Snakes
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 One
of the things we
share the
backyard with is
snakes. The ones
we see the most
of are the Black
Snakes, second
most often seen
are King Snakes.
Actually I think
it is the same
King snake
because it
always seems
about the same
size, about four
feet long, maybe
a little less.
There are at
least a couple
different Black
snakes that come
through the
yard. I know
that because two
of them got
wrapped up in a
bird net at the
same time, and
Ann and I had to
take scissors
and cut them
out. One was
about four feet
long, the other
about 3 feet
long. Click
here or on
the picture for
a slightly
larger version.The one in the picture on the left would be about four feet long if he was stretched out straight. The picture also shows that snakes can climb straight up a tree, they don't have to be able to wrap around it to go up. I caught a smaller one climbing up the outside of the chimney one night, which brings up another thing about snakes - some of them are active at night. The screen was missing from several of the vents for the crawl space under the house, and for years there was a large Black snake that went under the house from time to time. We haven't seen him since about 2002 so he probably has passed away. I think he was around for about twenty years. In that time he grew from about three feet long to around six and a half feet long. He was such a regular that we named him George. George was very docile for a wild snake. If you were walking in the backyard and were about to step on him, he would just lay there very still. He never coiled up like he was going to strike, and I have been very close to him before. Several times my next step would have been on his back. We kind of miss him. |
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 After
George stopped
coming around
the other Black
snakes started
coming by. These
pictures are one
of the new ones,
the picture on
the right is the
same snake from
the picture
above. He
climbed up the
tree and went
out on a limb
and just laid
there for a
while. I didn't
see him come
back down the
tree, but I did
find him in the
yard later. The
new snakes are
smaller that
George was, and
that may be why
they started
getting up in
the attic. They
would go through
the vents to get
under the house,
then go up the
walls to the
attic. That was
when I put new
screen on all
the vents.
Sorry, snakes
don't belong in
the attic. One
reason is it
would be
possible for
them to find
their way into
the living parts
of the house
from the attic.
I think for the
most part the
screens are
working. I have
seen a couple
snakes trying to
get through the
vents and they
can't get past
the screen.
Click
here or on
the picture for
a slightly
larger version. |
||
 This
is probably the
same snake as
the one above,
but there were
two years
between the
pictures so they
could be
different
snakes. You
can't see it in
the picture, but
several inches
below his head
there is one of
the vents they
used to get
under the house.
He probably
tried to get
through the vent
and couldn't so
he was looking
for another way
in. This was
shortly after I
put the new
screens up and
he probably knew
he was supposed
to be able to
get through.
About ten
minutes after
this picture was
taken he climbed
out into the
shrubs on the
right of the
picture. He kept
hanging around
so I took the
water hose and
squirted him a
little to move
him along.
Snakes don't
like being
squirted with a
water hose so it
is a good way to
move them along
without having
to kill them.
Snakes serve a
useful purpose
by helping keep
the rodent
population down.
If you live next
to woods like we
do you
appreciate
snakes eating
the mice and
rats so they
don't come in
the house. I
would rather the
snakes keep them
under control
than for me to
have to set out
traps and put
out poison.
Aside from the
fact that I
don't like the
idea of
spreading poison
around the
house, and I
hate setting
traps, it's just
a lot simpler
for the snakes
to the dirty
work. That way I
don't have to
take the dead
mice out of the
traps, or worry
about one eating
the poison and
dying in the
walls and
stinking up the
house. Another
thing about
Black snakes and
King snakes is
they seem to
keep the
Copperhead
snakes away. In
twenty seven
years in this
house I have
only seen one
Copperhead, and
he probably got
chased up into
the yard because
of some ground
clearing work
going on behind
our yard. |
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 This
is the King
snake that comes
through the yard
from time to
time. As you can
see he also got
caught up in the
bird netting,
and we had to
cut him loose
too. After that
I threw the
netting away.
Aside from
having to keep
cutting snakes
out of it, it
wasn't much good
after cutting
the third snake
out of it. While
the Black snakes
don't seen to be
too afraid of
people, King is
very wary. If he
sees you before
you see him, he
takes off in the
other direction.
This was as
close as we have
ever been to
King. He was
very docile
considering that
he doesn't like
people, didn't
fight hardly any
at all as we
were cutting him
out of the net.
After we got him
cut out Ann took
him over to the
edge of a brush
pile and let him
go. I'm pretty
sure he was ok
after the
experience
because I have
seen him since.
It's hard for me
to tell if it is
the same snake,
but the King
snake I see all
the time looks
like the same
one to me. I
know there is at
least a pair
close by because
a couple years
ago we found a
baby in the
yard. The baby
may have been
eight or ten
inches long. To
see more
pictures of King
click on the
picture or
here, or use
the link at the
top left of this
page. |
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