American Snakes

**Inchessi** · 10th March 10, 04:13 PM

There is one Rattlesnake that I have not encountered, that I did not see on your list.

Massasauga Rattlesnake

http://herpcenter.ipfw.edu/index.htm...ke/index.htm&2

I do a lot of hiking, and I incorporated Geocache(sp) as well. While working as a fish biologist on the Great lakes, I went in search of one cache. while crawling under a large root wad, it dawned on me that the area I was in was set aside specifically for protection of the endangered Massasauga Rattlesnake.

While serving in the Marines, a good friend of mine woke to what he swears was a thirty foot rattlesnake. It was sadly, quite comical. The Marine in Question was the darkest man I know. I heard a blood curdling scream and sprang up to investigate. I saw him as white as I, and I did not see him touch the ground in the half second it took him to cover one hundred yards. I may be exaggerating about the color, I am pretty pale.

He got up to put on his socks, saw that poor defenseless snake and took off. It really was a large snake, I didn't feel compelled to play with it and see how big it really was.

**Pleater** · 11th March 10, 04:21 PM

Over here we only have the adder, Vipera berus, a not all that poisonous venemous snake.

People who are bitten seem to have trapped one either by accident or intentionally. Most people don't seem to be able to identify an adder, nor differentiate it from the grass snake, Natrix natrix, nor the slow worm, Anguis fragilis, which isn't even a snake.

I think that having a fairly boring reptilia class in the local fauna is all to the good.

Anne the Pleater :ootd:

**Tartan Hiker** · 11th March 10, 08:19 PM

Crotalus horridus, Buncombe County, NC.

Close-up of the same individual.

My M.S. in Zoology was earned at Louisiana State University. I spent 5 years there studying water snakes in the coastal region from Texas to Florida. Needless to say I have a ton of snake stories, and have lost a lot of blood to ill-tempered Nerodia species.

**HarborSpringsPiper** · 11th March 10, 10:57 PM

Originally Posted by Dixiecat

Now, the Massasauga rattlesnake on the other hand:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sistrurus_catenatus

This is the only venomous snake in Michigan, where it is known as the Michigan rattler, and in Ontario.

Yes, this is the only venomous snake we have in the State of Michigan and I for one and quite happy about that. Possibly could kill your dog, might make a child quite sick but unlikely to be lethal to adults.

It's a good thing to be on top of the food chain!

**Woodsman** · 13th March 10, 07:12 AM

Originally Posted by Tartan Hiker

My M.S. in Zoology was earned at Louisiana State University. I spent 5 years there studying water snakes in the coastal region from Texas to Florida. Needless to say I have a ton of snake stories, and have lost a lot of blood to ill-tempered Nerodia species.

I have a copy of "The Amphibians and Reptiles of Louisiana" by Harold A. Dundee and Douglas A. Rossman. I encounterd a beautiful specimen of Lampropeltis getulus in Baton Rouge.

**Tartan Hiker** · 14th March 10, 09:34 PM

Rossman was my major prof., and still a good friend.

**Bigkahuna** · 15th March 10, 09:59 AM

A number of years ago, when "JAWS" first came out, I had the pleasure of seeing it in a quaint little Northeastern USA fishing village called Provincetown, Mass. A day or two after seeing this movie, I was snorkeling around Provincetown Harbor catching crabs. This would entail my swimming along until I spotted a crab on the bottom, then I would dive down and scoop it up with a small net and bring it up to the small inflatable raft that I had with me. I was in about 30 feet of water, swimming along the bottom, when a large shadow passed over me. DumDum, DumDum, DumDum, Dumdum, was the very first thing that entered my mind as I had been on fishing trips and frequently caught large sharks just offshore. I froze and tried to become one with the sandy bottom. As the shadow passed over me, I glanced up, only to see the raft floating over my head. I was about 20 years old then and have dived many times since around sharks without incident. Those times though I made sure I had a bigger boat!

**MacLowlife** · 15th March 10, 10:39 AM

I have heard that the Opossum is a great enemy of copperheads. I live on nearly two acres in an established suburban area, but close to several patches of woods and swamp. (This means there are deer within a half mile or so of me, but not in my yard or block.) My belief is that black snakes keep down the rat population. Unfortunately, most of the snakes I see are dead. I try to provide them with a little cover.

Pythons, among other non-native species, are thriving in the everglades.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2009/09/2...verglades.html