How to Identify Poisonous Snakes of North America

There are no simple rules to use to identify all of the poisonous snakes native to North America. There are some facts you can use to determine if a snake may be a dangerous species. But the best rule is if you don't know, leave it alone. They all have teeth and will bite if they need to, and after you're bitten its too late.

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Good Field Guide

1. 
   Rattler, Squaw Creek NWR

   One of the first things you should look at when coming upon a strange snake is the shape of its head. Most of North America's dangerous snakes have large triangular heads such as rattlers, moccasins, and copperheads. But there are exceptions which should be noted and that will be covered later. First, here are some facts about snakes in general. Snakes are cold blooded reptiles. This does not mean they are cold all the time, but that their body temp. is roughly the same as their surroundings. They cannot be active in very cold weather and during the coldest part of the year many will go into hibernation and become torpid. During the cooler periods of the day they will seek out warmth such as sunny areas. Likewise during periods of excessive heat they will seek cool areas in the shade. All snakes are carnivorous. Many prey on small mammals and are the best control we have on the rat and mouse populations. They can follow the rodents down to their nest and wipeout a whole generation at one meal. Most snakes are not aggressive toward man. While there are some that will stand their ground, most will run if given a chance. Venomous snake bites are not often fatal. If you think you have been bitten seek medical treatment at once, but don't cut at the wound or you may cause muscle damage. More people die in this country from lightening strikes than snake bites every year. How many people do you know that were hit by lightening last year?

2. 
   Western Timber Rattler, Tad20D

   Notice how the snake acts and whether or not it is aggressive. There are four major kinds of venomous snakes native to North America and these are divided into two types, pit vipers and coral snakes. The pit vipers have large, angular shaped heads and thick, stout bodies, they tend to stand their ground aggressively. This is the next thing to notice about any snake you come upon, how does it act. Many poisonous snakes will stand their ground and want you to leave as they coil up and possibly strike out at you. Pit vipers have fangs in the front of their mouths but none of our native ones spit venom. Their eyes have vertical, slit-like, pupils and they are classified as pit vipers because of the small, hollowed out, pits they have between the eye and nostril. These pits are heat sensing organs used to track prey in the dark. Body color and patterns alone, cannot be used to safely identify these snakes because they can vary from nearly solid black to shades of gray and brown with varying patterns.

3. 
   Cottonmouth and Young Moccasin, David Seerveld, Paulwolf

   Listen and watch for rattles on the tail and pits on the head. The pit vipers include: Cottonmouth moccasins, Copperheads, and Rattlesnakes. Which brings up the next thing to look for as you size up a snake, the presence or absence of rattles. Only found on poisonous snakes, rattlers have loose overlapping scales on their tails that when shaken make a buzzing noise and warn of their presence. Many non-venomous snakes will also rattle their tail and if they are in dry leaves a noise will be made. Rattlers can lose their rattles because they are the same material as finger nails and can break off. Hognose snakes and some water snakes, which are not poisonous, also have angular heads and can act aggressive if bothered. There are many species of rattlers and several different ones of moccasins and copperheads. I have included pictures of some species just to show how varied they are and to give some idea of their body types. But the only way to identify them for sure is to look for the pit, the pupil shape, and the scale layout on the body. You have to agree that you would have to get way to close to be able to do this safely.

4. 
   Top -Eastern Coral, Bottom - Scarlet King, David Seerveld

   You should look at body pattern and color lastly in order to identify the other kind of poisonous snakes native to the Americas, the Coral snakes. These are related to cobras and have small fangs in their mouth. They are an exception to the large head, heavy body rule. Coral snakes are small headed, and thin bodied, with rings of alternating colors going around their body. The colors of red, yellow, and black circle the body in a definite pattern of red-yellow-black-yellow-red-yellow.... with the red not touching the black. They also have a black nose and tend to be secretive. The coral snakes have round pupils and lacks pits. They are small snakes seldom bigger around than your index finger or more than 20 inches long.

5. 
   Western Rattler, Gary Stolz

   Learn the differences between Coral snakes and their look alikes. The scarlet milk snake and some of the king snakes, all non-venomous, have similar patterns to the coral snake, but the red and black, if present, touch each other. The old saying goes red touch yellow-kill a fellow, red touch black-ok jack. The width and brightness of the red rings varies with different species of coral snakes, from bright red to nearly black, and from over a half inch to a mere line in width.

6. 
   Pygmy Rattler, David Seerveld

   Get a good field guide because as you can see there are no definite rules when it comes to identifying poisonous snakes. Some have pits, some don't, some have large heads, some don't, some are aggressive and some are secretive, and there are many non-poisonous snakes with similar characteristics. Then there is the fact that some of the signs are so small, such as pupil shape and presents of pits, that you have to have the snake in hand to see them for sure. Your best bet is to get a good picture, field guide to study and learn what snakes live in your area and how to identify them. Please remember that snakes were also created by God, and they have just as much right to be here as we do.
   All content copyrighted by Aupoet.

Tips & Warnings

• Don't want snakes on your property then clean up their hideouts and food sources.
• Teach your children to practice snake safety rules -to leave them alone and that small(baby) and pretty snakes can still bite.

Resources

• AAAnimal Control Company in Orlando, FL.

[hazelknows]

on 1/4/2009 Wow you know your stuff . Good information and article.