big constrictor kicks back a piglet. Breeding snakes is a stinky job some days lol.

[skeeter]

Skeeter; its called regurge and no smell on earth is as unmistakable as it! Odd for a wild snake to do it unless its not healthy or the prey item had something on it that was not palatable. The worse of it is when a big constrictor kicks back a piglet. Breeding snakes is a stinky job some days lol.

Thanks for the reply. Had no idea that constrictors of any species could manage that with those angled teeth. Guess we were watching from upwind...thankfully [grin] ! My only guesstimate is that the tree squirrel was just too large to swallow but I'm certainly no expert.

We go out of our way to protect Black and King snakes on and around our place as they seem to keep the Copperheads down and the darn burrowing Ground Squirrels from overpopulating. This big old guy or gal was easily a very thick seven footer and one of the biggest I've ever seen close up.

[Feathers and Fins]

Snakes in general are very fascinating to watch. There was several of us on a turtle survey that watched a big Eastern Diamondback tag a rabbit we watched it run off over 300 yards and die the snake tracked it down with no problem at all. Other research has been done on Mambas that show their problem solving abilities as well as how trainable they are. And the the medical applications for venom is mind blowing.

[Kelroy]

Nice Northern, most likely a female. They have irregular orange markings on their belly, closer to the tail. I've seen the Southern variety down in the bootheel, and their belly is bright yellow like a banana.

A cautionary note on photographing cottonmouths, copperheads, and other pit vipers. A few years back I was measuring a small creek in downtown Springfield, when I happened upon one of the biggest cottonmouths I had ever seen. It was coiled up on a flat rock, and I thought it would make an excellent photo for helping my coworkers identify a 'real' cottonmouth vs the common Northern. I took out my digital camera, and from about five feet away, framed up a fabulous shot. As i pressed the shutter button, the thing went berserk, striking wildly in my direction 3 or 4 times, and heading right for me! Then it turned and dove in, and swam across the bottom, moving faster than any snake I've ever seen. The picture I got was a blurry shot of the snake in mid-strike, jaws wide and fangs out.

As it turns out, auto-focus cameras shine infrared light on the target to measure the range and adjust focus. Those sensory pits near the snake's nostrils are heat-sensing organs, and are especially sensitive to infrared frequencies, as I found out. Poor thing was 'blinded' by the auto-focus,and reacted instinctively. So, nature buffs, just keep this in mind next time you are trying to frame up that perfect shot. Zoom in from a distance first. ~K

[Greasy B]

As a red blooded American male I too am fascinated by snakes though I admit I don't have much knowledge about them. Hands down the snakiest place I have ever been is Reelfoot lake. There have been occasions where everywhere you looked you seen a snake. In the course of a days fishing many dozen, maybe a hundred. A fasinating place for that reason as well as the amazing fishing.

[Wayne SW/MO]

As it turns out, auto-focus cameras shine infrared light on the target to measure the range and adjust focus. Those sensory pits near the snake's nostrils are heat-sensing organs, and are especially sensitive to infrared frequencies, as I found out. Poor thing was 'blinded' by the auto-focus,and reacted instinctively. So, nature buffs, just keep this in mind next time you are trying to frame up that perfect shot. Zoom in from a distance first. ~K

Wow, that is interesting.

I don't know if any old timers on here remember Roaring River way back, but there was a stretch of stream that was still wild below the bridge that ran to the paddle boat lake. I don't know how long it was but those of you familiar with the old dam base can probably imagine. That stretch had the biggest population of water moccasins I've ever seen. They were thick in there.

[mic]

My problem is when I get in the Ozarks, I can't tell one from another so I'm scared of them all.

[Feathers and Fins]

Men and snakes !!!! average snake bite age is 18 to 24 and surprise but alcohol is usually involved. Best patients are not people with both medical and herpetological knowledge those two groups especially combined are worse.

[Wayne SW/MO]

My problem is when I get in the Ozarks, I can't tell one from another so I'm scared of them all.

They virtually always take a defensive stance and their options for engagement are short. There's really no reason to fear a snake you can see.