Help: What kind of snake is this?
 

I found it on my back deck right by the door. Step one was to smash it. I then took a camera phone pic (sorry about the quality). Then, dispose in the woods. So, what is it?

trouser

:oOpps. A picture would help huh?
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1286072537.jpg

Copperhead.

nah, that's a gopher snake.

ok, i backpedal. its a corn snake.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1286073313.jpg

pretty sure it's a copperhead...they are pretty common in the mountains of North Ga/Tn

look at the bands in the original photo. they don't go all the way around the snake.

also, the body of the copperhead is much heavier, much like a rattlesnake.

Hmm, I'm not sure it's a gopher snake, it looks more like a rat snake to me.

http://www.wildlifemanagementpro.com...t-snake-04.jpg

http://www.scserp.com/SCSPhotoGaller...uvenile001.jpg

Well I can see some real expertise is required here.

That is a.......................


Dead snake.

Tomorrow, go look at the eyes...if the pupils are round, it's non-venemous. If they are slitted, it's a copperhead...Fangs will give it away also.

Main thing is to know how to recognize a pit viper from the shape of the head. They're pretty hard to miss.

Spot on.

It's definitely not a Copperhead.

Joe, if you still live in TN, it's not a Gopher Snake because their natural habitat doesn't extend to TN.

If it was less than a foot and a half long, it was a juvenile Black Rat Snake (they turn almost completely black as they get older/larger):
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1286089209.jpg

If it was longer than that, it was probably a corn snake and your cell phone is just not picking up the orange-rust color that is normally in those splotches:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1286089396.jpg

Thanks for all the info. I am still in TN. I would say that the color in the photo is pretty close to what I saw and I am not color blind to cream or tan. It was only a foot long or so. You can get an idea from the deck plank it was sitting on.
RPKESQ is spot on, its dead and gone! As a rule, IMO the only good snakes are dead ones so I am not going to get down and check out the shape of the eyes or check for fangs. Unfortunately, since it was at my deck door in the late afternoon with only the sliding screen in place and I like my house so it had to die (if the wife saw it we've have had a for sale sign up before dawn). I just needed to know if I need to be concerned about a more serious danger to the family.

had that same exact snake the other day...our neighborhood herpatologist declared it as a black racer snake baby.

well, if you kill all snakes, then you are killing the snakes that are harmless to humans, but kill and eat poisonous snakes...

I understand the concept of "good" snakes but when they climb up onto my back deck and are 1/2 inch from being inside the house they become dead. Ain't no "good" snakes in the house. Plus, remember, the wife...

Ya, uhhh, not a copperhead.
Rat Snake.