Help identifying a snake

[devrat]

read somewhere that diamond head snakes are poisonous and round head ones are not..
and the prettier they are, the more poisonous.

just like a woman

[rfari]

snake released in de park. swear i hear that snake laffing at me though.

[S_2NR]

read somewhere that diamond head snakes are poisonous and round head ones are not..
and the prettier they are, the more poisonous.

just like a woman

true

OP, you do know statistics show most snake bites occur when ppl try to kill or catch a snake..

[d spike]

That is certainly not a mapipire. It is an annulated night snake, or cat-eyed snake. It's non-venomous, and actually does a lot of good as it includes insects in its diet. It is no "rat-snake" - a name happily bequeathed by the ignorant on any snake they can't call a "mapipire" or a "coral".
As far as the mapipire is concerned, the colouring of the cat-eyed snake is similar (NOT the pattern), hence another name for it :"false mapipire". The head is DEFINITELY NOT the characteristic triangular (or more correctly, heart-shaped) head of the lanceheads.

Judging from the picture, I think this is an adult. those lads don't get much bigger than that.

[devrat]

^^^Spike.....they good to eat?

[d spike]

umm spike...i see ah bigger one dan dat in meh yard..

You're right, they do get bigger than that. (Thanks for making me have to get off mine arse and go look it up.)
While in all my years of hiding in the bush, I have never come across an adult more than 0.5m or 0.6m, they can attain a length of 0.8m (according to Hans Boos' "The Snakes of TnT".)
It seems the little buggers are cannibalistic at times, one being reported as eating its own eggs. It is one of the commonest snakes in Trinidad.

^^^Spike.....they good to eat?

Depends... mainly on what your wife's cooking is like...

[sharkman121]

read somewhere that diamond head snakes are poisonous and round head ones are not..
and the prettier they are, the more poisonous.

just like a woman

hmm....truer words have seldom been spoken.

[devrat]

umm spike...i see ah bigger one dan dat in meh yard..

You're right, they do get bigger than that. (Thanks for making me have to get off mine arse and go look it up.)
While in all my years of hiding in the bush, I have never come across an adult more than 0.5m or 0.6m, they can attain a length of 0.8m (according to Hans Boos' "The Snakes of TnT".)
It seems the little buggers are cannibalistic at times, one being reported as eating its own eggs. It is one of the commonest snakes in Trinidad.

^^^Spike.....they good to eat?

Depends... mainly on what your ex wife's cooking is like...

Don't really know....will have to ask her boyfriend

The snakes seem to think they taste good

[devrat]

umm spike...i see ah bigger one dan dat in meh yard..

You're right, they do get bigger than that. (Thanks for making me have to get off mine arse and go look it up.)
While in all my years of hiding in the bush, I have never come across an adult more than 0.5m or 0.6m, they can attain a length of 0.8m (according to Hans Boos' "The Snakes of TnT".)
It seems the little buggers are cannibalistic at times, one being reported as eating its own eggs. It is one of the commonest snakes in Trinidad.

^^^Spike.....they good to eat?

Depends... mainly on what your wife's cooking is like...

so de one i post is ah ratsnake?...but that cya eat no rat?

Knife and Fork business bhai.....chap it up

[~Vēġó~]

The snakes seem to think they taste good

real men go grudge dat snake yes!!!!...able to eat he own self....hahaha!!!

[d spike]

No. It's not a ratsnake.

[shogun]

had no idea, that huntsman spiders, could bite and cause that kind of damage.....why did i open this ched? ...dayum!

[*$kїđž!™]

Man just grab ah cutlass and start to chap...we go find out what kinda snake it is after it dead......

Chap now ask questions later......

btw....where the hell allyuh livin dread........

[*$kїđž!™]

whase de fastest yuh ever see ah man fly out ah bed?

a few nights back I lie down, done cover up & thing eh. yuh boy hear something fall on he bed. I stretch my hand to get my phone for a lil light, I flash it around the bed, roll over, flash it on the next side to see one huge spider in front my face. I donno how I do it nah, I fly out the bed & reach by the dor with my blanket still on me.

I gone in the next bedroom....cover up....hear what sounds like a spider scampering somwhere in there. whole night me eh sleep good nah.

where the hell u livin bro?

[d spike]

No. It's not a ratsnake.

so wha kind?

I'm rather confused at this point. The picture you posted (that I am referring to) is this:

This is the cat-eyed snake.
I would like to believe that you must then be referring to another picture that I obviously didn't see.

[rfari]

Someone post a similar question on flickr and another person identified the snake. I'm 100% sure it's the same snake I found. Apparently it's mildly venomous but has rear fangs making it highly improbable to cause serious injuries. I would post the link when I get a chance.

[Razkal]

d spike is right, the pic HE commented in reference to is infact a cat-eyed snake...absolutely harmless. it is mildly venomous though, no fangs...just small grooved teeth in the upper rear of the jaws. no threat to humans.

the pic the OP posted (not the same one spike commented on) i would have guessed cat-eyed snake as well, the patterning looks like a juvenile cat-eyed, maybe a foot-foot and a half.

but the head is uncannily pit viper...probably a juvenile mapepire, you can see the buldges on the back of the head over the eye-sockets that house the venom glands, the pattern looks 'too spotty' to be 100% sure, but variety exists and juvenile markings always morph to adult patterning so..my money is still on mapepire.


was it aggressive when you caught it? striked alot? was coiled? tried to run?

the snakes behaviour is easier used to identify it than pics without much detail.

[rfari]

At first it was in flee-mode but when I cornered it, it coiled up and the head flattened to take a viper like appearance. When lifting it with a broom handle to place in the tub, it curled and striked about 2x. Nothing after that in the tub, just coiled with head flattened most of the time.

[ShIvAm]

check this dude's FB Album, good stuff bout the snakes of trini

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/fbx/? ... 0651422681

[S_2NR]

At first it was in flee-mode but when I cornered it, it coiled up and the head flattened to take a viper like appearance. When lifting it with a broom handle to place in the tub, it curled and striked about 2x. Nothing after that in the tub, just coiled with head flattened most of the time.

wtf you rel good yes

[K74T]

snakes gonna snake

[devrat]

No. It's not a ratsnake.

so wha kind?

I'm rather confused at this point. The picture you posted (that I am referring to) is this:

This is the cat-eyed snake.
I would like to believe that you must then be referring to another picture that I obviously didn't see.

yeah is that pic i referring to...thanks for clearing that up

had one lurking around some weeks back but it eh there anymore

It probably inside the house by now

[rfari]

for real pios. that prolly colonising smewhere in your house al now. and i think the snake goes underground as well cus i had to flush it out with malathion and water cus i was looking for it for a good half hour.

[d spike]

d spike is right, the pic HE commented in reference to is infact a cat-eyed snake...absolutely harmless. it is mildly venomous though, no fangs...just small grooved teeth in the upper rear of the jaws. no threat to humans.

the pic the OP posted (not the same one spike commented on) i would have guessed cat-eyed snake as well, the patterning looks like a juvenile cat-eyed, maybe a foot-foot and a half.

Well, I was referring to that one as well, but I couldn't 'paste' the OP's picture in a post.

but the head is uncannily pit viper...probably a juvenile mapepire, you can see the buldges on the back of the head over the eye-sockets that house the venom glands, the pattern looks 'too spotty' to be 100% sure, but variety exists and juvenile markings always morph to adult patterning so..my money is still on mapepire.

I'm afraid you're mistaken there, lad. The head is definitely not that of a mapipire - and I've seen enough of those to know.
The pattern is precisely that of of the cat-eyed snake. Of all the juvenile balsain that I have seen (10 inches and more) their markings have all matched that of the adult. Once you know the markings of the balsain, or fer-de-lance, you can always spot one. The only variety that could be called such is the exact matching of one side to the other, or the subtle fading (contrast of the colours) due to aging. In fact, if you have seen "morphs", you should document it.
There is one definite mark that was not mentioned - the tip of the tail. A young balsain always has an off-white, or light-yellow, tail tip.

was it aggressive when you caught it? striked alot? was coiled? tried to run?

the snakes behaviour is easier used to identify it than pics without much detail.

Aggressive behaviour might not be a distinguishing factor. Even though the cat-eyed snake can be easily handled, it can "react savagely when injured" (Boos' notes). It coils defensively, just like the mapipires, also.

At first it was in flee-mode but when I cornered it, it coiled up and the head flattened to take a viper like appearance. When lifting it with a broom handle to place in the tub, it curled and striked about 2x. Nothing after that in the tub, just coiled with head flattened most of the time.

That's the fellah, himself.
Most animals, if cornered and attacked (their point of view) will defend themselves by attacking. A striking action of a cornered snake is not evidence of being venomous - just the will to survive.

[devrat]

I feel he gone he way....ent?

Maybe...........but he might be a vengeful snake determined to stick around to catch you when you drop your guard and curl up next to you when asleep.

Hypothetically speaking of course

[devrat]

nah man he eh time tuh study me...he prolly out lookin fuh some snake poosay tuh guts

Yeah but suppose he gay......hope yuh doh sleep nekked.

[devrat]

snakes doh be gay

plus meh dogs woulda snuff him outta hiding long time

You trying to convince me.....or yourself ?

[devrat]

^^^Ah hear yuh

[Conrad]

Found this in my yard this morning. Already dead by the looks of it as ants were now beginning to surround it. Someone suggest rainbow boa (Epicrates Cenchria is the closest looking match from the facebook link someone provided earlier in this thread).

[shogun]

looks like it recently had a good meal too.