For those of you out there that hate King snakes (black snakes)

[StrawberryHouseMouse]

This snake you posted a photo of is acctually a hognose snake.

 

[ivan3]

StrawberryHouseMouse wrote: This snake you posted a photo of is acctually a hognose snake

I'm ID'ing from the `spearpoint' marking on head. The guy was `spaded out' in a threat display.​

 

[Thamnophis]

Wow, your so lucky to have so many great snakes where you live. The speckled king snake may just be shedding?

As someone said, that is a young eastern hog nose snake. The others are indeed: rough green snake (much thinner than a smooth green snake), a black rat snake and a prairie king snake.

Grey rat snakes essentially keep their pattern through adulthood.

 

[StrawberryHouseMouse]

Quote:
I'm ID'ing from the `spearpoint' marking on head. The guy was `spaded out' in a threat display.

Understandable but there is more things to look at on a snake to properly identify it. Here's a link that will give you some info on eastern hognose snakes (what that snake in the photo is you posted earlier).

http://www.texassnakes.net/Hognose.html

 

[junglebean]

We had a kingsnake for years and never saw a rodent. Then my neighbor purposely ran it over while it was sunning on her driveway. We had a huge rodent problem after that, and then the same stupid neighbor put out poison, which the rodents ate, and then it killed all of the owls in the neighborhood! If she would have just let the snake be....

 

[ivan3]

StrawberryHouseMouse wrote: Understandable but there is more things to look at on a snake to properly identify it

I've pretty much relied on the Missouri data (frequency of observed species by county) and emailing off shots of unknowns for ID... (still want someone to post up a shot of a `skinny' grey phase Black Rat for comparison, as ours are pretty much fat and black by the time they're that long). Check this collector's 2005 Black rat shot (this is what ours look like - though a shade lighter with more red): http://www.thies-times.com/serpentryan/homepage.html

Here is another shot of the Hognose (only about 11" in length) and a shot from a breeder's site of an adult GPR. Nice call.

FROM: http://www.lonesomevalleyreptiles.com/cornsnake.htm


Another gratutitous `threat' display.

And another argument for hardware cloth and turkey hens (sure, Northern Water getting ambitious down by pond - pullets were not allowed to free range there- but one should get the idea)

We keep brush piles built up and don't turn older compost piles until well into April (after snakes start hatching - chickens are observed feasting). Not so hot on the taxonomy, but no slouch on proliferation.

Like having them around as mammalian vermin is more of a problem than anything reptilian (if they were, I'd have some nice hat bands).

Thanks for info. everyone!​