How long does it take for a snake skin to lose all visibility of color & pattern after it is shed? I am just curious. I was working on cleaning out an overgrown corner of my back yard today & decided to get an old plastic sandbox leaned against the shed & take it to the front yard. My wife wanted me to clean it up so we can use it for my son in the front yard. We can't leave it in the back because my old Australian Shepard mix insists on peeing on it every time he is near it. So I got it & the lid for it which was laying on the ground next to it. I was careful as I always am when picking something like this up to pull the far side of whatever it is towards me so if something is underneath I can let the lid/object fall back on top of what is underneath if necessary. So anyway I picked it up & drug it to the front yard. Threw down both parts & grabbed the hose. That is when I saw the shed skin stuck on the underside of the lid. I brought the kids out to see it as I have been trying to get them to think about how they pick things up in the yard. My oldest girl noticed you could still see the pattern on the skin. It obviously came from a copperhead. I killed one in the back about a month or so ago so I know they are around. I should have took a pic but I wasn't thinking about it & scrubbed it off with an old broom. First time I have seen a skin with a recognizable pattern on it.
Silly Snake Skin Question-Update:Found Another Snake
- Thread starter Mike J
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BearBio
Buckeye
It varies. If it was sheltered and damp, it coulda been there for a month or more. Shed in one piece or patches? Patches would indicate the snake was pretty dry when it shed. I suppose soil chemistry, etc could play a part also.
Yes, it was sheltered & damp. The sand box is one of those green plastic turtles like Wal Mart sells. The lid was sitting flat on the ground (basically a plastic dome). My oldest girl tried to pull the skin off where it was stuck to the plastic & said,"Ugh, gross, it's wet." right before she threw the piece of it she had down. The soil is typical of this area. It is red Georgia clay. I was just surprised you could still tell what it was. I have found a lot of shed skins but they are usually dried out with no color.
I still don't know how long the snake skin had been there but I just killed another copperhead in that same general area. Turned over an old firepot thing that was laying upside down on the ground & he was under it. I'm beginning to wonder how many more of these I"m going to run across cleaning this area out.
Viking Queen
Blackhawk
Sheesh! Gives me the shivers thinking about finding these critters. Bet this one has a nice bright skin. Were you able to salvage the skin?
You take care now..... We don't need a horror story here.
Viking Queen
You take care now..... We don't need a horror story here.
Viking Queen
Happy to report that we have a black 'rat' snake living in our attic and it seems to have survived the construction to put the Master Bedroom back... My wife discovered a baby king snake on our front porch on Monday and shooed it off into the bushes before the cat saw it.
blume357 said:
I've seen 2 rat snakes this year. The first my wife was standing in the open back door fussing at the dogs for barking the said, "and there's a snake right there, Michael!!!"
It was coiled up facing the dogs right in front of her feet on the back porch. I chunked some rocks at it to make it go on. I didn't want to hurt it.
The second was small. It was laying next to one of the crossties next to the driveway where I couldn't see it. I stepped next to it & it skittered off.
This is the first year we have seen the poisonous ones.
Poisonous ones?
Black snakes, like most snakes are not poisonous... even though you don't want to get bitten by any snake....
We have lots of copperheads around here and so a King snake is very welcome.
My brothers imported King snakes to our family pond to hopefully reduce the population of Water Moccasins.
Maybe Contender will chime in... he's the regional expert.
Black snakes, like most snakes are not poisonous... even though you don't want to get bitten by any snake....
We have lots of copperheads around here and so a King snake is very welcome.
My brothers imported King snakes to our family pond to hopefully reduce the population of Water Moccasins.
Maybe Contender will chime in... he's the regional expert.
blume357 said:
I was referring to the two copperheads I have killed this year when I mentioned the poisonous ones. I don't mind the black snakes. A king snake would be welcomed but I haven't seen any around here though there very well may be.
rugerjunkie
Buckeye
Found this in a rock wall along the side of the house today. Not sure how long its been there because ive been gone for over a week. You can still see a bit of color and a good pattern. Im guessing its from a black snake. Seen one earlier this summer out back that was burrowed into my pile of cedar chips. He was around the 5 foot mark. As long as I never find one actually in the house im fine with them being around.
We have copperheads around the lake here but i have never seen one around my place. I have heard the black snakes will go after other snakes and maybe that helps. Anyone know if thats true about them feeding on other species of snakes?
We have copperheads around the lake here but i have never seen one around my place. I have heard the black snakes will go after other snakes and maybe that helps. Anyone know if thats true about them feeding on other species of snakes?
