I'm driving over to a re-inspection this morning and see what looks to be a long dark rope along the side of the highway. As I get closer I can see it moving and immediately know it's a snake, a large, unhappy one at that.

I lockup the brakes and get pulled over. I jump out and think it doesn't look like the venomous type, so I go ahead pick him up like Steve Irwin always did. Different from Steve, I hate snakes with a passion but didn't want to see the thing all over the road in a bloody mess.

Just as I got him off the ground this black woman drives up and stops and screams "Put that down you crazy bastard!!"

I figure I'll just drive down the road aways and find a nice grassy clearing. So I jump into my truck and that's when things got interesting to say the least! So I'm now holding the snake head in one hand and trying to shift, signal, and steer while the rest of this little monster is using his 5ft body to give me a beating of reptilian ass-kickin.

Finally I get pulled over and let him loose, he was kind enough to pose for a few pictures before slipping away.

BTW can anyone tell what kind of snake it is? Thought it might be a rat snake.

Attached Images

	IMG00009.jpg (72.7 KB, 110 views)
	IMG00008.jpg (73.7 KB, 91 views)

__________________
Rick Hurst_Home Works Inspection Co_Rockwall TX
In the words of Mike Tyson.... "Everyone has a plan until they get hit inda mouf"

Rick, I tend to agree with the passerby
I don't identify snakes beyone dead or alive.
edit test

__________________
Jim Luttrall
Mr. Inspector.net, Inc.
Allen, Texas 75002

Rick, you're #$*&in' nuts! I also agree with passer-by lady.

Crikey!

__________________
"Baseball is like church. Many attend but few understand." Leo Durocher
Bruce Breedlove
www.avaloninspection.com

From the markings and the area where it was found, I would guess it is a King Snake, but I wouldn't guarantee it. Your color looks way off. They are pretty harmless. If it is a King, they are constrictors that feed on their more venomous kin as well as rodents.

Rick,

All I can say is "WTF!!!!!!"

I'm an animal lover but...please.

That is an African Black Momba and if it hads bit you, you would have been dead before you could say oh sh....

Just kidding, there are only two kinds of snakes. Ones that are alive and ones that are dead.

__________________
Tim Moreira
Suncoast Home Inspections
Suncoasthomeinspections@yahoo.com

I had a conversation once with a herpetologist that told me the following:
Due to loss of habitat, snakes have been "balling" together over the winter and interbreeding. Even a harmless snake may develop poisonous characteristics.

I had the chance to observe this first hand one day. Just like you, I was driving down the road when I saw a 6' long ribbon lying across the road.
I stopped, got out, and the snake "coiled" up on the shoulder of the road.

From all appearances it was a Black snake, which is harmless. However, after coiling up, It started shaking its tail as if it had rattles. A long stick placed by its head caused it to strike. This thing had 1 1/2" fangs.

Crossbreed..........

Even non poisonous snakes might give you tetanus if they bite.

Victor,

Ya think it may have been a water moccasin? Very common in my area. They are poisonous and very aggressive when toyed with.

__________________
Tim Moreira
Suncoast Home Inspections
Suncoasthomeinspections@yahoo.com

No..... Not a moccasin...... This was up in North East Penn. Let me add this.

The guy in the truck with me was an old ridge runner.

After the snakes first strike, he told me to distract the snake from the front while he went around behind it.

The next strike, the snake extended out and he grabbed it by the tail and "Whipped" it. He did that about 5 times and killed the thing. Then he propped open the jaws to check out the fangs.

wound up burying the thing in a cinder pile. Something about snakes coming back to life if not properly buried.

Indians folklore says that a snake has to be buried before sundown or they come back to life before the next morning.

__________________
Rick Hurst_Home Works Inspection Co_Rockwall TX
In the words of Mike Tyson.... "Everyone has a plan until they get hit inda mouf"

Growing up on a farm we used to hang dead snakes on a fence to make it rain.

(OK. I only tried it once and it didn't work.)

__________________
"Baseball is like church. Many attend but few understand." Leo Durocher
Bruce Breedlove
www.avaloninspection.com

"Even non poisonous snakes will give you tetanus if they bite."

Say What??????

From the snake bite becoming infected.

More people receive complications from non-poisonous snake bites than from poisonous snake bites (so I've often read). This is because bit from a poisonous snake demands immediate medical attention and most people think 'Oh, that's a non-poisonous snake, that bite is not a problem.', and then it gets infected and turns into (many times) serious complications, including death (based on what I've read over the years).

Like stepping on a rusty nail and thinking 'That just broke the skin, no real problem.' It usually is not, IF your tetanus shot is up to date.

__________________
Jerry Peck, Construction / Litigation Consultant
Construction Litigation Consultants, LLC ( www.ConstructionLitigationConsultants.com )

Rick,
Would you say that your boy pretty much looked like this one?

http://www.austinreptileservice.net/image/texasrat6.jpg

It's a rat snake. Well, it was yesterday. By next week, it was a 12 foot python.

I don't mess with any of them. It's a learning disability problem. I can never remember any of those sayings...... "Red on yellow kills a fellow" or is it "yellow on red, yuo're still dead?" See what I mean? I say "spring or fall, kill 'em all."

__________________
The only reason some people get lost in thought is because it's unfamiliar territory.
- Paul Fix

Or pythons versus alligators.

Alligator Vs. Python Round 2 Video

__________________
Jerry Peck, Construction / Litigation Consultant
Construction Litigation Consultants, LLC ( www.ConstructionLitigationConsultants.com )

How about this little feller.

Seems an Aussie rancher kept having some sheep coming up missing and thought he'd put up an electric fence.

Poor little guy had his belly so full that he got stuck under the wire. Frustrated he thought he'd just take it out on the wire. Bad idea.

Attached Images

big-ass-snake.jpg (104.8 KB, 57 views)

__________________
Rick Hurst_Home Works Inspection Co_Rockwall TX
In the words of Mike Tyson.... "Everyone has a plan until they get hit inda mouf"

As a young lil-ole fuc+er, I got bit by a rattle-snake and danm near died. Turned out the fricken snake died instead.

True story...


You crazy bastard! That was a rat snake. They DO carry a nasty bite that will make you sick because of what they eat (can you say plague?).

Rich

Jerry,
I understand that is it a "possibility" with a wound. It was the "WILL" that threw me.

The way I read it, it sounded like if a snake bites you, you WILL get tetanus.
JF

Dear Jack;
I sensed some discomfort on your part with my erroneous use of the word "will" (as in..... "Even non poisonous snakes will give you tetanus if they bite" )
Therefore, I am apologizing to you for the possible misconception I created by the improper verbiage contained in that sentence.
You will note that I have gone back to the post and corrected that linguistic oversight so that it more readily conveys factual reality.

That being said can you explain for me what you meant by....
" I understand that is it a "possibility"

What is the meaning of the word "is"