We let this snake "play through" at Pelican
 

We wisely let this 5' snake, play through, at Pelican today.

My wife would have passed out.

hahaha...he's just a big ole black snake, or garden snake, I think. Does look a little scary tho!! And he had his eye on you, for sure!

he slithered up to our cart but decided against coming aboard :) he disappeared into the grass and we carried onto the next hole

That would have been the end of my round'

One of my class mates in Trooper School had a name for them - "no shoulders". He was terrified of them.

Looks like a black racer. Did he rake up after he hit out the bunker?

I once had a gator come up to my cart. I skipped that hole.

That would have been the end of my round

The word of the day, Class, is herpetophobia. NO! It is NOT a fear of herpes. That is a different thread. :22yikes:

Laurie the Word Nerd

Well I am only afraid of 4 kinds big, little, live ,dead and never again will I get a tee time on Pelican. Our foursome saw a big cat and I mean big on he second tee there

Ophidiophobia to be more specific.

When they broke ground in the Fruitland Park area, the contractors ran into a ton of black snakes. Usually the contractors kill or move snakes they find. I remember reading a news story that this particular snake was protected by the state and could not be harmed or even relocated. Apparently they are "good snakes" (not a phrase in my vocabulary) because they eat other snakes... even poisonous ones! Wonder if that was what the O P came upon.

I just looked him up in my trusty Florida Audubon book. He appears to be a Black Racer.

Probably shoots lower than me. Guess we know why you don't want to go into the tall grass.

and lets not forget the wild hogs :) Hey, we got it all, in TV LOL

Sounds like a Indigo Snake - Federally protected in Florida and Georgia

They are the longest native snake in US.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_indigo_snake

.

Once you let them play thru................how was their pace of play??


:a040:

the snake had a white throat and underbelly

a google search indicates a black rat snake

Bad move. When you let them play through the first time, they will expect the same treatment thereafter. What a terrible precedent! I can only imagine the backup in the tee box come season.

I believe DonH57 is right, it looks like a black racer. Here's a photo;

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j1...tuff/racer.jpg

From Wikipedia; Coluber constrictor priapus, commonly known as the southern black racer, is one of the more common subspecies of nonvenomous Coluber constrictor snakes in the Southeastern United States. The name priapus refers to the proximal spines of the hemipenes being much enlarged into basal hooks, which is characteristic of this subspecies.

These snakes are quite active during the day, which increases the chance of sightings. They will eat almost any animal they can overpower, including, rodents, frogs, toads, and lizards. They have been known to charge at people in an attempt to frighten them, but will usually retreat if challenged. They are not venomous. Members of this species generally do not tolerate handling – even after months in captivity – and will typically strike and flail wildly every time they are handled, often defecating a foul smelling musk, a common defense against predators in snakes. These snakes are usually thin with a jet black dorsal side with a grey belly and white chin. They are quite fast, giving rise to the name "racer".

what kind of a snake is it? Is it poisonous?

Well, it did seem aggressive as it shot across the grass to our cart (we had wisely vacated it). So perhaps it is a Black Racer. It also had that white throat and underbelly. Bit difficult to absolutely convinced as we gave it all the room it wanted...

Sounds like you stayed calm cool and collected....you are a braver soul than i am...lol
That would have been my undoing.....i was thinking about taking golf lessons when we finally get to TV...you may have just saved me some money!

The root of it all :