snakeskin

He'll leave when the mice are all gone

That is creepy. Are there any poisonous snakes in NY?

Had the same thing happen in my basement, they found a way in through the shale built wall, wife never came down there again.....sanctuary ...time to build a man cave.

bob

Could be an ordinary black snake. They live a long time and can grow to surprising lengths. We'd find snake skins in our utility room before we sealed it. In our case, sealing involved simply installing a door sweep on the crawlspace door.

They're all hibernating now. In spring they'll wake up and leave the premises for food and water. That's when you want to seal the place so they can't get back in come fall.

This I believe is a rat snake, it was 3 1/2 feet long and approx 2 1/2 " in diameter. It never moved as I walked up to it. The head shot is about 2 feet away. Its the biggest I"ve seen.

bob

Every year for the past 4 years I have had an Ermine
Hunt my basement for rodents . Best years I've had
for lack of mice The little bugger is welcome
here any time

I have the exact same skins in my oil room near the crawlspace periodically (Also Upstate NY). I have confirmed that they are Milk Snakes and yes I have seen some darn long and large ones. I have even seen the small babies in my basement in the spring. The wife really loves to stumble upon them! I can live with them as long as they take care of the mice (along with my one-eyed cat).

The shed skin is often significantly longer than the actual snake. The skin comes off somewhat wet and stretches a lot. Just an FYI - your guest is not as long as that skin.

That's not the shed of one of the three venomous, but rare species in NY. A shed that large can only come from a black racer, water snake, milk snake or most likely a black rat snake. Racers and milks typically don't get as big as the 6'-8' rat snakes, but can get over 40". Black waters can get big but rarely invade homes. Based on the girth, length and scale pattern its prob a rat snake. I had one as a kid. My dad is a world renowned herpetologist. I had the unique experience of growing up with hundreds of exotic pets and reptiles, so trying to ID one on here brings back memories.

Applesister said:

Just, you know, dont go out in the dark and get wood. Turn the light on and bang some pots and pans.
We've never seen it and I dont wanna see it.

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He doesn't want you to see him more than you don't want to see him. He'll do his best to stay out of sight.

I agree that it is likely a Black Rat Snake. I have seen many of these on my property over the years. Usually in the 3 to 5 foot range. Largest one I ever saw was coiled in the eaves of my shed. Never saw how long it was but it was quite plump and filled the space between the trusses. I have found several skins( mostly on my woodpile outside) and they looked like yours. The only other snakes I have seen here was a swarm of baby Hognoses when I moved a burn barrel. FYI if you do have Black Rat Snakes, the babies are black and white and look like something far more exotic..
This pic is from a couple summers ago. Was working on my car and this little guy found a warm spot to watch me.

Cool looking snake. I have never seen those around here but we do get corn snakes at over 4 feet long. I found one in my garage one day and we both gave each other a wide berth. I am definitely not snake friendly but I like them around to help with the small rodents.

D9H said:

Are there any poisonous snakes in NY?

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http://www.esf.edu/pubprog/brochure/snakes/snakes.htm
Venomous Snakes in New York: Distribution and Identification
There are only three species of poisonous snakes living in the wilds of New York (many other kinds may be found in the homes of private individuals and, occasionally, escapes occur!). These are the timber rattlesnake, the massasauga (erroneously called "pygmy rattler"), and the copperhead. All three are uncommon.

Here is a Large milk snake I found near my house

Copper44 said:

Here is a Large milk snake I found near my house
View attachment 171040

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Was he feeding on your caterpillar ?

bob

I wish it was mine... That thing came in real handy with the grapple attachment. However that Milk snake was probably over 6 feet long.

Most likely black rat snake. Could be a milk or a black rat, both have a similar pattern. The deciding factor is if scales have a ridge, or "keel" in the middle of each. I cannot tell from the pics on my kindle. Black rats and other true rat snakes have a keel. Timber rattlers do also, but the pattern is a wide band, and that skin isn't wide enough, so you're good there.

Milk snakes are in the kingsnake genus and have smooth scales. Black racers also have smooth scales, but have no pattern on the back, being completely jet black. And mean as heck.

English Bob's pic is a northern watersnake, Nerodia sipeodon.(sp?)

OK, found these in my classroom cabinet, and I cannot see the keels on the top skin, but it is a light colored corn snake.same genus as a black rat. No pattern is visible because it is from an albino I had years ago. Yours looks most like the top IMO, so it's probably a black rat.

The scale structure is visibly different from the middle skin (Black racer), and lower skin (young milk snake).

Sorry, I'm a bit of a snake guy !
*rest of hearth.com slowly backs away*

I was also going to say rat snake or the like.

She needs to go out and get 10 ferrets. They love snakes. When she gets sick of the ferrets get a bigger snake that eats ferrets. Then get a shotgun to take out that big ferret eating snake.

Or you could skip all of that and just get a shotgun.