Am I the only guy to kill black snakes via sliding shed door?

[Sigarms]

Mowers are kept in the shed, locked up. Sliding door on tracks.

Putting the mower away tonight, go to push the shed door closed and it ends up stopping half way. I'm like hmmm... give it another shove, still not moving and I'm like OK what's going on.

Look up, poor bugger of a black snake apparently was laying in the track and the wheels messed him up.

Did the the same thing I had to do about 7 years ago and break out the pump BB pistol and put a couple of rounds into him.

Hate accidently killing a useful animal like a black snake.

Am I the only guy this happens to? Got to be something about those tracks that I guess they like.

 

[YanmarFever]

Nah, the snake was on the wrong track, thats all...

 

[MossRoad]

Not a snake, but I saw our cat poking at something at the back door one day. I looked closely and saw a small tail. Opened the door and there was a smushed mouse that apparently was caught between the door and the jam on the hinge side. Cat was real proud of itself for catching a dead smushed mouse.

 

[MoKelly]

I guess I’m missing out on the fun - I don’t have any sliding doors!!!

MoKelly

 

[Sigarms]

Nah, the snake was on the wrong track, thats all...

I'll admit I got a chuckle out of that...

My wife was visiting because she's staying with her mom again, and she told me perhaps I should check the track before I close the doors. Reality is in the summer time, it's open and close em. Told my wife that it's only been two snakes in the same location since we moved here, 15 years ago.

The sun was going down and my wife was getting ready to leave (I finished mowing around 4, and was just putting the mower away while my wife was watering the garden), I'll have to fish the carcass out sometime tomorrow.

 

[gsganzer]

I had that happen too. Had a 5' rat snake get caught in the upper track. Glad he didn't dislodge and drop on me, or I probably would have made a person shaped hole through the wall.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

When I was in high school, my Dad was Superintendent of a sand dredge, and since the sand was shipped by rail, it was on a RR side track. It was very rural, and our house was near by. I have seen quite a few rattle snakes; half on one side of a track, half on the other.

Yeah, we had to be careful; dispatched quite a few with my Dad's old Model 12. They hung around the lake and sometimes in the out buildings...and sometimes in the storm cellar.

 

[Sigarms]

I had that happen too. Had a 5' rat snake get caught in the upper track. Glad he didn't dislodge and drop on me, or I probably would have made a person shaped hole through the wall.

Funny you say that. The first one years ago fell off the track but his rear section was caught by the wheel in the track, and his head dropped about 1.5' from my head when he dropped.

After I cleaned my underwear, I flet sorry for the bugger because I knew he wasn't going to make it.

Just hate it when I kill a good animal by mistake.

 

[jmc]

I've found several black snakes trapped in plastic garden netting- the kind with about 1" mesh size that will pass the snake's head but not the body. Then it can't back out because their scales catch in the mesh, like a gill net. One or two must of died a horrible death and the last one was alive and it bit me while I was trying to cut the mesh away.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Even using a hot pressure washer on the weekend, I was distraught at all the little critters who I may be torturing and killing.

NEVER treat any living entity in a manner or lack of due respect that you wouldn't want afforded to yourself. I know. Hard rules to live by.

 

[RalphVa]

Too bad. In Oklahoma, we called them King Snakes because they kill the others, especially the bad ones. Think that is a copper head he's killing in the picture.

 

[Sigarms]

Even using a hot pressure washer on the weekend, I was distraught at all the little critters who I may be torturing and killing.

NEVER treat any living entity in a manner or lack of due respect that you wouldn't want afforded to yourself. I know. Hard rules to live by.

Pretty certain you're being facetious, but I get it.

Comes down to the scale size (no pun intended).

For myself, a black snake (which is pretty easy to see per it's physical size) is a great animal for our environment for what it does.

The reality is a black snake is no different than a copperhead in our environment, but due to my limited understanding of nature, I feel more bad if I kill a black snake vs a copperhead because I can justify the copperheads death by reasoning that I could of saved a human by killing the copper head so it couldn't of bitten anyone. That said, don't know many copperheads that actually eat humans for food, and generally they strike as a warning because they are afraid of danger.

I'd like to think that I've seen enough that as I've gotten older, I have a different perspective on life, and I'm not so quick to take it anymore.

I won't lie though, stink bugs that fly on me when I'm lying in bed are a completely different story LOL Hopefully the God I've grown to known can excuse my own ignorance

 

[Industrial Toys]

Actually I'm being dead serious. And when was the value of somethings life ever be determined by the size? Humans make that determination all the time it seems.

Of all the things I am ashamed of and wish I could take back, they all unfortunately involve animals.

 

[YanmarFever]

Actually I'm being dead serious. And when was the value of somethings life ever be determined by the size? Humans make that determination all the time it seems.

Of all the things I am ashamed of and wish I could take back, they all unfortunately involve animals.

Wow, how about all the ones that hit your radiator as you drive, or under your tractor wheel?

 

[Industrial Toys]

Just even going for a walk! What right is it of mine? Maybe I just feel I have done enough damage and caused enough harm here.

 

[Sigarms]

Just a glimpse into life since my wife isn't around (her being at her moms to help her).

Long story short, boy comes running in to tell me that the snake isn't dead on Monday (I thought I'd killed it Sunday night).

Me being me, instead of taking a knife, I take out my 22 with a can.

I end up telling my my one son "don't tell your mom about this".

Perfect head shot, but I was stupid enough not to think everything through. We'll leave it at that. One of those "what a dumb arse.

Can't believe how much my wife does around the house until she's gone.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

Just a glimpse into life since my wife isn't around (her being at her moms to help her).

Long story short, boy comes running in to tell me that the snake isn't dead on Monday (I thought I'd killed it Sunday night).

Me being me, instead of taking a knife, I take out my 22 with a can.

I end up telling my my one son "don't tell your mom about this".

Perfect head shot, but I was stupid enough not to think everything through. We'll leave it at that. One of those "what a dumb arse.

Can't believe how much my wife does around the house until she's gone.

I hear you. After I retired, we baby-sat my twin grandsons until the were in grade school. Sharn Jean is a professional seamstress, and keeps busy with that, so I have basically taken over most of the household duties. I was amazed, at how much work has to be done, especially with kids in the house, and living on an acreage. I have a new respect for what stay-at-home moms contribute to a marriage and family.

 

[CobyRupert]

Actually I'm being dead serious. And when was the value of somethings life ever be determined by the size? Humans make that determination all the time it seems.

Of all the things I am ashamed of and wish I could take back, they all unfortunately involve animals.

Uh-oh, I have some bad news. There’s over a billion living life forms on every square centimeter of human skin. (You can look this up)
That’s means every time you scratch your ass, you’re likely committing mass murder on a scale that’s equal to hundreds of Holocausts and World Wars combined (All life having the same value).
How can you live with yourself...******!

 

[2LaneCruzer]

According to our learned scientists, Man evolved as a hunter/killer. His body is designed such that he can run down game until it is exhausted. Man is not fast, but can run long distances steadily; the naked part of "naked ape" is for heat control. His arms and shoulders are designed to swing a club and throw a rock...or a spear.

The hands of Man have a great dexterity for making tools; the first tools were probably weapons. His brain is large, because he started eating meat..cooked meat...hundreds of thousands of years ago, providing the extra energy needed for a large brain to grow and function. His mouth and teeth are adapted for eating cooked meat and veggies, and his digestive track is adapted for eating a combination of meat and vegetables.

Early Man was able to dispatch a mammoth elephant; primitive tribes can still run down a gazelle on foot; Native Americans caught wild horses by running them down in relays.

While I am becoming like you, I don't like to harm or kill harmless animals, even insects, without a reason, the tendency and necessity is in our genes.

 

[CobyRupert]

Yep, it was our sweat glands, not our brains, or our opposable thumbs, that put us on top.
Three cheers to sweat!