posted
Help!!! I have a black snake problem( they are going under my house) There is a field nearby so I don't know what to do.
Plants: 34 | From: South Carolina | Registered: Jun 2003
| Seeded: 205.188.116.71
posted
I just did some searching on the net about snakes in general... they like the grassy areas.. so even if there are other snakes besides the blacks.. you will have to do something long term...
some of these sites say that owl decoys have helped in the past.. since owls are natural predators of snakes. Another way to keep them out of your yard is to maybe outline your yard in a rough material... snakes like to go on smooth surfaces.. and avoid rough patches, so maybe if you can put gravel around the garden or the problem area.. this is the site i was lookign at ... there are more...
im thinking the owl is the smartest idea.. cause you wont have to deal with chemicals going on your lawn and washing down into rivers or whatever.
you also dont want to relocate them.. because if they are not poisonous.. then there is really no problem... http://www.hsus.org/ace/14494
this site was just mentioning that you should make your yard look like a bad place to go... im pretty sure they arent poisonous.. but double check just in case!! good luck!!! Plants: 2 | From: Ontario | Registered: Jun 2004
| Seeded: 149.99.75.17
posted
LowB, Very interesting sites you posted. I had a BAD snake problem at my farm years ago. One day, not long after moving there, we counted 13 copperheads in the little creek by the driveway! (we called it "Copperhead Creek" after that!) It was grown up with weeds on both sides, so I went on a mad rampage of cleaning up around that creek! When I was finished, it was weed-free, and could easily be mowed all the way to the edge of the water. My beautification project sent the copperheads on down the creek to a more suitable environment for them! We would only see one copperhead at a time in the creek after that, not 13!!!
The black snakes that hung out under the house and in my outbuildings didn't bother me as long as they stayed outside! "They" say that black snakes keep copperheads away, and for all the copperheads I encountered on the farm, none were right around the house. Only black snakes. So, there may be some truth in that.
Out of 13 years living there, only once did a black snake get in the house! It was about 4 feet long, and believe me, it was as freaked out as I was! Being in the middle of 70 acres of woods and fields, I co-existed with the black snakes quite well. I figured they were my first line of defense under the house for keeping the field mice out of my kitchen.
Cindy
* * * * Buckle up! It makes it harder for the aliens to suck you out of your car! Plants: 43285 | Registered: Mar 2004
| Seeded: 69.170.162.6
loz
guest
posted
Okay, I just had to share my snake story one last time........mentioned it several times since becoming a member, but since you all are twisting my arm to tell it again....
I lived in an apartment building(2 apts), we were on the bottom.....in a town, with the fairgrounds fields below our apt......So I'm laying on my bed watching a movie, and getting ready to get in the shower when I hear a thud....well, being a scaredy cat like I am I look all around for what it could've been.....finally I open the bathroom door and glance in there and I see this thing laying across the edge of the tub.....this big black thing .....I'm thinking what the heck is that, when it suddenly clicks in my mind.....A snake.....in my house, with me, alone.... So, I'm freaking out....slam the door shut, throw on some clothes and jump in the car....Where am I going? To get my brother who was about 10 minutes from me at his girlfriends house...(We were roomates but he stayed with her more than with me...lol). So I am driving at record breaking speeds, disgusted and freaked out....I mean there can't be a snake in my house...touching my bathtub!!!! So I arrive at the house jump out and pound furiously on the door, my brothers girlfriend answers and I burst into tears.....She's freaking out thinking what's wrong, and trying to make sense out of my mumbling, tearful explanation.....Paul my brother comes to the door and you know what? He doesn't want to come get it.....he's scared, I can tell....now mind you, my brother is someone you'd be scared of if you saw him....he's 6'4", and pretty muscular......and here he is scared to come.....finally he decides to go with me, so we get to the apt....right before we open the door my brother says to me, it probably got out from the bathroom.....I said, no way, there isn't enough room for it to get under the door....Well sure enough we open the door and go into the kitchen and there it is laying in it's full glory across the kitchen floor.....Paul got a shovel and threw it way down in the woods somewhere, but let me tell you what the worst part for me was.....I couldn't shower there again for weeks and weeks......My husband, who was then my boyfriend came down and tried to fix the problem....the snake had came down through the air vent in the shower, it had come loose....so he put about 10 screws in to make me feel better.....but it didn't.... I drove everyday the 20 miles to my parents house to shower...... Took me a long time to be able to stand in there and not think about that ugly snake coming down through there, I mean what if I had been in the shower....and it dropped on my head........
Thankfully when we bought this house there wasn't a vent above the shower......
The lesson of this story: Loz is a wimp....
Seeded: 4.249.183.171
posted
Hey, you ain't a wimp! I have no problem with snakes, like I said. BUT...I don't want a stray snake (pet snake is o.k.) in my HOUSE!!! I have a 16 X 70 trailer at my mom's farm that I live in when me and Andy can't get along. (At least twice a year!) One time when I moved there, I had a copperhead in my living room, going underneath Lola's cage. Well, I decided Andy wasn't as bad as the snake at the time, so I came back here. (I've since moved back to the trailer twice and haven't seen anymore snakes inside, but I still feel pretty weird when I'm living there, just thinking that they are hidden in the closets, dresser drawers, etc.!!!)
It's "Snake Season" here, but at the present time, I'm living with Andy. Maybe I can make it 'til fall before I have to move out again!
* * * * Buckle up! It makes it harder for the aliens to suck you out of your car! Plants: 43285 | Registered: Mar 2004
| Seeded: 69.170.162.6
posted
I have a no tresspassing sign posted,transpassers will be shot survivors shot again.We had a rat snake in garage about a month ago now.he got shot twice.He was traspassing.I walked in garden shed last night& was a baby copperhead(yes I squatted over to see better but not THAT close)I pinned him under a jar and went got my cutting shears off prpgation table came back and snipped his lil wiggly self...I composted all 6 or 8 inches of him
I have to say they like weeds and good hideing spots(like under tubs of house building stuff like a box with electrical outlets in it and wireing) Now I'm kewl with slick(my western blue stripped ribbon snake....he lives under my pond....least till I re build it bigger and with non pre formed liner) seen& shot alot a snakes last year.the month of may alone was 15 snakes& decided settlers didn't starve in may....they ate snake! 3 this year a slow time. anyone watch venim ER on animal planet?thats a kewl show
* * * * I will age ungracefully until I become an old woman in a small garden..doing whatever the Hell I want!
posted
I know I'm a girl and should be sent running by the meer sight of a snake, but I think they are beautiful creatures, like all animals, and deserve the same amount of RESPECT as a cute little puppy. You'd never chop off a puppy's head for trespassing, would you?
Plants: 193 | From: Morehead, Ky. | Registered: Jun 2004
| Seeded: 147.133.37.134
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![[shocked]](graemlins/shock.gif)
.....I'm thinking what the heck is that, when it suddenly clicks in my mind.....A snake.....in my house, with me, alone.... ![[Eek!]](eek.gif)
So, I'm freaking out....slam the door shut, throw on some clothes and jump in the car....Where am I going? To get my brother who was about 10 minutes from me at his girlfriends house...(We were roomates but he stayed with her more than with me...lol). So I am driving at record breaking speeds, disgusted and freaked out....I mean there can't be a snake in my house...touching my bathtub!!!! So I arrive at the house jump out and pound furiously on the door, my brothers girlfriend answers and I burst into tears.....She's freaking out thinking what's wrong, and trying to make sense out of my mumbling, tearful explanation.....Paul my brother comes to the door and you know what? He doesn't want to come get it.....he's scared, I can tell....now mind you, my brother is someone you'd be scared of if you saw him....he's 6'4", and pretty muscular......and here he is scared to come.....finally he decides to go with me, so we get to the apt....right before we open the door my brother says to me, it probably got out from the bathroom.....I said, no way, there isn't enough room for it to get under the door....Well sure enough we open the door and go into the kitchen and there it is laying in it's full glory across the kitchen floor.....Paul got a shovel and threw it way down in the woods somewhere, but let me tell you what the worst part for me was.....I couldn't shower there again for weeks and weeks......My husband, who was then my boyfriend came down and tried to fix the problem....the snake had came down through the air vent in the shower, it had come loose....so he put about 10 screws in to make me feel better.....but it didn't.... ![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
I drove everyday the 20 miles to my parents house to shower...... ![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
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