What kind of snake am I?

[Bridget399]

That looks an awful lot like the black rat snakes we have near our house (and we're from the same area). They are pretty harmless (I've never had one in my coop) and can be helpful. However, these snakes were found all through my house when we moved in and we had problems with them for years after that. I don't care if they're outside, but when their in my house, I go on the defense! We had to spray every nook and cranie with expanding foam and did the coop just to be sure. Ever since we did that, we've had no snakes at all! If your not afraid, like i said they can be helpful (eating other snakes and mice), but if your squeemish, the black rat snake can get pretty huge... Good Luck!

 

[pongoid]

With those red marking on the side it looks like a very dark phase corn snake.
I have kept a lot of snakes but usually from other countries not native ones.

Where I live we have blue/green racers, rattlesnakes, milksnakes and bullsnakes.

 

[Joker69377]

Put mothballs around the outside of your coop. You will have to replace them after rain, but it should keep the snakes away. SnakeAway products are just mothball crystals.

 

[Joker69377]

Put mothballs around the outside of your coop. You will have to replace them after rain, but it should keep the snakes away. SnakeAway products are just mothball crystals.

 

[NitaAZ]

Just today we saw a 5 foot gopher snake on our property. Everybody went out and oohed and aahed over him, then left him to go on his way. He'll do a great job of catching mice and rats for us!

 

[sgtmom52]

Quote:
That is our feeling about the snakes ~ they were here first and we invaded their space. We will not kill them and know they keep the rodents and bugs under control. If they get an egg occasionally I consider it their payment for a job well done. The only concern is if it would have been a Copperhead, we would have relocated it to another area of our property due to safety concerns for us and our dogs. It was right where we are going to build the new coop.

 

[lleighmay]

Looks like a Northern Water Snake to me. Much prefers to eat fish, frogs, etc. Definitely non-poisonous though they can be kind of ill-tempered during breeding season.

 

[sgtmom52]

Quote:
Thanks ~ that was our final opinion too. We just gave it a nudge and sent it on it's way, back toward the stream as we needed to work in the area. We prefer to co-exist as much as possible with the local wildlife and enjoy seeing them around.

 

[aprophet]

Quote:
another name for them down here in Va. is red bellied moccasin it gets them killed a lot down this way be cause of how they are in breeding season

 

[jancar26]

The snake looks like what we here in WV call a black snake. Two days ago I found one around 10 from my coop in a cherry tree we cut down. By the way I do believe he is eatting my eggs also, there wasn't a problem until around a month ago. I threw the snake over the fence and the egg stealing stopped. Well now there are missing eggs again. I was told by the locals that if there is one there is two. Now I just need to find a way to stop him from getting the eggs.