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Michael
Silver Member

Reged: 05/26/05
Posts: 118
Loc: Collins MS
Snake question
      04/10/07 12:29 PM

Yesterday, while doing some brush hogging, I happened upon two residents of the no-legged variety. Both with obvious triangular (venomous) heads and as the tractor tire hit one he did not hesitate to strike with a very open and fang bearing mouth. They both looked like eastern diamondback rattlers but had no rattles or buttons. My question is when do rattlers develop rattles or buttons? Both snakes were about 18-24 inches in length and pretty thick in diameter. They could be immature and the size threw me as I have a commercial poultry farm and rats and mice are plentiful so they could just be fat young snakes. I am no stranger to all varieties of snakes in South MS but these really have me puzzled. I spoke to my dad who, like me, has spent most of his life outdoors and he said copperhead. I told him that I know what a copperhead looks like and this morning he came to the farm and I showed him the chopped up remains of one and he agrees that it is marked like a rattler but the absence or rattles is confusing. All help is appreciated.

You ARE a redneck if... you knew someone whose last words were "Hey y'all, watch this!"

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weldingisfun
Member

Reged: 12/18/06
Posts: 26
Loc: SW Bell County, Texas
Re: Snake question new [re: Michael]
      04/10/07 02:07 PM

Could it have been a water mocassin?

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jimbrown
Gold Member

Reged: 08/06/04
Posts: 385
Loc: Tombstone, AZ
Re: Snake question new [re: Michael]
      04/10/07 02:16 PM Attachment

Eastern diamond backs ae born alive with a button rattle.
Look here. http://www.envenomated.com/readarticle.php?article_id=17

Here is a pic of a snake often confused with rattle snake but it is not.

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LazyJ_Arabians
Gold Member

Reged: 09/16/02
Posts: 343
Loc: Central Arkansas
Re: Snake question new [re: jimbrown]
      04/10/07 03:19 PM Attachment

We have alot of Diamondback Water Snakes around my place. Diamond-shaped head and muted rattlesnake markings. This one got way too close to my house, note the cool divot the 12g left in the gravel.

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Michael
Silver Member

Reged: 05/26/05
Posts: 118
Loc: Collins MS
Re: Snake question new [re: weldingisfun]
      04/10/07 03:57 PM

By water moccasin, I'm guessing that you are talking about a cottonmouth. They were definitely not cottonmouths. I'll going to keep looking and maybe get apic of the next one as I have about 20 acres left to go.

You ARE a redneck if... you knew someone whose last words were "Hey y'all, watch this!"

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Michael
Silver Member

Reged: 05/26/05
Posts: 118
Loc: Collins MS
Re: Snake question new [re: Michael]
      04/10/07 04:25 PM

After going to enature.com and putting in my zip code, I may have misspoken in my "it's not a cottonmouth statement". The pic of their cottonmouth looks a lot like my visitors. However all of the cottonmouths that I have ever dealt with have had a very blunt tail and were a very drab almost black color. My farm is 10 miles north of where I grew up, could 10 miles make that much difference in the markings?

You ARE a redneck if... you knew someone whose last words were "Hey y'all, watch this!"

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