Garden Friend (Snake)

[upcountrygirl]

Salt, overall I don't do snakes. I think I would freak if I went into any of the garden beds and found a snake that big. I killed a copperhead this week with the push lawnmower. I was quite proud of myself. The old me would have let go of the lawnmower and ran away screaming and crying. My thought was when I was killing it o.k. if you're going to bite someone it's going to be me while I'm killing you!

[zeuspaul]

I ran into a three foot rattler a few weeks back. I didn't have the heart to kill it so I tried to shoo it away. Then I saw it under a large tool box on the patio. It stayed there for about a week and then it disappeared. Then I saw it on my upstairs porch. I didn't know snakes climbed stairs! It's been about a week since I have seen it. I hope it is off somewhere catching rodents

[Worth1]

When I was a little kid I would bring big snakes into the church on Sundays.
Look what I found holding a big snake up for all to see in the thick of the crowd.
Men would run and women would pass out.
Okay we all know how the bible demonized the snake right.
In my young life these folks thought the devil was in every one of them, kill them all.

I remember all too often my mother fanning some poor lady that had passed out cold over my snakes.
We would laugh about it on the way home.
Worth

[AlittleSalt]

I used to not like snakes. We had a few years of having way too many copperheads where we lived back then. I also went fishing a lot and there many water moccasins out there. More than once we have pulled up a stringer of fish with a water moccasin attached to one of the fish. One early morning I was going to wade out to our trotline and the water had at least a dozen of them swimming on the water surface - I shot at them with a 20 gauge. Needless to say that I didn't wade the trotline that morning.

Over the years, I learned that most snakes are not poisonous. Watching them eating mice was a real turning point for me. I see them as beneficial. I know some people are afraid to see a snake or even a picture of one - that's why I put (Snake) in the title of this thread.

I will still kill a poisonous snake, but for the most part, the snakes we have on our property are non poisonous.

[Worth1]

We were at one of our swimming holes and it had a big rope swing.
I went flying out into the creek and landed right on top of a huge cottonmouth.
It was a cottonmouth because it went to the bank and we killed it and it had what looked to me like 6 inch fangs.
Many and all to often the harmless water snakes are mistaken for a cottonmouth.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...HygnW0qlfzYUrQ

[AlittleSalt]

The first two things I look at are head size and body thickness. And if you're close enough to see fangs - you're too close

[SteveP]

Even those non poisonous water snakes have a nasty disposition. I don't go out of my way to kill them but have been known to toss a rock their direction. But any other non poisonous I don't try to harm.

[HudsonValley]

Here, it's mostly garter snakes, and I've come to respect them (though they still freak me out when they climb up in the forsythia bushes to sun themselves). About a year ago I found a young snake in the house -- my cats were playing "whack-a-mole" with the poor thing. I scooped it up and put it back outside, but I was screaming the whole time.

[AlittleSalt]

When I was a young child living in town, we had a lot of garter snakes. One was on the front steps one day - it was only around a foot long or so. My mother was sweeping the hardwood floor and was just going to sweep the dirt out the door. She saw that garter snake and freaked out. I went out and started playing with it letting it crawl all over my hands and arms. Those things stink. It took washing with soap and water many times to get that smell off of me.

[Cole_Robbie]

I remember as a kid having my picture taken with a giant snake on my shoulders. What I remember most is the horrible smell. The snake handler told me that the snake thought I smelled even worse. I think he was just mad about me insulting his snake.

[AlittleSalt]

Today, me and adashofpepper are burning a couple bonfires since there's no wind. We're guessing we burned a snakes' home. It wouldn't go away. I almost stepped on it three times before it slithered off into a hole. This is an internet picture. It's a rat snake too, and around 3' long. https://www.google.com/search?q=gree...&bih=553#spf=1

[GrowingCoastal]

Originally Posted by HudsonValley

Here, it's mostly garter snakes, and I've come to respect them (though they still freak me out when they climb up in the forsythia bushes to sun themselves). About a year ago I found a young snake in the house -- my cats were playing "whack-a-mole" with the poor thing. I scooped it up and put it back outside, but I was screaming the whole time.

Awww, good for you!

[HudsonValley]

Originally Posted by GrowingCoastal

Awww, good for you!

Thanks, but don't give me too much credit for being a friend to wildlife -- last night I encountered a young wolf spider in the basement, and I stepped on it. Ever since I found a poisonous sac spider in the garage, I find myself killing spiders on sight. (At our last home, my husband and I made peace with a huge wolf spider that lived in the shed; we called it Charlotte.)

[imp]

What a pretty snake, Salt- even though I know snakes kill lots of rodents, I get touchy around them; prefer to have most snakes stay about 10 yards or more from me, grew up around too many dangerous ones, LOL.

Old saying on farms was if you start seeing snakes, you got a rat problem.

[dmforcier]

I leave wolf spiders well alone, and will even rescue one. They are friends.

Web spiders in the house are a no-no.

prefer to have most snakes stay about 10 yards or more from me

You might consider getting a restraining order..