What snake is that?
That question comes up more frequently, especially around this time of year. Snakes are very active right now, and they start showing up more often in mid- and late-summer.
This past week, I removed a five-foot black rat snake that someone ran over on the road in front of my house. The week before, I captured one in my driveway and released it out back in the woods.
I understand that most people probably don’t want to get close enough to a snake to identify it; they just want it out of their sight. I’ll admit, however, that ever since I was just a kid, I was fascinated by snakes, and I would frequently go out hunting for them just for fun.
Fortunately, most of our snakes are harmless, but as most people know, we do have a few venomous species in certain areas of the state.
Our venomous snakes are the Eastern Copperhead, the Timber Rattlesnake in two color phases — the black and yellow phase and the Eastern Massasauga. The Timber Rattlesnake and the Copperhead are found throughout most of the state, but the Eastern Massasauga is fairly rare. It is found only in a small portion of northwestern Pennsylvania.
Not that most people are ever going to get close enough to know, but our venomous snakes have certain characteristics that set them apart from the nonvenomous snakes. Venomous snakes will have an elliptical pupil instead of a round pupil, and they will have a pit near the eye. On venomous snakes, the underside of the tail, the scales are in one row, but a double row of scales is visible on the nonvenomous snakes. Obviously, rattlesnakes have rattles; copperheads do not. Venomous snakes have a more flattened, triangular-shaped head, but some nonvenomous snakes may display a flattened head.
There are 18 nonvenomous snakes in Pennsylvania; I’ve already mentioned the black rat snake at the beginning of this piece; it’s a uniform black with faint traces of a spotted pattern and a lighter throat. A very similar snake is the Northern Black Racer, but it is more plain black above and below with some white on the chin area.
I don’t have room here to describe and talk about all the other snakes, but another that you are likely to encounter is the Eastern Milk snake. This snake is sometimes mistaken for a copperhead since it has the reddish-brown blotches going down its back. It is frequently found around barns and other buildings in search of prey.
Another fairly common snake is the Northern Water snake. This snake, too, is sometimes confused with our venomous snakes because of the pattern down its length. As the name implies, this snake prefers to hang out near water and is often seen swimming. On almost every creek I have fished around here, I have encountered water snakes often swimming very close by. They will sometimes dive beneath the surface and can stay submerged for up to 60 minutes.
Another snake that is sometimes confused for a venomous snake because of its color pattern is the Eastern Hog-Nosed snake. This snake has an upturned snout, no doubt resulting in its name. The Eastern Hog-Nosed snake is also known for playing dead sometimes when you try to pick it up; it simply goes limp.
Some other snakes that you are likely to encounter are the very common Eastern Garter snake, a Queen snake, an Eastern Ribbon snake, Kirtland’s snake, Dekay’s Brown snake, a Red-bellied snake, and one that I haven’t seen for some time, the Smooth Green snake.
I know snakes aren’t a highly prized critter to have crawling around your yard or driveway, but for the most part, they serve a positive role. If, by chance, you want to be able to identify snakes that you see, you should get Reptiles and Amphibians by Peterson Field Guides.
