October 8, 2026
𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐉𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐲’𝐬 𝐎𝐬𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐲𝐬 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐓𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐞: 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐂𝐚𝐧 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐩!
𝑂𝑟𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑙𝑦, 𝐼 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑎 𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑛 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑢𝑏𝑠𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑖𝑡 𝑟𝑢𝑛𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑛…
Luisa Gallego-Zuluaga, a student at William Paterson University, photographed this snake in High Mountain's Franklin Clove in September.
Can you ID it? What's the best way to tell if a snake is venomous?
The answer: Luisa asked a herpetologist, who thinks it's most likely a water snake.
Since the snake was photographed in Franklin Clove, said to be a Copperhead hangout, always better to be safe than sorry.
Peter Burger said the best way to tell if a snake is venomous is:
"Generally, round eye: not venomous…slit eye or cat's eye: venomous."
I had heard that venomous snake have larger, triangular heads.
Turns out we are both right. More info here.