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Need help with identification of Snake - MA

dani88 Aug 07, 2005 05:06 PM

Hi, Perhaps someone out there can help me.

I encountered a black snake approximatly 18 inches long with white squares down its back - the looked almost like the dashed lines that you would find in the middle of a road. These white dashed squares were paired in 2 and ran legth-wise down the snake. I encountered it about 2:30 on a bright sunny day.

I live in Worcester County, Massachusetts and I was made aware of the snakes by my chickens. It was actually lashing out and striking at them - it had teeth. (I have never seen a snake here do that) I live near a brook and a marshy area though where I found it was about 20 feet away from both.

I looked at all the photos I could find of MA snakes and it does not even look close to any of them. I have never seen anything like this snake in all my life here.

Any help would be grateful - please ask any questions you feel you need if I missed anything and I will try to get a photo if I can.

Thank you in advance, Dani

Replies (1)

Greg Longhurst Aug 07, 2005 05:39 PM

A picture would be most helpful. In the meantime, research the genus Thamnophis. The eastern garter & eastern ribbon are both in your area & might match the description. Any snake will defend itself by striking if it feels threatened..and chickens are certainly a threat to an 18" snake. All snakes have teeth.

~~Greg~~

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