# Umm, surprise!

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umm-surprise/752563>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [April 18, 2016, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umm-surprise/752563 "2016-04-18T16:15:15Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 4

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\
**Post date:** [April 19, 2016, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umm-surprise/752563/61 "2016-04-19T13:29:26Z")

</div>

Yeah I’d gopher the hills, myself.  
True story, I dreamed all last night about snakes in my apartment. Snakes in cupboards, snakes in drawers, snakes in the dresser, snakes under the bedclothes. It was not a restful night.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\
**Post date:** [April 19, 2016, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umm-surprise/752563/62 "2016-04-19T13:44:32Z")

</div>

I don’t mind snakes, and I would be totally unfazed to find one (even a venomous one, though that would require more caution) in a woodpile, man-shed, or garage. But finding one in a kitchen drawer like that, yeah, I probably would shriek, and need about five minutes to catch my breath before being capable of dealing with it.

And even though I couldn’t identify the species exactly, it’s easy to tell that that’s a nonvenomous one. Almost all venomous snakes in North America are pit vipers, who have a triangular head that’s significantly wider than their neck. The lone exception is the coral snake, who has brightly-colored bands (no, I don’t remember the pattern of the colors, but it’s almost never important to be able to tell). That snake is giving us a good view of its narrow head, and it certainly doesn’t have brightly-colored bands, so it’s not venomous.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\
**Post date:** [April 19, 2016, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umm-surprise/752563/63 "2016-04-19T13:53:13Z")

</div>

Q: What’s worse than being surprised by a snake in your kitchen drawer?

A: Being surprised by [a snake on your motorcycle at 155 MPH (at 0:12).](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8rxJRsINU4)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\
**Post date:** [April 19, 2016, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umm-surprise/752563/64 "2016-04-19T14:17:49Z")

</div>

> [@Chronos](#):
>
> And even though I couldn’t identify the species exactly, it’s easy to tell that that’s a nonvenomous one. Almost all venomous snakes in North America are pit vipers, who have a triangular head that’s significantly wider than their neck. The lone exception is the coral snake, who has brightly-colored bands (no, I don’t remember the pattern of the colors, but it’s almost never important to be able to tell). That snake is giving us a good view of its narrow head, and it certainly doesn’t have brightly-colored bands, so it’s not venomous.

Red touches Black, you’re ok, Jack.  
Red touches Yellow, you’re a dead fellow.

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umm-surprise/752563.md?page=3)