Help! I found a snake! What should I do?

[Green Bean]

I moved a big log today, and underneath I found a snake. A big scary venomous snake with fangs and...Okay, it was just a little snake.

I was able to scoop it into a 5-gallon bucket. I threw in some dry leaves and grass, and covered it with some mesh screen. I hope that's okay for a temporary home.

First of all, I would like to identify this snake. It has really cool markings on it. I doubt it's poisonous or anything, but I would like to know. Are there any good online sources

Second, what should I do with it?

Releasing it into the garden is probably not the best option, unless I am sure it is harmless. I came across another snake earlier in the year, and it slithered away into the ground cover. I know it's lurking there, just waiting to jump out at me! Well, maybe not, but it kind of creeps me out to know there is probably a snake around. I could easily release it elsewhere, but I'd like to know what kind of environment it will like.

Thanks in advance!

[lieu]

Are you familiar with the head structure of a pit viper? You're sure it's not one of them?

How about a coral snake? It's not a viper and needs to chew to inject it's poison but it's neorotoxin is equally troubling. Please make sure it doesn't fall into either category before getting in close proximity to it again.

Can you describe (from a safe distance) the snake for us?

[Bruce_Daddy]

There are always two, a master and an apprentice.

[lieu]

That would be "neurotoxin".

From here (http://www.getnj.com/njags/plantandanimallife.shtml) it says:
The rattlesnake and copperhead, both relatively common in northern parts of the State, are the only poisonous reptiles. The great mountain blacksnake, entirely harmless, attains a length of eleven feet. Among the handsomest of New Jersey snakes are the yellow and brown-banded king-snake, and the pine snake, with a whitish body marked with brown black- margined blotches. As the name implies, it is a native of the pine barrens.

Course, there's always the chance someone's nonindigenous venomous pet has run amock.

[Zenster]

Color? Stripes? Banding? Shape of head?

[Green Bean]

I didn't get a really good look at it. I think that it has white squarish markings on its back, with brown at the sides.

Should I bring it to the county extension office?

[Isabelle]

The best snake is a "dead snake"!

[Rasa]

RUN! SCREAM LIKE A GIRL! FLAIL YOUR ARMS AND GO 'AIEEE'!

Oh wait, that's what I'd do. Snakes only scare me when I don't KNOW they're there though.

[Green Bean]

Okay, I got a good look at it.

It has a wide gray stripe down its back.
At the sides of the gray stripe are tiny black triangular dots.
On either side of the gray stripe, it is dark brown, fading to a lighter brown at the sides of the snake.

Its head is not wide. It is about as narrow as its "neck."
The head has a dark brown marking on the top of it. The marking is split by a narrow line of gray.

He's a handsome little bugger.

[Blonde]

It's either a harmless grass snake, or a lethal cottonmouth. How long is it?

[Green Bean]

It's no more than 12 inches long.

My husband just got home and took a look at it. He said "Awww! It's just a little bug-eating garden snake!" I would like to know exactly what variety of snake it is in any case. I'm geeky like that.

I named him Alfonso. (http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/nyy/team/nyy_player_bio.jsp?club_context=nyy&playerid=150093)

[Green Bean]

Originally posted by Rasa
RUN! SCREAM LIKE A GIRL! FLAIL YOUR ARMS AND GO 'AIEEE'!
That's what I did when I found the first snake.

My brother happened to be around. I ran in the house screaming "A snake! A snake!" My brother came out and looked at it and said, "Yes, it's a snake." Gee thanks. Then the snake just slithered away.

[aaslatten]

Why don't you break out your digital cam and take a pic of it?

[lieu]

Does it look like this (http://jajhs.kana.k12.wv.us/vwv/animal/rep_amph/northernpinesnake.htm)?

[lieu]

Aha! Here... this (http://jajhs.kana.k12.wv.us/vwv/animal/rep_amph/northernbrownsnake.htm) fits your description exactly... maybe?

[Myron Van Horowitzski]

Or this? (http://www.mainenature.org/images/gartersnake.jpg)

They're very common, anyway. And harmless... sort of. They do bite, but they have no teeth, just raspy things. They're good to have in the garden.

[Green Bean]

[b]Lieu[b]'s second link is Alfonso!

Northern Brown Snake (Storeria dekayi)
....The brown snake can be found in urban areas and it exists in "colonies" in large numbers. You will be able to find these snakes under old bark slabs, strips of linoleum and tar paper.

Yup. He was under a log, so that fits with the description of these snakes under things. And I am in an "urban" area. The thought that they might be around in large numbers is a bit scary!

So, can I keep him as a pet?

[T. Slothrop]

Semi-related story. I grew up in an small town that was halfway between Camp Lejeune Marine base and Cherry Point Naval Air Station in North Carolina. Because it was convenient to commute, a lot of Marines lived there. Sometimes the Marines would all be gone at the same time so an entire block of houses would be inhabited only by Marine wives.
One day one of the Marine wives was mowing her lawn and discovered a snake. All of the Marine wives gathered to help kill the snake. The poor snake which had already been wounded by the lawn mower ended up being killed with a hoe - being killed with a shot gun and being killed with a gallon of burning gasoline.

[DougC]

So, can I keep him as a pet?
- - - You can but you shouldn't. Small snakes like this eat insects, but to stay healthy they need a variety of different insects, not just the same one or two kinds all the time. It is very difficult for most people to supply that year-round.
Let it go.
~

[Beadalin]

Seems like you'd be doing both you and the snake a favor by turning him loose again in your yard. His diet is almost entirely garden pests (plus a few non-pest insects, I'm sure). Protect those tomatoes! Set Alfonso after all who would eat your garden growings!

[dantheman]

If you do keep him, make sure he's on a leash. You know how NJ is about its leash laws.

[Casey1505]

[The Wiggles]
You better not...
You better not...
You better not touch.
[/The Wiggles]

From the moment I read the thread title, this refrain has been clanging aroung in my head...

Thanks.

[Green Bean]

I released Alfonso under the privet hedge in the back. :( There are lots of worms and bugs to keep him happy.

Farewell, Alfonso!

[booklover]

I swear, DeKay's snakes (their former name until someone decided they shouldn't be named after DeKay) are the worst little buggers for escaping. We had one at the nature center where I volunteered and he was constantly getting out of his cage----eventually he ran (slithered) away, never to be seen again.

Wait, first you scream at the poor guy and now you want to keep him away from his companions? Have a heart.

[Zenster]

Originally posted by T. Slothrop
... The poor snake which had already been wounded by the lawn mower ended up being killed with a hoe - being killed with a shot gun and being killed with a gallon of burning gasoline.Yup, they sound like military wives to me, all right.

[indecisive1]

Greenbean you are a wonderful and caring person.

I just want you to know people do notice.

[Ruffian]

As a snake lover, I gotta say good for you for turning him/her loose, Green Bean. I know how hard it is when you're thinking "Ooh, a new exotic pet...!" Wild-caught pretty much anything--snakes or otherwise--can have a very difficult time adjusting to domestic life, unless they're injured (which would've been the case had other Dopers come across Alfonso, apparently) and need to be rehabilitated.

I say you go to the local pet store and check out corn snakes. :)

And how impressed am I with you humane ways? Why, I used my 2000th post for this. I've never been much of a post-party type.

[New & Improved Scott]

Snakes are cool, I'd have a pet one if it was not for a) I'm never home. and b) feeder mice are gross.

Glad your Alphoso made it through his ordeal okay, but Vladimir is a much better name.

[Vlad Dracul]

Next time you catch a snake, remember...

they taste like chicken! :)

[Sigmundex]

My hat is off to you, too, Greenbean. When I was growing up in Upstate New York, snakes were the big thing for me and my buddies. We lived near a huge field with a stream, and would spend our weekends out there looking for new snake specimens. At first we would catch one and put it in a terrarium, but when the first one or two only ended up living a week or two, I realized that they didn't need to be living their lives in a cage for my amusement. I grew up loving snakes and can remember a few of my favorites, like the beautiful bright green grass snake I had with a bright yellow belly and huge black eyes. He was the smoothest and friendliest snake I ever had.

Last week I came home after work and my 6-year-old daughter was very excited. She told me that in our neighbor's front yard they had found a little baby snake, just a harmless one, in the grass. They didn't know what to do, and the neighbor and my wife were just looking at each other, not knowing what to do. My daughter was no doubt running around the yard, all excited. Well along comes the neighbor's mom, she gets out of her car, sees the excitement and says, "Who's going to kill it?". When no one volunteered, she went in the neighbor's garage, got a shovel and cut it all up with the shovel.

I was so pissed off when I heard that story, I gave my wife and daughter heck for letting it happen. Disgusting! The poor little guy would have enjoyed eating plenty of bugs and being a service to the area. Thanks for sparing Alfonso.

[Beagle]

It's harmless. Let it go in the woods. Even if it's venemous, it was harmless until you captured it.

[Quantum Butterfly]

Yay Green Bean! :) So many people just kill any and all snakes on sight, without even knowing what kind they are. I'm sure Alfonso is happily eating your slugs and telling alien abduction stories to his pals ;)

If you feel like getting a tame snake, another option besides corn snakes (which are cute, but IIRC eat mice) is garter snakes. I had one called Merlin for a while, and he was vastly entertaining. Garter snakes eat crickets, frogs and small fish; we always got him feeder fish from the local aquarium store, dumped the bag in his water pool and sat back to watch the show! I always wanted to try giving him crickets, but Mom wasn't having any in the house.

[Myron Van Horowitzski]

The link I posted above is a garter snake. Another reason they're good to have in the garden is that small rodents are terrified of them.

My mom has a big ol' garter snake (4 footer) in her garden; she won't let anybody harm it (including my father, who's terrified of snakes).

She said she was out there working and a chipmunk (cursed eater of seeds and digger of bulbs) came hopping up its accustomed path. My mom was in its way so (after hurling some chipmunk invective her way) it detoured through a flower bed. It Stepped On the Snake. Mom said that 'munk went POING straight up in the air like it was shot out of a cannon. Heheh.

I second: kudos to those who do not bother snakes. They are harmless and much more scared of you.

[Rasa]

You let it out IN YOUR BACKYARD? What if it comes BACK?

Heehee.

[heresiarch]

Originally posted by Green Bean
I released Alfonso under the privet hedge in the back. :( There are lots of worms and bugs to keep him happy.

Farewell, Alfonso! That was the best option. Good job!

I had a Burmese Python for years. He was a great pet. I'd consider getting another python, but I didn't like feeding him rodents.

If you do plan to get a pet snake, Burmese Pythons are one of the most mellow snakes, but they do get large. Once they are used to being handled they become very affectionate*. Royal Pythons and Ball Pythons are a more manageable size.




*OK, reptiles don't really do affection. They just like your body heat.

[photopat]

Well, if you're like me, the first thing you need to do is defibrillate yourself.

I was walking into my apartment building one night and noticed what I thought was a stick leaning up against the doorjam. When I got closer I realized it was a snake, about 6' long, 4' of which was upright against the wall.

After I recovered from the shock I called out to anybody in the building who might have lost a pet. Then, realizing I had to get inside and the snake was about 4 inches from the door, I crept forward, finally managed to put the key in and turn it, and lunged through the door.

The snake, of course, did nothing.

I don't hate snakes, rationally I realize they're just animals and are part of the ecosystem and have as much right to live in peace as any other animal.

I just say, if they stay away from me, I'll stay away from them.

[Washte]

I won't bite them if they don't bite me.... is my motto.

Having grown up in rattler country I stay away from all snakes.

On the lighter side of snakedom.... A little ditty to make you smile (or cringe)....

My friend Billy has a 5 foot willy
So he showed it to the girl next door.

She thought it was a snake
So whacked it with the rake

And now it's only 2 foot 4.

:D