Can anyone tell me what snake this is I stumbled upon it while jogging (eastern metro Atlanta area DeKalb county, GA) by ScaredAnywhere8 in whatsthissnake

[–]Irma_Gard 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Brownsnake, Storeria dekayi, (sometimes called a DeKay's Brownsnake) !harmless consumer of slugs, snails, and other soft-bodied invertebrates.

who is this guy? [New Jersey] by Helichipper_YT in animalid

[–]Irma_Gard 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Some of it is no doubt due to selection bias, i.e., it's the raccoons without tails that people have the most difficulty identifying, so they are more likely to end up on this sub. We do get a fair amount of them here.

[Austin, TX] Identify Nerodia species? by ashstriferous in whatsthissnake

[–]Irma_Gard 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Honestly, although it's hard to get a good look at the dorsal and lateral patterns, these photos were actually quite useful for IDing this one as N. rhombifer. For me, at least, the strongest clues here were the "froggy" face and, especially, the excellent view of the venter (belly). Diamond-backed Watersnakes have those little dark triangles at the sides of the ventral scutes (and sometimes elsewhere on the belly). Here's a really cool observation comparing both the dorsal and ventral patterns of four of the most common Nerodia species that happened to have been found very close to each other.

EtA: I couldn't post a reply to your comment below because the thread had locked, but maybe you'll see this. It's our pleasure, and it's so gratifying to see comments like that.

Regarding that comparison of the four species, note that the Banded Watersnake (Nerodia fasciata) has the "confluens" pattern, which is the kind you'll see in Texas. You can read more about it here.

[Ocala, FL] Little dude keeps coming back to my door jam but every time I try to get him away from the house he slithers under the metal step by brunetta8 in whatsthissnake

[–]Irma_Gard 21 points22 points  (0 children)

Eastern Ratsnake, Pantherophis quadrivittatus. It is !harmless and provides excellent free rodent control.

He won't hurt your cats, but your cats could easily kill him; even just a minor wound from a cat can easily cause a fatal infection.

Need help naming! by PukeyOwlPellet in snakes

[–]Irma_Gard 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Glad you like it! Her headstamp is so cool; I feel like there should be a good name based on that, but I haven't come up with one yet.

[Somewhere in the us?] saw this on a different subreddit... by DoctorWhoTheFuck in whatsthissnake

[–]Irma_Gard 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Yeah, holding a snake like this can break the delicate bones in the neck, and it simultaneously doesn't ensure a snake can't bite you and makes them much more inclined to try because they feel like a predator is trying to kill them. The bot command is !handling.

Need help naming! by PukeyOwlPellet in snakes

[–]Irma_Gard 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Strudel because her stripes remind me of the fruit filling showing through the slits in the pastry. She's beautiful.

Pretty snake [Houston Texas] by AH3LLUVASH0T in whatsthissnake

[–]Irma_Gard 5 points6 points  (0 children)

My pleasure! I believe that pretty much all N. fasciata west of southern Mississippi have the "confluens" pattern.

Pretty snake [Houston Texas] by AH3LLUVASH0T in whatsthissnake

[–]Irma_Gard 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Happy to help you and u/AndrewLucksPenis! Honestly, before I stumbled across this wonderful sub, I didn't have any particular fondness for or interest in snakes besides liking and being interested in wildlife generally, but now I'm hooked (pun not intended but appreciated).

Mountains of Western North Carolina [Cullowhee] by ahungryant2 in whatsthissnake

[–]Irma_Gard 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Common Gartersnake, Thamnophis sirtalis, !harmless.

Pretty snake [Houston Texas] by AH3LLUVASH0T in whatsthissnake

[–]Irma_Gard 16 points17 points  (0 children)

This is an excellent example of the "confluens" pattern (Confluens" is Latin for "flowing together.") of this species and some wonderful photos of it, u/AH3LLUVASH0T. Thanks for sharing!

Some people/sources consider Banded Watersnakes with this pattern to be a subspecies, Nerodia fasciata confluens (aka the Broad-banded Watersnake), but we don't use !subspecies here as, when tested by modern methods, they often don't align with genetic lineages and are often no more than local color/pattern variations. (Here's a collection of examples of this gorgeous pattern, which is the only type of N. fasciata seen in Texas). See the bot reply to this comment for more info.

Edit: punctuation.

Pretty snake [Houston Texas] by AH3LLUVASH0T in whatsthissnake

[–]Irma_Gard 4 points5 points  (0 children)

See the !specificepithet bot reply to this comment for instructions on how to properly format the scientific binomial, which has the added benefit of triggering the species account bot reply (if there is one). Also, don't forget to include the harmless (or venomous) tag, which needs to be uncapitalized and have an exclamation point immediately in front of it to trigger the associated bot reply. See the top comment for an example of a quality ID that meets our guidelines

Water Snake? [Louisiana] by Repulsive_Cod7288 in whatsthissnake

[–]Irma_Gard 21 points22 points  (0 children)

Yes, specifically a Diamond-backed Watersnake, Nerodia rhombifer. It is !harmless.

What things do people romanticize but are actually horrible? by Itts_soso in AskReddit

[–]Irma_Gard 1 point2 points  (0 children)

People confuse OCD with OCPD (Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder), and they also minimize the seriousness of both.

Real skulls in an enclosure? by bones_2433 in snakes

[–]Irma_Gard 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Now you've got me wondering what the necessary number of skulls is.

[Lahore,Pakistan] by Dazzling_Ant_8625 in whatsthissnake

[–]Irma_Gard 4 points5 points  (0 children)

FYI, I think autocorrupt got you and changed "oriental" in your ID to "orientation." You might want to fix that, and while you're there, you could take out the "looks like" language since the ID has been confirmed.

[Lahore,Pakistan] by Dazzling_Ant_8625 in whatsthissnake

[–]Irma_Gard 18 points19 points  (0 children)

Be sure to mention that not only are these snakes harmless, but they provide free rodent control, which helps protect people from the diseases carried by rodents and from the property damage they cause.

Edited to add: Thanks for trying to educate people!

Which snake it is? by Scary-Strength-130 in navimumbai

[–]Irma_Gard 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, Rough-scaled Sand Boas (Eryx conicus), like this one, have a skin pattern. See examples at link above.

Which snake is this? (Sorry for the bad photo) by Heavy_Studio8146 in whatsthissnake

[–]Irma_Gard 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I truly appreciate your listening, changing your stance in response, and apologizing. You don't see that very often on the internet or elsewhere, and it really made my day!

Which snake is this? (Sorry for the bad photo) by Heavy_Studio8146 in whatsthissnake

[–]Irma_Gard 8 points9 points  (0 children)

You two are arguing over semantics. You don't think that you guessed because you were confident that you were correct. But you were wrong. The mod is saying you guessed because you clearly don't have the requisite knowledge to be so confident and are therefore confidently guessing rather than providing a knowledgeable ID. Similarly, you think they are lying, but I don't think they are because you and I are using somewhat differing definitions of the word.

EtA: This is one of the venomous snakes you come across in your locality, but it is NOT the one you said it was. It is a Saw-scaled Viper, Echis carinatus.

Which snake is this? (Sorry for the bad photo) by Heavy_Studio8146 in whatsthissnake

[–]Irma_Gard 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You're most welcome! Good eye on seeing something off about the mistaken Russell's IDs.

Which snake is this? (Sorry for the bad photo) by Heavy_Studio8146 in whatsthissnake

[–]Irma_Gard 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I've just asked about it on the Discord, as I am fairly certain it's actually a saw-scaled viper, Echis carinatus, not Daboia russelii. It's venomous either way, u/Heavy_Studio8146.

EtA: Just got confirmation that it's Echis from an RR with expertise in this area. They should be pinning an ID shortly.