Snakes of NJ

[Rusty]

I don't have pictures but I know Little M does, we have 2 species of black snakes, the black rat snake and the black racer.  

 

Keeled vs. Smooth scales: rat snakes have lightly keeled scales while racers have smooth scales.

 

 

The black rat snake is NJ's largest snake and unlike it's nervous, twitchy counterpart, the rat snake is very docile.  If you pick up a black snake and it looks at you as it lazily flicks it's tongue at you it's a rat snake.  You won't pick up a racer.  

 

Both species climb but the rat snake is an exceptional climber.

 

The juveniles of both species have a strongly blotched gray/black pattern and look nothing like the adults.  Because of this juveniles are frequently mistaken for other species.

 

 http://www.paherps.com/herps/snakes/rat_snake/

 

http://www.ct.gov/deep/lib/deep/wildlife/pdf_files/outreach/fact_sheets/blackracer.pdf

 

 

 

[Rusty]

 

 

 

[NJSOG]

Great information and photos. Thanks

 

 

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[LittleM]

 

Northern Black Racers.  Smooth scales, as Rusty's post noted.  Common.  Super-aggressive, second only to the Northern Water Snake, but I'll pick these up - they bite a few times before they calm down.  Eat whatever they can catch.  They will outrun even the fastest of sprinters - I've won a few bets on various construction sites I've worked at.

[LittleM]

 

Northern Pine Snake.  State-listed Threatened.  Docile.

[Bill from NJ]

Northern Scarlet Snake.  Good luck finding this species.

 

The colors of the bands:

 

 

Look closely….at the color bands that actually touch each other.

 

"Red and Black = venom lack"

"Red and Yellow = Kill a fellow"

 

The other snake that looks similar would be the "Coral" snake. 

 

I only mentioned this is if you travel the country a lot and might run into one.

 

Eastern Coral snake around Florida

Western Coral snake around Arizona

See pix below.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 6, 2016 by Bill from NJ

[Kype]

man littlem you certainly find the snakes. some of these you posted does not look like they would be found in new jersey

[Rusty]

man littlem you certainly find the snakes. some of these you posted does not look like they would be found in new jersey

 

 

When it comes to snakes, Little M is the man.  

 

And yes, those are all NJ snakes. 

[Bucksnbows]

Where's the love for the hognose? [emoji1]

 

 

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[Rusty]

My all time favorite!!  

[Tarhunt]

Are the Northern Water snake or Cottonmouths venomous?

[LittleM]

Between PhotoBuckets speed tonight and the fact that I cannot find any of my milk snake, king snake, or DeKay's snake pics, I'm done for today.  Maybe I'll try again tomorrow.

 

PS.  Northern Water Snakes are not venomous.  Cottonmouths are but they don't live in NJ.

[Tarhunt]

Between PhotoBuckets speed tonight and the fact that I cannot find any of my milk snake, king snake, or DeKay's snake pics, I'm done for today.  Maybe I'll try again tomorrow.

 

PS.  Northern Water Snakes are not venomous.  Cottonmouths are but they don't live in NJ.

Ok. Thanks. I did not know that.

[Rusty]

You no longer need photo bucket, you can upload pictures directly from your computer.  

[Buck154]

Cool pictures and info LittleM. Lot of people need to know more. Growing up my brother and I were snake nuts. Finding and catching them, then releasing all. Been bit by common water snake more times than I can count. Mean little suckers. But the worst bite came from a Black Racer that was faster than me  . Probably could have use a couple of stitches from that one.