I think my husband might have sideswiped this rat snake as he was pulling down the driveway.
Lacking experience with snakes I though it was shedding, but have been informed that it is injured.
it is obviously uncomfortable on the hot driveway. I covered it with a storage container to keep it cool, but don’t know where to go from here.
Shot iwth Olympus em1iii and Olympus 40-150 f/2.8.
Poor snake! Is there a local wildlife control or rehabilitation you can call?
I have spoken to a wildlife rehabilitator who looked at the image and said the injury was severe and that the creature should be euthanized by a vet, or I could pick him up with a towel and put him in a fridge for a couple of days and then the freezer for a few days after which I should bury him. That seemed to be a plan I could follow. (When I told him the snake was keeping its mouth open he suggested that was because he was probably having difficulty breathing because of internal injuries, so putting him out of his misery would be a good idea.)
It is kind of you to be so considerate about the unfortunate animal.
Thank you, Scruffy. I don’t like to see animals suffer.
Handsome snake. Getting thru life is a tough job, for all; however long we manage.
Thanks for being considerate.
‘Strength’ is not about what is conquered, rather about what is protected.
Thx
Yuri
Thank you for the kind words, Yuri.
Nice photo, Isabel. Although I’m like Indiana Jones. …“I hate like snakes. It scares the hell out of me”… They startle me when I see a photo. Not to mention when I encounter one in the wild. I think is some kind of phobia that I developed when very young. I remember I saw a book from a doctor friend of my dad’s, it was named Venomous Snakes from Venezuela, and it wasn’t really a book about snakes, but about the injuries from snake bites. It was like watching a terror movie. It made a huge impression in my mind that I still carry today. I was like 10, and I’m 57, so imagine that.
Is that a dekay’s brown snake? He may have been basking on the nice warm driveway and didn’t notice it was becoming a freeway. That’s a good photo and taken much closer than I would have gotten. (I cannot watch that snake scene in the Indiana Jones movie…)
I shot it with my Olympus 40-150 f/2.8 lens. Wasn’t all that close, but these snakes don’t scare me at all.
As far as I know it is a harmless rat snake. I’m afraid my husband didn’t notice it on the driveway as he was pulling down on it. At first when I saw the injury I thought it was shedding its skin but I was set straight by people who know more about snakes than I do.
Poor thing is in my freezer now, awaiting a proper burial. It was too injured to save.
That’s a black rat snake, a constrictor that primarily feeds on small rodents: mice, rats, chipmunks and the like. Although snakes can survive some pretty horrific injuries, if it was run over there were probably multiple broken ribs and punctured lungs which usually prove fatal.
Thanks for your confirmation of the ID.
You are a better person than I am. I am phobic when it comes to snakes
They are really quite beautiful and amazing creatures. The only one I have to worry about here in western North Carolina is the copperhead.
I just had a bad experience when I was a child.
Totally understandable.
Sorry that happened to you.
