Snake question

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I wonder if anyone knows how far a snake needs to be relocated so it can't come home. I enjoy snakes, especially the black snakes, and they worked wonders on the rat population. They finally figured out that eggs are easier to catch. I have taken away 4 snakes--the smallest was about 4 feet--and I'd like to be sure I'm not going to catch the same ones again with eggs in their mouths. (They were awfully healthy snakes.) I can't figure out a way to mark them without hurting them.

-- Teresa (otgonz@bellsouth.net), July 26, 2000

Answers

How far to relocate a snake? Not far enough! And then you just give a neighbor the problem. I've shot several of the Black Rat Snakes in the last couple of months. First I've seen of them here. Never did have a rodent problem, so I don't need those suckers around here. Can you tell I'm not fond of snakes!! Only good thing about them is they're not poisonous.

My chooks free range during the day and tuck themselves into their pens to roost at dusk. I then close their gates to protect them from the nighttime predators. Their pen gates are left open during the day, as they wander in and out for feed/water. (Hoppers are kept filled.)

My chook pens are chain link dog kennels and I've covered them with 1/2 inch hardware cloth. The hardware cloth also covers the ground and extends a couple of feet past the pens. This prevents predators from digging under to crawl into the pens. I collect eggs all day long and I don't like going into a nest box and finding 5 feet or more of snake! Nest boxes are large covered cat litter boxes, lined up on the ground on one side of each pen.

Just don't release those snakes anywhere near me, Teresa!

-- ~Rogo (rogo2020@yahoo.com), July 26, 2000.


I prefer snakes to rats.

-- Joe Cole (jcole@apha.com), July 26, 2000.

Check with your local wildlife agent. If you can catch it , I'm sure they could find a release area. We had raccoons here, after live trapping, one of the rangers took them from us and released them on the local wildlife refuge. We haven't seen any since.

-- Jay Blair (jayblair678@yahoo.com), July 26, 2000.

While I don't like them, I'd rather have the snakes than the rodents tunnelling through the garden -- just so long as they aren't poisonous.

My mother was deathly afraid of snakes, so living at home it was generally me who ended up ending them (only the nasty ones, of course)!!! This was from about 10 years old on -- I don't think I'm afraid of them, but they do tend to startle you when you see them. I can't imagine reaching into a nest expecting an egg and finding a snake -- Yuck!!!

-- Tracy (trimmer@westzone.com), July 26, 2000.


you would not have wanted to see me as a teenager, I use to walk through my jr high with my teacher [ms norvel] 6 foot boa wraped around my neck! You should have seen the kids moving out of my way.

-- kathy h (saddlebronc@msn.com), July 26, 2000.


Teresa, I don't really have an answer to your question, but I do have a couple of funny snake stories to tell: 1. I went out in the dark to lock up the chickens one night and found a 4' mocassin in the chicken pen. I ran to my truck and got my trusty .22 and went back to get him. By this time, he had crawled out of the pen and was headed for the house. I tried to keep him in the beam of the flashlight while I shot at him. He must have been attracted to the light 'cause he headed straight for me. I emptied the magazine and still couldn't hit him as I was backing up the whole time I was shooting. As the sound of gunfire died down, my wife called from the house, "What are you doing?" "Shooting a snake," I answered. I hot-footed it over to my car and got out my 9mm pistol and went after him again. By this time, he was under my truck so I used up the 12 shots in the 9mm trying to get him without shooting-up the truck or shooting into the house with richochets. I managed to get him once but didn't kill him. Running into the house, I grabbed my shotgun and finished the job. At this point, after 23 rounds expended, The wife came to the back door as I was fishing the snake out from under the truck and asked, "Musta' been a pretty big snake, huh?" 2: Went into the chicken house late one night looking for a rat snake which had been eating eggs and chicks. He was coiled up over the door and when I opened it, it dragged him off the ledge and all 6' of him came down around my head and shoulders in the dark. Needless to say, he wasn't able to catch me as his footing was much more slippery than mine. Enjoy, John

-- John James (jjames@n-jcenter.com), July 26, 2000.

Good luck with wildlife management ! The advise I got when I had a mama racoon and 4 babies was call a private trapper . So I did $ 40.00 a piece including each baby , then get this . They would not be relocated , only killed on my land !

-- Patty Gamble (fodfarms@slic.com), July 26, 2000.

Bless you Teresa for having the courage and compassion to relocate hungry black snakes. They don't travel very far. If you could get them even a mile from you they wouldn't make it back. Consider taking them to a wooded area far from anyone else's chickens. Then they can dine on their natural food. There is no reason to destroy black snakes.

-- Jim (catchthesun@yahoo.com), July 26, 2000.

Jim is right--one mile is a safe bet. A state park or other "sanctuary" is a good choice. And coons should be killed, as should other rodents, carriers of rabies,etc. If you "released" them near me, I swear I'd punish you in return. If you don't want them why do I?

-- Anne (HT@HM.com), July 26, 2000.

GREAT storys Jhon.

-- kathy h (saddlebronc@msn.com), July 26, 2000.


Another Snake Story: My husband and I were visiting my grandfathers cabin in the woods. While exploring the immediate area, we came across a brightly colored snake - red and yellow bands with black margins. Yikes! I couldn't for the life of me remember the little rhyme that differentiates milk snakes from coral snakes, so we high- tailed it inside while I looked aroun for my handy snake book (I have a lot of wildlife and plant life ID books - its an obsession). Meanwhile, Thomas thought he'd keep half an eye on the critter so that if it were venomous, we could relocate it elsewhere. Well, to make a long story short, it had already relocated itself - right on top of the screen door frame so that when Thom opened the door it fell right on top of him. Folks, don't let the bulk of a 6'4", 230lbs man fool you; they're quick when they need to be, and boy was he ever in need!! You never seen such a hoppin' and a jumpin'. For a white boy, he did quite a passable James Brown impression, screeches and yowls included. Turns out it was a milk snake, and also turns out that you'd pretty much have to stick you finger down a coral snake's mouth before it would, or could, bite you, but hey - what good are adrenal glands if you don't use it now and then, eh?

-- Soni Pitts (thomkilroy@hotmail.com), August 01, 2000.

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