How to deal w poisonous snakes??

I havent seen any deaths either from rattlers,but the MAJORITY of bites were from someone being stupid and playing Steve Irwin.

Some reason lots of Marines get bit,guess they are kids from someplace where rattlers arent the norm.They were always getting bit,macho,alcohol,and peer pressure=snake bite.

Agreed,hoes are great snake killers.

BooBoo

We kill all snakes here. You may stick up for the black snake but the ones here love eggs. We had a type of non-venimous water snake come up from the lake one wet year and kill all the baby quail and 2 adults. Keep your snakes if you want but mine are done for .
We also had a 5 ft black snake crawl across the yard, the neighbor actually went and got a gun for it. There really is a terrible fear of them here still.

Where are all to PETA and ASPCA people here? How come its ok to kill every snake you see, but you're a scoundrel if you shoot a cat in your chicken coop?
I try to never kill snakes. They have a natural niche and belong here. My neighbor kills every snake he sees. I see him in the summer time, walking up and down the creek with his shotgun, hear him shooting. He is always telling me about the big copper heads he kills. I don't have the heart to tell him that he is killing harmless water snakes.
We get really enormous black snakes here. I like them to be around, he and his wife kill every one they see. I found a copper head in the chicken coop twice last year. I just took it out and threw it up in the woods. The same thig with black snakes, they get it the chicken coop, I take them up in the woods and throw them out. My wife caught one in there with two little lumps (baby chicks) and that one is not coming back
The thing is, you are never going to kill every snake out there ( though some are getting very rare). If you live in snake country and kill every snake you see, you still have to be careful everytime you turn over a piece of debris in your yard.

Wear closed toed shoes, don't go barefotot, and don't place your hands or fingers where you cann't see.

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Vicker
If you're born to hang, you'll never drown.

I have 5 cats outside they seem to keep the snakes away. My neighbors next to me are constantly finding snakes at their house I am thinking cause all they have are dogs no outdoor cats.

About three years ago I got bitten by a copper head at the other ranch, it wasnt around the house it was out in the pasture while I was checking the fence line. I had my rubber rain boots on...love them...didnt even go through my boots, now me and the kids wear them all the time around here. Easy to put on and great when it does rain.

Someone mentioned in here about making sure you dont stick your hands into something before checking..good advice. Keep the farm/ranch/homestead clean, things picked up.

Sam

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We are DEBT FREE!! as of Feb 21, 2008

Don't get cats lol.

I saw what I thought was a turtle, and I learned over our porch railing to see a HUGE Cottonmouth poised in attack position. I hauled arse inside and my mom chased it off with a spraybottle lo!(now we have a hose on the porch) My cool Mockingbird named Napeoleon climbed on the back of the snake and pecked it lol!

The cats got fluffed fur and they just sat there staring at it. My cat Radar pawed the air a couple of times but went to groom himself. Sam the other cat just woke up and then fell back asleep.

Useless varmits as my dad says lovingly lol!

Sam did catch and kill a baby Rattlesnake! I thought it was a stick but I got my dad out and he said it was a Rattlesnake alright. Just buy tons of Snake-Away.

Kat

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"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." - John 14:6

A lot of good advice here. Some silliness. To those who kill all snakes, you are only harming yourself. The blacks and kings eat venomous snakes and can find one when you can't. The venomous snakes hide much better than the non-venomous, therefore you will be killing your protection and allowing your danger to live and multiply. So if you kill just because it's a snake, then continue. You deserve what you get.

PS. I may not know anything about snakes. At this time I only have one redtail Boa, one twelve foot Anaconda, six western diamondbacks, and two prairie rattlers. All alive. Being winter, my supply is low. I will probably add a few when the weather warms.

SHOOT the buggers!! Let black racers take over because they kill rattlers-but I read you can't transplant snakes from one nesting territory to another because they die for some reason.A house in Black racer territory is blest!

I wasnt aware keeping poisonous snakes or anacondas was legal.
Are you licensed for that? How does that work?

BooBoo

I still have not seen anyone who knows that black snakes get in chicken coops and steal eggs. Maybe we have a different kind of black snake but these definitely come back to your chicken coop unless you move them a long way away and who knows if the people you move them close to will appreciate you. We are rural country but have close lots here(1/4 acre top 1 acre). I am sure my neighbors would not appreciate me. I have not seen many real life experiences here on the forum about real black snakes, not the kind we see here.Maybe you would feel differently if they were in your chicken coop stealing your eggs or killing your quail. We also have water moccasins(sp?) and several other venimous snakes, most of us don' t know one from another(me included).

As for cats. I won't say how many I have but suffice it to say they are way more that any of you have and they don't keep all the snakes away. Cats are not stupid, they don't ususally take on an animal they can't win with.

I tell people from down country that one of the best things about living in Vermont is that for six months of the year we get a head start on all the nasty things-- bugs, snakes and flatlanders! LOL! Actually Rattlesnakes are almost extinct in Vermont and I don't think they ever made it as far north as we are.

I grew up in Colorado with rattlers and black widows and I still have a hard time making myself reach into a hole that I can't see into. Same with tall grass. I've only started wearing short pants in the last couple of years for the same reason. A layer of denim isn't much protection against snakebite but it beats the heck out of nothing at all. I wore boots all the time as a kid for the same reason.

Somebody said that everyplace had something dangerous. That may be true in the warmer climes, but in the north country there just aren't that many nasty things. We don't even worry about termites. They say that deer ticks and Lyme disease are moving north and with global warming and all we might eventually get some other nasties, but right now a good 20 below zero night will take care of most everything.

Dave

If a black snake is in my chicken coop(and yes, it happens), it dies. But they are very rarely that close to the house with all our farm dogs running around. But if it is out on the rest of the 100 acres, minding its own business, I let it be. Killing black snakes just because is like shooting yourself in the foot. They do more good than harm.

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Emily Dixon
Ozark Jewels
Nubians & Lamanchas
www.ozarkjewels.net

"Remember, no man is a failure, who has friends" -Clarence

I'm sorry, Dave....you don't call 20 below dangerous and nasty??!! I'll put up with A LOT of snakes and spiders before I'd put up with that for long periods........ But with proper precautions, it can be a safe enviroment to live in, just like having snakes around. Glad you like it though........

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Emily Dixon
Ozark Jewels
Nubians & Lamanchas
www.ozarkjewels.net

"Remember, no man is a failure, who has friends" -Clarence

A well fed cat, or a fat cat is not going to do nothing. They have it made. My cats used to hunt every day till my parents moved in next door and kept giving them food and scaps now the lazy things (except one) dont move from the porch and just meow at them as they come out the door. Dont get me wrong I dont starve our cats but I dont overfeed them either. I think the females are better hunters too.


YOu have the domestic cats that just sit around and you have the hunters the good mousers. It depends on the cats and how you raise them.

Ours do kill snakes, mice, squirrels.
Neighbors got dogs no outdoor cats and they got snakes.


Sam

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Debt is Normal be Weird!-Dave Ramsey
We are DEBT FREE!! as of Feb 21, 2008

Moving north? Lyme disease has always been more common in the northeastern states than anywhere else in the US. Delaware (WAY more than any other state), Maryland, and Pennsylvania are the top three states for Lyme disease. All the way through Maine, the number of cases are much higher than here in the mid-south.

Canada also has their fair share cases.

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A half dozen chicken eggs will feed a blacksnake for a year if it gets nothing else. Supplemented with a few Copperheads, a few rats, a mouse here and there, my guess is a black snake may eat 3 to 4 egs yearly. A small price to pay to be rid of the copperheads.

BooBoo, each state and local government has their own laws. Here, we can keep Anacondas, boas, pythons, or venomous without a license. It is illegal to sell a venomous to anyone under 21. It is also against the law to keep Eastern Diamondbacks, Canebrake Rattlers, or other "protected" species.