Most people living in urban areas probably have not encountered a snake. Chances are you never will. Even a move to the 'burbs might not produce any snake encounters. Though the chance of meeting the very common garter snake does increase.
Whether you meet your first snake in your backyard or on a hiking path in the forest, you will want to determine whether it is venomous or non-venomous. Expect for the very curious and studious, this is all that should concern the novice snake hunter.
In the United States of America there is one key characteristic that sets venomous snakes apart from non-venomous snakes. That trait is the eyes.
Venomous snakes have vertical slits for pupils. Sometimes these are called cat eyes. Non-venomous snakes have round pupils.
Do you have to get close to a snake to really tell the shape of its pupils?
Of course, you can't at one hundred feet. But you can be a good twenty to thirty feet away and get a good look at a snakes eyes without putting oneself in harms way.
There is one exception to this rule. The coral snake has round pupils but is extremely venomous. Fortunately the coral snake is easy to identify because it is one of the most colorful of North American snakes. It is colored in yellow, black and red bands. However, the coral snake has a copycat brethren that has the same colors. The king snake is the coral snakes non-venomous counterpart. How can you tell whether that colorful snake is the poisonous coral or the safe king snake? It come by looking at the order of the colored bands. Remember this poem:
Red on black/safe for Jack
Red on yellow/ Will kill a fellow
Remember too that sometimes the "yellow" of the coral snake is almost "white".
Coral snakes only live in the very southern portions of the United States and a portion of southwestern states. So if you live in the North, snake identification for venomous snakes is based completely on the eyes.
So the key in basic snake identification is the eyes. Fortunately, the other basic identifier of color, belongs to one of the most colorful snakes there is. So the next time you are walking through the woods enjoying the color of the trees and you see a snake, look for its eyes!
Frank Stevens writes often about various aspects of home and outdoor life. If you have a problem with snakes in your own backyard you can find out how to get rid of snakes from his handy website.
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