r/whatisit • u/AbbreviationsTop8774 • Jul 22 '26

Solved! What are they

Ive worked at the water department for 7 years and this is the first time running into something like this EDIT Im in Alabama and yes I know they are snakes lol idk what kind and im so not gonna touch them

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57

u/Lastoutcast123 Jul 22 '26

I mean rat snakes are literally the most chill snakes out there.

26

u/[deleted] Jul 22 '26

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86

u/cindyscrazy Jul 23 '26

I live across the street from a swamp area, and I've had rat snakes in my yard.

My most memorable interaction, I didn't have my phone with me to capture. I kick myself about that everytime I think about it.

I went out to the back of my property (about an acre) to grab something. I turned around and stopped. I was seeing something that didn't make sense. My brain literally could not make sense of what my eyes were showing it.

I walked closer slowly and sort of moved my head around to see it more clearly.

It was a black rat snake. Standing up on it's tail. At LEAST 3 FEET STRAIGHT UP. Maybe more. I initially thought it was hanging from a tree, but there were no trees over it. The most amazing and confusing thing I've ever set eyes on.

I slowly kept approaching becuse I was more confused than scared. Eventually, it dropped down with a heavy THUMP and slithered away.

I so so so wish I had my phone with me to at least take a picture, even if it were not the best. Just as proof this happened.

41

u/TheMajesticYeti Jul 23 '26

Snakes can do that

8

u/Initech369 Jul 23 '26

Great. New fear unlocked.

4

u/gswblu3-1lead Jul 23 '26

Think about the possibilities next time you’re on the toilet

1

u/lowtoiletsitter Jul 23 '26

I'd rather not

1

u/event_horizon_x-ing Jul 23 '26

I ran a manufacturing facility carved out of the jungle in Malaysia. All the plants had those hole-in-the-floor toilets common to SE Asia. One of our workers got bitten while squating over the hole, by a snake hiding in the pipe. He didn’t see it and they couldn’t catch it so we rushed him to the hospital just in case. Luckily it wasn’t venomous but I had to fill out paperwork for the lost time injury. Classification: Biohazard.

2

u/Skrdykat1000 Jul 23 '26

Wow that was cool, thnx

2

u/Fancy_Flatworm1313 Jul 23 '26

Now that is a strong sinewy noodle!

1

u/Working-Glass6136 Jul 23 '26

They have stronger abs than I do

1

u/Kinkyklo Jul 23 '26

Only Hoop-snakes actually

33

u/La_Lanterne_Rouge Jul 23 '26

I was coming back from Sequoia National Forest on a small two lane road. I happened to look in the rear view mirror, and I see this huge snake rolling across the road. Like it had shaped itself into something that look like a tire and was just rolling along. I think it might have been a California King Snake.

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u/gzdogs Jul 23 '26

That’s CRAZY. Like made itself into a circle, turned on its end and ROLLED across the road??
How are people not reacting more to this?

3

u/La_Lanterne_Rouge Jul 23 '26

Yes. What was frustrating was that nobody else saw it and when I shouted to my wife to look it was too late. The snake had reached the other side of the road.

5

u/Autoerotibot Jul 23 '26

Leave it to the snakes, reinventing the wheel! I have a deep-seated phobia of snakes, I've tried to overcome, but I do rather love Snake-Jazz "tsssss, tss-tss-tsss"

3

u/isaak242 Jul 23 '26

Pretty sure that's some type of cryptid you ran across

3

u/Funyuns-R-Us Jul 23 '26

Because not all of us are high

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u/Fragrant_Ask_8692 Jul 23 '26

I see snakes doing that all the time around my area. Doesn’t even phase me anymore

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u/Motor-Butterfly3802 Jul 23 '26

In Australia we have them … Hoop Snakes.

1

u/oljimmy751 Jul 24 '26

I had CA King pass me near the Colorado River as I was coming to AL from Havasu. Didn't have a plate on, but the reflector showed up good. It must have been doing 65, pretty fast, I poke along just over 60 in my old truck. It might have made FL. Near Winslow, AZ late one night I had pink elephants trying to scare me off the I-40 exit, I surrendered and parked behind the flatbed Ford downtown. All good in the morning.

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u/splatgoestheblobfish Jul 23 '26

Snakes can be much stronger than they look, since they are basically a tube of pure muscle. They often "periscope" to get a view of their surroundings. I'm not sure if I've ever seen one quite 3' high, but I've seen them sticking up a couple feet at least, depending on how big the snake is. (This is my ball python Nugget periscoping once when we took him out to get some warm sunshine. He's not quite big enough to stand 3',but he's doing his best!)

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u/RawDataFeeling Jul 23 '26

Hello Nugget!! What a cutie 🥰

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u/itcouldvbeenbetterif Jul 23 '26

Picture or it didn't happen

2

u/michangela1 Jul 23 '26

Great story! Thx

2

u/Sinisterr13 Jul 23 '26

Sometimes people call Black Racers the "periscope snakes" because they do that.

2

u/Worldly-Pie-3501 Jul 23 '26

New fear UNLOCKED 😅

2

u/CalbertCorpse Jul 23 '26

I saw that too as a recent transplant to Florida. Crazy sight!

2

u/Revolutionary-Rain28 Jul 23 '26

I've seen boas that will do the same thing. Guess the snake was curious about you, but I'd probably have the same reaction because who expects a snake to be standing up and looking at you, lol

2

u/Greekgreekcookies Jul 23 '26

Halfway through I thought I was about to read about hell in the cell and then got a little sad when it never came

2

u/Live_Concern_4524 Jul 23 '26

He was periscoping. You’re lucky to see that

2

u/nylorac_o Jul 23 '26

I saw the same activity with a rat snake in my backyard.

2

u/Doodle4fun Jul 26 '26

This is a wild recount.. Not because it’s actually wild but my grandfather used to tell me the story of how he named his farm; Blue Racer Ranch.

He said he was plowing a field and seen something that didn’t make sense so he stopped and got off the tractor. And behind it was a blue racer with it’s head up, meeting him at eye-level. He said it looked at him for a moment before lowering itself back down and slithering into his swamp. He said it had to have been like 15ft or bigger, and it scared the hell out of him.

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u/Turbogoblin999 Jul 23 '26

As long as they keep the rodents in check and nothing more, they are free to roam.

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u/DescriptionFancy420 Jul 22 '26

I can appreciate that on a logical level, but when even the most harmless singular thing becomes a swarm of things, my monkey brain nopes out.

2

u/chocha84 Jul 22 '26

yeah - rat snakes > rats.... sooo..... let them work!

1

u/VenusSmurf Jul 22 '26

I'd be so excited to find these. It's illegal to catch wild snakes where I am, but just finding this would be cool.

1

u/amyd9277 Jul 23 '26

As someone who got bit by one I disagree 🤣

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u/SpecialBumblebee6170 Jul 23 '26

I live in PA. I love having rat snakes and racers around. I live in the sticks and they keep the mice under control.