Big snake still on the prowl in South Carolina

By Hum
in Real World News

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Grand Master

Hum

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COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) -- Andrew Philson and his 3-year-old son will sleep a little on edge knowing that the alleged 15 to 20 foot long snake spotted in their backyard on Tuesday has remained elusive.

Philson got a call from his elderly neighbor about the reptilian nuisance and thought he'd be finding a small garter or black snake, but got the shock of his life when he saw the beast slithering up one of his trees.

"I looked over there and wow!" Philson said. "It was a revelation."

After the initial shock, Philson snapped several pictures of the massive snake behind his Devereaux St. home, which is near Kilbourne St and N. Beltline Blvd., and started calling around to see who could get rid of it.

So far, he's not had any luck, but, after looking at Philson's pictures, officials at the Department of Natural Resources say they're positive that it is a black rat snake.

Philson, however, believes it is some type of python. "I've seen a rat snake and they don't get that big," said Philson.

According to DNR, rat snakes are not poisonous and are considered to be beneficial to have around because they eat rats and rodents and keep other, more dangerous, snakes away. They are incredibly agile when it comes to climbing and can sometimes be found among the rafters of outbuildings, along rock walls, or in trees high above the ground.

Their climbing abilities allow them to ascend the trunks of mature trees, which they sometimes do in search of prey which includes birds and small mammals.

Some large black rat snakes can kill and eat a full grown squirrel.

DNR officers said they do not respond to remove rat snakes because of the benefit they offer to the environment.

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Grand Master

DocM

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Yup, that looks like a big black rat snake. We had them in our outbuildings where farmers look on them very favorably because they're so damned good at pest control. Totally harmless, though impressively large, so leave him/her alone for the reasons noted.

Grand Master

xendrome

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Yup, that looks like a big black rat snake. We had them in our outbuildings where farmers look on them very favorably because they're so damned good at pest control. Totally harmless, though impressively large, so leave him/her alone for the reasons noted.

Well it's not black, and it has a pattern, so it's not a black rat snake.. has the pattern of a boa..

Grand Master

Original Poster

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Ohh c'mon!! Put on your big boy pants ;)

looking at the head and pattern im going to guess either a large common boa (with darker scales) or a young Burmese with a boa like pattern (ive seen weirder things) though saying tht I cannot make a firm ID on it as all the pictures of its head are horrible

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