Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I live in Northeast Alabama, and this morning, saw a snake in my front yard. As I know very little about snakes, I would like to know if this is a poisonous or non-poisonous snake, and any help would be great!

It was about 2.5 to 3 feet in length and was green (not bright neon-like green but darker, though not as dark as forest green) and had yellow stripes running the entire length of it's body.

Thanks in advance for any help you can give me!

No worries on danger there! Sounds like a garter or ribbon snake....am I off here anyone?

Anyhow, if it is...don't sweat it. They are very common and very harmless. Remember these guys help holding the rodent population back!
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~redmom~
My Email
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1.0 Normal corn snake "Ed"

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0.1 White/Lemon/beige splotched and spotted hound mix "Angel"

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Thanks for responding so quickly, redmom! I was just looking through the pictures of snakes, and I found a few pictures of plain garter snakes that look similar to what I saw, so I think you are right on target!

Thanks again!

Do an internet search for Thamnophis sauritus sauritus, the eastern ribbon snake, and Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis the eastern garter snake. It was one of those two. The ribbon snake is much slimmer, but of course if you have nothing to compare it to, that’s not much help!

Don’t kill them! Either of these are totally harmless and eat primarily frogs and toads, earthworms, and fish. You probably have permanent water nearby.

-Joan

Joan,
Thanks! I looked at pictures from both and I think it's probably the ribbon snake, because the pictures favored the snake I saw, plus it was slimmer.

Thanks for all your help!

Ii is not venoumse, but if you have a problem with snake in your yard call a snake remover NOT 911 the usaly kill them. i would just leave it. but what ever you do DONT KILL IT!!!!!!!!!

I'm getting that alot! The "don't kill it!" I didn't kill it. It ran under my house before I had the chance to even react. I just wanted to make sure that it wasn't venomous because I have small children who play in the front yard, and I didn't want to have to worry about them!

Thanks for the reply!

You have it keyed out now, but I'd like to add a little...general rule of thumb: Any snake you see in your area that has stripes running the length of its body is non-venomous.

You have basically the same venomous snakes in your area as does the state of Florida, so you may want to bookmark the linked site & peruse it at your leisure.

~~Greg~~
Florida's Venomous Snakes

Thanks for the tip, Greg! I didn't know that. I don't know alot about snakes. Had a Ball Python for a few years for a pet, but know nothing about any other kinds.

Thanks again!

Here are a couple that are specific to your region:

Snakes of North Alabama

Venomous Snakes of North Alabama

Identification and Control of Snakes in Alabama

Thanks alot! Everyone on here has been great with all the information.