Snakes in upstate NY

aquadonkey

aquadonkey

New member
I feel like we have some experts here - anyone care to share some knowledge, or a good website?
I'm a little concerned about disturbing these guys now that the leaf-covering is so thick. Any advice? I'm mostly worried about hurting them, but also want to make sure my dog is safe. Any particular snake I should steer clear of?
Disturbed this one on my run yesterday - no casualties :) pretty sure this guy is harmless, - I see them frequently at the wet-lands (in Rochester off of Empire near McGregors).

snake.jpg
 
yea that's just a garter snake...super common.

rarely people come across rattlers but not enough that it should worry you or the canines!
 
i spend most weekends in the woods with my dogs. never think twice about snakes. timber rattlers are the only one's that you need to steer clear of. i've never seen one in close to 40 years.
 
block head said:
i spend most weekends in the woods with my dogs. never think twice about snakes. timber rattlers are the only one's that you need to steer clear of. i've never seen one in close to 40 years.
Click to expand...

Close to 40 years = you're almost 40 and have never seen one, or you saw one 40 years ago??
I just spent the second half of our run yesterday calculating exactly how far I would be able to carry my dog and how long it would take to get to the nearest vet.
Yes..... sadly, I'm a bit paranoid when it comes to my puppy.
 
there are no snakes native to this area that you need to fear on your jogs.
Escapees are another story :)

While we're on thie subject of snakes....

did anybody else hear about the 15' Eastern Diamondback supposedly found in Florida?
 
Years ago when I lived ( for 23 yrs) in Fairport/Rochester Ny I got bit by a Northern Water Snake at Letchworth state park. Last time I bothered one of them and luckily it was not poisonous but defensive only. I never saw any poisonous ones while living there and camping in all areas of the state.
I moved to NC and have seen numerous ones here
 
yes had some friends who live in Canton Texas send me an email with pics of the rattler. I would post pics but can figure out how to post them from the email here is what they said in the email....

15 foot Eastern Diamondback rattlesnake. Largest ever caught on record.
After seeing this, I did a little research, and learned the following:
One bite from a snake this large contains enough venom to kill over 40 full grown men.
The head alone is larger than the hand of a normal sized man.
This snake was probably alive when George H. W. Bush was President.
A bite from those fangs would equal being penetrated by two 1/4 inch screwdrivers.
A snake this size could easily swallow a 2 year-old child.
A snake this size has an approximately 5 and 1/2 foot accurate striking distance. (The distance for an average size Rattlesnake is about 2 feet)

Judging by the size of the snake, it is estimated to weigh over 170 pounds. How much do you weigh?
 
that's the rattler I was mentioning!

that's the rattler I was mentioning!

fwiw the water snake Phyxius mentioned is probably the "nastiest" snake native to our area. I used to keep one as a pet. They usually hang out very close to water. You can often see them hanging out at fish hatchery runways because they eat baby trout and salmon.
 
Not feeling better at all.
I wasn't scared of snakes until I saw this rattle snake....

Also - :(
Here's another snake we've (by we I mean my dog and I) seen on our travails.
Looks a lot like the northern water snake....

nws.jpg
 
I used to hunt for snakes in WNY all day, every day, all summer when I was a kid... As others have attested to, I never saw a single timber rattler, and I spent a of a lot of time looking (probably a good thing). Water snakes were a good wrestle and worthy of a young boys undivided attention... I've bled many times as a boy form those formidable foes...

That 15 foot rattler is sick...
 
Every once in a while I run over some snakes with the mower. We get some pretty big milk snakes out here.

I once heard a story that there were rattlers in Spencer park (overlooks Honeoye Lake) under someones grandfather's tent in the winter I've never seen or heard them myself. This could be a story that's been stretched some.
 
years ago a herp guy at the sportman's show told us that of the small handful of people killed each year by rattle snakes almost all get the proper medical attention its just that the snake and the amount of venom it injected was so large anti-venom didn't help. I don't know how true that is, but it sounds about right. I'm down here in the Catskill area; my hay man's helper said he had just seen a rattle snake near the hospital; when I asked the 60 yo farmer if he had ever seen one his answer was "no" My favorite snake I find around my place is at the most 9" long having a yellow ring by its head is steal gray and super docile.
 
Here are what the eastern milk snakes look like around my house, I don't know if this is what you saw or not:

Milk4.jpg
 
Nothing is cooler then feeding pet water snakes gold fish. I had a nice habitat set up for them where it was half water and half dry land. It looked like something out of a horror movie. Nothing but gold glittering the water when all was done. LOL. I have had way too many snakes including rattlers and vipers as pets. Looking back that was stupid but, so was I.
 
ditto that experience!

ditto that experience!

I used to feed my water snake fish purchased from Rochester Hollowgrinder- a bait store down by Stutson Street Bridge.
It's very kewl to watch one of these snakes take down a fish and eat it.
The wetlands area around Empire is prime habitat for the type of snake seen in Lizz's picture.

Jay- I've been trying confirm the length of that Florida rattler. Got any useful links that prove it wasn't as long as claimed?
 
I was going to estimate the diameter of the pole at 2" and take it from there. The photo looks to be a big play on foreshortening perspective.
 
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