Snake ID

Not really good at identifying snakes, but what is the best way to identify a copperhead vs a rat snake

No Picture.

Yeah I can’t figure it out so I had to modifying my question lol

Copperhead


Rat snake

Biggest thing to me is the "Hershey's Kiss" patterns on the copperhead. You can see it clearly in the photos above. It's not fool proof, as not all copperheads have it, but if it's there, you have a copperhead.

There are several different sub-species of copperhead. I’ve seen 2 of them in my yard here in North Texas.

Most copperheads will have a copper tone to them

I’ve ran across some that don’t though

Ones copper ones not.

correct
I killed a big copperhead in the back yard last night. I keep dog food in a storage bin out back. When I opened the bin I saw rat turds, so a rat had moved in.
When turned the bin over a big wood rat ran out and he had a companion - a big copperhead.

I bet that rat was sleeping with one eye open at night.

I remember last year I had an engine I was working on , I had it up on the bench, tools everywhere. I went inside to eat, came back out about 40 minutes later, went to work.... And laying amongst my tools was a rat snake, he was laying in a straight line, and he blended in with the tools, I worked and banged around for close to 10 minutes until I needed that black handle screwdriver

Thanks yall

Head shape is very noticeable between those two kinds of snakes.
Copperheads have a very defined diamond shape.

If you can, SAFELY, get a picture that is clear enough to see the eye. Copperheads eyes have vertical slit pupils and rat shakes are round.

Makes no difference if it is dead. Why take a chance on being wrong.

About like killing a little lizard thinking it might be a crocodile.

nada

For me, when i see a copperhead, i immediately recognize it. If i see a snake and think to myself "i cant tell what that is", it usually is something harmless.