Interesting Night Last Night

[SloppyShooter]

Speckled king snake eating what looks like a rat snake? 100% sure it's not a copperhead.

ETA:
Speckled King Snake eating a Western Rat Snake. both non-venomous

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Yep. I donated a full grown Speckled King to the Nature Center that I found on the side of my house and they made a display specimen out of it.

And, of course , I have a Texas ratsnake, ( I call her a Texas because that's what they called them when I caught it) AKA Western ratsnake as a pet.

 

[BRD@66]

I don't think that I've ever seen a Kingsnake - & very few Copperheads (I'ma West Tx boy).

 

[rman]

yep, think we had this discussion. The animal people said "**** it" one day and lumped a bunch of rat snakes together a few years ago. Texas rat snake used to be different.

Yep. I donated a full grown Speckled King to the Nature Center that I found on the side of my house and they made a display specimen out of it.

And, of course , I have a Texas ratsnake, ( I call her a Texas because that's what they called them when I caught it) AKA Western ratsnake as a pet.

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[SloppyShooter]

yep, think we had this discussion. The animal people said "**** it" one day and lumped a bunch of rat snakes together a few years ago. Texas rat snake used to be different.

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Not exactly a discussion, but you did set me straight on the proper nomenclature. I am pretty knowledgeable about reptiles, but that was news to me.

Thanks.

Are you sure it was animal people and not Democrats???

 

[rman]

Not exactly a discussion, but you did set me straight on the proper nomenclature. I am pretty knowledgeable about reptiles, but that was news to me.

Thanks.

Are you sure it was animal people and not Democrats???

lol no the dems wanted 38 species of Texas ratsnake

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[kenboyles72]

Yeah, after looking at my photo a bit more, not a copperhead. More likely to be a glossy snake.

 

[rl96ss]

Pretty cool to see anything eat something its own size.

 

[skfullgun]

Is this a copperhead? Killed it in the yard.

 

[Lunyfringe]

Is this a copperhead? Killed it in the yard. View attachment 148685

Yes, that's a copperhead... you can see the "hersey kiss" pattern- it's a bit odd that every other one in the pattern is smaller, but still the right pattern.

 

[busykngt]

That’s what I look for too (& the more triangular shape of the head - as opposed to oval shape). As a juvenile they have a bright yellow ‘flash’ on their tail (still venomous at a young age). That one doesn’t seem to have the flash completely faded..... which, of course, leads to the question: where’s the mother?

 

[avvidclif]

The other thing is the tail. A rat snake has a pointed tail and a copperhead a blunt tail. I saw that in the original picture but wasn't sure about the markings.

 

[SloppyShooter]

That’s what I look for too (& the more triangular shape of the head - as opposed to oval shape). As a juvenile they have a bright yellow ‘flash’ on their tail (still venomous at a young age). That one doesn’t seem to have the flash completely faded..... which, of course, leads to the question: where’s the mother?

Yep, unless it has the red and yellow rings, or recently escaped from captivity, the easiest way to determine venomous vs. non venomous is that triangular pit viper head. Many non venomous snakes try to imitate venomous snakes, which, may help them with a lot of predators ......but not Hugh mans. Homey don't play that!

It's unfortunate, and it's almost never mistaking venomous for non-venomous, but whatcha gonna do? But the head is key.

 

[SloppyShooter]

That’s.. which, of course, leads to the question: where’s the mother?

Exactly my question many times when brats are running willy nilly in Wal-Mart .

 

[Grundy1133]

I love it when I see members I recognize from other forums.

 

[Saltyag2010]

Man that’s cool. I’ve never seen a snake eat except for pet pythons.

Thanks for sharing

 

[BRD@66]

I knew it was a Cu head but I would have been hard pressed to explain why.
Thanks for the Hersey Kiss info.