Tiny tiny snakebite!

[Cavedweller]

I just went on an evening walk and saw something tiny slithering along the middle of the road. Thinking it was another Texas blind snake that had gotten lost, I picked it up after some frantic flailing. As I was walking to the woods to release it, I looked down to my hands, and much to my surprise, the little snake was biting me! I was under the impression that blind snakes are not capable of biting humans, but upon closer inspection I realized what I had was no Texas blind snake at all. It had proper ventral scales and and had a pointed tail and head. It was still tiny enough that it needed to put its head sideways to bite.

I couldn't barely feel the bites and they left no marks at all. Looking back what I did was pretty dumb, but in my defense it was dark and there aren't a lot of snakes around here that are spaghetti noodle sized!

It looked just like this http://www.studentsoftheworld.info/sites/animals/img/35936_Tiny_Reptiles_-_Thread_Snake.jpg but I can't find any info or even what kind of snake that is. You guys got any ideas?

 

[klawfran3]

I am in no way an expert on reptiles or snakes, but could it have been a legless lizard?

 

[Cavedweller]

Nope, it had no eyelids. Just tiny dot eyes like a blind snake.

Doin a bit more research, it looks like it might have been some kind of earth snake (Virginia genus)? But the eyes seem a bit different eyes and a rounder snout.

 

[pitbulllady]

An Earth Snake seems likely. Every single one I've encountered seemed to think that it was an 11-ft. Black Mamba, lol. They're the Chihuahuas of the snake world, tiny little things with a "10 feet tall and bullet-proof" attitude. They cannot hurt you, of course, but that doesn't stop them from giving it their best shot!

pitbulllady

 

[The Snark]

Reminds me of a video of Steve Irwin picking up a snake to rescue it from the road. It wasn't the snake he thought and got bit. Then, right on camera, he frantically went digging through his snake book and finally, "Whew! Harmless!" Even the pros can make errors.
Then there was the time I saw a small rattler being very slow and lazy so I picked it up (behind the head). In my defense I had started that day at dawn and had put in 45 miles in the saddle in rough terrain and it was almost midnight. So I'm standing there, lead rope of my stallion in one hand, some 15 horses around me, people all over the camp, saddle bags over one shoulder, and I'm holding a pissed off rattler. Can't just toss the snake anywhere near the camp, can't turn my horse loose, can't get back on, and with the mares around I really needed both hands plus to control him. Now what, genius?

 

[Cavedweller]

An Earth Snake seems likely. Every single one I've encountered seemed to think that it was an 11-ft. Black Mamba, lol. They're the Chihuahuas of the snake world, tiny little things with a "10 feet tall and bullet-proof" attitude. They cannot hurt you, of course, but that doesn't stop them from giving it their best shot!

pitbulllady

Wow that sounds about right! That's exactly what this little guy did.

Reminds me of a video of Steve Irwin picking up a snake to rescue it from the road. It wasn't the snake he thought and got bit. Then, right on camera, he frantically went digging through his snake book and finally, "Whew! Harmless!" Even the pros can make errors.

That makes me feel a little less bad about screwing that up, thanks!

Then there was the time I saw a small rattler being very slow and lazy so I picked it up (behind the head). In my defense I had started that day at dawn and had put in 45 miles in the saddle in rough terrain and it was almost midnight. So I'm standing there, lead rope of my stallion in one hand, some 15 horses around me, people all over the camp, saddle bags over one shoulder, and I'm holding a pissed off rattler. Can't turn my horse loose, can't get back on, and with the mares around I really needed both hands plus to control him. Now what, genius?

Dang! How did you resolve that?

 

[The Snark]

Another snake that is sometimes the most dangerous snake in the world! The garter snake. Every now and then you encounter one that thinks it's Godzilla! Even chase after you! I never have figured out what gets into them. Delusions of grandeur?

Holding the rattler. Rather unfortunate ending. Got my horse backed away from things long enough to give me a 5 second break, dropped his lead rope, stood on it, got my knife out and dealt with the snake.

 

[Cavedweller]

I've never met a tough guy garter (though I haven't met that many garters at all). That sounds like an almost impressive sight!

Aww that's too bad, but I guess there's not much else you can do.

 

[The Snark]

Once had a 3 foot garter doing some fishing of our goldfish. I saw it one day and chased after it. It crossed a road and went into some high grass. I confronted it and ... I guess it read the rattlesnake manual by accident. It coiled and went to guns. I circled it, wondering what the hey, and backed up a couple of feet. And here it comes! Read the python manual too I guess. There will be no survivors! Striking at my boot. Are you nuts? You're a garter snake! What are you going to do? Nibble my boot to death?

 

[Cavedweller]

Don't ruin his dream. He has the heart of a cobra!

 

[Smokehound714]

snakes seem to not fear me most of the time. I've held gopher snakes that just dont care, ive accidentally touched rattlesnakes without them rattling or striking.

I dunno lol animals tend to like me, except for spiders, ironically.

 

[The Snark]

snakes seem to not fear me most of the time. I've held gopher snakes that just dont care, ive accidentally touched rattlesnakes without them rattling or striking.

I dunno lol animals tend to like me, except for spiders, ironically.

How about you sit perfectly still in a room for an hour with a few golden tree snakes for a scientific test. Try to keep an accurate count the hundreds of nips, divide by the number of snakes then get some 'normal' people to be the subject of the same test and compare the results. ???

 

[ecooper]

Once had a 3 foot garter doing some fishing of our goldfish. I saw it one day and chased after it. It crossed a road and went into some high grass. I confronted it and ... I guess it read the rattlesnake manual by accident. It coiled and went to guns. I circled it, wondering what the hey, and backed up a couple of feet. And here it comes! Read the python manual too I guess. There will be no survivors! Striking at my boot. Are you nuts? You're a garter snake! What are you going to do? Nibble my boot to death?

When I was a kid, growing up on Vancouver Island, garter snakes were really common. So during summer vacation me and my best friend spent a lot of time hunting for snakes. We'd sometimes keep one overnight, but generally we'd just check them out and let them go (on alternate days we caught grasshoppers, crayfish, bullheads, frogs...life was good). They were always docile and stinky, just like a garter snake should be. Except for one big old specimen that lived in the neighborhood that acted just like you said; aggressive and nasty, with a real take no prisoners attitude! The first time we ran into him/her my buddy grabbed it and the snake grabbed him hard enough to draw blood! We were absolutely astonished! He dropped the snake, blood running down his hand and then the snake turned on us! LOL!! We used to see that same snake periodically, and it would never turn and run, it would stand its ground as if daring us to try picking it up again!

We always gave it plenty of room...

In retrospect, I had a pretty cool childhood...

Cheers,
EC

 

[dementedlullaby]

Haha that's cute. I was out yesterday and saw 11 toads. Last two were makin' babies in the road lol. I picked 'em up and brought them to safety...still going at it the whole time. Hopefully the female lays a lot of eggs!

 

[Louise E. Rothstein]

I bet she does!!!