snake story

[patrick_g]

Yes! You are more than welcome to go first with snakes! I can deal with finding a bull faced hornets nest with the rops, hungry bears in the fall with bad attitudes, a mountain lion killing deer out of the neighbors hay barn, rabid coyotes and wolves, chicken house raiding skunks and coons and a very fierce mother badger who started a family and made a home in a grain elevator we were renting years ago. I am glad to to live were I do! Snakes are at the bottom of the gunna get ya list around here thank goodness.

The official state animal folks claim we don't have mountain lions and that reported sightings are spurious. My buddy's FIL has lost two calves to a mountain lion in the last 6 wks. What else has paw prints nearly as big as a mans hand but without claws in otherwise perfectly formed prints in clay? (Yeah, I know cats have claws BUT... they retract them when walking around and the prints don't show claws whereas canids (dogs, coyotes, wolves, and such leave claw marks in their prints because their claws do not retract.)

The occasional pet gets hit by a poisonous snake but very few problems for people in these parts. In the U.S.A. there are many times more deaths every year attributed to insect bite than snakebite. If I recall the stats correctly there are more deaths by lightning than snakes too. Still, lighting and bugs just don't seem to set off your personal alarm circuits quite so extremely as an encounter with a snake, poisonous or otherwise. Snakes may not hurt you but may make you hurt yourself!

In the U.S.A. about 1 in 1000 venomous bites are fatal. There are thousands of reported snakebites in the U.SA. every year but that is with a population over 275,000,000.

Death by bee sting is 3-4 times more likely than death by poisonous snake bite. So, if you want to put things into proper perspective be afraid of Bees, very afraid.

Pat

 

[barneyrb]

35 years ago when dad raised a garden we had a 58" king that was in the corn patch every year. How do I know he was 58", I measeured him the last time I saw him.

Have any of you ever seen what a 16hp Sears Suburban (48" cut) lawn mower will do to a copperhead? It ain't for the faint of heart.

Growing up I had a 1/2 cur and 1/2 bulldog (named boss for a reason) that made a career of killing snakes. He mostly killed cottonmouths and chicken snakes. He seemed to be able to hunt them down better than and terrier I've ever owned. He was bitten several times and we never took him to the vet and he survived every bite. Just didn't survive fighting that concrete truck.

But the worst experience I ever had was watching a 5-6' rattler crawl between my feet. We had a downed tree and was going to cut it for firewood. It was an oak ~36" in diameter and I fired the old 051AV up and went to it. About 1/2 way through the first cut he went between my feet. All I can say is it's a good thing I was 20 at the time because now at 48 I'm not sure the old ticker could take it. FWIW...that snake didn't live long after that. If I remember correctly a cant hook disposed of him.

 

[patrick_g]

Barney, Glad to hear you had the presence of mind to use the cant hook and not the chain saw as the dirt contact with the chain loop sure dulls them.

Pat

 

[uphill]

While mowing the grass along my driveway, I crossed paths with a black water snake (in the vicinity of a pond). The zero turn mower is listed at max speed of 8 mph. I immediately turned and gave pursuit. When I got about 5 feet from the snake, he turned it into overdrive and speed away like I was setting still. I guess he was a high speed variety!

 

[MikeD74T]

In the early 70's my brother was in the Navy stationed in Charleston SC. Being from northern NH where few snakes care to winter he had a low tolerance for their presence. He had a riding mower nicknamed and so adorned "Blades of Death" that he dispatched water moccasins with. MikeD74T

 

[sunspot]

Earlier this spring, I was going thru the downstairs laundry next to the garage. As I walked by the folding table, I noticed my cat sitting by a dark ball of something that caught my eye. I first thought it was a lint ball. When I went up next to it, I was what looked like a ball that was all knotted up. Closer still, I knew it was a baby snake. I picked it up to see if the cat killed it. I picked at the snake and I could feel muscle movement so I knew it was still alive. The poor thing was ice cold from being on the bare cement. I was wondering how to warm it up so I popped it in my shirt pocket and went on to do some chores. I checked on the little thing 10 minutes later and it was warmed a bit but still cold to the touch. About 30 minutes later when I pulled him out he was ready to go. He started squirming around in my hand so I released him in a leaf pile and away he went.
It was an eastern black snake about 5 inched long.

I related this story to my wife and daughter and for some strange reason, it creeped them out.

 

[Botabill]

Earlier this spring, I was going thru the downstairs laundry next to the garage. As I walked by the folding table, I noticed my cat sitting by a dark ball of something that caught my eye. I first thought it was a lint ball. When I went up next to it, I was what looked like a ball that was all knotted up. Closer still, I knew it was a baby snake. I picked it up to see if the cat killed it. I picked at the snake and I could feel muscle movement so I knew it was still alive. The poor thing was ice cold from being on the bare cement. I was wondering how to warm it up so I popped it in my shirt pocket and went on to do some chores. I checked on the little thing 10 minutes later and it was warmed a bit but still cold to the touch. About 30 minutes later when I pulled him out he was ready to go. He started squirming around in my hand so I released him in a leaf pile and away he went.
It was an eastern black snake about 5 inched long.

I related this story to my wife and daughter and for some strange reason, it creeped them out.

Some people kill things because they don't understand them or out of ignorance or fear. Others share a little space on this planet. Thanks Sunspot for being in the latter group. That black snake may very well have grown up to kill the rat that may have spread some disease to your or some other family.

 

[LarryRB]

I see a snake and I run like ****, the snake won't have to worry if I decide it is safe or not.,.. Now, being considerably overweight, one good leg, one hit and miss, 60 years old, Seeing a snake, I am so fast running that I can sit down and see myself arrive.. Now, that is moving on out...

 

[NuBota]

Some people kill things because they don't understand them or out of ignorance or fear.

Well I guess I resemble that remark - earlier in this thread I mentioned the plethora of black rat snakes I have in my flower beds, etc and how I just leave them be for the very reasons you and others have mentioned.

Anyway, come home this evening, walk out into the yard and see a baby snake - now I have read how baby rat snakes are commonly mistaken for copperheads - but this one looked tan with brown splotches, not grey with black - so I immediately think copperhead and kill the thing - once I checked pics online, I realize I screwed up. I now know better - lemon colored tail, etc etc. Spent the next hour frustrated with myself figuring it was the offspring of the two large "pet" snakes under my porch.

Funny thing is - I go out on my porch 20 mins later, in the dark, for a smoke (yea, I know...) and hear and get a glimpse of movement near my feet - move back, reach in the door to flip on the light and there is a "junior" - maybe 3 feet long - black snake coming right at me, couple of feet away. We have a standoff, he's up off of the ground looking at me, long enough where I call the kids out to see - he doesn't budge till I stomp my foot at him a couple of times.

My first thought is that it saw me kill that baby and wants to avenge it's little brother Anyway, looks like I now have at least three (woulda been four) living in the flower beds by the porch.

Starting to wonder if I should try to relocate these guys - I don't mind them there, but visitors may not have the same appreciation as they come to my front door. And I'm sure at some point one may find its way into the house - not sure I want that....

 

[BungeeII]

Here in Michigan we don't see much more than gardners and watersnakes. I bought the remains of an old farm and started clearing things out. One day I opened the lid to an old cistern and was surprised by a weird snake staring at me. Since it was cold out, it was quite lethargic and I trapped it. After doing a little research, I discovered it was a rattlesnake.

I called our DNR to notify them that I found it. The conversation went about like this...
"You cannot kill it", she said.
"No?"
"No. They're a protected species."
"Really?"
"Yes, sir. You'll have to release it."
"OK, tell me where you live and I'll be right over."