# Guarding My Woodpile



## Rich_CT (Jun 13, 2009)

I guess I won't have too many mice taking up residence in my woodpile this summer.

Rich


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## jadm (Jun 13, 2009)

I was out hanging laundry on the line the other day and looked down when I saw movement on the ground by my wood pile and there was a 2 foot snake making it's rounds....

I am okay with one snake but have had friends who have had to remove snakes as they were multiplying rapidly.....I will keep an eye out as the summer progresses.

Wood piles seem to have their own little eco systems going on.  Very interesting to watch.


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## SmokinPiney (Jun 13, 2009)

Rat snake?? Looks small enough to be a black racer but usually the only part of them ya see is the tail when they're scootin the other way..


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## Rich_CT (Jun 13, 2009)

It's a rat snake.  Can tell by the white chin and checkerboard belly.  Snakes give me the heebie-jeebies, but I'll let him be.

Rich


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## humpin iron (Jun 13, 2009)

the only reason the snake is there is for the food supply


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## SlyFerret (Jun 14, 2009)

I like to see snakes around.  They eat bugs and other pests.  They're  not interested in people... they just want to be left alone.

-SF


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## karl (Jun 15, 2009)

I've always wondered if you could tell what type of snake has been in your yard by the skin.    Around here if it's long and slender, I figure a black snake and if it's short and fat, I figure a copperhead.  Is there a difference in the pattern on the skin once it's shead?


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## LLigetfa (Jun 15, 2009)

humpin iron said:
			
		

> the only reason the snake is there is for the food supply


Snakes like going into my woodpile to molt.  They can snag their old skin on the edges of the splits to wriggle out of it.  It freaks the wife out if I don't brush off all of the old skins before bringing in the splits.


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## crs7200 (Jun 15, 2009)

I hate snakesI hate snakesI hate snakesI hate snakesI hate snakesI hate snakesI hate snakes
Makes my skin crawl.

I can walk  outside and see a bear and it won't bother me, but a little snake gives me the creepie-crawlers like nothing else.

I hate snakesI hate snakesI hate snakesI hate snakesI hate snakes :grrr:  :ahhh:  :bug:  hh:


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## Highbeam (Jun 15, 2009)

We don't even have snakes out here in the wet NW. Well, we have these tiny overgrown worm looking garter snakes that don't have poision or anything but they don't compare to that beauty. 

We do have frogs!


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## WOODBUTCHER (Jun 15, 2009)

Snakes don't bother me. As a kid, my friend and I would see who would hesitate to snatch up a good sized "water moccasin"
Hog nosed Puff Aters would throw off the best show making any newbie think its a giant man-eating snake.Milk snakes would never strike and would just curl around my arm.
We would quest every summer for green snakes which were hard to see and catch. Have'nt seen to many rat snakes in my travels.

Nice pic btw!

WoodButcher


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## Rich_CT (Jun 15, 2009)

humpin iron said:
			
		

> the only reason the snake is there is for the food supply



Darn, you burst my bubble.  I thought it was admiring my stacking ability.    He should have plenty of critters and insects to choose from.  

Here's another pic taken this past Sat. Based on the length of my splits (16"),  I'd estimate that it's about 4 ft long, maybe a bit longer.

Rich


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## Rich_CT (Jun 15, 2009)

LLigetfa said:
			
		

> humpin iron said:
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We found its old skin in the pile.  My wife sounds like the opposite of yours.  She works/volunteers at Beardsley Zoo in CT and brought the skin in to show to her co-workers.  My wife respects the snake... I'm the one that's scared. 

Rich


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## fabguy01 (Jun 15, 2009)

crs7300 said:
			
		

> I hate snakesI hate snakesI hate snakesI hate snakesI hate snakesI hate snakesI hate snakes
> Makes my skin crawl.
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> I can walk  outside and see a bear and it won't bother me, but a little snake gives me the creepie-crawlers like nothing else.
> ...


I'm with this guy 100%


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## iceman (Jun 15, 2009)

fabguy01 said:
			
		

> crs7300 said:
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me too!


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## myzamboni (Jun 16, 2009)

LLigetfa said:
			
		

> humpin iron said:
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We have these reddish purple lizards that do the same thing.  No snakes.


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## Tfin (Jun 16, 2009)

I don't mind snakes as long as I see them first.......I HATE being surprised by one  Move a rock or a piece of wood and all of a sudden a snake's right there.......Bwaaaahh


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## SmokinPiney (Jun 16, 2009)

Just watch gettin your hands close to him. Rat snakes can be mean sob's sometimes. Course they aint poisonous but their bite hurts like hell! I got bit a few yrs ago by a 5ft rat and my hand felt like someone smashed it with a sledge..


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## Rich_CT (Jun 17, 2009)

SmokinPiney said:
			
		

> Just watch gettin your hands close to him. Rat snakes can be mean sob's sometimes. Course they aint poisonous but their bite hurts like hell! I got bit a few yrs ago by a 5ft rat and my hand felt like someone smashed it with a sledge..



I'm not getting close to that pile until the fall.  Hopefully, it will have had it's fill of mice, chipmunks, etc. and moved on by then.  

It was out on top of the tarp most of the afternoon today, getting some sun.   I've read that rat snakes will get aggressive if they feel threatened.  Also, read that they will release some nasty smelling musky secretion as a defense mechanism.  I don't want to get bitten or have smelly wood, so I'll let him be. 

Rich


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## gpcollen1 (Jun 17, 2009)

Nice pet snake you have there!  I only come across some of our garter snakes - some up to 3 feet long - so no worries here.  Those black rat snakes are great for keeping the vermin down but I hardly see them anymore.  Have seen them up to 8 feet long as a kid.  I know the garter snakes secrete that smelly chit when you pick them up.  I don't even bother handling them anymore as it stinks horribly.  I think there are many other snakes that secrete stuff to get you to drop them - not sure about the black snakes though.


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## Wet1 (Jun 17, 2009)

That thing would meet a quick death if it were in my wood pile... I'm not at all for killing animals, but I HATE snakes in my habitat.  Besides, we have cats to take care of the rodents.


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## Rich_CT (Jun 18, 2009)

CTwoodburner said:
			
		

> Nice pet snake you have there!  I only come across some of our garter snakes - some up to 3 feet long - so no worries here.  Those black rat snakes are great for keeping the vermin down but I hardly see them anymore.  Have seen them up to 8 feet long as a kid.  I know the garter snakes secrete that smelly chit when you pick them up.  I don't even bother handling them anymore as it stinks horribly.  I think there are many other snakes that secrete stuff to get you to drop them - not sure about the black snakes though.



The kids sure consider him a pet.  When they get off the school bus they'll go to the pile to see where he's lounging.  He was sunning himself on top  of the pile again today.  I think at this point he realizes we're not a threat.  The first few days that we approached him, he would slither back into the pile after seeing us.  Now he just keeps working on his tan.   

I've seen plenty of garter snakes too. This is the first rat snake I've seen here.  According to the DEP, the rat snake is a protected  species in CT:  http://www.ct.gov/dep/lib/dep/wildlife/pdf_files/nongame/snkwebview.pdf 

Rich


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## Dix (Jun 18, 2009)

iceman said:
			
		

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Good Lord 

You guys !  :lol: 

My daughter lives in the apartment in our home. She has 2 very lovely tuxedo kittehysss, who love to play with garter snakes :snake: 

When they bring one into the apartment for her to peruse their hunting ability, or to teach her how to hunt, she jumps up on the toilet bowl (lid down) and dials her cell phone to 1 800 Call Mom, who then dispatches said snake. I will add that it's always dead at this point ( the snake).

The Army trained MP. Jumping on a toilet bowl because of a snake  :smirk:  It's not my DNA, I swear  >:-(


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## gkucera (Jun 18, 2009)

Rat snakes eat rodents.  They are your friends.  Keep em close and take care of him.


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## SmokinPiney (Jun 18, 2009)

Snakes can also carry oils from certain types of ivy on them.  Two years ago I caught a black racer that had fallen out of some vines in a tree at work. He wrapped himself around my forearm a few times before i let him go and 2 days later i had a serious case of poison sumac on that very spot! NOT FUN.......


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## savageactor7 (Jun 20, 2009)

About 10 years ago the insulated blanket around the water heater needed attention so the wife said we should replace it. As a I got a grip on the old one and started to remove it about 10 or more milk snakes came scurrying out of it...so we backed off it for a few days. They must have suspected we'd be back cause they all took off for parts unknown.


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## Stevebass4 (Jun 21, 2009)

found the same thing under my covered pile yesterday - he's welcome to stay


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## mike1234 (Jun 22, 2009)

I was grabbing some wood off my pile for a friend who was camping and a copper head was under a piece I was moving (in the summer I pull it off with a hoe so I am 6' or so away if kind of thing happens, and with  the hoe I have a weapon in my hand), so I chopped the crap out of him.  I try and leave the black snakes alone, but truthfully, to only good snake that I see - is a dead snake.


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## firefighterjake (Jun 22, 2009)

I've got chipmunks in my wood pile . . . which I don't really mind . . . in fact I kind of enjoy watching them . . . although I think my cats enjoy watching them and playing with them more than me . . . unfortunately.


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## jadm (Jun 23, 2009)

'My' snake moved over to my neighbor's vegetable garden.  Think he is probably patrolling both places.  Share and share alike. ;-)


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