# You never know...Snakes Alive!!!!...or dead



## Intheswamp (Jun 2, 2011)

An old neighbor friend had had some plantation pines thinned out recently and I had been eyeballing the ramp/limbing area.  I stopped by this morning and asked if she minded if I got some of the pine that was piled up waiting to eventually be burned.  She told me to get all I wanted but of course made the statement "I didn't think you were supposed to burn pine."... :smirk:   I commented a little on that and told her I was needing something that would dry quickly.  She went on to tell me that there was a lot of oaks on a fence row across the road that I could get if I wanted it....but I'd have to cut it down.   This is about 3/4 mile drive for me.  I'm really not chomping at the bits to fell any standing live trees, but there again...I'd like to get some more green oak to check the "punk formation". 

Anyhow, it's mighty hot down here in Dixie.  NOAA is saying 100F for tomorrow, another forecaster is saying 102F...HOT HOT HOT!

It's dry, too, though they're throwing out a 20% chance of rain....I think they're confused, though, and thinking about the humidity which is kind of like it's raining.   hh: 

My wife stumbled upon this little fellow this morning as he was drinking out of the dog's water bowl outside.  I wanted to let him stay but the wife trumped that....he now resides along the luxurious and scenic Gin Creek.    Ed


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## Backwoods Savage (Jun 2, 2011)

Looks like you have a friend there Ed. 

Good luck on the oak and the heat.


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## My Oslo heats my home (Jun 2, 2011)

I hope he's behind some glass, at the least


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## Intheswamp (Jun 2, 2011)

Backwoods Savage said:
			
		

> Looks like you have a friend there Ed.
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> Good luck on the oak and the heat.



Yeah, friendship was shortlived.   I let him loose beside a little creek that's on the way to our church...I told the wife to wave last night as we rode by. 

Yelp, that heat oughta work on getting some of the oak dried.  I've still gotta get some pine which is a problem with the heat...it's getting to be man-killin' weather out there!  I spotted a nice pine over close to the swamp and a neighbors house.  Looked like it blew down and blocked off his driveway or either he cut it down to intentionally block the drive....you gotta know some of the folks around here to understand.  :roll:   I hope to see him in the next few days...that one tree would be all I need and it would be *really* easy to drive right up to.  We'll see...

Ed


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## iskiatomic (Jun 2, 2011)

Three things that scare me, 

1 Snakes, of any kind.

2 FAT chicks, I mean FAT.

3 Running out of beer.

KC


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## Intheswamp (Jun 2, 2011)

My Oslo heats my home said:
			
		

> I hope he's behind some glass, at the least


  He was in a gallon jug when I took the picture. Strong little sucker, too!


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## Intheswamp (Jun 2, 2011)

iskiatomic said:
			
		

> Three things that scare me,
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> 1 Snakes, of any kind.
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Not always in that order, right?


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## muncybob (Jun 2, 2011)

mine are
1. Running out of beer.
2. Running out of beer.
3. The beer ain't cold!


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## fireview2788 (Jun 2, 2011)

He's a good looking snake, especially with the round pupils!  What kind is it?


fv


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## Intheswamp (Jun 2, 2011)

fireview2788 said:
			
		

> He's a good looking snake, especially with the round pupils!  What kind is it?
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Rat snake.  They're rather nice to have around unless you have chickens in a small scale coop....they can eat eggs and chicks.  Other than that they're pretty good to have around...just the wife and MIL tend to not be a fan of them.  I've caught several around here and relocated them to more friendly (for them) areas.  Cottonmouths, copperheads, rattlers...well, if they're around the house they meet a timely death (sorry snake lovers but I've got two grandbabies, a wife, MIL, and ME).  If I run up on any of these poisonous snakes down around the cabin/swamp I pretty well let them slither on away.  

The problem with rattlers is that I'm basically deaf to their buzz.   I found one in the middle of a dirt road a couple of years ago and stopped to check him out.  I poked him with a stick till I got him good and mad, all coiled up and shaking his tail.  He was only about 3' long so I got pretty close to him and squatted down...if I turned my head a certain direction I could pick up on his rattling a *little* bit, but mostly I couldn't hear that pitch.  Ain't no tellin' how many I've walked by or stepped over down in the swamp or the piney woods.  I think the fact that I *didn't* hear them kept them from striking me...they didn't sense any apprehension coming from me (because I didn't hear them) so they just laid low till I passed on by.  Maybe that's some fanciful thinking, but through my years I have been through some mighty snake infested places.

We also have some fairly good sized green-banded black king snakes, too.  Those are beautiful and get BIG. 

Anyhow, this little round eyed fellow got him a new home...I'm sure there's more around.  

Ed


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## fireview2788 (Jun 2, 2011)

Intheswamp said:
			
		

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All reasons I am glad I live in OH!  My mother-in-law is from Winston Cty, AL and she tells me plenty of snake stories.  If she see a garter snakes she's in a tree.

fv


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## Intheswamp (Jun 3, 2011)

fireview2788 said:
			
		

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I guess I don't need to mention the report of a "giant snake" just south of us....some think it's a liberated python that has came up from Florida.  Maybe they'll eat the armadillos.

Ed


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## Intheswamp (Jun 3, 2011)

Here ya go, fv.  I knew I had a picture of that rattler I couldn't hear.  He wasn't a big one...but big enough. 






If you run up on one now while cutting wood, with this temperature he's going to be one quick rude dude.  ...and they love to lay along side logs...shady and cool(er) there.  Ed


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## Kenster (Jun 3, 2011)

We have rattlesnakes in this area of Texas but I've never seen one since we moved out to the country, either around our place or anywhere that I've been out working on wood.   We see copperheads occasionally.   My neighbor found a coral snake in his garden once and I found a squooooshed coral snake in the road out front once.    You have to really be slow and not paying attention to get hurt by a coral snake.  I know their poison is real bad but they don't have big, hypodermic type fangs like pit viper (rattlesnake, etc) and they have to kinda chew on you to get you with their venoms.  By that time, most people will wake up to the fact that they have a snake nibbling on their ankle and kick it off before they get much poison.  They're kinda shy and elusive, too.   So, copperheads are the ones that we have to watch out for around here.   My wife has killed several around the house with her gardening.    I've never seen one in the woods.   But I usually wear jeans and boots when I'm working back there... just in case.


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## fireview2788 (Jun 3, 2011)

Dang!  Good thing he was in the middle of the road.  If I ever head south for upland hunting I will be investing in a pair of snake chaps.  A snake bite is not something I want to deal with.

We have the Massassagua Rattlesnake in Ohio and even in one of the marshes I regularly hunt but they are so timid I would have a better chance of seeing on than actually getting bit by one.

fv


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## smokinj (Jun 3, 2011)

iskiatomic said:
			
		

> Three things that scare me,
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> 1 Snakes, of any kind.
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+1  ;-)


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## Kenster (Jun 3, 2011)

I like to give snakes every chance to get out of my way.   When I'm working in the woods I make a lot of noise, kick at high weeds, kick at my wood piles and stacks,  Use a long stick to swing into high grass where I'm walking.   Every once in a while I'll scare up a Coachwhip.   They almost leap out of their hiding places and scare the bejezus out of me.   Super fast moving snake.


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## mecreature (Jun 3, 2011)

fireview2788 said:
			
		

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Dont think just because you live in OH that there are no poisonous snakes around. There may be fewer then the south but some are there.
We have had larger numbers of Timber Rattlers and Copper Heads reported in the last few years.
about 6 years ago a buddy of mine was in southern indiana and his boy picked up a Copper Head and got bit in the hand. It was nasty.. thought it was a corn snake.


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## Adios Pantalones (Jun 3, 2011)

We're supposed to have timber rattlers in New England, but I hear they're all in one place.  Glad they're still around, and glad I don't run across them.


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## -PB- (Jun 4, 2011)

iskiatomic said:
			
		

> Three things that scare me,
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> 1 Snakes, of any kind.
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what do you do when it's 2am, you belly up to the bar for last call, and the FAT chick bartender with the big snake tatoo tells you they ran out of beer?


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## jimbom (Jun 4, 2011)

-PB- said:
			
		

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I wouldn't buy a Lottery ticket from her if I was him.


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## Intheswamp (Jun 10, 2011)

Wow, I had a treat this morning.  I was coming back from my MIL's trailer via the wood pile area when I looked down and saw the absolutely largest green snake I've ever seen.  It was well over two feet long...I'm guessing around 32" long.  It was the most intense green and almost seemed translucent....BEAUTIFUL!  I went back to the house and got the camera but it was gone by time I got back.  I'll stay on the lookout for this monster

For some reason my wife just wasn't excited about it when I told her about it...she just wanted to know where I saw it at.  We didn't *even* tell my 81 year old MIL (just had her gall bladder out this morning) as she panics *very* badly at the sight of a piece of rope laying on the ground.

I know, if there isn't pictures it never happened...but at least I got to see it!  

Ed


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## Remmy122 (Jun 10, 2011)

I have the opportunity to scrounge some wood at a local private school, bunch of wood was cut down in a marshy area, the school wants it gone, doesnt know how to get rid of it. Only catch is it is in the marshy area. We have copperheads and cotton mouths, I dont deal well with any snake but the cotton mouths scare the everything out of me! I think Ill be waiting till it gets a bit cooler to get that wood... its not going any where.


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## Intheswamp (Jun 11, 2011)

Remmy122 said:
			
		

> I have the opportunity to scrounge some wood at a local private school, bunch of wood was cut down in a marshy area, the school wants it gone, doesnt know how to get rid of it. Only catch is it is in the marshy area. We have copperheads and cotton mouths, I dont deal well with any snake but the cotton mouths scare the everything out of me! I think Ill be waiting till it gets a bit cooler to get that wood... its not going any where.


I can't say I blame you for waiting.  Most poisonous and non-poisonous snakes will pretty much try to evade human interaction.  Cottonmouths aren't simply aggressive, they're plain out MEAN!  That's the only species of snake that I've ever encountered that will charge you repeatedly.  I've had them charge boats I was fishing out of.  With the high heat it just makes them meaner.j

Ed


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## Bigg_Redd (Jun 11, 2011)

iskiatomic said:
			
		

> Three things that scare me,
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> 1 Snakes, of any kind.
> 
> ...



Hear! Hear!


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## Intheswamp (Jun 11, 2011)

Adios Pantalones said:
			
		

> We're supposed to have timber rattlers in New England, but I hear they're all in one place.  Glad they're still around, and glad I don't run across them.



I know one place that one was this afternoon...

I had finished up splitting the pine I got last weekend and the little bit of white oak I had left in rounds.  I'd *slightly* straigtened up around the wood stacks and was putting the rakes in the garage.  Mind you, our garage is kinda cluttered....really!, no kiddin'  Anyhow, I sat the rakes against the wall and something made me look down to the baseboard beside the yard tools.  There it lay, thinking I hadn't seen it.  Well, the closest thing I had was a flat scoop and I knew I had one shot at it or it would disappear into the clutter of the garage...where the wife washes clothes.   :grrr:

I took careful aim and nailed him across the back.  But, he was mad and definitely still alive.  I couldn't let him go so I kept him pinned donw till I could get my hands on the trusty, rusty BUSH-HOOK!  (I like snakes, but...too bad if you're a really big snake lover)

Anyhow, after a few tense moments I managed to retrieve it from the clutter.  It was small, around 2' long.  Just a couple of rattlers.  Timber rattler.  Nice way to end the day.  

My wife really didn't like it when I told her about the cool green snake that was in the "gap" between our house and her mother's trailer...she really ain't gonna like this...but, I gotta tell her so she'll be on the look out.  I guess the dry weather is getting every thing moving and looking for food and water.

Summary:   Timber Rattler + My Garage = DEAD SNAKE

Yours truly,
Ed

PS...  This snake had a big stink to it, too!


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## Thistle (Jun 12, 2011)

smokinjay said:
			
		

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  :lol: +100 Right on.

I've been up on upper deck 35 floors + during high-rise office tower construction,high bridges,parking ramps,atriums connecting 2 buildings etc,up 70-80ft in a tree,over 150 ft up on scaffolding,underground 50-60 ft in tunnels underneath buildings,along a river & under streets - None of that bothers me,if I've been away from it for a while,it sometimes takes me a few hrs  or so to get acclimated again,then I'm fine.

Spiders,ticks etc I brush them off,more annoyance than anything.But snakes are my one true phobia.

If I see one in the woods,its dead,even a little bastard lol.Dont even visit the reptile exhibit at zoos if I know what part they're in first.Alligators & Crocs are cool though,always like checking them out.


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## ecocavalier02 (Jun 12, 2011)

Thistle said:
			
		

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 Samd here. i dont even like to see a dead one. just nasty and freaky looking


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## NCPABill (Jun 12, 2011)

Adios Pantalones said:
			
		

> We're supposed to have timber rattlers in New England, but I hear they're all in one place.  Glad they're still around, and glad I don't run across them.



I was just talking to a state forester - a real, good, balance of business and environment guy.  He said that breeding / growing conditions need to be just right for rattle snakes, thus they never get too far from one of these spots.  We've owned this farm since almost 100 years before Stihls were invented, and I've never heard of a rattle snake.  Go one mile up the hill, and they can be found.  

Finally, a win!

Bill


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## Hiram Maxim (Jun 12, 2011)

fireview2788 said:
			
		

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There are still rattle snakes in Ohio! hh: 
We even have some here in Michigan.....not many but there still out there.
The ones you really have to watch out for are the hybrid Copper headed Rattle Moccasins  :lol:


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## Intheswamp (Jun 12, 2011)

NCPABill said:
			
		

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Timber rattlers up in the north tend to stay close to rocky upland outcroppings, from what I understand.  Females stay closer to the overwintering den especially if they're getting ready to have babies (about every 3(?) years and they only have about 1/2 dozen of them.  There personality is really a non-aggressive one...but, they'll still bite you if provoked.  An interesting thing is that it takes several years for a timber rattler to come to maturity and they can live at least 12 years.  The males will roam further than the females.  In the winter they will "co"-den with copperheads and other snakes.  I wouldn't have killed this one if it had been out in the wild, but being in the garage...it had to go.  This morning two of my dogs signaled where the snake had been...and I still could smell it this morning.  As I moved in closer to the "clutter" something made a noise and kinda spooked me.  After church I went back to the area, but didn't see, hear, nor *smell* anything.  Not sure if it was a new snake's scent that I smelled this morning and it had left or if the scent from the snake from yesterday had finally dissipated.   :-S 

Ed


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## Remmy122 (Jun 12, 2011)

[/quote]
 Not sure if it was a new snake's scent that I smelled this morning and it had left or if the scent from the snake from yesterday had finally dissipated.   :-S 

Ed[/quote]

I always heard old wives tales that snakes can "smell/taste" a dead snake in the air, so around here alot of folks will hang them on their fences (still freaks me out!). maybe worth a try?


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## Intheswamp (Jun 12, 2011)

Aw man, you reminded me of an old wives tale that I've heard before, too...that hanging a dead snake on a fence would bring rain!  ...and man, we definitely need rain down here!

Ed


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## Backwoods Savage (Jun 12, 2011)

Here's one I found when I was taking out the last of one stack. This picture is probably a year old now. These things act like rattlesnakes but are only actors. Milk snakes they are and can grow quite large.







Here's another I posted in the Picture forum. One hungry snake!


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## SnapCracklePop (Jun 13, 2011)

I once canoed a 100-mile section of the Allegheny River and kept an eye out for copperheads, which I was told were numerous, but saw nary a one.

The day after I got home, I went to play golf and encountered a copperhead in the middle of the fairway.

Still pondering that one...

Nancy


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## yooperdave (Jun 13, 2011)

any of you winter fans (mainly snomobiling) can relate to all the snow snakes we have here.  some of 'em really get big!


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## SnapCracklePop (Jun 13, 2011)

yooperdave said:
			
		

> any of you winter fans (mainly snomobiling) can relate to all the snow snakes we have here.  some of 'em really get big!



Nah. Around here, the snipes keep 'em in check.


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## certified106 (Jun 13, 2011)

My friend who is a state forester has pictures of a Timber Rattler that was found about 3 miles up the road from my house so I usually try to keep an eye out for them when in the woods. I have never had much of a snake problem in my woodpiles ever since we got the Jack Russell Terrier as she tends to tear any snake she finds to pieces. If there is anything hiding in the woodpiles she will spend a whole day climbing the woodpiles and digging to get at it. The only time I get annoyed is when I have to re-stack because she is tearing wood off the stacks. In 7 years we have only had to take her to the vet once because she got bitten by a copper head but she was back out there and at it again the same day she got home.


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## Jags (Jun 13, 2011)

I have yet to see a snake that I didn't want to kill.  Period. No apologies or excuses.


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## smokinj (Jun 13, 2011)

Jags said:
			
		

> I have yet to see a snake that I didn't want to kill.  Period. No apologies or excuses.



+100


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## Adios Pantalones (Jun 13, 2011)

Want to or not, there's generally no reason.  They're usually doing you a favor.  Until critters start screwing with my house or garden- they can do what they want here.  I wouldn't want to live where there's more poisonous snakes (never seen one in the wild here).


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## Jags (Jun 13, 2011)

Adios Pantalones said:
			
		

> Want to or not, there's generally no reason.  They're usually doing you a favor.  Until critters start screwing with my house or garden- they can do what they want here.  I wouldn't want to live where there's more poisonous snakes (never seen one in the wild here).



It's not like I go hunting them - if they stay away from me, I will stay away from them.  Now if they show their little no armed, no legged, no wings or fins body around me - then all bets are off.


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## Wood Duck (Jun 13, 2011)

I could use a few big snakes to eat some of the excess rabbits around here. There just aren't many snakes in my area. Too bad, I like snakes.


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## Intheswamp (Jun 13, 2011)

Jags said:
			
		

> I have yet to see a snake that I didn't want to kill.  Period. No apologies or excuses.



I take it you live by the "never seen a handbag I didn't like" philosophy.   :cheese:


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## Jags (Jun 13, 2011)

Intheswamp said:
			
		

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I live by the philosophy that something that has no arms, no legs, no wings, no fins shouldn't be able to move that fast.  Therefore they must be evil beings that must be killed.  Its the only logical conclusion.


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## Intheswamp (Jun 13, 2011)

Wood Duck said:
			
		

> I could use a few big snakes to eat some of the excess rabbits around here. There just aren't many snakes in my area. Too bad, I like snakes.



For years we had cats around the house...at times, too many of them.  During that time we had field mice off and on, also, with the occasional rat running between outbuildings.  After the last cat met it's untimely demise we noticed a slight bump in mice activity.  Then suddenly...no mice.  We started seeing more and more purple tailed skinks, fence lizards, and plain old green lizards...and a few occasional non-poisonous snakes.  I really hate that I had to get rid of the rat snake the other day.  And I really didn't want to kill the timber rattler but I've had a rule since I was a teenager that if a poisonous snake is around a populated area (close to a house) I kill it...down in the swamp, though, I've seen some cotton mouths and copperheads that could eat a goat and I let them move unimpeded on their way.  The second thing I thought about after I alerted to the rattler was how pretty it was...stocky build, classic timber rattler pattern, black tail.  The second thing I thought of was that it was probably in the garage hunting lizards.

Anyhow, that's two snakes I've had to remove from the immediate vicinity of the house in the last couple of weeks....I hope the mice don't decide to do a commando raid on us.  ;(

Ed


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## Intheswamp (Jun 13, 2011)

Jags said:
			
		

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<chuckle> I hear ya Jags.  Not only can they move fast, but climb....those suckers can CLIMB  I've got a martin gourd rack out beside the house.  One day the birds were raising cane and there was a rat snake coiled up on one of the cross-arms...it had got past a stove-pipe predator guard (top about 3' off the ground) and had climbed a 15" 2-inch galvanized pipe.  I knocked it off with a pole and carried it to a new territory.  I don't mind having the non-poisonous ones around the house but the poisonous ones...nah.

We also have some large king snakes around, though I haven't seen one this year.

Ed


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## Remmy122 (Jun 14, 2011)

Jags said:
			
		

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AGREED!


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## iskiatomic (Jun 14, 2011)

> what do you do when itâ€™s 2am, you belly up to the bar for last call, and the FAT chick bartender with the big snake tatoo tells you they ran out of beer?




That's when I KNOW it's time to go home


KC


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## Constrictor (Sep 29, 2011)

I paid 3 grand for my last snake.


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## KB007 (Sep 30, 2011)

I found this little guy the other day right at the foot of our deck.  Ambitious little bugger, he was maybe 2 1/2 ft long.  I took a couple of pics then left them alone.  Came back about 20 mins later - nowhere in sight, don't know whether the toad got free, the snake won or gave up...


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## Blondesense (Jan 2, 2012)

KB007 said:
			
		

> I found this little guy the other day right at the foot of our deck.  Ambitious little bugger...



How about this ambitious BIG bugger...


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## eclecticcottage (Jan 2, 2012)

Constrictor said:
			
		

> I paid 3 grand for my last snake.



Beautiful!  I like snakes, still miss my ball python-although my dog couldn't stand him.  She went bananas every time she saw him, so we had to keep him upstairs.  I usually end up moving a least one or ow baby garters in the spring when we're mowing.  I'll never forget the first spring when we bought our old house, I walked out to wash my truck and...there were about 50 or so garters in the ditch next to the driveway.  It was amazing.  They did it every year, until the crows got them one year and they never came back.  Glad except for the odd rogue copperhead we don't have poisonous snakes here though.


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## Blondesense (Jan 2, 2012)

*FYI, This thread is from last summer. * 
Maybe I shouldn't revive (or de-rail) it, but I found it while researching ways to keep snakes out of my woodstacks.  I have nothing against the HUGE blacksnake that lives in the barn, but after killing three copperheads on the back patio last summer I want to discourage any other snakes from moving in.


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## Constrictor (Jan 3, 2012)

Blondesense said:
			
		

> *FYI, This thread is from last summer. *
> Maybe I shouldn't revive (or de-rail) it, but I found it while researching ways to keep snakes out of my woodstacks.  I have nothing against the HUGE blacksnake that lives in the barn, but after killing three copperheads on the back patio last summer I want to discourage any other snakes from moving in.


What you have done is encourage them to come by killing the ones there already. the mice and rats will multiply enticing more snakes.


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## shmodaddy (Jan 3, 2012)

I will let a black snake go.  Barely.  All the other rattle headed copper moccasins get what ever is handy be it shovel, axe, or shotgun.


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## pen (Jan 3, 2012)

No room for threats on the site.

Closing this one down.  

pen


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