YIKES! Surprise in Basement

[badlander]

I went down stairs this morning, walked towards our cat's litter box and had something definitely not feline move in front of me. I startled and gasped when I realized that I had surprised a two foot long bull snake that was curled in front of their litter boxes. The poor thing was stupid from cold but still managed to shake his tail at me. DH answered my summons and together mostly with his help we managed to pin it down and shove it in a cooler for release outside.

Afterwards we had to laugh. The local VA clinic had to rebuild their facility due to an invasion of garter snakes.

We wondered if this means we get a new house

[gone-a-milkin]

I have relocated numerous (NUMEROUS!!) rat snakes from inside my house this fall.
I go around twitching and balking at every electrical cord. LOL

I want a new house too.

[Wolfy-hound]

I would love to have snakes around, and I never see any! Figures.

Okay, I have snakes, but they reside in their proper cages, I would love to have WILD snakes around and I've rarely ever seen any. Once in a while I'd spot a black racer(not in a year or more) the occasional coral(not in two years or more) and sometimes someone would bring me a cornsnake(never found them on property).

[MaggieJ]

We get milksnakes and rat snakes in our cellar because it is a good place for them to hibernate. Once, in spring, a nice one coming out of hibernation came up into the living room for a visit. Good thing I like snakes... and that none here are venomous!

[badlander]

What was alarming was that we have a little cat who weighs 5 pounds on a good day after a big meal. We were afraid a two foot bull snake might be able to do some damage if it coiled around her neck. This little cat is fearless and while cats love to kill snakes, we didn't want to take a chance on an encounter.

Luckily this guy was pretty lethargic. We suspect that it had used an opportunistic mouse hole to gain access to the basement....just looking for somewhere warm to holdup for the winter never suspecting that the spot that it chose was already occopied by 5 dogs, 5 cats and 2 humans that prefer their reptiles outside.

[Oswego]

About a month ago I was walking where I had recently cleared everything down to the dirt and coming towards me was a three foot Copperhead. We both stopped with about 15 feet between us. I pulled out my 40 cal and he started towards me again. I think you know the rest of the story.

Last night I discovered a possum living in my attic, found where he was getting in and tonight have two traps set to catch him or them before sealing up the entrance.

[fishhead]

I've got garter, grass and little red belly snakes near my garden. I've got some steel roofing scraps for weed control and I layer them so there is channels between the pieces. The snakes just love the heat produced when the sun hits the metal.

Not too far from here we've got hognosed snakes. I regularly see snake tracks crossing the trails in the sand.

[badlander]

We have copperheads around us. Thankfully we have never seen one.....yet.

We had a conversation with a gentleman this week who used to design zappers. Thw hand held type that police use. He was telling us how conservation officers were buying them to use in case of poisonous snake bite in the field. No they weren't zapping the snake. That was my guess. They were using them to zap themselves around a bite to neutralize the toxin. He said they reported that the electric current broke down the protein in the venom rendering it harmless. He said take your choice 55, 000 $ hospital bill or 75 $ zapper.

I have to admit that was a new one on me but he had it straight from the conservation officers mouth.

[Oswego]

Possum in trap this morning, I'll keep traps set for several more days before sealing the possum entrance into the attic.

[badlander]

I have a cousin who had a raccoon in his attic.it had chewed a hole in their ceiling above their bed and would peer down at them at night. They tried to trap it and couldn't. Finally out of desperation he got his .22 long rifle out, laid on his back on the bed and waited for the masked bandit's face to appear in the hole.

End of problem. lol

[chickenista]

A few years ago there was a small black snake that thought that my pantry, and specifically a new jar of tomatoes that was still cooling on a shelf, would be a great place to spend the winter.
It is amazing how your periphreal vision can clock things that aren't supposed to be there.
I briefly thought about letting him stay to eat the mice that come in for winter, but... naah.
Snake poop. Blech.

[NickieL]

So far at this new place I've only seen garter snakes, tons of them, and a little northern brown snake.


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[Ozarks Tom]

Tuesday a 10" copperhead decided he's find a winter home in our sunroom. That's the second one in 3 years I've found in there. I've got a new exterior door to replace the interior type one from the garage, now I've got the incentive to install it!

[Bret]

Only ever found a salamander in the old farm house basement. I can live with those. I can understand balking at electrical cords.

[Chief Cook]

We have lived in this little rock house for a long time now and we do get a snake inside once in a while. Thankfully they have all been bullsnakes and not rattlesnakes. And after all these years I have stopped panicking. DH understands that if I run onto a snake and I am here in the house alone, there will be damage! He found a bull snake on my cabinet, behind the canisters one night, and after I came back in the house I handed him a broom and a mop and left him on his own. He asked what I would have done if he hadn't been home. I would have remodeled with the 12 gauge! I sincerely hope that every hole is closed by the time we are finished with this old house. You have my sympathy.

[Snowfan]

Wow, you folks just made me realize that in the 9 years we've lived here, I have never seen a snake. I suppose that will change now.

[TheMartianChick]

I saw my first snake on my property this summer. It was nestled under one of the beams that frames a raised bed. I don't like snakes and would have to move if one managed to get inside my house. I'd be afraid that all of its extended family also resided there and I wouldn't be able to sleep. Snakes in our area are not poisonous.

[badlander]

I'm pretty much used to snakes. We have black snakes garter snakes rat snakes water snakes andcopperheads around us. I try to catch and release whenever possible. But I have to admit that I had a .22 loaded up with pepper shot just in case.....

I just don't much like to almost step on one in my basement. I don't invade their burrows they don't invade our home that's the deal.

[Patchouli]

We have a couple of 6 ft black rat snakes here, fortunately they stay down around the barn. They can give you a heart attack though when they go slithering by.

[gone-a-milkin]

Someone here said:

There are 2 kinds of snakes;
the ones that can hurt you and the ones that can cause you to hurt yourself.

I have those BIG black snakes here too.
They will make me balk at the garden hose for weeks after I see one.

(sits on hands to not post any snake photos )