Snakes

[/pine]

Where I grew up about 15 miles from here the lake had a variety of frogs. I always liked the small spring peepers.
We now live between two ponds about 1/4 mile North and South, frogs but no peepers.
We were at a large lake a few miles from here years ago and one area had hundreds of tiny ones so we took a bunch home in a cup, I let them loose at one neighbors pond here.
I saw him a few weeks later...he says "you guys sleep ok?". I said sure we do...he says "well we can't sleep a wink ever since these damned spring peepers showed up!".
I never told him how they got there, and now they're in both ponds!

When "city folks" visit and ask what the heck is that (peepers)...I tell them it's "The Langoliers"...

 

[bunyip]

We know the snakes are active when the night time noise levels drop dramatically over a week or so.

 

[txdon]

We have timber rattlers here also but they are a threatened species in Texas.

 

[s219]

I have seen a lot of black snakes around here recently, which are eastern rat snakes. Most times when I see one of those guys, they are so busy they don't pay attention to me, and I am glad to see them as they control all sorts of rodents and deter the copperheads. However, when startled a rat snake will distort its head into a triangular shape and act aggressive, even hissing, and it can make an ID somewhat difficult. We also have water moccasins that can have a dark coloring, so from a distance when I see a dark snake with a triangular head acting aggressive I go for my shotgun just in case. My eyesight isn't what it used to be now that I am getting old, but usually I can make an ID from a safe distance.

The only snake I have shot in recent years was a copperhead last year. I'd just as soon leave them along, but with a small child and dog running around, copperheads are not welcome. The year before, we saw a giant copperhead out the window, but by the time I got out there with my shotgun, it was long gone. My neighbor shot several water moccasins last year, but I haven't seen any on my property.

Also saw a garter snake or ribbon snake earlier this spring, as well as a couple green snakes, and this juvenile rat snake that had beautiful spotted markings:



That guy was peeking out from the top of my barn door one morning, and I gave him time to crawl down before opening up for the day.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

Don't think I have ever lived anywhere in Oklahoma that didn't have snakes of some kind. When growing up and in high school, we lived next to a sand dredge, of which my father was the Superintendent. The train used to run over rattlers at night and cut them in two. They would get in our outbuildings and storm cellar; with my Dad's old Model 12, they didn't last long. Lots of others there also, like the hog nosed snake.

Where we live now, on an acreage, next to a creek, we used to see an occasional copperhead and our little Boston Terrier, Mr. Muggs, tangled with one but survived. I keep the place trimmed and mowed, so I rarely see any snake of any kind any more, although I did see a three foot black rat snake a week or so ago.

If they are poisonous, or pretend to be poisonous, they are in violation of my acreage ordinances, and summary execution is the order of the day if I can find my hoe.

 

[CajunRider]

I normally leave the snakes alone. However when they show up where they don't belong then 1)They will be killed if they are chicken snake or venomous or look venomous (if I can't tell the difference, it is not my concern) 2)Catch and release if they are not venomous.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

My apologies if I have posted this here before, but thought it was funny enough to post again.


Back in the olden days, my Dad was the supervisor of a sand pit, that
shipped sand by rail all over the Southwest, and our house was on the same
property. It was so sandy, that nothing would grow except maybe a few sand
burrs. Out little "house beyond the house" was close by, and surrounded by
ankle deep sand. We also were blessed with an abundance of rattle snakes,
which tended to hang out in the outbuildings. We found quite a few that
didn't quite make it across the RR tracks that serviced the sand pit. My
younger brother, who was deathly afraid of snakes, had the experience of
entering the facility, shutting the door, only to find a hog nosed snake
behind the door. Having had this experience, he was always on the alert, and
very, very cautious.

One morning before school, I saw him enter the privy. After he shut the
door, I sneaked up behind, waited until he got settled and all was quiet,
and then I made a "snake hissing sound" as loudly as I could. He yelled at
the top of his voice: " AWWWWWWWWWW", I heard the door bang open and he came
running, best he could, in the ankle deep sand with his jeans down around
his ankles. Of course I laughed my butt off, but he wasn't amused. When he
turned around all red faced, he made some remark akin to "I'll get you for
that you SOB, if it's the last thing I do". I still think it was funny. He
never got over his fear of snakes, and dispatched quite a few in his
lifetime. He died a couple years ago and I really miss the little ****.

At his funeral, I met his boss and some of the folks he worked for (this
company recovered explosives from old ordinance). They told me that when he
went into the field, he always took his shootin' iron and shot every snake
he saw. His boss asked me why he was so afraid of snakes...

 

[cqaigy2]

Grew up in Omak, WA. Rattle snakes were common there. Been over here in Amber going on 37 years and only seen two rattlers. They were together at a location about eleven miles south of here - Hole in the Ground.

I have one very uncommon snake here on the property. Rubber boa. About two feet long - shiney metallic OD green - EXTREMELY slow moving. Twice in the last three years -stopped mowing to move the little snake. His name is Rupert.

I've only seen a couple Rubber boa's, both were up in the hills between Wenatchee, up by mission ridge. Rattle snakes were pretty common down in the basin.

 

[dmccarty]

We have black/racer snakes and one big huge black rat snake that I have seen. Only seen a few copperheads and all but one of those met a quick end. Given the woods we live in, I expected more poisonous snake but I have not really seen that many. Far more black snakes than anything else for which I am grateful. One black snake ate three eggs one day. I carried him off into the woods.

I was walking in the woods one day, along a trail, when I heard a loud RATTLE RATTLE RATTLE. :shocked: Now, it was likely not THAT loud but it sound earth shattering to me. :laughing::laughing::laughing: I stopped in mid step and my hand moved to my pistol without thinking. I thought it was a rattle snake but it was a coiled up black snake tried to sound like rattle snake. :thumbdown::shocked::laughing::laughing::laughing: He was flicking the end of his tail on some leaves the little scat. Scat is about what I did in my pant. :laughing::laughing::laughing:

Me and Mr. No Legs had a chat about proper manners, rudeness and not scaring other creatures of the forest. This most have worked because he never did that to me again.

Later,
Dan

 

[Gary Fowler]

I have seen a lot of black snakes around here recently, which are eastern rat snakes. Most times when I see one of those guys, they are so busy they don't pay attention to me, and I am glad to see them as they control all sorts of rodents and deter the copperheads. However, when startled a rat snake will distort its head into a triangular shape and act aggressive, even hissing, and it can make an ID somewhat difficult. We also have water moccasins that can have a dark coloring, so from a distance when I see a dark snake with a triangular head acting aggressive I go for my shotgun just in case. My eyesight isn't what it used to be now that I am getting old, but usually I can make an ID from a safe distance.

The only snake I have shot in recent years was a copperhead last year. I'd just as soon leave them along, but with a small child and dog running around, copperheads are not welcome. The year before, we saw a giant copperhead out the window, but by the time I got out there with my shotgun, it was long gone. My neighbor shot several water moccasins last year, but I haven't seen any on my property.

Also saw a garter snake or ribbon snake earlier this spring, as well as a couple green snakes, and this juvenile rat snake that had beautiful spotted markings:

View attachment 555515

That guy was peeking out from the top of my barn door one morning, and I gave him time to crawl down before opening up for the day.

I caught one of those on a glue trap for mice. Didn't have a clue till someone on TBN identified him. It took some doing and copious amounts of cooking oil to get him off the glue trap. He wasn't too happy with the oil, but he was able to crawl off into the flower bed. Havent seen him since though.
I kill all the copperhead snakes I find even though Ark. law says no snake is to be killed. I just cant take the chance of getting bitten by any venomous snake.
I have seen a rattlesnake in years anywhere I have lived. They were plentiful as a kid in northern La. where I grew. up

 

[deserteagle71]

Out here in Nevada what I see the most of is what the locals call "Bull" snakes or "Gopher Snakes". They can grow quite large but are harmless.

Here's a 6 footer:

They crawl all over my deck:

And even up onto the kennel:

I'd always heard that a snake would only eat what they killed. Not so. One day I found a mouse in a trap in the barn, and I'd seen a bull snake on my patio. I dropped the mouse in front of the snake and it proceeded to just swallow it up!

This one managed to climb up 13' in my pole barn to a bird's nest and feast on either the eggs or baby birds that were up there.

Last summer as I was walking on my deck after dark I heard a familiar buzz. Thank God for the warning, but still, can't have these things hanging around the house where someone could be inadvertently bitten. .22 revolver with bird shot took care of the problem, had to hold a flashlight in one hand and the Smith in the other because it was too dark to see anything. First time I'd seen a rattler at the house in the 24 years I've lived here.

Out on a ride on my Yamaha Kodiak last month, this guy took refuge under the quad. But since it was the middle of nowhere I took his picture (and some good video), then carefully maneuvered away from him and left him be.

 

[PILOON]

Timber rattlers are protected.

Good to know, but who protects us?

 

[bunyip]

I used to tell people that I had a very effective snake repellent spray, comes in a container about the size of my thumb, the applicator is a bit more difficult to get as you need a licence for a 12g shotgun.
When I was in the Air Force I was posted in Malaysia for a while, there were fences alongside the runways so the natives didn't set up camp in a clear area, during the monsoon season the edges of the runways were underwater and the cyclone fences were host to hundreds of snakes, mainly cobras and crates, I have never seen so many snakes in such a small area all interwoven through the wire, soon as the water dropped they were gone but it served to remind you just how many snakes were in the area that you probably walked through a day or so earlier and never saw.

 

[WM75Guy]

When I worked for the FD in the NE suburbs of Fort Worth a lady called 911 and reported a snake on her front porch. Animal Control was off so the PD sent the sergeant to investigate. When he called for back up and a camera Code 3 we went to see what was going on. This little fellow was on her porch. Measured 14'. We borrowed her trashcan and put him in the back of the ambulance for transport to the station.

We played with him for 2 hours till the Humane Society agreed to come and get him. Later a neighbor called after seeing a news story about the snake and asked if he could have it back. He had opened a window to air out the snake's bedroom. The snake pushed the screen off and escaped. He got his snake back with a warning to relocate it out of the city as it violated city ordinance on exotic pets.

 

[stingray1]

Timber rattlers are protected.

Here in East Tennessee they're dead.

 

[QRTRHRS]

Had a good wake up call about a week ago. We are at are present property about a year now. When I fenced for our horses, I left some space for mowing rather than go right against the tree line. I like or rather my boxer dog likes a daily walk so I take him around the fence line. He is happy for his walk and I get a daily check on my fence.

The grass was in need of mowing so it was just dumb luck that I saw a copperhead curled up in the grass. We were close though, whew! We paid him/her a wide berth and I am vigilant now when we walk. The wake up call has me looking around the barn when I go for a bale of hay or whatever.

 

[CajunRider]

Ran over this 3 ft water moccasin on my driveway yesterday afternoon. He wasn't very happy.
PS: Without anything to show the size, he looked puny in this picture. He couldn't move but was still striking. I didn't want to risk putting anything next to him. I simply drove over him again.

 

[k0ua]

All of ours are protected and I generally ignore them as most are around the creek or drain having a feast of endangered Growling Grass Frogs, if one comes near the house or won't move it gets relocated to snake heaven.
We had one in the bathroom when I was doing renovations, the walls were off and he came in from under the house, my wife found him and I reckon that you probably would have heard the scream where you are, another time our fox terier brought one into the house and presented it to us in the kitchen, it was very much alive and not happy, a few character building moments that day.
And to be a sanctimonious pedant I have heard there are only two poisonous snakes in the world and I think they are both in Japan.

I don't know of any poisonous snakes, but we have 4 species of venomous snakes in my state alone. Although one the coral snake has a very limited range in Missouri. But as for our rattlesnakes, copperhead, and cotton mouth snakes, they can be found in suitable habitat over the state. The copperhead is probably our most widely distributed venomous snake, But they probably are not as dangerous from a venom standpoint or aggressiveness standpoint as our cotton mouth also called water moccasin snakes. Those guys hate humans and love to fight.

 

[dmccarty]

Ran over this 3 ft water moccasin on my driveway yesterday afternoon. He wasn't very happy.
PS: Without anything to show the size, he looked puny in this picture. He couldn't move but was still striking. I didn't want to risk putting anything next to him. I simply drove over him again.

Years ago, I was driving up our road and I saw a copperhead heading towards our house. :thumbdown: My first thought was to stop the truck, get one of the 2x4's used to hold cargo in the truck bed and wack the snake. Thought about that idea for a second... Figured getting close enough to wack the snake with a short 2x4 was not the best idea and I was missing the obvious... RUN THE DANG THING OVER WITH THE TRUCK! :laughing::laughing::laughing:

So I did. Once in gear, and to make sure, put the truck in neutral and rolled back over Mr. Poison No Legs.

Got a stick and tossed a flattened Mr. Poison No Legs into the woods for something to eat. It was gone the next day.

Don't like killing snakes but poisonous ones near the house are a threat.

Later,
Dan

 

[beowulf]

There may be a day now and then when you are thinking you are having a bad day. It happens. But, for those days, save and replay this link and remember that somewhere there may be someone who is having a worse day.

video breaking up sink to find snake inside - Bing video