Posted by Alex, forum owner on June 30, 2007, 1:24 pm, in reply to "Help to identify snake" --Previous Message-- Here is a nice website with links to some pictures Snakes and Frogs. Just click on the highlighted link.
75.131.175.235
: I live in Northeast Georgia and I need
: your help in identifying a snake that
: was found in my house after
: renovations. The snake is
: silver/greyish color with brown spots.
: It has a mask between its eyes and the
: eyes bulging.
:
: Thank you for any assistance you can
: provide.
:
: Photos attached.
:
That is a lovely baby Black Rat Snake, or more probably in your area, a baby Yellow Rat Snake. It is completely harmless. As it grows, it will lose the silver gray and brown, and get four black stripes with uniform yellow as a ground color. Where I live, they will turn all black. If you lived in northwest GA, he would keep his baby pattern all his life.
When I find a baby near a house, I usually try to give it a meal before I release it. Babies eat "pinky" mice, that is, newborn mice, which can be found at most full service pet stores that sell snakes. I hold on to it a couple of days, then release it as near as possible to where I found it.
Adults eat mostly rats and mice which they kill by constricting, and the occasional bird egg. They are excellent rodent control, and are a very important link in the food chain.
Thanks for not killing it. If you want to keep it (some consider it a bad idea), let me know, and I will let you know how to care for it.
Enjoy!
Alex
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