Things that go SLITHER in the night

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hobkyl
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I was out in Sodus at my brothers Saturday evening when my niece screams bloody murder. It was about 10pm. We run over to where she was in the yard and she points down towards what at first looks to be nothing more than a stick. Upon closer inspection...
Arcadia-20110423-00177.jpg

10pm, 50 degrees and this guy/gal is hanging out? My guess is that it was spooked from its den by a predator. Very docile or perhaps dazed. We moved it across the road with the help of a stick, and it didnt strike or attempt to do anything.

Is this a milk snake?
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Brenda
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Yes, it's a milk snake. It was docile because it's ectothermic, and it just plain couldn't move any faster because it was 50 degrees out. :lol: I've found snakes at this time of the year that you would have thought for sure were dead, until you place them in the sun for a bit and they have a chance to warm up. That one may have been out cruising around during the warmer daytime temps, and it was working its way back to cover. Great find (and thanks for not letting anyone hurt it--I know that was difficult)!
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hobkyl
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It was a pretty cool sight. Never seen a snake at night. Why would you think we'd want to harm it?
“There’s an inconsequentiality to our lives that living in the wilderness shows up. Mountain are real, they set their limits, they set ours. They expose us, make us vulnerable and strong at the same time. “
--Alison Wat




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Matt
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Kyle, I get a lot of messages from people (because of our snake ID page) that kill first, identify later. Most of those cases are milk snakes because they look so foreign.
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hobkyl
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Well Id hope you guys "know" me by now. The only reason why Id harm an animal or let others, would be if someones health or life was in immediate danger. But more often than not by backing off and just letting it be...it will go about its business and the situation is avoided. Its unfortunate that others kill first and ask later. I've never seen a dire situation where a snake posed a serious threat to a human...that would justify taking its life. I actually felt bad for the snake...since it was so docile...I imagine that it became somethings dinner that night.
“There’s an inconsequentiality to our lives that living in the wilderness shows up. Mountain are real, they set their limits, they set ours. They expose us, make us vulnerable and strong at the same time. “
--Alison Wat




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Brenda
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hobkyl wrote:It was a pretty cool sight. Never seen a snake at night. Why would you think we'd want to harm it?
I didn't think that you'd want to harm it. I just know from previous posts that you really don't care much for snakes, so I'm assuming that to actually pick it up and make sure that it was safe was not an easy task. As Matt said, many people (members of my own family included) have a "knee jerk" reaction when it comes to snakes.
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Matt
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I know you wouldn't, just letting you in on what I have to deal with when i see the e-mail subject line "What snake is this...?" in my mailbox every week... 9 times out of 10 it's a dead milk snake...lol
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