Snake Loves Box Blade !

[Haoleguy]

Yesterday, late in the day, I went around and sprayed the yellowjackets in all the nooks and crannies of my outdoor equipment. Well while spraying the boxed scarifer bar of the Gannon box blade I thought I saw a shadow in the corner of my eye as I moved from right to left spraying the holes...favorite yellowjacket spot. Well when I moved back left to right a beeeg black snake came out the end of the bar. I was totally shocked to see it but it confirmed the shadow I saw earlier. I love snakes and hate to piss them off. He slithered out and away and I measured him at ~6 ft. I think this is a rat snake if I remember correctly. I have had birds and mice in my equipment but never a snake.........Cheers, Gary

 

[Marveltone]

Snakes can be very beneficial and I love them, but a surprise meeting like that would make me jump too. Glad you let the critter go. We love all the critters that eat the little pests around here.

Joe

 

[BoFuller]

Good job. I wish I had more of that kind and less rattlers though.

 

[SPIKER]

I used to see a few corn/milk snakes at my place. unfortunately I hit 3 with the with the mower 2 springs ago in the high grass they were all balled up mating one BIG female and 2 males. I felt really bad as it didnt kill them but spit them out about 2/3's mangled up. One of the males took a blade to the head and was done I had to finish off the other two I also see a good number of big gardener snakes & always try & watch out for them all. we dont have Black Snakes, Rattlers or even Cotton Mouths up in my area too dry/cold I'm guessing.

So pretty much just all the GOOD snakes to watch out for. There was a resident BIG Female Gardener snake lived (appropriately enough) in our garden and hung out in the Peas & Beans and the Zucchini plants most of the time. I watched her eat a BIG TOAD that I figured she would choke on for sure. she didnt move for half a day even as I mowed around her (she was on edge of garden that day.) I gave her a WIDE BIRTH as I' watched her once eating a field mouse out there in the lilies by the water spigot too. The Woman even seems to be OK with her keeping critters out of our garden...

Mark

 

[Don87]

Good job. I wish I had more of that kind and less rattlers though.

Maybe you could buy a few and turn them loose on your property. They will eat rattlesnakes.



This is why you should never kill a black snake

 

[creekbend]

When I'm in the field, I try to make as much noise as possible for the situation. Most snakes crawl away, unless they are surprised or startled. I ususlly see a couple of Copperheads and one or two Cotton Mouths yearly.

 

[bucktaker]

ok I know black snakes are beneficial/harmless but all snakes give me a scare....walked out on the rear upper deck of the lake house to find a 5 ft black snake, I yelled for help and by the time the wife got her camera and took a picture it was going off the deck (12ft in the air) I gave it a little assistance and it fell the rest of the way then slithered off......



What can I do to keep them away from my home?

 

[Gunny]

There are some snake repellants on the market, the woodstream snakeaway seems to be the most popular. From my limited use, it seems like they work fairly well. I spread it around our perimeter fence twice a year and I haven't seen any snakes in our yard, but when I've mowed the yard right next door, I have run across a few, so while I can't completely endorse the stuff, it does seem like it works.

 

[TripleR]

We leave the snakes alone on our property as well unless it is a rattler in the yard as we always have kids of all ages from toddlers to the teens. We don't see them as often as you would think and my sons, having had pet reptiles are always on the lookout for a different species. I once saw a beautiful King Snake, I sure wish I had my camera as I have only seen one in twenty years we have lived here.

Several years ago, my wife took my mother in law on a ride on our ATV to see the work we had done on the property and a snake crawled out from the front of the tank area and across my wife's arm before she could shut it down. They probably moved quicker thank bucktaker and abandoned the ATV. They walked home and one of my sons had to go up and ride it home; wish I could of filmed that.:laughing:

I have nothing against snakes, but prefer my meetings with them not be a surprise.

 

[BoFuller]

When we lived in southern CA we had a couple Kings in a terrarium. I had them a couple years and they had eggs twice but I cod never get them to hatch do we eventually let them go. I wish I had them up at the Ranch!