Big old black racer. Dang near 5', I didn't know they got this big. In the swamp that is now part of the SR434 extension.
I love my job!
Last Sunday, I found one in my back yard on my pool deck, about 3' long.
I find an average of 2-3 a month in my yard.
If my wife doesn't see them, I just relocate them to a nearby vacant lot and don't mention it... 😉
If she sees them, then it's "dead snake walking"... 😐
Nice un!
It is not the snakes I see that scare me, I can navigate around them. It is the one's that you never seen that keep me on my toes.
I remember I was doing some recon one day, looking for signs of old fence or marks on trees. I put my hand on a large pine and circled around the tree only to find a black snake on the side of the tree. He had climbed up to find a sunny spot. He was just clinging to the bark, not draped over a limb or anything, just right there on the side at face level. It was quite a surprise to come face to face like that. I never knew they could do that.
This was in out back yard this morning. The puppy decided it was interesting enough to eat! Needless to say we didn't see it until after the fact.
Let's just say it didn't set with him well:-(
A five-foot black snake is common around here. Six-footers are seen from time to time. Seven-footers have been reported, but, I've not seen one.
One of my early memories is calling Mom out into the yard to look at a black snake crawling straight up the side of one of the two big cedar trees in our front yard. It had big bumps every few inches. Mom explained it must have just come from our chicken house and had been swallowing eggs.
I get black snakes here a lot. One morning tho, I was crossing under the fence on the south side of my property and encountered a snake I had never seen before. I knew it was poisonous but I didn't identify it right away. After a little time on the internet it was indentified as a western cottonmouth. Gets your blood pressure up in a hurry.:-)
Robert
Based on your avatar photo I can understand why you would go 'under' a fence. I normally go 'over' a fence.
Robert
I normally go over a fence also. This one just happens to be on a steep incline, and they way it was put up it's easier to go under it.:-)
My father always referred to black racers as "coach whips".
He would grab them by their tail and crack them like a whip.
We raised chickens and various types of snake were regular victims around our farm.
