Will a snake cut in half die?

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Will a snake cut in half die?

Posted: 7/21/2008 4:28:45 PM EDT

I just tried killing a coral snake I found in my yard and I was only able to cut the last third of it off and then he got underground. Will the thing die or did I just shorten him?

Posted: 7/21/2008 4:29:30 PM EDT

[#1]

Can take a bit to die, but its toast

Posted: 7/21/2008 4:29:47 PM EDT

[#2]

Not until dark!

Posted: 7/21/2008 4:29:52 PM EDT

[#3]

Poor coral snake.

Posted: 7/21/2008 4:30:00 PM EDT

[#4]

Probably depends of if you took out any major organs or vessels.

Posted: 7/21/2008 4:31:07 PM EDT

[#5]

"He's dead Jim"

Posted: 7/21/2008 4:32:04 PM EDT

[#6]

He will bleed out after a while.

It just feels like they take forever to die

(I saw a rattler roll around for like 30 minutes after having its head blown off.)

Posted: 7/21/2008 4:32:47 PM EDT

[#7]

If you are sure you got a third he's done. The vent is where the organs stop and I've never seen a snake that had more than a 1/10 of the length "tail".

Posted: 7/21/2008 4:34:07 PM EDT

[#8]

Which half?

Posted: 7/21/2008 4:35:20 PM EDT

[#9]

Quoted:
Which half?

The one-third half.

Posted: 7/21/2008 4:36:17 PM EDT

[#10]

Quoted:
Poor coral snake.

I love snakes, but if it's highly poisonous you can bet I'd kill it as opposed to being bit, or my family being bit.

Posted: 7/21/2008 4:37:45 PM EDT

[#11]

It takes a LOT for them to die, and a long time for them to die. Sounds like he could actually survive that, if you didn't cut too close to his vital organs. I'm no expert, though.

I went to the Rattlesnake Roundup in Sweetwater for the first time this year and was oddly intrigued that a beheaded, skinned rattler could still flail about for a good while.

Posted: 7/21/2008 4:40:55 PM EDT

[#12]

I HATE snakes!I've cut them bastards in half and they've got away!!!

Posted: 7/21/2008 4:41:03 PM EDT

[#13]

I guarantee you shortened his life.

Coral snakes, while extremely poisonous are pretty shy and non aggressive. With their rear mounted fangs they tend to have to bite then chew to inject venom. Fingers and toes tend to be the most struck I believe. [more like bit really]

Posted: 7/21/2008 4:41:33 PM EDT

[#14]

Quoted:

Quoted:
Poor coral snake.

I love snakes, but if it's highly poisonous you can bet I'd kill it as opposed to being bit, or my family being bit.

I agree to an extent, I brained a rattler a little over a week ago and posted it. You just don't see many coral snakes around here anymore. I haven't seen one in quite a long time.

Quoted:
It takes a LOT for them to die, and a long time for them to die. Sounds like he could actually survive that, if you didn't cut too close to his vital organs. I'm no expert, though.

I went to the Rattlesnake Roundup in Sweetwater for the first time this year and was oddly intrigued that a beheaded, skinned rattler could still flail about for a good while.

I discovered this first hand with the previously mentioned rattler. It's a strange thing to watch.

Posted: 7/21/2008 4:42:16 PM EDT

[#15]

I cut off a least 8 or 9 inches and he was a bout 2 feet long. He was hanging around where my 2 and 3 year old play so he had to go.

Posted: 7/21/2008 4:43:03 PM EDT

[#16]

I would have dug him up with a shovel or something to make sure he is dead.

A poisonous snake around children or women is not a good thing.

Always make sure they are dead and then don't waste them, eat them.

Are we gonna get a 1/3 dinner pic?

Posted: 7/21/2008 4:43:32 PM EDT

[#17]

Quoted:
I cut off a least 8 or 9 inches and he was a bout 2 feet long. He was hanging around where my 2 and 3 year old play so he had to go.

Red on black, or red on yellow?

Posted: 7/21/2008 4:44:12 PM EDT

[#18]

The trick to cutting a snake in half and killing it is to cut it lengthwise, either horizontally or vertically. Mind you, I've never been able to do it myself as they tend to wiggle around a lot.

Posted: 7/21/2008 4:45:21 PM EDT

[#19]

Quoted:
I would have dug him up with a shovel or something to make sure he is dead.

A poisonous snake around children or women is not a good thing.

Always make sure they are dead and then don't waste them, eat them.

Are we gonna get a 1/3 dinner pic?

I couldn't figure out where he went underground or I would have dug him up. He went under my shrubs and disapeared. I'm gonna have to pass on the dinner pic.

Posted: 7/21/2008 4:48:28 PM EDT

[#20]

Quoted:
I just tried killing a coral snake I found in my yard and I was only able to cut the last third of it off and then he got underground. Will the thing die or did I just shorten him?

You created two snakes. Thanks.

Posted: 7/21/2008 4:50:53 PM EDT

[#21]

Quoted:

Quoted:
I cut off a least 8 or 9 inches and he was a bout 2 feet long. He was hanging around where my 2 and 3 year old play so he had to go.

Red on black, or red on yellow?

You thinking it was a milksnake or corn or something?

Posted: 7/21/2008 4:51:20 PM EDT

[#22]

Quoted:

Quoted:
I would have dug him up with a shovel or something to make sure he is dead.

A poisonous snake around children or women is not a good thing.

Always make sure they are dead and then don't waste them, eat them.

Are we gonna get a 1/3 dinner pic?

I couldn't figure out where he went underground or I would have dug him up. He went under my shrubs and disapeared. I'm gonna have to pass on the dinner pic.

Then you gotta do the dirty work. Grab a light and a knife and a long stick and go fishing for him. You will probably find him dead.

I actually had to do that once when the wife and I were camping with our 3 year olds (at the time, 6 now). We had a rattler at our camp site near where the tent was. I chased him into a bush and pulled him out with a stick and chopped his head off with a small hatchet (all I had at the time).

Now that sounds really cool, but it was more of a push/pull him out with a stick and flail around with a hatchet until the inevitable happened.

Posted: 7/21/2008 4:52:42 PM EDT

[#23]

Quoted:
www.horsfall.ca/i/dr.jpg

"He's dead Jim"

Posted: 7/21/2008 4:53:44 PM EDT

[#24]

Quoted:

Quoted:
I cut off a least 8 or 9 inches and he was a bout 2 feet long. He was hanging around where my 2 and 3 year old play so he had to go.

Red on black, or red on yellow?

You thinking it was a milksnake or corn or something?

Just curious if he axed a scarlet king snake.

ETA:

Posted: 7/21/2008 4:54:06 PM EDT

[#25]

Quoted:

Quoted:
I cut off a least 8 or 9 inches and he was a bout 2 feet long. He was hanging around where my 2 and 3 year old play so he had to go.

Red on black, or red on yellow?

Posted: 7/21/2008 4:55:30 PM EDT

[#26]

Quoted:

Quoted:
I cut off a least 8 or 9 inches and he was a bout 2 feet long. He was hanging around where my 2 and 3 year old play so he had to go.

Red on black, or red on yellow?

i114.photobucket.com/albums/n264/bhess26/Apr08126.jpg

Proper ID = WIN!

Posted: 7/21/2008 4:56:07 PM EDT

[#27]

I understand the snake's place in the food chain, but they really swallow rats whole, no skinning, no chewing, and digest that rodent and defecate the hair and bones. Of course they stink!

Posted: 7/21/2008 4:57:26 PM EDT

[#28]

Quoted:

Quoted:
I cut off a least 8 or 9 inches and he was a bout 2 feet long. He was hanging around where my 2 and 3 year old play so he had to go.

Red on black, or red on yellow?

i114.photobucket.com/albums/n264/bhess26/Apr08126.jpg

Red on yellow, relax, it's mellow.

Posted: 7/21/2008 4:59:03 PM EDT

[#29]

Quoted:

Quoted:
I cut off a least 8 or 9 inches and he was a bout 2 feet long. He was hanging around where my 2 and 3 year old play so he had to go.

Red on black, or red on yellow?

You thinking it was a milksnake or corn or something?

EDIT, looked at the pic, coral.

Posted: 7/21/2008 5:02:11 PM EDT

[#30]

You got it before the vent, too.

It's dead or will be soon.

Posted: 7/21/2008 5:05:27 PM EDT

[#31]

Dinner pic!

Posted: 7/21/2008 5:06:20 PM EDT

[#32]

Quoted:
You got it before the vent, too.

It's dead or will be soon.

wut?

Posted: 7/21/2008 5:08:45 PM EDT

[#33]

That's an eastern coral snake and yes they will die if cut in half. They just roll around for a few hours but are pretty much dead while they are doing it. Don't mess with the head end for a few hours.

Posted: 7/21/2008 5:10:20 PM EDT

[#34]

According to your picture he is dead somewhere.

Find him, he is still poisonous if your kids touch him or step on him. Admittedly the chance is low because of the rear fangs, but still it is good practice to dispose of the head by burying it or getting rid of it in another way. Besides you and I both know 2 and 3 year olds find the most curious stuff.

Better safe than sorry.

Posted: 7/21/2008 5:11:44 PM EDT

[#35]

Quoted:
According to your picture he is dead somewhere.

Find him, he is still poisonous if your kids touch him or step on him. Admittedly the chance is low because of the rear fangs, but still it is good practice to dispose of the head by burying it or getting rid of it in another way. Besides you and I both know 2 and 3 year olds find the most curious stuff.

Better safe than sorry.

Coral snakes don't have rear fangs, they have fixed front fangs like all other Elapids.

Posted: 7/21/2008 5:13:05 PM EDT

[#36]

Quoted:
According to your picture he is dead somewhere.

Find him, he is still poisonous if your kids touch him or step on him. Admittedly the chance is low because of the rear fangs, but still it is good practice to dispose of the head by burying it or getting rid of it in another way. Besides you and I both know 2 and 3 year olds find the most curious stuff.

Better safe than sorry.

If I can I will. I'm pretty sure he has a small hole somewhere under my dense shrubbery. I have searched the area pretty well. I can't really do amy better unless I completely rip out the shrubs. I'm hoping he just stays underground and dies. I'm going to scan the area for him in the morning.

Posted: 7/21/2008 5:13:24 PM EDT

[#37]

If it can bleed it can be killed.

Posted: 7/21/2008 5:15:44 PM EDT

[#38]

Quoted:

Quoted:
According to your picture he is dead somewhere.

Find him, he is still poisonous if your kids touch him or step on him. Admittedly the chance is low because of the rear fangs, but still it is good practice to dispose of the head by burying it or getting rid of it in another way. Besides you and I both know 2 and 3 year olds find the most curious stuff.

Better safe than sorry.

If I can I will. I'm pretty sure he has a small hole somewhere under my dense shrubbery. I have searched the area pretty well. I can't really do amy better unless I completely rip out the shrubs. I'm hoping he just stays underground and dies. I'm going to scan the area for him in the morning.

Shhhh. Don't tell Al Gore but...

If you find the hole he crawled into. Pour a little bit of gas down the hole and wait, if there are any other snakes down there it will drive them out. You just kill them when they come out.

Posted: 7/21/2008 5:17:16 PM EDT

[#39]

Quoted:

Quoted:
According to your picture he is dead somewhere.

Find him, he is still poisonous if your kids touch him or step on him. Admittedly the chance is low because of the rear fangs, but still it is good practice to dispose of the head by burying it or getting rid of it in another way. Besides you and I both know 2 and 3 year olds find the most curious stuff.

Better safe than sorry.

Coral snakes don't have rear fangs, they have fixed front fangs like all other Elapids.

Point noted. I don't handle them much usually I just let them be as they serve a purpose, I only kill them when they are near the family, then they get eaten.

Posted: 7/21/2008 5:17:54 PM EDT

[#40]

Quoted:

Quoted:
You got it before the vent, too.

It's dead or will be soon.

wut?

vent == asshole

Posted: 7/21/2008 5:27:05 PM EDT

[#41]

Quoted:

Quoted:
You got it before the vent, too.

It's dead or will be soon.

wut?

vent == asshole

Look at the pic, that's the belly of the snake. See where the scales change from one all the way across to two scales split in the middle. That's the place where you SIIHAPP.

Posted: 7/21/2008 5:27:57 PM EDT

[#42]

TMI

Posted: 7/21/2008 5:29:55 PM EDT

[#43]

Quoted:
I cut off a least 8 or 9 inches and he was a bout 2 feet long. He was hanging around where my 2 and 3 year old play so he had to go.

you positive on the ID?

we have scarlet snakes and scarlet kingsnakes here also..

Posted: 7/21/2008 5:32:09 PM EDT

[#44]

Quoted:

Quoted:
I cut off a least 8 or 9 inches and he was a bout 2 feet long. He was hanging around where my 2 and 3 year old play so he had to go.

Red on black, or red on yellow?

i114.photobucket.com/albums/n264/bhess26/Apr08126.jpg

that would be a coral!.. good eye. Where are you at here in FL, that one has ALOT of red on it.

Posted: 7/21/2008 5:34:02 PM EDT

[#45]

Quoted:

Quoted:
According to your picture he is dead somewhere.

Find him, he is still poisonous if your kids touch him or step on him. Admittedly the chance is low because of the rear fangs, but still it is good practice to dispose of the head by burying it or getting rid of it in another way. Besides you and I both know 2 and 3 year olds find the most curious stuff.

Better safe than sorry.

Coral snakes don't have rear fangs, they have fixed front fangs like all other Elapids.

+1