How do you know if a snake is not poisonous?

Question

I'm just wondering, how will you know just from their features if they're poisonous/not?
Is it easy to identify them?

Answer 1

you have to know alittle about them check out this site its a guide on how to tell if a snake is venomous
http://www.kingsnake.com/snakegetters/snake.html

Answer 2

If you are not familiar with the species of snakes in the area you are in then there is no safe way to tell for sure if a snake is venomous or not. So, its safest to assume that all snakes you come across could be venomous.

This does not mean however that you have to kill them, or that you need to run away screaming. Just stay at a safe distance and let the snake get on with its life. Snakes don't attack people unless they feel threatened by them.

Having said that, there are a few features that *may* help you get an idea if a snake is venomous:- does it have a rattle? If yes then its going to be a rattlesnake of some kind, and they are all venomous.

Does is have a diamond shaped head? In which case, its probably a viper species (like a copperhead) or a rattlesnake so again venomous

If you are in the US then you also get coral snakes in some areas. They generally have black, red and yellow stripes, with the black stripes having yellow on either side. There are several snakes that look very like coral snakes so its probably best to keep away from any with that colouration just to be on the safe side.

I'm from the UK and we only have one venomous snake, the adder, which is nice and easy to identify.

I've put some links below which I thought might be useful for you.

Answer 3

Look at the head. Most snake around here that are poisonous will have a diamond shaped head. Err on the side of all snakes being poisonous.

Answer 4

Run away from it as fast as you can...keep running until you get to the library, then you can look it up to see if it is a poison one or not. Seriously, there is no "poison" feature. Some snakes are and some are not.

Answer 5

It depends on where you live. If you are in Australia, we have about 18 of the worlds top 20 venomous snakes here. Main rule of snakes is : Treat all snakes as venomous, and respect them. A snake is usually more scared of you than you are of it. Also if you are in Australia, it is against the law to kill any snake, all snakes are protected. There is really no way of telling if a snake is venomous unless you are a reptile handler or have done various studies on snakes. Contact your local Wildlife Rescue Group and they can send out a reptile handler to id a snake if you have one in your yard. They can also relocate the snake back to where he came from.

Answer 6

Not really! I know for a fact copper heads and rattlers are. I don't know the characteristics of a copper head, and rattlers have rattles on the end of them and water moccasins are poisonous and they live in the water or near the water and about any other snakes wait until they bite you and when you get sick then I would say yes they are poisonous.

Answer 7

in the U.S. you can look at it's head and if it is in the shape of an arrowhead it's poisonous but the one exception would be the coral snake it has a round head and it's poisonous...found in Florida.

Answer 8

All marine snakes are poisonous. If the ventral surface is not marked it is non-poisonous

Answer 9

If it looks 'pretty' and have any patterns. Or if it's pure black coloured.

Answer 10

let it bite you