Snake in lawn mower!

[duscarter]

After mowing the grass yesterday afternoon, I get off the mower and see a snake hanging from the deck's belt area. The first thing I did was remove it's head.

Here are a couple of pics of the head:

Any idea what kind it is? I am in South Carolina. My guess is a rattler or a water moccasin. Can't see it's tail yet.

I am going to try and grab the body and pull it out of the belt. It looks to be pretty big, so I bet it is stuck in there pretty good.

 

[IVAZ]

Re: Snake in lawn mower!

I don?t think so but it?s hard to tell without looking at the head from a different angle (the bands don?t look like a moccasins either).
I will caution you that you can still get venom in you from the fangs if handled incorrectly (if it?s even venomous).

 

[OldePharte]

Re: Snake in lawn mower!

It is banded like a young cottonmouth, has that arrow-shaped head, and yeah, I would be careful getting rid of the head.

 

[FBPirate95]

Re: Snake in lawn mower!

I believe it is a moccasin. If you look at the shape of the head, it seems to be a poisonous snake. Not a pit viper like rattlers, but poisonous none the less. You can find moccasins with all types of color variations, and band variations throughout the southeast. And as they said earlier, be extremely careful when handling the head. The venom is still dangerous even after the snake is dead.

 

[beermunk]

Re: Snake in lawn mower!

I bet you store that mower outside? Black deck was heated by the sun and that snake crawled right up in there to warm up.

I'm actually surprised it didn't take a snap at you when you were starting or riding the mower.

 

[IVAZ]

Re: Snake in lawn mower!

I believe it is a moccasin. If you look at the shape of the head, it seems to be a poisonous snake. Not a pit viper like rattlers, but poisonous none the less. You can find moccasins with all types of color variations, and band variations throughout the southeast. And as they said earlier, be extremely careful when handling the head. The venom is still dangerous even after the snake is dead.

Moccasins and rattlers are in the same family. Pit vipers (moccasins will also shake their tail like a rattler when threatened). And yeah they come in a lot of different banding combinations but I have never seen one like that one. The diamond shaped head is not unique to just moccasins either.

 

[IVAZ]

Re: Snake in lawn mower!

Here is a pic of a young cottonmouth (moccasin) from SC

 

[duscarter]

Re: Snake in lawn mower!

I don't know what it is, I used a shovel to dispose of the head. Better safe than sorry.

It came out in about 6 pieces. There was no rattler on the tail.

The mower is stowed under the deck, out of the sun. I stopped mowing halfway through. He might have jumped on board then.

 

[IVAZ]

Re: Snake in lawn mower!

Moccasins (which I don?t think it is) don?t have a rattle at the end of their tail they just shake it the same way as a rattle snake.
Good call on the use of the shovel.

 

[gonefishie]

Re: Snake in lawn mower!

what happen if you stepped on a snake skeleton and a bone pierced your foot? other then the infection from not taking care of the wound. I haven't done this myself but was just wondering.

 

[AluminumFalcon]

Re: Snake in lawn mower!

how long was it.. piece by piece..

 

[FBPirate95]

Re: Snake in lawn mower!

Moccasins and rattlers are in the same family. Pit vipers (moccasins will also shake their tail like a rattler when threatened). And yeah they come in a lot of different banding combinations but I have never seen one like that one. The diamond shaped head is not unique to just moccasins either.

Excuse my use of the english language.....what I was meaning to say is that the head of the moccasin is similar but not as pronounced as say the head of say a diamond back or timber rattler. IMOP that is.

I do stand corrected on saying the moccasin isn't in the pit viper family. Thanks for pointing out my error!

 

[CN Spots]

Re: Snake in lawn mower!

What kind of mower is that? A Sssssssssssssnapper?

 

[bekosh]

Re: Snake in lawn mower!

You are a braver man than I. The sight of that would have sent me running across the yard screaming like a little girl.:redface:

<Snakes! Why did it have to be Snakes!>

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Snake in lawn mower!

You are braver then me too..... I would have trotted across the yard to fetch the 12 ga pump...... then I would be posting questions in the technical forum on how to repair the 12 ga damage.

Like shooting a snake with a pistol while it's in the boat I believe the term is "justified collateral damage"

 

[JB]

Re: Snake in lawn mower!

That is a cottonmouth moccasin. It is a pit viper related to the rattlesnakes and copperheads. It is not a "water moccasin", which is a group of harmless water snakes.

Cottonmouths don't always have the white mouth. They hang around water and damp places a lot, though I have seen them in dry locations.

I was bitten by a small cottonmouth when I was about 10. Very lucky strike hit me with one fang right on the thin skin of my shin. It was in deep grass by my fishing hole, where I stepped on it bare footed.

People's hysterical paranoia about snakes is a double edged blade. It probably causes fewer bites (good), but it also causes the murder of thousands of harmless, beneficial snakes. One, good sized bull snake can keep a pretty large barn rat-free, for example. A large eastern diamondback Rattler can do the same.

There are more myths about snakes than the world's fastest liar can tell in a lifetime. Don't believe anything that you can't verify in an encyclopedia.

 

[bhammer]

Re: Snake in lawn mower!

It looks just like the cottonmouth moccasins we have here in N. Texas and I'll bet that is what it is. They are in the pit viper family and are venomous snakes. Here is a link that may help you out... http://www.ehow.com/how_2046234_identify-cottonmouth-moccasin.html

 

[Limited-Time]

Re: Snake in lawn mower!

That's a segmented dead snake. Use to be a live Cotton Mouth.

 

[wanderingcwboy]

Re: Snake in lawn mower!

Sorry folks but that is a banded water snake. we have tons of them here in arkansas, its a none posionous snake but it will cause women and some men you say sh*t and then do it sorry had to add that one

 

[S. Toth]

Re: Snake in lawn mower!

Lol, I would have run, and only came back after the body decomposed!