Snake - 1, Kobra - 0

D

devo55

Joined
Oct 15, 2004
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296
Just got back from a very quiet beach vacation on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. The house we rented is located about 9 miles north of Corolla if you are familiar with the area. The frogs making their night noises and the crashing of the surf are about the most commotion we had all week. Each day the wild horses of the area paid us a visit and gave us photo ops. The horses are descended from Spanish mustangs that were ship wrecked in the 1600's.

One day early in the evening my wife and I were having a drink on the third floor balcony when I spied a long black snake headed toward our pool. Instantly I realized why I had brought along a 18" Kobra on this trip and I raced to get the blade and ran to the pool area. The kids were close behind and I left the blade sheathed until I arrived at the pool. A stand-off ensued...me with Kobra in right hand and pool noodle in left. The 5 ft. long black snake didn't seem all that impressed and didn't give any ground...just rearing back making like he was ready to strike.

I gave him a jab with the pool noodle and he hit it hard. I could feel the stike telegraph up my arm and was glad the pool noodle was on the receiving end of that blow. Still poised with the freshly convexed Kobra in hand, the snake headed back from where he came. My boys hastened him along with a shower of stones.

I couldn't kill him. sigh. He had been in-between the pool fence and the concrete pool surface and in beheading him, the fence would have taken a blow as well. Or, the Kobra would have struck concrete after the snake, with a badly dinged edge the result. He probably wasn't venemous...another reason not to do him in. Still, it was nice to have the Kobra along on the trip. It would have been a great snake killer.

Any amateur herpitologists here in the Cantina? Probably a black racer snake??? He was all black and about 5 ft. in length.

Good to be home again and seeing the daily deals take place in the Cantina.

Jeff
 
I couldn't kill him. sigh. He had been in-between the pool fence and the concrete pool surface and in beheading him, the fence would have taken a blow as well. Or, the Kobra would have struck concrete after the snake, with a badly dinged edge the result. He probably wasn't venemous...another reason not to do him in. Still, it was nice to have the Kobra along on the trip. It would have been a great snake killer.

LOL, what a great story!!.

Glad you did not kill. :p
 
For what it's worth, when I lived in Georgia, I often times saw Highland Mocassins that were colored so dark they appeared black. Very agressive SOB's and quite venomous. Was chased by a couple when I was a kid.

Probably yer garden variety black snake though. (Black racer?)

Sounds like a fun trip, and a good time...imagine the boys thought the snake hunt experience was pretty darn cool.... :D
 
If he was very thin, he was probably a racer.

If he was very thick, he was probably a moccasin.

John, from the Deep South
 
Likely a racer, if it struck at the noodle. They're a tad agressive compared to a black rat snake or king snake.

Glad also you did not kill it. Snakes have their place in the ecosystem.

When I was a kid, every water snake was a "water moccasin" and killed (by other, more rotten kids) with rocks, bb guns, etc. Later found out no such lives north of some swamp in Virginia.

Hatred comes from fear, and fear from ignorance. Teach kids how to identify snakes, and they won't want to kill 'em out of hand.

Yes, I had pet snakes... trained to eat goldfish. You can train an Indigo snake to eat hot dogs...


Ad Astra ex serpentis vivo
 
I was having a lot of trouble with rats in my barn and then they all were gone.

This weekend my wife found a dead 7' blacksnake in the barn.

Don't know if he died of old age or if something killed him, no obvious marks but we did have a female muscovy duck who lost a couple chicks and she could have killed him by suffocation.

I was sad to see him go. Natural pest control.

One night I was milking and heard a commotion under the floor of my little room in my barn I milk in. I heard a duck screeching and then rolling into the creek and all kinds of thrashing around.

I got my light and went out to the creek bank and there was a mother muscovy duck dusting herself off and a 6' long black snake leaving. She had a nest under the room and apparently he had tried to steal her eggs. She attacked him and rolled about 6' downhill into the creek and had it out.Those muscovies are tough! I saw a young drake eat a 15" black snake once in about 3 gulps.
 
There are several possibilities... If the snake was really quick and slender, it's a good chance it was a black racer. The behavior of the encountered snakes suggests it was more likely a black rat snake... Black rat snakes are extremely common in North Carolina. I used to find them a lot iin Virginia, and they usually hold their ground, especially the specimens from 4'-7' in length. They can bite, but otherwise harmless, and are truly a friend of the farmers, considering the amount of mice and rats that they eat.

Kingsnakes are also very popular, and many forms of the eastern Kingsnake can be almost completely black, including the highly prized Lampropeltis getulus sticticeps, or Outer Banks Kingsnake. Many authorities don't accept the subspecies as being a distinct one, and include it among the getulus subspecies. They will usually escape rather than confront, given the chance, so I don't believe it was a Lampropeltis getulus...

It could have been a moccasin, but they are usually very, very stout, and the distinctive triangular head would be almost pathognomonic for the varieties of snakes found in the area. Their defensive posturing, showing a white lining of their open mouth when threatened would also have been well noted during the incident by the pool...

In any event, there is no need to kill any snake, unless you're placed in harm's way. It's easy to spot the venomous snakes in North America, and they'll usually leave you alone if you leave them alone. Many harmless and beneficial snakes are killed by the misinformed...
 
I don't think it was a water moccasin either. They tend to just keep their mouths gapped instead of striking at objects such as your pool noodle. The situation ended well for all involved IMO-no dinged blade or bad karma.

Bob
 
I killed a water snake in Pennsylvania when I was a kid, thinking it was a water moccasin. I felt guilty later when I found out that in probably wasn't one. We only have to worry about copperheads and eastern rattlers around here.
You made the right choice, yay for pool noodles. :)
 
Thanks for the input guys. I just knew someone here would be knowledgable about snakes. I'd guess racer or rat snake. He never opened his mouth like you say a moccasin would have. I'm glad I didn't kill him. A bit of karma was preserved. My wife, on the other hand, was rooting for a quick and fatal application of the 18" Kobra. The boys just thought it really cool to see a nice size snake. Maybe even cooler than seeing wild horses every day.

And, for the first time, it is comforting for some reason to take a big sharp "honking" blade on a road trip. Never know when zombies will show up at the beach. :D

Jeff
 
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