Snake identification help!

[kimberleyX]

Hi all!

My name is kimberley and I am from Australia.

My sister in law is American and lives in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. They found a baby snake in their pool yesterday and decided to come to me to help identify it...because i am Australian and they assume I would be like Steve Irwin lol! I am not familiar with snakes from the US so i thought i would see if anybody here could help identify it.

Sadly, her husband decided to chop it's head off (i'm not happy about that at all!) so I am not sure what it's head looks like but hopefully this pic will be enough to help identify it.

Thanks everybody!!

Kimberley

[RedSidedSPR]

Banded Water Snake.

[BLUESIRTALIS]

100% sure it's a banded water snake which is harmless.

[RedSidedSPR]

...yet they chopped the poor guys head off..

[guidofatherof5]

Crud, another innocent snake killed.:mad:

[RedSidedSPR]

I know. Little harmless baby water snake.

[BUSHSNAKE]

im sure they get mistaking for cottonmouths...very unfortunate...surprisingly both species are still fairly common

[kimberleyX]

Oh no :( I understand your disappointment....I feel the same way. It is illegal to kill any snake in Australia regardless of if it is venomous or not. We have to call the wildlife people and they will come and get it and release it elsewhere so to hear my brother in law just thoughtlessly killed it was a huge let down :( I wonder how many poor snakes have that fate every year?

Thanks so much guys...I will continue to try and educate my in laws on conservation and respect of animals, reptiles etc ( this isn't the first time their respect for animals has been questioned by me, unfortunately!

Thanks again .

[katach]

That's very sad :( Poor little snake.

[guidofatherof5]

im sure they get mistaking for cottonmouths...very unfortunate...surprisingly both species are still fairly common

Kind of like the Plains Garters (T.radix) around my town. Killed on sight by so many but yet the thrive.

[RedSidedSPR]

And like every single freaking snake, no matter size or species, around here.

[d_virginiana]

I've seriously seen someone look at a green snake and go "OMG it's a copperhead!" before.

I can stomach people killing venomous snakes when they start hanging out around their house, but I hate it when they just kill snakes because they're snakes.

[RedSidedSPR]

I was at a friends house a few years ago, and he said: we just found bunch of garter snakes! (yes, they knew they were garters) I said awesome, are they still there? And he's like: sure! Four headless snakes.

I hate people like that.

[d_virginiana]

That's terrible.. I mean, it's just cruel to kill anything when there's no reason for it.

[RedSidedSPR]

I know. I asked why they killed them, he said "it's a snake"!!!

Another friend saw this little baby rat snake. Their favorite saying is "only good snake is a dead snake". Bye-bye harmless, good-to-have, innocent, baby rat snake.

[snakehill]

These people are your friends??! :rolleyes:

[RedSidedSPR]

WERE.:D
(kidding)

i don't have FRIEND friends, by "friends" i meant people i know.:p

[Didymus20X6]

Maybe that's why you have difficulty finding wild snakes in your neighborhood.

[RedSidedSPR]

These two guys are in VA.

I'm not in a neighborhood. I'm near one, but i'm surrounded by woods, and i herp at a creek 200 yards from the house. No houses there.

I find more snakes at my house surrounded by neighborhoods, than i do at a creek with no human life.

[guidofatherof5]

We provide better living(better hides,heat,cooler temps,water) for them in some cases and offer some degree of protection from predators.
If they live near us, some of their predators might stay away.
Of course, there is a trade off if we(humans) become a predator to them.
Just a thought.

[sauceman]

The snakes of the Nerodia genus have the misfortune of looking a lot like Agkistrodon (Cottonmouth and Copperhead), at least to those who are not reptile enthusiasts. Their coloration, relatively stout body, and tendency to flatten their head all lead people to think that they are venomous and kill them on sight.

As BUSHSNAKE mentioned, Nerodia are still one of the most prevalent snakes in much of their range so they seem to handle this well as a species. Here in Northern California, Nerodia are not indigenous but we have some invasive populations that are extremely successful and will likely be a permanent part of our environment from here on out. Eradication efforts have proven futile.

Of course, all of this doesn't do anything to make the snake pictured here feel better. ;-)

[Didymus20X6]

http://i54.tinypic.com/2n6uhph.jpg

[guidofatherof5]

That is AWESOME.

Welcome to the Collective:D

[RedSidedSPR]

That IS AWESOME!!!

[Didymus20X6]

Satisfactory. Your appreciation is noted and accepted.

[katach]

That is way cool!