OMG!!! KILL IT!!! KILL IT!!!KILL IT!!!...or not!

[Porter Rockwell]

Really awesome pictures!

 

[jloneill17]

I love having them around. I think I've pulled this same snake out of my garage a few times over the past few years but I can't be sure. He didn't mind being handled at all and wasn't overly alarmed at my presence. After I finished the photos, I pulled him out straight to check him for ticks, none found, to estimate size...about 5 1/2 feet, and to just enjoy handling him awhile. He seemed accustomed to being handled. I never pinned his head and he never tried to bite me.

you got more guts than i do bro. I'm not handling any snakes.

 

[RdKill]

you got more guts than i do bro. I'm not handling any snakes.

naaa It's nothing to do with guts because they don't trigger any anxiety or fear with me. It takes guts for someone to overcome a fear. Not having any fear of them, It takes no more guts for me to pick up a snake than it would for you to pick up a ball point pen (*which in America kills roughly 10 times more people than snakes do) I've been keeping them as pets, catching and studying them since I was 8 (I'm 49 now). I've done reptile rescue/rehab for over 25 years or so. To me, they are just interesting little animals. Familiarity makes all the difference with any animal. Someone that doesn't go in the ocean much may freak out when they spot a shark. A seasoned diver used to seeing them will just think..."COOL a shark!"

*about 10-12 deaths from snakebite annually in the US v/s around 100 deaths annually from choking to death on the little plug in the back of bic pens.

 

[Shovelhead]

Do black snakes constrict prey and of course same question when they tangle with a Copperhead or Rattler? I dont care for snakes but I usually just stand still and let them mosey away.....

 

[RdKill]

black ratsnakes are constrictors. They kill by biting and wrapping around to suffocate prey. Like a boa or python, each breath the animal takes, triggers the snake to tighten it's coils till the animal can no longer breathe. Black racers and indigos do not constrict. They just grab and eat while they are still squirming. They may shake and smash against the ground or a rock though. Indigos have a violent and forceful strike when taking prey. They can decapitate a decent size snake with one bite. Black racers, indigos and kingsnakes will eat any species including their own and including venomous...though racers usually eat more skinks and other lizards or frogs from what I've witnessed. Black ratsnakes don't typically prey on other snakes but I'm sure it happens. Kingsnakes (also black in this part of country) eat mainly other snakes including venomous. Kingsnakes are also constrictors and when they eat a snake, they do constrict it and wrap around down the length of the body like a noose. It's well documented that black ratsnakes will often den up through the cold months with copperheads and rattlesnakes or other species....doesn't seem to matter to them where they get warm.