Found a garter snake being attacked by cat, Laceration to lower tail (2" from tail)

[kq702]

Hi, I live in MA. and I was driving and I saw a cat in the middle of the road, as I passed the area the cat backed up (scared of my car) and I noticed a garder snake in the middle of the road trying to make its way to the grass on the other side. I saw in my rear view mirror soon as I pulled away, the cat went back to the snake and was trying to scratch / bite it. I turned my car around and drove by again but could not stop because the snake was on the other side of the road, so I passed it and then made a 3 point turn and by that time the snake had crossed the road fully, but was still getting hammered by the cat. So as I pulled up this time I got out of the car and grabbed the snake and brought it back to work with me, where he is right now.

When I picked him up he was very still, I thought I was too late, as he did not even try to escape me picking him up on the side of the road. But when I originally picked him up and I thought I saw some blood near the lower part of his tail, but I did not have time to look at the wounds in detail, I had to keep driving. So I held him till I got back to work. Now I don’t see any blood at all on him, and he is very active. When I opened the container to take a pic he slid right out and tried to slide off the desk but I caught him in time. But when I look close I can see what appears to be a small stab wound in his scales, by the tail area (I would guess aprox. 2 inches from the tip of the tail). When he slithers around an object and you look at the scales from an angle, you can see the wound but is showing but not bleeding.

So it looks like I may have rescued him just in time before he got a more serious wound, but I hope the wound he does have is not to serious. So my question is what should I do now? He appears to be fine, but he clearly went through a bit of trauma with that cat. Should I keep him for a few days just to make sure the wound heals a bit? Should I apply any ointment to the wound, such as Neosporin?

See the photos below for more info.




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[Stefan-A]

Either I completely misunderstood, or that's the cloaca.

[guidofatherof5]

My first impression was it the cloaca/vent not an injury. The blood you may have seen was the snake straining to musk and warn off the cat and you.
Releasing it back in the same spot you took it from would be best.
Thank you for defending the snake. Cats kill many snakes.

[chris-uk]

I think we're looking at the cloaca, but has the belly scale been ripped off as well? It seems to be a scale width gap, else the cloaca is just wide open and about to deliver some musk.

[jwolfe152]

i dont know about you guys but everytime i picked one up and it musked me, the cloaca looked like an anus preyyt much but i dont know what it looks like closed

[paulh]

The opening in the pictures is the vent. The cloaca is the chamber that a reptile's intestine, urinary system, and reproductive system open into. The vent is the opening that the contents of the cloaca pass through to exit the body. The anal scale is the big scale that covers and protects the vent from damage. IMO, that snake is about to musk or poop or both.

I'm with Guido. I think the snake can be released back where it came from. Though not in the middle of the road.