Don’t step on that snake! But don’t automatically kill it either

It looked at first like a copperhead. It wasn’t. We left it alone.

You should, too.

People like to say, “The only good snake is a dead snake.” They’re wrong.

We were walking with the dogs up from the popular Pine Island beach on Hilton Head Island over the weekend when we saw a snake on the sandy path. It was partially on the path but mostly in the underbrush, headed away from us.

Its markings looked sort of like the hourglass pattern of the copperhead, a common snake of the Lowcountry — and venomous.

We instantly yanked on the dog leashes.

The snake was barely moving.

We could not see the snake’s head because it was in the bushes. If it were a triangular shape, that would be another clue that it could be a copperhead.

I’m no expert by any means, but this snake seemed too long and skinny to be a copperhead. And there was too much color in the splotches on its back. They were sort of reddish.

Over the years, I’ve killed two copperheads at our house on Hilton Head — one on the back deck and one in the front driveway.

And this snake did not look like those.

We left it alone. We moved away.

That was the right thing to do.

When we got home, we looked more closely at our blurry video of the snake. And we Googled “corn snake,” and there it was. Or so it seemed.

I sent a photo of the video to a herpetologist who has known the snakes of the Lowcountry for decades.

“Is this a corn snake?” I asked.

“Yes, it is,” he said.

The corn snake is harmless to people and pets. In fact, it is a good neighbor out on mouse patrol.

Tony Mills of the Lowcountry Institute at Spring Island says, “Having snakes around is a good thing. In fact, a robust population of snakes is an indicator of good ecological health.”

He tells in an episode of the local “Coastal Kingdom” television show the ways people and snakes can live in harmony.

He says that of the 38 species native to South Carolina, only six are venomous. Needless to say, the Lowcountry has all six.

I’m not like Tony, or my friend in Ridgeland who identified this corn snake for me. Snakes give me the creeps.

But in 42 years in the Lowcountry, I have learned to appreciate their role.

I have learned that copperheads — by far the greatest threat for a poisonous bite — blend into the unpaved floor of the Lowcountry so well it’s all but impossible to see them. You have to be extra cautious. Do not stick your hand down into bushes, or places you cannot see. Wear shoes and long pants at night if you walk out to the shed or take the dogs out.

And I’ve learned to leave them alone. Don’t panic when you see a snake. Keep your distance. They’re not out to hurt you.

And some of them, like the scarlet king snake, are beautiful.

In fact, Jasper County is home to the most beautiful corn snakes on earth, with bright reds and oranges, bold prints and a checkerboard underbelly.

The late Carl E. Kauffeld, who wrote books about snakes and was director of the Staten Island Zoo, identified the corn snakes around the Okeetee Club near Ridgeland as the most stunning of all.

The corn snake that crossed our busy path to the beach was not an Okeetee corn snake. And it wasn’t a copperhead. It was a friend. I’m glad we left it alone.

This story was originally published June 6, 2017 at 10:56 AM with the headline "Don’t step on that snake! But don’t automatically kill it either."