Wherein trof 'rescues' a snake.

[trof]

My next door neighbor, Jen, called.
"Can you come move a snake?"
"I don't know. I've never 'moved' one before. I'll come take a look."

Jen suffers from ophidiophobia, as do many of us.
Fear of snakes.
ANY snakes.
'Good' ones and 'bad' ones.

I have killed a snake near her house before.
It was a perfectly benign Black Racer.

It eats bugs and rodents and it pained me to dispatch it.
But I feared if I didn't she was about to go into cardiac arrest.

I walked across the front yard and saw one of her cats, a kitten really, pouncing on something in the grass. Simon was just having a really good time with the snake.

The snake was coiled up in the tightest ball imaginable. Not trying to escape. Just in defense mode.

I poked it with a hoe. It didn't move. Looked dead, but there were no visible wounds. Then the tip of the tail flicked a little.
I scooped it up on the blade of the hoe (Simon was chasing me and jumping as high as he could, trying to get his new 'toy' back off of the hoe.)
I dumped it in the vacant lot next door.

We had a cool snap last night. Got down to the 40s. I think the snake got caught in the cold and was just very lethargic.

[TZ]

1. Yay trof!!

I love snakes. I'm glad you could save it...:applause:

[trof]

2. I 'tolerate' them.

I don't freak.
But I don't pick them up with my bare hand either.
I know the 'good' ones keep the rodent population down.
And I have a deal with the moccasins and rattlers.
If you don't come in my yard, I won't kill you.
So far that's worked OK.

[Zoigal]

4. Thanks, trof

For not killing the black snake (as we called them in MO). Not a snake lover, but
those guys do take care of a lot of pesky rodents. In NM we had rattlers visit our backyard.
One nabbed our nosy borzoi pup in the nose. Fortunately all the vets have fresh anti venom
on hand. We did a fatal dispatch to the rattlers (with an apology because we were in their
territory). z

[NMDemDist2]

13. totally off topic

how did the Borzoi like NM?

I'm in the southern part of the state and I'd love another wolfhound. both my Russian girls were the sweetest things!

[Zoigal]

34. Hi AZDem

Great hearing from another borzoi lover. Ours did well. Of course, we kept them inside
with the AC most of the time. And yes, they are the sweetest, most loyal dogs ever. Where
are you in NM? We lived in Cruces. PM me if you like. z

[China_cat]

6. Here's something that may give you comfort

When you kill a non-poisonous snake, you make room for a poisonous one to move in.

[B3Nut]

27. If I may be a bit pedantic...

there's no such thing as a "poisonous" snake. There are, however, venomous ones. None of them are poisonous, their meat will not make you sick if cooked and eaten. If one is bitten by a venomous snake, they are not enpoisonated, they're envenomated. :)

There's a wildlife center near Chicago with a fascinating assortment of venomous snakes, some so rare no antivenom exists as of yet. Reptile venom is an important area of research, not only for development of antivenoms but also the development of groundbreaking medicines.

Killing snakes in the yard is highly unneccesary. If you see a venomous species or are unsure, call an animal removal specialist or contact the biology department of a local college or university. Most herpetologists are happy to relocate an unwelcome reptile.

[trof]

33. Relocating moccasins down here would be full time job.

And for more than one person.
Ain't no way these good ol' boys are gonna call 'em anyway.
Not when they got the .410 snake gun by the back door.

We live on a bay and they're pretty common.
Especially after a bad storm or hurricane throws a high tide trash line up in your yard. Moccasins love to hang out in those.
But I do believe in live, and let live, for the non-venomous ones.

[Mrs.Matcom]

3. Good for you Trof!

I love snakes, toads, frogs, salamanders, any of those types. Wish we had snakes here! :hug:

[trof]

5. I could send you some.

;-)

[Withywindle]

7. Oooo, beautiful.

You did a good thing trof. It's so horrible when innocent, harmless animals are killed just because of someone's totally irrational superstitious phobia.

(And I say that as a person who loves snakes but really, really, really can't deal with large spiders. If someone got a video of me trying to herd one of those critters out the window--of my 3rd-floor apartment--without hurting it OR GETTING CLOSE TO IT, while squealing and flinching and flailing and hopping around the whole time, that would be high comedy that would probably be the hit of the day on YouTube. :blush:)

[siligut]

29. Spiders can spook me, but I am working on it.

A cool thing happened to me at the market. When I brought my veggies up for check out a rather small spider scurried into the counter. I looked at the cashier and said let’s put it in something; I’ll put it over by the trees. She grabbed a small paper bag, and gently allowed the spider onto her hand and shook into the bag. I carried it out and set it free.

[YDogg]

8. I've never heard it called "rescuing a snake."

[trof]

26. Yeah, I never 'moved' one either.

I think to Simon it was more toy than food, but he'd have probably done it in eventually.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

9. Snakes rock. I love 'em.

[TZ]

12. OT but

I love your sig line picture!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

14. Thanks. I stole it off another thread.

Whoever came up with it was brilliant. :rofl:

[hyphenate]

10. I like snakes

Strange for me, but I think they're cool. I had toads and frogs for pets, so I kinda like reptiles (and amphibians).

What kind of snake was it? Another black racer, or something more exotic?

[Skittles]

18. I think they're cool too

they fascinate me

[CaliforniaPeggy]

11. My dear trof...

Oh, good for you!

They scare the heck out of me, but I know they have their place...

And we don't have them here where I live...

You did a very good thing today!

:hug:

[ashling]

15. Here is one I move out of my chicken house

took it on down the road. Bull Snake

[Skittles]

17. do bull snakes eat the chickens, the eggs, or both?

that's a big-ass snake :o

[ashling]

19. Eggs

legend/oldwive's tale/tradition/whatever says they keep away rattlesnakes. Bull snakes are ok - harmless, but they can get pretty big and startle the hell out of you when you find them coming up through a hole in the floor, lying on the kitchen sink, or in the toilet.
My attitude was that they were here first ... just don't mess with my girls:

these are my girls:

[Skittles]

20. you have lovely chickens

at my boyfriend's farm I caught sight of the tail end of a snake slithering through the hay in the barn and it freaked me out....I described it to a more rural-savvy co-worker and he said, THAT WOULD BE YOUR BULL SNAKE.

LOL ashling, I remember one time my bf needed eggs for a recipe so he went out to the barn and when he couldn't find any he called the chickens "vindictive bitches" - LOL it was probably that bull snake :D

[ashling]

23. I was headed out to the barn one day

and got there just in time to watch a 4 foot rattlesnake slide under the hay where I had been headed. I decided whatever I needed could wait at least until after the first hard freeze. LOL

[Skittles]

24. I played a good joke on my bf

he was in the barn pitching some hay around and did not hear me pull into the driveway......I snuck into the barn behind him and loudly rattled a tylenol bottle.....he just froze......then slowly turned around....GOD DAMMIT!!!! he screamed :rofl:

[skygazer]

31. I used to keep an old axe handle near the hay

And habitually pounded on all the nearby bales before I stuck my hands in them. Those mountain rattlers loved snoozing in the hay.

I like snakes but I did kill the rattlers. I didn't worry about myself or the horses but I didn't want one of the dogs getting bit on the nose.

[Arkansas Granny]

35. My dad always said that black snakes would keep poisonous snakes away. I don't

know if there is any scientific proof to that, but we had a healthy population of black snakes that were allowed to live in the barn and in over 20 years at that place we never saw any poisonous snakes although other neighbors in the area reported seeing them. We would lose a few eggs and an occasional baby chick, but they kept the barn and chicken house free of rats that would eat and spoil animal feed, so we always felt it was a fair trade off.

[ThomCat]

16. I am neither a fan or foe of snakes. We coexist separately.

:)

But I'm glad you were able to rescue it. It's a good situation when it can be resolved without anyone or anything having to die unnecessarily.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

21. Good for you trof. Thanks to my cats, I never see snakes and I

am glad of it. I like them just fine but they are disconcerting to just happen upon.

[trof]

25. Yeah, cats keep the snake population down.

When we moved here 15 years ago I discovered a 'family'(?) of Black Racers living in a patch of palmettos.

Our cat, Mimi, came with us.
In a few months the snakes had vamoosed.

[InvisibleTouch]

22. Good for you! I love snakes...

...even the very common black racers with their tempestuous attitudes. Beautiful pics, too. You did a good thing! :)

[siligut]

28. Thank you for saving a life.

What did snakes ever do to deserve the death penalty? Damn bible and its allegories.

There are only two kinds of venomous snakes in North America: pit vipers like the rattlesnake or cottonmouth and coral snakes, the ones with the red and yellow stripes next to each other.

Snakes with upturned noses, like your boy in the pics, usually aren’t dangerous. Flat triangular heads can indicate a venomous snake.

We had snakes as pets when we were kids. Hell, we had somebody from just about every family in the animal kingdom.


:applause:

[trof]

32. I think this guy just came out of hibernation too soon.

We've had a few weeks of very warm weather. Even had the a/c on for a few days. Then this sudden cold snap. I think he got caught with his britches down, so to speak.
;-)

[RebelOne]

30. Snakes are the greatest pets.

I owned 2 boa constrictors at one time. Had to get rid of them because they were getting too big for my little apartment. They were almost 7 feet long.

[Arkansas Granny]

36. That was a good thing you did. I figure anything that eats insects or rodents is a good thing.

I have small "yard snakes" around my house. I find them when I'm mowing or working in flower beds. If they are in danger of being injured, I will move them to a place of safety, but I generally just leave them where they are. Snakes don't frighten me, but spiders just terrify me.

[Boudica the Lyoness]

37. I've saved many rattlesnakes

I get a lot of snakes in my garden, mostly Rattlesnakes and Bull snakes. I lift them up with a shovel and drop them into a 5 gall bucket with a lid. I take them out into the sage brush and let them go. One year I caught 5 rattlesnakes around my house and one was a cute little baby. There's a den in the rocks above the house.
Once I found a rattlesnake with his head shoved into one of those multi mouse catchers that doesn't hurt the mice. His head was in with the mice and he was staring right at the poor mice. With a little fiddling about we managed to get his head out. He had a chance to bite my husband but he didn't bother to. He was ok, the horrified mice will never be the same again.

I must add something. I have laying hens that are free to go where they want. I have noticed that since I had them I don't see hardly any snakes. I think the the snakes are scared of them because when a rattlesnake did show up he was all brave and shaking his tail till the chickens showed up then he quit making any noise and high tailed it into the bushes.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

38. Poor Snaky...

Thanks for saving him! :D