Snake in my pond

Status
Not open for further replies.
M

MBS500

Joined
Jun 22, 2012
Messages
665
Location
Crestwood,KY
I'm not a snake expert and honestly it is my first encounter with a snake in a wild in KY.
I just bought a house in the Louisville suburbs. It has Koi fish pond (neglected, I just started taking care of it, bought new pump, aerators, assembled big barrel filter, changed most water out).
Can you guys identify this shake? I guess it is water snake. I took a picture from upper deck. As soon as I stepped closer to the pond it dived into pond.
30 Mins later it was hiding in the water plant pot and dived again as soon as it saw me. I haven't seen it before, so maybe it came today.
Questions:can it be harmful to humans and can it hurt my Koi fish?
How to chase it out, my fiance is afraid of snakes, but looks like this snake is more afraid of humans?
9355265180_9a2ba259df_b.jpg
 
Last edited:
Without being able to see its head or tail its somewhat hard to identify on color alone.

As a Indiana rule of thumb (and im sure its the same elsewhere)
if the snake has a oval or rounded head, its more than likely not dangerouse, However if the had is a pyramid or diamond shape.. watch your ankles ! they tend to be the ones you want to avoid.

Ive found in my area that 99% of snakes want to be left alond and will run away from you unless they are protecting there nest.

AND I Agree.. kill it..
 
Last edited:
Looks like a copperhead...I am guessing you live near a river or creek. Kill it. It is slow on dry ground, but can move well in water. It can be aggressive. It is poisonous, so be sure to crush his head after you kill it.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: hardcore302
If you don't have a shotgun, but own a handgun, use some shot shells. Or aim very well with bullets. I wouldn't get close to that thing. Good luck!

I were thinking about getting Ruger, but only have a CO2 BB handgun so far
smile.gif

It is 18" for sure. Maybe I can scare it with BB gun, but I fly overseas again soon, lots of work to do, so not getting real gun any soon.
 
Originally Posted By: yucca
Northern/Midland water snake.


+1 that was my thoughts, however i didnt want to say so without a head shot.
 
Originally Posted By: phenix78_99
Looks like a copperhead...I am guessing you live near a river or creek. Kill it. It is slow on dry ground, but can move well in water. It can be aggressive. It is poisonous, so be sure to crush his head after you kill it.

Yes there is a creek in the end of my property. And It was raining hard, so water level went up.
 
The copperhead and midland water snake look a lot alike, but it is better to be safe than sorry. My 2 cents.
 
look like that one, but I will take a closer look at the head and eyes. If it is water shake, it looks not harmful, will try to catch and let it go into creek, don't want it to eat my fish, let it eat wild fish. I'm not afraid of snakes, just want to be sure is is not poisoned one. When I were little kid a caught a baby snake in Ukraine, and played with it. You should see my Grandpa's face when he told me to drop it right fricking now. I thought it was local water snake, came out to be baby Viper.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: MBS500
look like that one, but I will take a closer look at the head and eyes. If it is water shake, it looks not harmful, will try to catch and let it go into creek, don't want it to eat my fish, let it eat wild fish. I'm not afraid of snakes, just want to be sure is is not poisoned one. When I were little kid a caught a baby snake in Ukraine, and played with it. You should see my Grandpa's face when he told me to drop it right fricking now. I thought it was local water snake, came out to be baby Viper.


braver than me... id just kill it.
 
Leave him be. I don't understand why people always want to kill snakes. He'll find his way back down to the creek where he came from,it's his natural habitat.
 
Wow, can't believe so many solutions are to kill the poor thing. It obviously means you no harm and is more scared of you than you are of it. Unless your fish are very small, I doubt there is any chance of it eating them. I would either relocate it or leave it be.

Of course my opinion may be biased considering I am a bit of a herp lover and have had many pet snakes/lizards/turtles/frogs in the past.
 
Originally Posted By: Christopher Hussey
Wow, can't believe so many solutions are to kill the poor thing. It obviously means you no harm and is more scared of you than you are of it. Unless your fish are very small, I doubt there is any chance of it eating them. I would either relocate it or leave it be.

Of course my opinion may be biased considering I am a bit of a herp lover and have had many pet snakes/lizards/turtles/frogs in the past.
There are some Baby fish.
One more thing why I think now it is a water snake:"Superficially resembling a copperhead, this variable snake can
be reddish, brownish, or light gray. Dark crossbands are nearly always present but are harder to see in adults that sometimes darken
with age resulting in a plain dark brown or even black snake. When
present, the crossbands will be as wide or wider on the middle of
the back, unlike the hourglass shape present on the copperhead.
These aquatic snakes nearly always make a hasty retreat into water
when approached. The northern water snake or its subspecies the
Midland Water Snake (Nerodia sipedon pleuralis) is found in nearly
every body of water in Kentucky. See the cottonmouth description for more behavioral cues on how to tell this and other harmless water snakes from the venomous cottonmouth.
page 27"
http://fw.ky.gov/pdf/kysnakebook.pdf
I will try to catch it ot just let it be, it will go away.
One more time I think it is actually good Idea to get a cat and a dog, they will chase them instead of me
smile.gif
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

S
Any snake experts in the house?
Replies
13
Views
794
SC Maintenance
92saturnsl2
Any lawn experts? Suggestions for planting grass in northern KY.
Replies
19
Views
397
92saturnsl2
Hillbilly Deluxe
Watch out, being oblivious will get ya
Replies
14
Views
649
Toy4x4
Bailes1992
Not Wanting To Be Involved In Siblings Wedding
5 6 7
Replies
131
Views
5K
Pablo
T
Lawn leveling advice
2 3
Replies
40
Views
2K
SHOZ
Back
Top