Posted by Boyd Campbell on October 14, 2006

Q: I was cleaning out the pool skimmer (full of pine needles and leave), and noticed a baby snake had just its head above the water. I tapped it to see if it had drowned, and was surprised to see it dive into the skimmer under the debris. At this point, I was nervous to clean things out as I had no idea what type of snake it was. I'm from the West, and I'm not too fond of the fact that Copperheads and water moccasins like the water. I was able to get skimmer out, and then clean it out. I was able to catch it, and plan on releasing if it is nonvenemous. Otherwise, I will have it taken away by somebody that specializes in that type of thing. The snake is a solid copper red/pink color. Pictures on your site of a copperhead or water moccasin seem to eliminate the possibility that it is one of them. I live in Lugoff, SC (close to Columbia). I can go take a picture tomorrow, if that will be helpful or necessary. Thanks.

Habitat: suburban/yard

State: South Carolina

Habitat: suburban/yard

A: So nice to hear that although you're not that fond of snakes, you didn't immediately kill your mystery animal! From your description I believe your snake is an unusual one and definitely harmless. Sounds like your snake is a Pine Woods Snake (Rhadinaea flavilata) and your location in SC is probably just on the extreme edge of its range there. Most of these snakes have a dark line through their eye so you might want to look for that on your snake. Check out this site for info and photos of this snake: www.uga.edu Thanks for writing and I hope we've solved your ID question.

John Wiessinger ( October 15, 2006)