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Anyone know what kind of snake this is? He shook his tail just like a rattle snake but didn't have any rattles. I swept him into a box and carried him to the woods and released him. It looked like he just got through eating and was resting on my tire.
Last edited by rebellious1; 08-13-2014 at 07:32 AM..
It is, in fact, an immature Yellow Rat snake - a very, very good snake! It will lose the blotched pattern on it's back when it grows up more, leaving a yellowish snake with 4 dark longitudinal stripes.
Fantastic and harmless creature! Lucky you!
The tail-beating is just a nervous reaction and many snakes do that.
Location: RI, MA, VT, WI, IL, CA, IN (that one sucked), KY
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Yeah, definitely not a garter, and in the rat snake group. Location needed for a better ID, very well looks like RR is correct.
And not sure where you're getting a rattlesnake from. Nothing similar at all. Completely different head and body shape from any North American pit viper.
Most venomous snakes in North America have a sharper triangular head. If it was a rattler it would have a more blunt tail with a bulbous rib like end. I was gonna say some sort of non venomous snake that just ate a small bird of rat. Good on you to catch and let it go. Too many people kill snakes even the good kind. The inky time I kill snakes is if I'm camping and I have my dogs and I find one within a hundred yards of the camp. My newest pup isn't snake proofed.
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It will lose the blotched pattern on it's back when it grows up more, leaving a yellowish snake with 4 dark longitudinal stripes. 
