# Snake ID please **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 23, 2016, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-id-please/769486 "2016-10-23T16:10:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2016, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-id-please/769486/1 "2016-10-23T16:10:00Z")
I came very close to being bitten by this snake yesterday. Anyone know what kind it is? Happened near Sacramento, Ca. [![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/gs-geo-images/fca8c44f-ea20-4775-9f0a-6ae86bd8bd17.jpg) ](https://s3.amazonaws.com/gs-geo-images/fca8c44f-ea20-4775-9f0a-6ae86bd8bd17.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2016, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-id-please/769486/2 "2016-10-23T16:19:29Z")
Rat snake. Harmless. ETA: mostly harmless. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2016, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-id-please/769486/3 "2016-10-23T16:26:26Z")
Despite his repose in the photo he was very aggressive. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2016, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-id-please/769486/4 "2016-10-23T17:04:41Z")
> [@White SIFL](#): > > Despite his repose in the photo he was very aggressive. Maybe he thought you were a rat… ---
**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:** [October 23, 2016, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-id-please/769486/5 "2016-10-23T17:06:45Z")
I don’t think that is a rat snake. The color and heavy body look more like a western diamondback rattlesnake. The color phase is not real common but not rare either. Are you sure the snake had no rattles? ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2016, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-id-please/769486/6 "2016-10-23T17:13:43Z")
Looks very much like a rat snake to me. They can act aggressively when they feel threatened. They’ll even vibrate the tip of their tail very fast and in dry leaves it sounds a lot like a rattlesnake’s rattle. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2016, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-id-please/769486/7 "2016-10-23T17:14:54Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > I don’t think that is a rat snake. The color and heavy body look more like a western diamondback rattlesnake. The color phase is not real common but not rare either. Are you sure the snake had no rattles? It might be a [Western Rattlesnake](http://www.thejunglelady.com/pages/colorado/snakes/western_rattlesnake.html). I was looking at the post on my phone, and I couldn’t see the head of the snake. Now that I see it, it does look triangular. So, that might explain why it was so aggressive. (It might still have thought you were a rat). ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2016, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-id-please/769486/8 "2016-10-23T17:20:31Z")
Milk snake is another possibility. They come in a variety of colors and patterns–some of them look a lot like the picture in the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2016, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-id-please/769486/9 "2016-10-23T17:53:18Z")
Looking at the links I’m now thinking it might have been a rattlesnake. It didn’t have rattles but it was also very small. There were three of them - probably babies. It’s not so obvious from the pic but it had “horns” above its eyes. Like the bottom pic at this link: [http://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/rattlesnake](http://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/rattlesnake) ---
**Author:** ![newme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e0b2c6/32.png) [@newme](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newme)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2016, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-id-please/769486/10 "2016-10-23T19:08:00Z")
I would go with [Great Basin Rattlesnake](http://www.pbase.com/rfridell/image/147759244). ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2016, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-id-please/769486/11 "2016-10-23T21:17:55Z")
The only rattlesnake native to northern California is the western rattlesnake - see distribution maps here: [http://www.californiaherps.com/identification/snakesid/rattlesnakes.html](http://www.californiaherps.com/identification/snakesid/rattlesnakes.html) Several subspecies of the western rattler exist - around the Bay Area we have the “Northern Pacific” variant, which would be likely in Sacramento as well. That does look like one - the “Great Basin” variant seems similar, but its range is given as further north and east. I would like to confirm the triangular head though - I can’t make it out clearly enough in the photograph. The Northern Pacific rattler doesn’t usually get real big - about two feet is common. Some other variants of the western rattlesnake can get larger. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2016, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-id-please/769486/12 "2016-10-23T23:19:40Z")
Looks rattler-y to me. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2016, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-id-please/769486/13 "2016-10-24T00:12:11Z")
> [@White SIFL](#): > > Despite his repose in the photo he was very aggressive. If you take pictures of me while I’m trying to sleep I’ll get pretty aggressive, too. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2016, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-id-please/769486/14 "2016-10-24T14:42:30Z")
Surely **Crotalus** would be able to tell us. ---
**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:** [October 24, 2016, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-id-please/769486/15 "2016-10-24T14:54:28Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > Surely **Crotalus** would be able to tell us. I am 99% sure it is a [Northern Pacific rattlesnake](http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=northern+pacific+rattlesnake+photos&view=detailv2&&id=377F710A59B82EF3F8EB9F03104C5E9C2955792D&selectedIndex=0&ccid=b01HFjaA&simid=608040922197658851&thid=OIP.M6f4d4716368010caaabd36a5d1cac166o0&ajaxhist=0). Crotalus oreganus. ---
**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:** [October 24, 2016, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-id-please/769486/16 "2016-10-24T16:21:43Z")
I have looked at the picture again, this time on my computer instead of my phone. I am 100% sure it is a juvenile Northern pacific rattlesnake, part of a group of subspecies that used to be lumped under western or prairie rattlesnake, Crotalus viridis. The subspecies on the west coast are now considered Crotalus oreganus, and the Northern Pacific one is Crotalus oreganus oreganus, if my understanding of the taxonomy is up to date. There are no rat snakes or milk snakes native to northern California. Gopher snakes, which are similar to rat snakes, are found there, but this is a rattlesnake. Great job on the photo, **White SIFL**. What you are referring to as “horns” are just scales over the eyes accentuated by the white markings. Rattlesnakes don’t lay eggs, they bear live young. The ones you saw were probably born very recently. They are born with a single rattle segment on their tails, which they may vibrate but which has nothing to rattle against. They acquire a new rattle segment each time they shed their skin, at which point they begin to make an audible rattle. ETA: This is the first time that I recall in a decade on this board that a snake ID thread has featured an actual Crotalus species, so thanks for that. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2016, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-id-please/769486/17 "2016-10-24T16:37:29Z")
“Need answer fast”? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2016, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-id-please/769486/18 "2016-10-24T18:26:53Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > I have looked at the picture again, this time on my computer instead of my phone. I am 100% sure it is a juvenile Northern pacific rattlesnake, part of a group of subspecies that used to be lumped under western or prairie rattlesnake, Crotalus viridis. The subspecies on the west coast are now considered Crotalus oreganus, and the Northern Pacific one is Crotalus oreganus oreganus, if my understanding of the taxonomy is up to date. > > There are no rat snakes or milk snakes native to northern California. Gopher snakes, which are similar to rat snakes, are found there, but this is a rattlesnake. > > Great job on the photo, **White SIFL**. What you are referring to as “horns” are just scales over the eyes accentuated by the white markings. > > Rattlesnakes don’t lay eggs, they bear live young. The ones you saw were probably born very recently. They are born with a single rattle segment on their tails, which they may vibrate but which has nothing to rattle against. They acquire a new rattle segment each time they shed their skin, at which point they begin to make an audible rattle. > > ETA: This is the first time that I recall in a decade on this board that a snake ID thread has featured an actual Crotalus species, so thanks for that. :: pictures **Crotalus** on Jeopardy, watching the categories get revealed, seeing “Rattlesnakes” as the last category and thinking “Yessssss!!” :: ---
**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:** [October 24, 2016, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-id-please/769486/19 "2016-10-24T18:50:07Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > :: pictures **Crotalus** on Jeopardy, watching the categories get revealed, seeing “Rattlesnakes” as the last category and thinking “Yessssss!!” :: Shoot, it took eleven years for this thread to give me an opportunity to post the trivia above; my chances on Jeopardy would be less than average. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2016, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-id-please/769486/20 "2016-10-24T19:22:49Z")
That rattler certainly is in terrain perfectly suited for its coloration and pattern. Beautiful snake. Thanks for posting, **White SIFL**. I’d never seen one before either. **Crotalus** , please tell me you were in your Viper when you first read the thread. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-id-please/769486.md?page=2)