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unidentified snakes - could someone advise?

juliekpc Jul 08, 2004 12:30 PM

There is a spot on our property just on the edge of a wooded area, there seems to be a lot of ivy-looking ground cover.. I have found, within a matter of only one month, 6!!! very large 4-6ft snake skins. I have observed snakes in that area of course but I will describe the two different types and maybe someone can tell me what the heck they are.
One is an odd dark greyish-maybe even taupish colored with three thin stripes (what I saw) going up the back lengthwise. The stripes even looked like a muted green.To me this one looked like a cross between a thick black snake and a chicken/corn snake (is there a difference?). I don't know if this is possible but that is what it looked like to me - as a description...
Now, the second snake was very very long, kind of a matte black/dark grey. I may be confusing this one with another as it is hard to tell if I'm seing the same guy every time (most likely not with all the skins I found) but it seemed to have white eyes. Could this have been loose snake skin he was about to lose? I can't imagine a snake with whiteish eyes.
If someone could tell me what they think I would appreciate it. I have been dying of curiosity. Unfortunately I have no photos. The undergrowth gets thicker every day here and I am not as easily able to see the guys as I was before.

Replies (7)

nickpurvis Jul 08, 2004 01:23 PM

what state do you live in as this would make it easier to tell what snakes they could be
nick

juliekpc Jul 08, 2004 03:30 PM

I live in central Florida. I should have mentioned that.

nickpurvis Jul 08, 2004 10:24 PM

ok.im doing my best to try and reveal this mystery snake so look for some pictures of these snakes on the web to be sure.i believe snake number one is a intergrade between the black ratsnake and the yellow ratsnake.as for the second one,im stumped.my best guesses were either the eastern coachwhip or the florida pine snake.here are their scuientifc names of the snakes if you decide to search google
eastern coachwhip(masticophis flagellum flagellum)
florida pine snake(pituophis melanoleucus mugitus)
ratsnake intergrade(does not say in my field guide)
hope this helps
nick

juliekpc Jul 09, 2004 09:41 AM

Nick, thank you for your efforts on this. I really appreciate it. I knew someone here could help. I'm going to look these up with the info you gave me
Julie

rearfang Jul 16, 2004 03:39 PM

You definitly need to check photos.

I am from South Florida and here is my opinion. The first snake is most likely an Eastern garter, as this is too far south for a Black X yellow Rat intergrade. Could you tell if the snake was smooth scaled or rough? This would be a strong clue.

The second snake was in shed but sounds very much like a Southern Black Racer.

Frank
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"The luxury of not getting involved departed with the last lifeboat Skipper..."

juliekpc Jul 20, 2004 09:58 AM

On the first guy, he wasn't rough but he had a matte appearance not shiny.
Did the comment about the white eyes tell you the second guy was shedding? Is that what would cause that appearance?
I haven't been able to observe these guys since my last post due to the incredible growth of groundcover due to all the rains.
Thanks for helping.

rearfang Jul 24, 2004 07:44 AM

The likely hood is that since he wasn't "shiny" he most likely has keeled scales. So I will stick to my previous assessment.

When snakes prepare to shed, there is a buildup of liquid between the old skin and new. This si to lubricate the shed and is what changes their color and makes their eyes bluish white.

Frank
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"The luxury of not getting involved departed with the last lifeboat Skipper..."

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