Maggie's Farm

James, Atlantic coastal rat snakes mature into what most folks call simply black snakes. The young seldom have as much color as BD's snake, mostly just dark and light grays and tans, the same with Black Racers. Juvenile Northern Water Snakes can look much like that one but there's the question of habitat. And a water snake probably would have been trying to eat the photographer.

To confuse the issue, I had a large Hognose this spring that looked like the snake in the pic until it spread its head when I reached for it.

To further complicate the id, assuming that's a nominal 4x4 the snake could be a juvenile rat or racer. But I say Milk.

I say Eastern Milk Snake with a high degree of confidence. Don't expect the next one you see to look exactly the same, they're highly variable and to confuse the issue the young of a few other snakes you have in Conn look very much like milk snakes but mature to very different colorations.

We've probably beaten that snake enough but . the deer flies, in swarms of biblical or sci-fi movie proportions, have driven me inside so I'll revise and extend my remarks.

I'm not a snake pro, just a guy who lives, works and recreates in the Jersey Pine Barrens. But I've worked with many herpetologists on environmental impact statements and studies and tagged along on transects and den visits to learn a few tricks of the trade. One thing I noticed is they aren't quick to judge at a glance, not all individual snakes are exactly as the books describe, especially juveniles, so they look closely, sometimes at the scales or in the mouth with a magnifying glass before giving it a positive id.

I believe Scarlets are rare as hen's teeth in Conn and Corns are seldom seen, preferring instead to stay not just hidden but underground. I couldn't see it in the pic but a Milk should have an easily noticeable Y or V near its head. But not every one. They're a common barnyard snake that eats mice and rats and do quite well in suburbia living in foundation plantings eating those cute chipmunks and keeping voles and moles under control.

For some reason I don't understand some people prefer to think that common snake in their yard must be one that's rare or deadly. Maybe it's akin to wanting to see a UFO or believing a mountain lion lives in that patch of woods around the retention basin behind the cul-de-sac in their development. We have plenty of rattlers but not where those folks claim to see them and and any snake that's color can be called copperish is automatically a copperhead. We have zero here but don't bother trying to tell them that.