Posted by Coleen Bronson on March 22, 2006

Q: I found a snake in my yard with a verigated brown body and yellow underbelly. It postured to strike when I swept it away from the garage but then climbed into a nearby pigmy date palm. The head was small and may have been yellow but after the posturing I was a little freaked out an may have missed some details. It was able to kind of jump forward though there is probably a more appropriate way to describe the action. It was about 3 feet long and fairly thick around though it had obviously just eaten so it is hard to tell how thick. The lump, of whatever it ate, in the middle was probably the size of a good-sized lemon. Do you know what it is and is it venomous? Thank you :)

State: Florida

Habitat: suburban/yard

A: Snakes come in such a variety of colors and patterns, that I really can't give you much help on identification without a more detailed description. But, it does sound as though your snake is not venomous - can't be sure however. It's very common for snakes to strike out in self-defense so this really doesn't indicate whether venomous or not. In general, as you seem to know already, a small head indicates a nonvenomous snake while a large head (one that is rather triangular in shape) often indicates a venomous one. Snakes really are good rodent-catchers so this may be what your snake ate. Of course, they feed on other kinds of animals too but in general not a problem to have around. If you can get a photo of your snake in the future, please feel free to share with us and we'll do our best to help you out. Would be good too to know exactly where you live in Florida if/when you do. Thanks for your quesiton.

John Wiessinger ( March 22, 2006)