cool big black snake on porch

GingerLove

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Wow, just caught up on this thread. When I see a black snake in my backyard, my first thought is "Agh, kill it!!", but your devotion and care is inspiring nonetheless. ;) Glad you three are friends. :)
 

Loohan

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Guess what i found in my crawl space today:

Fredskin9.16b.jpg
Fredskin9.16.jpg
Fredskin9.16a.jpg
 

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Yvonne G

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Wow! That's one BIG snake skin.
 

Loohan

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Well, it's a warm spring day, and i just saw Fred for the first time this year:

Fred4.12.17.jpg

But that's not all.
On the 4th (i think it was) which was also warm, i saw Angie at least 3 times. One of those times she was completely out and sprawled on the wooden steps. Unfortunately i needed to come up those steps to get in the house, and no matter how unthreatening i tried to be, she scurried off into her hole. However, leaving a couple feet of tail sticking out vulnerably for some time.

Also there is a new guy i saw at the same time. A couple times he was poking out the right hole while Angie was poking out the left. They look about the same, but i can recognize who's who, don't ask me how.
I call the new guy Sam, and he is not afraid to hang out partially extruded from the hole, but hasn't shown more than a foot or so of length yet. Here is a pic from the 4th, but i also saw him again earlier today.

Sam4.4.17.jpg

The next few days are supposed to be warm as well...
 

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Pearly

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Well, it's a warm spring day, and i just saw Fred for the first time this year:

View attachment 204638

But that's not all.
On the 4th (i think it was) which was also warm, i saw Angie at least 3 times. One of those times she was completely out and sprawled on the wooden steps. Unfortunately i needed to come up those steps to get in the house, and no matter how unthreatening i tried to be, she scurried off into her hole. However, leaving a couple feet of tail sticking out vulnerably for some time.

Also there is a new guy i saw at the same time. A couple times he was poking out the right hole while Angie was poking out the left. They look about the same, but i can recognize who's who, don't ask me how.
I call the new guy Sam, and he is not afraid to hang out partially extruded from the hole, but hasn't shown more than a foot or so of length yet. Here is a pic from the 4th, but i also saw him again earlier today.

View attachment 204643

The next few days are supposed to be warm as well...
Wow! Your snake group is growing!!!! I have missed your "Fred and Angie" stories!
 

GingerLove

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Well, it's a warm spring day, and i just saw Fred for the first time this year:

View attachment 204638

But that's not all.
On the 4th (i think it was) which was also warm, i saw Angie at least 3 times. One of those times she was completely out and sprawled on the wooden steps. Unfortunately i needed to come up those steps to get in the house, and no matter how unthreatening i tried to be, she scurried off into her hole. However, leaving a couple feet of tail sticking out vulnerably for some time.

Also there is a new guy i saw at the same time. A couple times he was poking out the right hole while Angie was poking out the left. They look about the same, but i can recognize who's who, don't ask me how.
I call the new guy Sam, and he is not afraid to hang out partially extruded from the hole, but hasn't shown more than a foot or so of length yet. Here is a pic from the 4th, but i also saw him again earlier today.

View attachment 204643

The next few days are supposed to be warm as well...
Those are really great pictures, by the way. It must have let you get close! Let's just say I'm glad he's in your lawn and not mine. ;)
 

MPRC

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Look at the milky eye, he's about to shed. If he doesn't have a good moist spot to soak you might toss him a kitty litter pan or something in a hidden spot for him to soak. We used to have gopher snakes in our decorative creek between ponds when they were about to shed.
 

Loohan

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Look at the milky eye, he's about to shed. If he doesn't have a good moist spot to soak you might toss him a kitty litter pan or something in a hidden spot for him to soak. We used to have gopher snakes in our decorative creek between ponds when they were about to shed.

Oh, that's not a nicty membrane?
There are several stock tanks full of water very close. Reference the earlier vid taken of him returning from one. But i'll put a tote with some water under those steps.
 

MPRC

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Snakes don't have any eyelids at all. They "go blue" due to the top eyelid scale separating from the new scale underneath. They are usually more moody around this time because they can't see as well. If he acts more flighty don't take it personally. And i forgot about the stock tanks, I'm sure he's totally fine.
 

Loohan

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Ha, well he was not flighty but eventually slunk back in his hole.
I realized too late why. I had harvested a bucket of leeks and was cleaning them for drying. Handy stock tank to rinse them in, mulch pile for discarding the greens, stairsteps for a towel to put the clean pieces on, a snake to keep me company... he had been on the ledge to the right of the stairs a long time.
But then the harsh onion smell must have driven him away.
 

MPRC

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Ha, well he was not flighty but eventually slunk back in his hole.
I realized too late why. I had harvested a bucket of leeks and was cleaning them for drying. Handy stock tank to rinse them in, mulch pile for discarding the greens, stairsteps for a towel to put the clean pieces on, a snake to keep me company... he had been on the ledge to the right of the stairs a long time.
But then the harsh onion smell must have driven him away.

It might drive me away too! :p
 

Loohan

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Fred5.3.17.jpg

Here's the big guy with his new skin.
Subsequent to my last post, i saw him a couple days, lazing for hours in the warmth with blue, blue eyes. He did not seem shy at all. Then i did not see him again until just now.
But now he is out there on a cool, overcast day. Or he was until a few minutes ago. Now there is thunder approaching.
I don't think i've seen any of these snakes out on a cool day before.
 

Momof4

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Oh my, if I was surrounded by snakes and finding skin in the house I would be freaking out and wouldn't be able to sleep in my own bed!!

I really admire you for hanging with them. I know some of you are jealous of her friends but I just don't have it in me:(
I don't mind a big snake in a controlled environment. I would pet it but It's the wild ones you gotta watch out for!
For some reason I just had to zoom in on those eyes! They are creepy cool to me but I just might have nightmares tonight so I'm leaving and looking at cute animals that make me smile so it's the last thing my brain sees.

Oh I'll be back to check on them. I do love the stories!
 

Loohan

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Not a good video. I caught the action too late. I hadn't seen the snakes in several days. Yesterday i saw Sam (my #3 black snake) briefly before he scuttled back down the hole.
But this morning, i saw a NEW real BIG snake twice on my steps. Each time, it immediately ran back in the hole. It seems about as big as Fred, but has browner skin.

Then a bit later, as i noisily stepped out the door, 2 snakes came running back from the east side of the house, zipped by me and slithered back in the hole. Well, Sam actually stayed outside on the ledge.
They were intertwined the whole time they were racing along! Somehow.
I will call the new one Betsy. Looks like Betsy and Sam are an item.
I wish i had gotten the camera started a couple seconds earlier.
 

Link

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there is warmth(rocks hold heat from sun for days, even overcast days....and there's food there getting warm too.... maybe rodents, moles, ground squirrels, mice, something good to eat he says. kinda looks like a black kingsnakes we have in ga, the one my neighbor was going to kill. these are the good guys very cool snakes. View attachment 174311FEEDING HABITS: Black kingsnakes are active almost exclusively by day, but are most active in the morning during the summer. They are strong constrictors and consume a variety of prey including snakes, lizards, rodents, birds, and turtle eggs. Kingsnakes are resistant to the venom of pit-vipors and they readily eat copperheads, cottonmouths, and rattlesnakes.
I agreed with you his size makes me believe he is a king snake. Very good snake to keep around. He eats the venomous snakes :)
 

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