Name that snake.... (Huntsville, Triana, Black: neighborhood, yard, rated)

[chucksnee]

Yes, I know it's dead....



I looked but found nothing on-line....with the distinct markings I thought it would be easy, but now I'm baffled as to what it is?

[Dirt Grinder]

Looks like a black rat snake to me - very common in this area and a very beneficial non-poisonous rodent deterrent.
It seems someone has "taken a hoe" to this particular one.

[chucksnee]

Originally Posted by Dirt Grinder

Looks like a black rat snake to me - very common in this area and a very beneficial non-poisonous rodent deterrent.
It seems someone has "taken a hoe" to this particular one.

Yep, you maybe right....

It was only a baby....and it was a shovel....

Just a little nervous, in the 2+ years (at this location, and woods are butted up against our back yard) we have been here, this is the first snake we have seen....

[RatSnake]

Clearly - a rat snake.

I caught one myself ... at least 6 feet long. Stunk really bad when threatened. Tried to bite with its mouth ... but had no teeth ... gave it a big headache.
Very much a non-venomous snake ... in fact, highly beneficial to controlling rodent numbers. But its looks/colors can be scary and threatening to young kids. Mine was a very good wall crawler ... I did notice that when the snake was crawling about ---- the birds up in the trees were SO LOUD ... like they were warning each other.
The snake was actually 'gentle' once I calmed it down.

There are a lot of toddlers in the neighborhood ---- so I threw it in the garbage ---- so it can feast on rats in the dump (or wherever Huntsville dumps our trash).
We have no rats in the neighborhood anyway ... opossums, squirrels and racoons ... and occasionally, a big herd of deer ... but no rats.

[padmaster]

Originally Posted by RatSnake

We have no rats in the neighborhood anyway ... opossums, squirrels and racoons ... and occasionally, a big herd of deer ... but no rats.

You may have gotten rid of the reason you didn't have rats in the hood.

[RatSnake]

Yes - quite possibly ...

Rat snakes are not endangered (btw, I did not kill the snake)- and are the most common in this area. There should still be plenty around.

[rainroosty]

That is not a rat snake, it is an immature Black Racer.

[dijkstra]

rainroosty is correct, it is a young black racer. They look very similar to rat snakes when they are young.

[CoreLysium]

Originally Posted by RatSnake

--- so I threw it in the garbage ---- so it can feast on rats in the dump (or wherever Huntsville dumps our trash).

The compactor would bleed it out. It wouldn't like the incinerator anyhow.

As to where stuff goes, if you look this up on google maps: 34.673629,-86.604974

The incinerator where all the municipal waste is burned is to the west of Triana, the one with the two entrances. People who work on the arsenal call this the steam plant, because that's what it is for them.

Another thing that goes there, to be incinerated with the municipal waste is your poops. They come from the wastewater treatment plant to the SE. The one with the circles (clarifiers.)

Where the ash from the incinerator goes is in the NE of that map. It's the gray shapes with the roads. Just north of the WWTP.

The building directly to the west of that, on the road called A Cleaner Way, is the recycling plant for things that you throw in your bin. Not the same place as who buys the ferrous metals the giant magnet at the incinerator picks up.

[CowboysFan49]

A dead snake! The most important thing.