# Id this snake? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 17, 2014, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-snake/686298 "2014-04-17T00:05:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2014, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-snake/686298/1 "2014-04-17T00:05:32Z")
[Pic](http://s294.photobucket.com/user/badger60/media/carsnake_zpsafa865dc.png.html#/user/badger60/media/carsnake_zpsafa865dc.png.html?). Central South Carolina. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2014, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-snake/686298/2 "2014-04-17T00:37:13Z")
Handsome snake, closest I can see would be a brown snake. ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2014, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-snake/686298/3 "2014-04-17T00:40:52Z")
Marsh or rat snake? [http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/herpetology/fl-guide/snakekey.htm](http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/herpetology/fl-guide/snakekey.htm) ---
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-snake/686298/4 "2014-04-18T02:23:48Z")
yep, id a snake. you have a cold? ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-snake/686298/5 "2014-04-18T02:36:46Z")
Looks like a [Brown Snake](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storeria_dekayi) to me ( despite the lack of brownness 😉 ). ETA: Picture of one from the [Durham area](http://www.dpughphoto.com/images/brown%20snake%20durham%20102605.JPG). ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-snake/686298/6 "2014-04-18T02:48:03Z")
It’s right there in the image name, it’s a carsnake. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-snake/686298/7 "2014-04-18T11:26:13Z")
Thanks, all! ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-snake/686298/8 "2014-04-18T11:34:03Z")
For what it’s worth, Earl, I agree that it’s a brown snake, formerly called a DeKay’s Snake. Adults are typically only about a foot long. ---
**Author:** ![CannyDan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cannydan/32/548_2.png) [@CannyDan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CannyDan)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-snake/686298/9 "2014-04-18T14:14:45Z")
I too agree, it’s a Brown Snake, sometimes called the Little Brown Snake (I love that name!) formerly called Dekay’s Snake. People routinely bring us animals, especially snakes, for ID. This is one where the people often disbelieve us. The name just sounds too simple and trite. We take a quick look and say “Yep, that’s a Little Brown Snake” and they make some sarcastic remark about “Couldn’t you do better than that?” So we have to drag out the formal name, and patiently explain that, indeed, this one has a really obvious moniker. Story in the same theme? I was leading a field trip once, guiding a group of people on a nature and wildlife excursion in the Big Cypress Swamp. At one point we had to walk along a dusty dirt road. We came upon a small snake that had been killed on the road, then repeatedly run over and flattened. It was also dry season, so the remains were desiccated. Picking it up, what remained was a rather thin, colorful strip of mostly-skin, about 5/8 inch wide and 20 inches long. It literally flapped and twisted in the breeze as I held it up. The inevitable question was asked, “What kind of snake is that?” and without a thought I replied “Ribbon Snake”. The derisive laughter went on for several minutes. It took longer to convince the entire party that it was, indeed, a Peninsula Ribbon Snake (_Thamnophis sauritus sackenii_) and I wasn’t just jerking their chains. ---
**Author:** ![ducati](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cc9497/32.png) [@ducati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ducati)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-snake/686298/10 "2014-04-18T14:37:16Z")
> [@JackieLikesVariety](#): > > yep, id a snake. > > you have a cold? I doe what you did dare.