White snake

[George.com]

crap band from the 1980s who had a lot of hair but not much talent. Your white snake'll likely sing better.

rob

[Persephone]

Maybe this is OT, maybe not.

My gardeb is in So.Calif coastal.

Saw my cat staring at something yesterday afternoon.

Turned out to be a PURE WHITE SNAKE, about +- 3 feet long, lurking under a rose bush. About 1-1/2" thick.

I called Animal Control, but snake was gone by the time they arrived.

They seemed dismissive of my (and my cat's; he was meowing and running around in circles like crazy) concern. "Oh, it's just a garden snake; we see them all the time", etc. I asked whether I should block up the cat door, but they said snakes wouldn't go in there. ???

I have been here [censored] years, and have seen other critters, but nary a snake. Also have never heard of a PURE WHITE snake!

I tried locating white snakes on the 'Net, but got only some rock group.

Any input on this -- how to research that snake, whether I should worry, and any similar experience in this area?

TIA

Persephone

[Paulo da Costa]

They probably meant "garter snake". Albino garter snakes are sold as pets, as you can see here:

not a great danger to anything larger than a mouse :)

Paulo

[Jangchub]

Sometimes when I see the corn snakes out back they look white, but do have very faint coloration in a nice pattern. That I know of, there are only four snakes in the United States which are venomous; rattlers, water moccasins, copper head or coral. If there are others, I'm not aware of them. My husband was bit by a rat snake a while back as we removed it from the neighbors' yard. We asked her not to kill them and offered to remove snakes for her. He didn't even get a welt.

[Persephone]

Aha! That's the first thing I thought -- that it was a pet that had escaped from the new (not very communicative) neighbors!!! But when the Animal Control officers knocked, there was nobody home.

Well, guess I can breathe easy now...will share the news with my cat.

Thanks to both posters for that link to albino garter snakes.

Persephone

[Usenet2007]

The first thing I thought was the 80s rock band Whitesnake ("Here I go again...")

They aren't very communicative recently, either.

[Dave]

Little googling found albino king snake, albino milk snake, albino (red) corn snake, albino gopher snake, albino rat snake, albino garter snake etc.

Try advanced search, albino "snake", english language.

[Frank]

Neigbor got mad at me once when I told her I killed a large black snake. I said, "Well next time, Louise, I'll just put the snake in your yard." Then, she really got pissed ;) Frank

[Persephone]

Duh. I didn't think of "albino"; just called it "white".

Snake showed up again, this time in back yard. My housemate wanted to catch it but I was worried about liability in case...

This time Animal Control came promptly and caged it. Officer told me it was an Albino Corn Snake.

Posted on under Subject "white snake".

Tx to all who posted.

Persephone

[Jangchub]

I couldn't tell you how many snakes we have, but there are at least a few dozen babies and that I've seen, ten adults. We love them. Why kill them? You a big scardey cat?

[Jangchub]

The one I thought it was. Thank you for all the applause. I will be signing autographs tomorrow at animal control for my incredible wisdom and truthseeking. Bow. A so.

[Frank]

Snakes don't bother me and we have no poisonous snakes here. But, my wife is deathly afraid of them. This particular snake was over 5 ft. long and hanging from a tree and would have scared anyone that walked into it like I did. I just went and got a weed wacker tool and dispatched it ;) Frank

[Cheryl Isaak]

My kids love the snakes in the yard....

C

[Bill R]

Same feelings here. Snakes are good in a garden. They eat a lot of bugs and small rodents. Here are some pictures of some of them in my garden:

[Jangchub]

I have too much respect for life, including my own, so I don't kill intentionally whether I'm afraid or not. Being afraid of something which has nothing to hurt me with is idiotic.

[Jangchub]

five feet long, but their heads a teeney weeney. The babies are adorable. I wish I had a place to post some photos. We have tons and tons of fence lizards, anole lizards, two lined skinks and then there's the huge mammal who poops huge doots on the roof of the shed. I have to ask Mark if he's seen any new ones lately. I haven't asked him for a poop report in a few days.

I see you grow cherry tomatoes. Last years I grew the 'Sweet Million' which are grape tomatoes and the Cardinal's sat there all day feeding their fledged babies. It was funny when they'd chomp down and the juice would squirt out. :)

[Frank]

My favorite snake story was when I was a kid and caught a small garter snake. We put it in an M&M bag and offered M&M's to Billy who was scared to death of snakes. Billy was standing there along side his bike and I'll never forget how he jumped and ran, letting his bike fall to the ground, when he saw what was in the bag ;)

Frank

[Bill R]

No rat snakes here. All of them are garter snakes.

Yes, I grow cherry tomatoes and usually about two dozen other varieties (about 9 - 10 dozen plants). This year I am cutting back a little; it is getting to be too much work. Still, I'll have about 5 dozen plants (a lot of "salad" varieties). There will be plenty for us and the neighbors too (none for the snakes).

[Bill R]

I forgot to mention this in my other post. You can always post your photos in one of the newsgroups like news:alt.binaries.pictures.gardens or news:alt.binaries.pictures.nature

We would love to see your critters.

[Jangchub]

More mean spiritedness. I see a theme here.