What kind of snake is this?

By Joe McAdory

Published: June 25, 2008

Opelika-Auburn News staffers followed a four-foot snake outside our facility Wednesday afternoon, some in fear, and others in curiosity. It shouldn’t be unusual to see a snake outside our building. After all, we have chipmunks, squirrels and an assortment of birds. Seems like a perfect environment for a hungry serpent.

What we couldn’t figure out was, just what kind of snake was it? The first guess was timber rattlesnake. It had the right colors and markings, but the snake had no rattle and its head didn’t have that trademark shape that poisonous snakes possess. Another person guessed it might be a king snake. Well that made sense. It was big enough and appeared to either be digesting something or about to give birth.

Someone else said it was a diamondback water snake, non-poisonous, of course. The last guess was rat snake. Nobody said chicken snake, so I’ll throw that one out there.

What do you think?