We’re getting to that time of year when the following debates occur on the trail: Is that a copperhead or a corn snake? A northern banded water snake or a cottonmouth? A black snake? Sure, but what kind?

Sunday, leading a hike in Panthertown Valley in far western North Carolina, there was no doubt about what was blocking the trail just 10 feet ahead. The markings may have been a bit murky, but the rattle sure wasn’t.

For only the second time in 33 years of hiking in these parts I had encountered an iconic resident of the mountains. I spread my arms to stop the group and announced, “You folks are in luck — that’s a timber rattler.” There was mixed reaction about the luckiness of our encounter.

You didn’t have to be a herpetologist to know we were looking at a timber rattlesnake. Despite its darker-than-usual hue, the authoritative rattle served as both accurate calling card and fair warning.

That’s not always the case with snakes, though, which is why, at the start of summer I like to rerun this post about how to go about identifying both snakes and birds.

When it comes to snakes and birds, I don’t expend a lot of my remaining gray storage memorizing types and species. Two reasons: One, there are thousands of species to begin with, and two, the same critter can look completely different depending on various factors:

Sex. Male birds generally are more colorful than females (the cardinal).

Location: Corn snakes throughout much of North Carolina tend to be mostly brown or gray; in the Coastal Plain, they’re bright orange.

Age: Adults of most species may have completely different coloration than they do as juveniles.

When it comes to snakes, the only thing I try to remember is whether ones are harmful. This one, I knew, was one of the state’s venomous six. But for the less obvious to identify, I turn to the
the “Snakes of North Carolina Online Identification System” run by the Davidson College Herpetology Laboratory.
The site asks 11 questions about your snake, starting with “Snake Length,” and a reminder that it’s common to overestimate length. That caused me to think, then scale back from 3 feet to 2. Other questions:
Location Where Found: Mountains (easy enough, out of six obvious choices from the drop-down menu).
Body Form: “Moderate,” “Slender” and “Stocky” are the options, with definitions of each to help. Mine was definitely “Stocky” (“thicker than a pencil”).
Scale type: This is where the “I don’t know” default came in handy; I didn’t get anywhere close enough to tell if they were “Smooth” or “Keeled”.
Pattern: Banded.
Main Background Color: Black.
Belly Color: Again with the default (who’s going to roll over a live snake — and the questionnaire wisely advises you not to).
Distinctive Characteristics: “Scared the bejeezus out of me” wasn’t an option.
Time of Day: Day (vs. Night).
Behavior: “Smells bad?” Who was I to judge after six hours on the trail?
Found in Water? No.
The site suggested it was either a timber rattler or a northern watersnake. Had I needed additional confirmation I could have  visited the Snakes of North Carolina Web site.

But again, no confirmation. My elevated heart rate, still up as I drove home, was all the confirmation I needed.