In today's video I am going to be talking about how to identify a venomous snake. It is that time of year again, and our creepy crawly friends are coming out of hiding. We are starting to see them everywhere, so what are some tips we can use to properly identify the venomous from the non.
I am in no way a specialist in this field, but I am a mid western man that is had my own encounters. I was born and raised in the mid west, and I am currently tucked up into the mountains that are home to many that I am going to talk about today.
There are several basic features to look for when you are trying to identify what the snake is. First I would like to say that if you are not confident about snakes, please do not mess with them. Even a non venomous snake can/will bite you and harm with in other ways. If you are confident with handling snakes, just be careful.
In the area that we are in, the most common class of venomous snake is a pit viper. Rattlesnake, Cotton Mouth, Copperhead. You can start by looking at the shape of the head. Venomous snakes will have a head that is shaped like an arrow head. It will look like it has sacs behind it's mouth and jaws. The non venomous will be more of a straight line without the arrow head like bulges.
The next I would look at the eyes. Venomous snakes will have slits for eyes, where the non will have round I. To be honest, I am always excited to see those round eyes. It means that I am close enough to see the snakes eyes and it isn't venomous haha.
Another thing to look for would be the under belly toward the tale. If you are in fact adventurous enough to pick the snake up you can look at the belly. A venomous snake will have solid scales going horizontally across it's belly of the tail. A non venomous snake will will have a line down the middle and will look like the scales are woven together.
These are just a couple of basic identifiers. If you would like to hear more, or hear the story about what I did when a Copperhead bit my best pal George, check out the video!
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Be well.
~The Yeti
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