OT; Uninvited Christmas day visitor

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Model T Ford Forum: Forum 2014: OT; Uninvited Christmas day visitor
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Rob Patterson on Thursday, December 25, 2014 - 04:46 pm:

So, I was lounging around in a food coma after Christmas day luncheon, when I spied this fellow slithering through my front garden.
With the barking of my dogs and the vibration of my approach, he turned around and headed off to whence he came. I took the pics while he was making his escape.
He was between 5' and 6' foot long, a Red Bellied Black snake, cutting his way through my land on his way from one water-course to another. If they're around, there usually aren't any of the aggressive Brown snakes about. I do worry about my dogs in summer.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By George Clipner-Los Angeles on Thursday, December 25, 2014 - 05:04 pm:

AH, Christmas in OZ.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mack Cole ---- Earth on Thursday, December 25, 2014 - 08:14 pm:

You know,December 5th or 6th, i cant remember which day, I was headed to the wood pile out beside my shop and I saw something long and black across the golf cart path to the mail box. It was a Black Snake and he was VERY alert and Peod!.

It was not but about 46 degrees out but it was sunny. I just thought it was odd for a snake to be out in december around here in NC.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Steve Jelf, Parkerfield KS on Thursday, December 25, 2014 - 08:51 pm:

I'm always glad to see a nice big black snake, or anything else that eats mice and rats. That's why I always have at least one cat, and usually more.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mike Garrison North of Iowa on Thursday, December 25, 2014 - 09:07 pm:

I was talking to a neighbor today that had been bitten by one of those wicked little snow snakes. He said if he hadn't had his bottle of Old Jack Snake Bite Medicine he might've died.

About that time one of the other neighbors stopped by and he told the story again only it had changed. He said he'd been out gigging frost frogs and got bit by a rattle headed copper moccasin.

I think the rest of the story was the same but I'm not sure. I had to leave before it got to deep.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mike Garrison North of Iowa on Thursday, December 25, 2014 - 09:09 pm:

I apologize Ron. I imagine if I saw a snake that big in my back yard I'd be moving straight North for about 500 miles.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Hal Davis-SE Georgia on Friday, December 26, 2014 - 06:35 pm:

Steve,

Did that kitten land that rat on his own or did he have help? That is a cute kitten. We have an outside cat that has brought us small rabbits on two separate occasions. Field mice (although they are rat sized) are a common gift from him. Sometimes a couple per week.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Burger in Spokane on Friday, December 26, 2014 - 06:46 pm:

In AFG, we had three types of snakes ... Cobras, Vipers, and Kraits. The first two are deadly venomous.
The Kraits are double-deadly AND super aggressive, chasing those who come within 5' or so ! The Vipers
and Kraits were night hunters, making after dark trips to the latrine something you wanted to be fully awake
for.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Tim Wrenn on Friday, December 26, 2014 - 07:06 pm:

Steve, I'm afraid a big black snake that big would've eaten the rat AND that cute little kittie of yours! Gosh I hate snakes!!! :-(


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By G.R.Cheshire on Friday, December 26, 2014 - 07:23 pm:

I'm not familiar with red bellied black snakes but would hope they are as beneficial as our black snakes in Florida they eat the venomous kind and keep the rats and stray ferrule cats out of the garage. I really don't know which I hate worse a venomous snake of a male cat that gets in with the old open cars. there are 2 or 3 black snakes that hang out around my pond they have gotten so used to me they don't move when I come around.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mike Garrison North of Iowa on Friday, December 26, 2014 - 08:01 pm:

Tim, I hate snakes too. I know many of them are beneficial to have around but I prefer they stay away. One of the reasons I favor living here in Minnesota is that the majority of our snakes are garter snakes. We also have something called copper belly snakes and occasionally a rat snake shows up. The only poisonous snakes are timber rattlers that live in the river bluff country down in Southeast Minnesota. I remember seeing a few snakes while on holiday in Viet Nam. We also had rats and cockroaches that were huge filthy animals.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Hal Davis-SE Georgia on Friday, December 26, 2014 - 08:47 pm:

I have a friend in TN who bought an old grist mill he remodeled into a house. When he first bought it, it was all grown over with vines and underbrush. He said he killed every snake he found while cleaning up in and around the place. He said the first Winter, he was covered up in rats. Said he hasn't killed a snake since.

I don't like snakes either, but unless they are venomous, I don't kill them. If they are close to the house, I relocate them. If they are just out on the property, I don't bother them.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Burger in Spokane on Friday, December 26, 2014 - 09:04 pm:

Until I took my afghan vacation, I was perfectly fine with all snakes. Western Diamondback Rattlers are
are common around here, and one has to be pretty inattentive to have a problem with them, as they make
a peculiar "inflating" sound as they coil, and then, of course, the rattle ....

The afghan snakes were a problem because they are real quiet and fairly unpredictable in where we'd
find them in our movements. Cobras liked brushy areas, hay piles, tall grass and you could step on them
before you had a clue. Vipers and Kraits were night hunters and had a bad habit of showing up in our tents
when the more careless amongst us brought food in and thusly attracted the mice that drew the snakes.

Our camp Vector Control guys were pretty ruthless in killing the snakes, and because they were SO deadly,
it was difficult to relocate them without risk. I preferred to avoid the problem proactively and rode my guys
hard about keeping food out of the tents.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Rob Patterson on Friday, December 26, 2014 - 09:21 pm:

That Red Bellied Black, that I started this thread with, comes in only at #21 on this list. http://www.avru.org/general/general_mostvenom.html
But as I mentioned above, if you have them around your place then the chances of having the King Brown, (listed as #2) hanging around is pretty slim. You'll also notice that Australia has more than its fair share of these nasty #@%$&'s
I too let them be, unless they are in a position where they threaten my grand children or my dogs.......then they're either dead or escorted well away.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dennis Seth - Ohio on Saturday, December 27, 2014 - 08:38 am:

I catch snakes all the time at camp and use them to teach the campers about their usefulness. One time I picked up a 6 ft black rat snake that was sunning himself on the road. I got back into my truck to drive down to the nature area to put him in an aquarium and was driving with my arm out the window with this snake wrapped around it. Boy did I get funny looks! Well, black rat snakes are constrictor's and he wrapped himself around my arm and by the time I got him to the nature center my hand was turning blue and it took two other fellows to help get him pried off of my arm.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By harvey cash on Saturday, December 27, 2014 - 09:18 am:

I have the dogs vaccinated against rattlesnake bite every spring. It costs about 20.00 but money well spent. So far I've been lucky and the snakes we have encountered I have been able to shoot before they can strike. While in the hospital in Vietnam there was a marine who had been bitten on the face by a cobra while on patrol in a rice paddy. He was recovering but it was the nastiest wound I have ever seen. I hate rattlesnake and kill them whenever encountered.Harv.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Marshall V. Daut on Sunday, December 28, 2014 - 08:14 am:

For Mike Garrison - A quote from W.C. Fields:
"Always carry a flagon of whiskey in case of snake bite. And furthermore, always carry a small snake."
Marshall, keeper of all that is trivial


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