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The New Mike
The New Mike
12 years ago

I keep forgetting you used to be a real deal snake guy. I’d like to say i’d never mess with any snake, but I guess you never know. I remember when one got into my parents house. Eventually the snake went under my parents bed. How hilariously bad of a situation. The previous owner said he has never seen snakes here so… who knows. My uncle two streets down says he’s seen a couple copper heads, so hopefully we can avoid that…

Ronnie in Iowa
Ronnie in Iowa
12 years ago

I love snakes!!! Glad you saved him! We have Bull Snakes that “rattle” too. I lived in one place that wasn’t the best and would find a Bull Snake curled up in a bowl or pan in the pantry area. Shared with frogs and other critters that found their way in too. The frogs taught me not to have a glass of water by my bed…I did switch to bottled. Not cool to reach for the glass of water and find a frog in it. Or hanging off the edge of the glass. Don’t have that problem now that I’m in a house though.

Emma Hunt
12 years ago

I never heard of this snake before. We live in the southern Utah section of the Rocky Mountains.

InBox485
12 years ago

One of the few upsides to CA. If it doesn’t have a rattle, it is completely harmless. No guesswork needed.

kristen
kristen
12 years ago

The nice thing about timbers, at least all the ones i’ve encountered, is they have a faily laid back disposition. Always trying to avoid confrontation, even when provoked.

InBox485
12 years ago
Reply to  InBox485

I’ve never seen a coral snake, and I’ve been told it is 100% myth that they are wild in CA. I’ve never seen a population map for them west of Arizona. I actually stopped a knuckle head from killing one a couple weeks ago. Had the thing dry mouth my hand to convince him it wasn’t poisonous. I see king snakes, gopher snakes, and lots and lots of diamond backs.

I see diamond backs about 20 times more than anything else. I only see the gopher and king snakes near towns and farming areas. Out in the open desert I’ve yet to see a snake that wasn’t a western diamond back.

Supposedly 29 palms has some local infestation of a hybrid rattle snake that is psychotically aggressive, but I’ve never been there.

Shirley
Shirley
12 years ago

Thanks Jack. Snakes do scare me but when I take a minute to really look at one they are quite handsome, much better to have around than a mouse.

thewarriorhunter
12 years ago

i’m not a snake guy at all. we have rattlers here and bull snakes. if it rattles i keep my distance and leave it alone. if it’s on my property i have some snake shot. if it doesn’t rattle i’ll try to catch it and remove it to a wash that is a few miles from my home.

how did you catch this one? you mentioned a shovel, did you place the flat side of the shovel near the head and grab it?

John Dilsaver
12 years ago

Jack, — good to see you save that little guy. I don’t like being “surprised” by snakes, but I leave them alone. I can handle them if I have to, not crazy about it. Black rat snakes seem to like to poop on you as a defense mechanism. Yuck. Lots of black rat snakes and garter snakes around my house, prairie king snakes, occasionally a speckled king snake. I have some forest property where copperheads are pretty common. (I’m in MO). I’ve encountered one timber rattler (on a trail, while bicycling) so far in my life. It was a beautiful snake, a pleasure to leave it alone!

Roundabouts
Roundabouts
12 years ago

So very jealous. We have a huge rat problem. No snakes to take them out. Live in SW Washington. The snakes are much better to have around than the rats. Especially these ground rats. They dug so much the cement slab barn floor cracked and the foundation crumbled. They have holes every where. don’t like to poison them because of the other animals. You can only shoot so many. Goblin boston terrier (RIP) was a great ratter he got 52 of them suckers The pigs & roosters will take out the smaller ones. Hoping our new dog will be a good ratter without digging even bigger holes.

So wish I could get some snakes to put down or next to the holes.

We do have some snakes that will eat the slugs. I build habitat for the snakes piles of rocks and give them brush. Our slug population has gone down greatly over the last few years.

I would get in so much trouble as a little girl. I would forget to take my snakes / lizards / frogs / mud dogs or crickets out of my pockets. Mom would stick her hand in there before doing laundry. Scare the crap out of her. Then I would get a good woopen. HAHAHAH. Never did stop me. I always had critters in my pockets.

uworld66
uworld66
12 years ago

Taste like chicken?

Jarrett
Jarrett
12 years ago

Those are also known as bull snakes in some parts of Texas. My grandfather always told us to leave them be because they were as u said good at keeping the rodent population down but they also kill rattlesnakes

Theresa
Theresa
12 years ago

How would you disinfect and seal that hoe wound?

InBox485
12 years ago
Reply to  Theresa

Opinions vary, but hydrogen peroxide worked the couple times I used it. Wipe it down and let it dry before releasing. Both times I did needed to, it was a caged snake, but all I did was wipe it down and put it back once the wound was visibly dry, and it healed fine from there. Reptiles do that whole regeneration thing quite well.

Head Farm Steward
12 years ago

Cool video Jack.

We are covered in Prairie Kingsnakes. Here is a shot of my 8 year old holding one that was sunning itself in a busy road. These are pretty calm snakes, other local snakes are more high-strung. We spend a lot of time exploring, learning and identifying local wildlife. Copperheads are rarely seen, rattlesnakes are theoretically possible but I’ve never even heard of one in our county. Hog-nosed snakes are a hoot as they play dead. Garter snakes and blue racers don’t appreciate attention.

Dusty
Dusty
12 years ago

Ha Ha on the timing. We just had a rat snake in our window unit/Air Conditioner. We did not have rat snakes in the Texas panhandle but I have been introduced to them here in SE Texas. Those things can climb like non other. Here is a google search for climbing rat snakes. Do not look if you are scared of snakes. https://www.google.com/search?q=rat+snake+climbing+brick+wall&newwindow=1&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=zaGvUZ_LNMLTrgH2hYGADA&ved=0CAoQ_AUoAQ&biw=1241&bih=584

Cryptozoic
Cryptozoic
12 years ago

Interesting! Spent most of my life in the American Southwest where snakes are polite enough to rattle if you get too close. But now I live in southern Ohio, which seems to be in a weird niche where there aren’t really any poisonous snakes. Farther South the bad ones don’t have the manners to make any noise. Here they seem mostly harmless.

Funny, a decade ago I was delivering a truckload North of Savannah GA and had to walk a few blocks from where I knew I could turn around the 18 wheeler to where the consignee was and I didn’t know if they were open late at night. So I was ealking down the 2-laner and noticed there was a lot of water under the trees. i thought “hey, this is a swamp”. Then i wondered “wait… isn’t this alligator mating season or something?”

That was when I realized (being a desert dweller) I was out of my element and didn’t know what right looked or sounded like. Are there snakes in the trees? Yikes! Had to laugh at myself as I walked down the white line in the middle of the road wishing I had a stick.

Joseph cook
Joseph cook
12 years ago

I love it! Here in Florida we have a lot of yellow rat snakes.
Yesterday I caught a five-footer in my quail cage. He had eaten a quail and couldn’t get out because he was too fat after eating the bird. I let him go in some palmettos close to the house and lined the cage with smaller mesh hardware cloth. A win-win situation for everybody but the quail. Of course he was going to be eaten anyway. 🙂

Charlie
Charlie
12 years ago

I’ve always had a hard time convincing people not to kill them. Glad you let him stick around.

Katrina
Katrina
12 years ago

My husband has killed 3 of these within a week, all were over 5ft long, and were in our chicken “shed” (old cistern stand from the ’30s that was once used as a shed (existing structure when we moved here), and now serves as a shelter for our chicken’s nest “buckets”.)…swallowing eggs. The first one, when he cut the head off, it looked like raw scrambled eggs just pouring out of it, at least 4-5 eggs.

I have always been fond of snakes, and if we come across one in cleaning up, I will relocate it to a safe spot on the property. I caught a young rat snake in my kids’ room last week, taking my 2-year old to the potty, she just stepped right over it. I though it was one of the boys’ rubber snakes on the floor till it moved. We caught it and took it out to a wood pile. I like them to eat the mice and rats. Not so much our eggs and chickens, and being longer than we are tall.

InBox485
12 years ago
Reply to  Katrina

I’ve heard wooden eggs can make that a self correcting problem. Would definitely be my preference. I would never kill a snake if I could find another way. You really need to think long and hard before killing a predator. Nature doesn’t replace them nearly as quick as the prey.

Cal
Cal
11 years ago
Reply to  Katrina

Hate to admit it but I killed 2 in my garage recently before I knew what they were. Wife was upset that they were in there and wanted them gone. Know much more what they look like now so will know next time.