Update to my snake thread..."the end"

[aja8888]

Some of you know that I had a "visitor" a few weeks ago (a Buttermilk Racer) that decided to make his home in my backyard next to my BBQ. His quarters were my sprinkler zone valve in-ground cavity with a lid on it that has a finger hole big enough for him to go in and out of. He and I spent time together and when I was BBQ'ing he would lay in the deep grass waiting for a victim.

Lately, he has been out and about as I have not seen him near the zone valve cover (he would routinely hunt a bit away from his shelter).

Well, the other day, near the BBQ and in the grass was his skin that he shed. And I haven't seen him in a while. I guess he moved on to bigger and better things.

Today, when the pup and I were heading out for our afternoon walk, there he was, not in good condition, and probably a meal for a predator, or even worse, a press job under the tires of a big truck.

R.I.P. young friend:

 

[MarieIG]

Oh my. Sorry.

 

[Ronstar]

Sorry for your loss.

 

[aja8888]

Looking back on this loss, it's surprising the loss of this little guy has had an impact on my emotions.

When I was running around the oilfield, I wouldn't have given a snake a second thought, well...maybe the 6' long rattlers that we came upon inside the equipment sheds were a bit of a concern.

 

[irishgal]

That’s really sad. He was a helpful little snake just living his life.

 

[MarieIG]

Looking back on this loss, it's surprising the loss of this little guy has had an impact on my emotions.

When I was running around the oilfield, I wouldn't have given a snake a second thought, well...maybe the 6' long rattlers that we came upon inside the equipment sheds were a bit of a concern.

I get it. A number of years ago there was a certain little mouse. Ordinarily I would have been afraid of a mouse, but somehow this was different. I studied at night in a back room, and this little mouse would come out every night for about 15 minutes or so, sit on his back haunches, wiggle his little nose and look at me. After several weeks, I made the mistake of telling DH about my cute little mouse.

 

[aja8888]

I get it. A number of years ago there was a certain little mouse. Ordinarily I would have been afraid of a mouse, but somehow this was different. I studied at night in a back room, and this little mouse would come out every night for about 15 minutes or so, sit on his back haunches, wiggle his little nose and look at me. After several weeks, I made the mistake of telling DH about my cute little mouse.

Yep.

 

[Koolau]

We used to have dozens of snakes near our little house on the prairie. DW did NOT like snakes. That was one reason we moved back to town. I never minded them and always hoped that I wouldn't run over any as I mowed. I'd often see them skittering away behind the mower. Hopefully, they kept their heads down. With all those snakes, we rarely had mice.

 

[Winemaker]

My first project in retirement was to clear a hillside on the rear of our property, put down heavy landscape material, then dump about 20 truckloads of clunky limestone. I shooed about 2 dozen snakes, garters and black racers, off the hillside. When I was done I was worried that the snakes would return sunning themselves on the hillside.

Not so, I see one or two every once in a while.

Last year when DW and her friend went on their daily walk, the Department of Natural Resources and several other pest control trucks were climbing all over my neighbor's house 6 doors down. They were setting and baiting snake traps, as they are inundated with hundreds of them in their back yard. Uh-oh.

 

[Ronstar]

We have a lot of snakes in our wooded area with a lake. Occasionally I'll encounter snakes near the house, and I escort them farther from the house. DW wants me to kill them. I did kill some several years ago but not recently.

I encountered thousands of snakes when I was land surveying. One creekside property had them so thick that they created a carpet where all we saw were snakes on the ground. Laying all over each other. We had to walk on them to get across the property.

 

[aja8888]

We have a lot of snakes in our wooded area with a lake. Occasionally I'll encounter snakes near the house, and I escort them farther from the house. DW wants me to kill them. I did kill some several years ago but not recently.

I encountered thousands of snakes when I was land surveying. One creekside property had them so thick that they created a carpet where all we saw were snakes on the ground. Laying all over each other. We had to walk on them to get across the property.

Yes, guys like you (and I) who spent a lot of time in the undeveloped field areas doing work have seen many snakes. That creekside property must have been something to see.

A few memorable times for me have to do with almost stepping on a small rattler in the weeds while in the oilfield when on a well site. I always wore high leather work boots and heavy coveralls when out there, even in West Texas when the heat can be unbearable. I've seen lots of really big diamond back rattle snakes out there too.

In this wooded neighborhood (why it's named "The Woodlands") we have a mix of non venomous and venomous snakes. The worst to encounter are the Copperheads which can be 5' long and hard to see in the woods due to the brown pine needles and dead leaves that cover the ground. In the Fall is the worst time for them as they bear their young at that time and can be vicious. A few dogs and cats that I have heard about have been bitten and died from these critters.

Along with the Copperheads, we have the usual bunch of rattlers, water moccasins, and coral snakes.

Lovely place, though!

 

[Ronstar]

^ You have huge snakes (and a lot of them) in your area. We surveyed the Addicks reservoir dike in the early '80's. Lots of big ones. Not sure what kind they were. Most were in the water near the outlet. It had just rained a lot and they were out in droves. We ran into a lot of them surveying pipelines in Texas also. The ones we encounter in Illinois are harmless water and garter snakes.

You and REWahoo can up your "reasons not to move to Texas" to include more snake reports. That should help reduce the amount of people moving in.

 

[Graybeard]

The worst to encounter are the Copperheads which can be 5' long and hard to see in the woods due to the brown pine needles and dead leaves that cover the ground. In the Fall is the worst time for them as they bear their young at that time and can be vicious. A few dogs and cats that I have heard about have been bitten and died from these critters.

Years ago on a gardening forum someone who lived in Raleigh NC said that dogs are immune to Copperhead venom. I thought that was crazy but he had a few dogs an claimed Copperheads posed no risk to them. Do you known anyone who lost a dog to a Copperhead bite?

 

[aja8888]

Years ago on a gardening forum someone who lived in Raleigh NC said that dogs are immune to Copperhead venom. I thought that was crazy but he had a few dogs an claimed Copperheads posed no risk to them. Do you known anyone who lost a dog to a Copperhead bite?

It is my understanding that a dog bitten by a Copperhead has a 10% chance of dying. This is dependent on the size of the dog, and whether or not the snake actually injected venom, which in a lot of cases with Copperheads, they hit with a dry bite as a warning first with dogs. Internet data is all over the place on the kill rate of Copperheads biting dogs.

I know of one actual case with a cat a few houses away that was bitten and he died. I have heard that a dog died from a copperhead bite in the 55+ community we live in, but have no actual facts.

 

[Calico]

Years ago on a gardening forum someone who lived in Raleigh NC said that dogs are immune to Copperhead venom. I thought that was crazy but he had a few dogs an claimed Copperheads posed no risk to them. Do you known anyone who lost a dog to a Copperhead bite?

Yes. My 83-year-old aunt lost her little dog to a copperhead bite almost two years ago.

Maggie (the dog) was elderly and smallish (Cocker mix) so maybe that is why she died.

 

[Koolau]

Heh, heh, officially we have no snakes in Hawaii - and we want to keep it that way. Of course, every once in a while they find a single "escaped pet" python or some such out in the wild. Pet snakes are strictly forbidden but some folks simply can't follow the rules.

A friend of mine who moved to the Islands in the early 70s visited many other Islands in the Northern and Southern Pacific. It was sort of his thing. I've forgotten the name of the Island, but my friend spent the first couple of days there thinking there was something wrong, something missing. He finally figured it out. There was not a single bird on the island. No morning chirping, no flying from tree top to house top, not a single feather, no colorful plumage, not a peep or a chirp. He couldn't believe it.

He asked around and the story was that snakes were accidentally introduced to the island and the birds had no natural protection from them. Eventually every bird egg had been devoured by snakes and that was it. No more birds. Our Island(s) would likely suffer the same fate if a single mating pair of snakes was to be introduced. I guess the snakes in the FL swamps are devastating the gators, so it's best to keep snakes where they belong and where they are in balance with other fauna. YMMV

 

[Rummy]

Black snakes... My first home was at the foot of a mountain known for snakes. When preparing to move in, I looked across the high grass lawn and noticed something strange sticking above the grass. It turned out to be an 11.5 foot long black snake (that was measured as it was crawling, so bigger actually). The snake was thicker than my forearm. Eventually I chased it out of my yard into an adjoining field and never saw it again.

I never killed any of the snakes, and I saw many more over the next few years I lived there, including two inside the house. The 100 year home was built on an old stone foundation which allowed the black snakes to occupy the cooler basement. The day I came home from w+rk however and found 7 on my front porch and 6 on my back porch changed the local black snake population....

 

[aja8888]

Black snakes... My first home was at the foot of a mountain known for snakes. When preparing to move in, I looked across the high grass lawn and noticed something strange sticking above the grass. It turned out to be an 11.5 foot long black snake (that was measured as it was crawling, so bigger actually). The snake was thicker than my forearm. Eventually I chased it out of my yard into an adjoining field and never saw it again.

I never killed any of the snakes, and I saw many more over the next few years I lived there, including two inside the house. The 100 year home was built on an old stone foundation which allowed the black snakes to occupy the cooler basement. The day I came home from w+rk however and found 7 on my front porch and 6 on my back porch changed the local black snake population....

We lived in Connecticut in the 1980's on three acres of old farmland that contained border walls made from stones the settlers back in the 1600's had pulled up and make walls out of. Those walls were full of black snakes. I let them be as they bordered my land and took care of field mice, etc.

I'd see one occasionally in the 1/2 acre of grass I planted and would shoo it off.

The snakes here in Texas are a whole different situation.