Really hard headed snake.

[smokeythecat]

I did a moderate drive to MD spot. On the way south, I see this wildly aggressive snake on the side of the road. It apparently was trying to cross the road and having problems. There were three cars ahead of me. It would watch a car go by, start to cross, see another one and turn back, when it turned back it raised the front of it's body up about 8" off the ground (and I think cursed out the cars). I think it had it's mouth open to strike one of the cars. It did this on two of the three cars, then I just went on. I didn't see snake a'la road on the way back so I guess it made it.

It was the color of a car tire, dark charcoal grey, and if I saw correctly had a much lighter inside to it's mouth, unless I was looking at its chinny chin chin. Dark belly and about 3' long. Not very fat, either.

Near Warrenton, VA in the Piedmont east of the mountains. I really don't know what kind it was. Just bull headed and determined.

From my books it looks like a racer, totally harmless. Definitely hard headed though.

 

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[releventchair]

Maybe smarter than a turtle crossing......

Did see a mink jump at a couple cars during holiday traffic trying to cross a highway..Don't know if it made it.

 

[smokeythecat]

On a side note I did see a dead bobcat (hit by a car) just about 30 minutes west of Washington, DC.

 

[Red James Cash]

Cotton mouth maybe.

 

[smokeythecat]

I first thought cottonmouth, but this snake was too thin and was at least 200 miles (more or less) from the limit of its known range.

 

[Megalodon]

I first thought cottonmouth, but this snake was too thin and was at least 200 miles (more or less) from the limit of its known range.

Reptile field guides for at least 60 years have listed "Great Dismal Swamp" as the northern limit and I've seen no evidence that they have moved northward. Throughout tidewater MD and VA, people erroneously attribute the name cottonmouth to what is really the water snake.

 

[smokeythecat]

Yes, this is a couple hundred miles from there. I have seen cottonmouths in the wild before, this snake was a lot thinner, in the same vein as a garter type. The Northern Water snakes around here are meaner than Satan! Not poisonous, but territorial and they'll chase you!

 

[Megalodon]

Yes, this is a couple hundred miles from there. I have seen cottonmouths in the wild before, this snake was a lot thinner, in the same vein as a garter type. The Northern Water snakes around here are meaner than Satan! Not poisonous, but territorial and they'll chase you!

Agree about the water snakes. You are right about them not being venomous but they can be aggressive and should not be handled. They have "dirty" mouths and bites usually become infected. I saw a bunch of them last week sunning on a beaver dam.

 

[GB1]

Cotton mouth maybe.

yea they are aggressive they will chase you i had one chase my dad he put 3 in it

 

[TooManyHobbies]

Sounds like a racer to me. Aggressive but harmless. Often raises it's head to see it's surroundings. The color sounds right too. It also shakes it's tail like a rattler.

 

[RandyTheKid]

Maybe a black snake

 

[SnakemanBill]

Cotton mouth maybe.

There are no Cottonmouths in Maryland. The northernmost range of the Cottonmouth is the southeastern corner of Virginia. The snake encountered was either a Black Racer or a Black Rat Snake.

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

If it was NY I'd guess it was a black rat snake. We get them over 4' long in the barn.

Harmless. Unless you're a rodent.

 

[River Rat]

Sounds like a black runner to me. Anyway, check out my snake killer in action...it was almost 6' long. Jake sniffs out cotton mouths & kills em...he has a scar from being bitten near his eye. The older dogs would always teach the newer ones the technique of killing them.

 

[RGINN]

Yeah, sounds like a racer, if you have them in your part of the country. And water snakes are most disagreeable for some reason. When they bite, they clamp down and start trying to drag back so the teeth will slash and leave gashes. Luckily most of them are not big enough to accomplish much, but it is hard to pry them loose when they clamp down.

 

[chub]

How toxic is the cotton mouth to a human?

Chub

 

[GB1]

people have died from them