Harmless, Black Snake?

Rascal

Saw this today in FL.

Capt Frank

Harmless

Capt Frank
Homosassa, FL

BigA

OHHH YUCK!!!

Gator Bait

 
Hi Rascal,

That is a Black Racer, not only harmless but great at keeping the number of vermin down. They are very shy and get the name Racer honestly. They are FAST! They are common here in Florida. They do not like to be handled (if you can catch one) and will bite, doing very little damage. I'm always sorry to see a dead snake. It is a great waste.

Gator

 

Rascal

Interesting name.. Unfortunately it wasn't fast enough this time. I'm no lover of snakes but I wouldn't kill one (unless it was poisonous and too close for comfort). Ocassionally, I'll encounter a Black Indigo (or 2) and while they'll scare the bejesus out of me, I find them both beautiful and fascinating! Thanks!

Gator Bait

 
Here's one I photographed a few years ago at Corkscrew Swamp . . .




I tried to photograph another one a few weeks ago but he saw me coming from 10-15 feet away and he was gone!

The Black Racer is our only snake that is solid black on top and solid white underneath.

Gator

 

fishlessman

ate some rattler a few years back, im betting the black racer would be too boney but with some work it would make a nice sandwich

SSN686

Morning Rascal:

Very common in Florida...looks a lot like the one outside our dining room (see the head near the bottom)...

Gator Bait

No need to fear snakes, they are the ones that are scared. Even poisonous ones will run if given a chance, well most of them. LOL.

I agree the Indigo snake is a thing of beauty. They are scarce and protected by state law! They are a very docile snake, I have handled a few and never been bitten, which is a good thing as they get BIG! I would do almost anything to be able to photograph one close up.

Gator

 

Gator Bait

 
That's a very cool photo Jay, you can just imagine him coming toward you. To bad the screen was there.

Gator

 

Rascal

Great shot!!

Rascal

8 - )

AZRP

I picked one up to show it to some kids and it bit me in the arm, must have hit a vein because the blood just poured out of the wound. After washing it off I couldn't even tell where the bite was. -RP

FlaMike

Don't know if this one's a black racer, couldn't get close enough. I didn't want to scare the bird away. I think the bird's a wood stork, but I could be wrong. It took about 3-4 tries before the snake finally went all the way down, about 15-20 min in all. That snake must have been biting and wiggling inside for quite some time. Hell of a way to get a meal.

FlaPoolman

Must be something in the air Rascal. After reading your post I went out back and the dogs got a small king snake,, never sure if it's a king or coral because I can never remember that red, black yellow rhyme This fellow was hanging around for a few weeks before the dog caught him.

this was this morning about 1/2 hour ago

YB

This is one we have here and they are not harmless LOL.

Larry

Rusty Rooster

Red touch yellow, kill a fellow,
Red touch black, friend of Jack.
That was not a scarlet king snake.

fishlessman

red touches yellow your a dead fellow

FlaPoolman

Thanks Tom,,, just went out back again and found the top 6" and head,, the dogs hid it and were trying to eat it :ohmy:

FlaPoolman

dang it fish,, now I'm confused again which isn't hard to do :P but the dogs are still alive

Rascal

Kinda looks a bit like the one I see on occasion..

FlaMike

Magnificant creatures!

Nature Boy

You gots it baxwords/ Potentially fatally baxwords ;-)

Red touches black, friend of Jack
Red touches Yellow, kill a fellow.

Beers
Chris

FlaPoolman

I still have the body (body?) red touches yellow and black touches yellow but red does not touch black. Maybe I can repaint it? but the dogs did not get sick.

Rusty Rooster

You are correct, looks like I got dislexic when I typed it. I have edited it. That was the bad guy & not the scarlet king snake. Sorry for the DANGEROUS typo.
Tom

Gator Bait

 
Glad the dogs are OK Pat, Coral Snakes are best left alone by man or beast. They are shy, non-aggressive animals with short fangs but a bite to the wrong place could be tragic. On a dog probably the inside of the mouth, eye or end of nose could be bad news. I have the Florida Scarlet Snakes around here but they are very hard to find.

Gator

 

Misippi Egger

The little rhyme is always hard to remember. A herpetologist friend once told me to remember a traffic light - yellow, then red = danger / STOP!

If that helps any.

The article Gator posted says dogs and cats are rarely envenomated - good to know.

FlaPoolman

So it was a coral snake. Guess me and the dogs were lucky. I've been watching him around the yard for a few weeks thinking it was a king snake :ohmy:
Thanks Gator

eagin

I just killed a rat snake that got stuck in the bird netting we have over our blackberries... briefly crossed my mind to try tossing him on the Egg and see what it tasted like, but decided my wife wouldn't go for that... fortunately we don't get too many of them around here.

Gator Bait

 
Another clue to the Coral Snake that I have heard but not proved personally is that they always have a black nose. That is to say they always start the color pattern with black. If you look at enough photos of them they all have their characteristics and get easier to tell apart. I am surprised that you have been able to watch him for a few weeks, they are usually very shy, minding their own business covered in leaf litter somewhere.

Gator

Gator Bait

 
Hey Clark

Yes, the articles says "dogs and cats are rarely envenomated" but I don't think people are either. I think you would have to be pretty careless or just plain unlucky to be envenomated by one. I have always heard that the Coral Snake is the only North American relative to the cobras and that the venom is a nasty neurotoxin.

Here's another page on them.

Gator