Rescued this little guy the other day from a shovel swinging neighbor trying to kill "a copperhead". Released him in my backyard. I have never seen one with a pattern like this.
Reptile & Amphibian Forums
Welcome to kingsnake.com's message board system. Here you may share and discuss information with others about your favorite reptile and amphibian related topics such as care and feeding, caging requirements, permits and licenses, and more. Launched in 1997, the kingsnake.com message board system is one of the oldest and largest systems on the internet.
Juv. black rat with stripes
joecop
Jun 14, 2011 08:08 PM
Replies (5)
DMong
Jun 14, 2011 11:26 PM
Can't BELIEVE you are holding it free-hand without a snake stick like that!!!. Those partial striped variants are even far more venomous than typical normal patterned copperheads!
Glad you rescued the deadly beast from terrorizing all the good citizens of the area though.
~Doug
-----
"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing" 
joecop
Jun 14, 2011 11:44 PM
LOL. HAHAHA. Doug, this is the third "copperhead" I have saved this year. I brought photos of copperheads over to show some of the folks and let them know there will be no confusion when and if they ever see a copperhead.
DMong
Jun 15, 2011 03:31 PM
LOL!!.......good deal Joe. Yes, as you already know, to most of the general public, almost anything with blotches is a "venomous" snake of some sort, usually a "Diamondback" or "copperhead". And if found in or near water, it is almost always a "cottonmouth".....NEVER a plain ol' every day water snake (Nerodia)..LOL!
Glad you are teaching some of these folks the huge difference. This might save at least a few harmless snakes lives. Sadly it doesn't help many venomous snakes stay alive though most of the time.
~Doug
-----
"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"
joecop
Jun 17, 2011 07:04 PM
LOL. Yeah, you are right about the fact they will still kill the snake if it is a copperhead. Good thing is, I have never seen a copperhead near my home area. Not that they are not here, I am sure they are somewhere, but 90 plus percent of the time the snake victim will be a rat snake. People could not believe it when I showed them pics of a copperhead. "never seen one of those" and "man, they do look different" is what I heard. Music to my ears!!! I am planning on printing some copperhead photos and leaving them with some folks. You know the image will fade in their minds and all will be copperheads again!!
Joe
DMong
Jun 18, 2011 10:33 AM
"I am planning on printing some copperhead photos and leaving them with some folks. You know the image will fade in their minds and all will be copperheads again!!"
*sigh*.............yes, unfortunately you are probably right about that Joe.
To those of us familiar with many types of snakes they are as different as night and day, but to most of the general public,.......they ALL "look" the same.
~Doug
-----
"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"
