Well the snakes are officially on the move here

[DigIron2]

I just caught this copperhead having some dinner at the gold fish pond in the front yard. Unfortunately for this guy he was in the yard or he would probably still be alive. I always leave them alone if I see them in the woods or elsewhere but I can't have a poisonous snake hanging around the house for the sake of others. He is a pretty good size joker, about two feet long or more. Looks like he at least had him a last meal anyway. If you look at his center, looks like he got him a frog. Anyway watch your step out there. --HH--GL.

 

[Molewacker]

Hmm, looks more like a Garter Snake IMHO - Copperheads aren't striped from examples I have seen.

 

[Peyton Manning]

agreed, not a copperhead, hope you didn't kill an innocent snake

 

[kcm]

Did a search for "snakes native to virginia" and came up with a result - Virginia Herpetological Society. They show photos of the native snakes. Looks a lot like the Common Ribbonsnake to me.

 

[Hapitrls]

I live with copperheads, rattlesnakes, and others. Molewacker has the copperhead. Some snakes are good to have around the house. They keep the pest population down, including killing venomous snakes.

 

[smokeythecat]

Yup, the species of snake killed can be found in a lot of pet stores.

 

[scotter1]

kill them all,only good snake is a dead one

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Snake eat rodents, kill all the snakes the rodents population explodes.

 

[smokeythecat]

I have a unique way of dealing with non venomous snakes who are not threatening me. I YELL at them. And give a hard stare too. They do not fail to run!

Here's a true story: Once upon a time ago, almost in another life, my two daughters still lived at home. They are now married and unavailable for visits from the parental unit.

Anyway, when they were rather small, we had a big toad living next to the front steps of the house. We saw "her" all the time and named her Jennie Toad. I don't know why. Well, one day we're coming back from who knows where at this point, and a HUGE garter snake (like pictured in the first post) had Jennie Toad by the leg. Bad news for the toad. Well, the snake isn't poisonous, so we just go around the toad-snake struggle and go in the house
My one daughter (I think the older one, she is now a computer scientist, for real), asks if they can catch the snake. So I think to myself, we have insurance if they get bit, they already had their tetanus shot so I said Sure! So I took the mop with the hole in the end of the handle, and put a loop of old time speaker wire in it through a loop and told the youngn' to slip the loop around the snake's neck, and pull the loop tight and they'd have the snake. BTW, easier said than done.
So they go out (the cat had to go too), and they start poking the biggest fattest garter snake I have EVER seen with the mop end. It was probably a pregnant female as big as it was. Well, the snake has the toad, and doesn't want to let go. I'm standing a few feet away on the TOP of the steps. Finally, the snake has had it with the poking thing, lets go of the toad, and turns on the kids, chasing them (and the cat) up the steps right toward and past me. The snake actually came up three steps chasing the kids and the cat. Then it sees me and must have guessed I am not going to run.
All of a sudden, the tide turns. The snake tears off back down the steps, and the two kids and the cat now turn and chase it.

The snake got away and is probably still telling the story about how her dinner got away that day and she encountered a huge and incredibly ugly creature.
The children grew up, moved away and are constantly "busy".
Jennie Toad died.

100% true story.

 

[kcm]

If mankind removes a species from the earth, then that species ceases to be able to serve it's useful existence. In the case of snakes, both venomous and non-venomous should be allowed to live, but within reason. If you find a snake out in the wilderness, leave it be (unless it's in your camp or sleeping bag!!). Otherwise, know which snakes are poisonous and kill them when they venture too close to home. Same thing goes for cougars, bears, skunks, or any other animal that encroaches on the ever-growing territory of man.

We have already changed the balance of nature so drastically that there are areas that have predators with no enemies - like pythons in Florida. But not only predators - what about wild boar in the south? They tear up tremendous areas of land and property. On the other hand, what damage are they doing that time cannot heal? But the meaning is, there are no longer predators to keep the population in check.

But in the instance of snakes (AND insects), it is important to know which are good to keep around and which are bad. Another example: In my area, all the neighbors HATE groundhogs!! 'They're SO destructive!' they would say. However, for years we had one that actually seemed to respect our area. However......... several years and multiple generations later, the old mama was still respectful, but the rest of the family had begun to branch out and became so destructive that I was forced to eliminate ALL of them. The world is getting to be a smaller and smaller place, and it is our responsibility to know how to best keep things working properly.

 

[kcm]

I have a unique way of dealing with non venomous snakes who are not threatening me. I YELL at them. And give a hard stare too. They do not fail to run!

Here's a true story: Once upon a time ago, almost in another life, my two daughters still lived at home. They are now married and unavailable for visits from the parental unit.

Anyway, when they were rather small, we had a big toad living next to the front steps of the house. We saw "her" all the time and named her Jennie Toad. I don't know why. Well, one day we're coming back from who knows where at this point, and a HUGE garter snake (like pictured in the first post) had Jennie Toad by the leg. Bad news for the toad. Well, the snake isn't poisonous, so we just go around the toad-snake struggle and go in the house
My one daughter (I think the older one, she is now a computer scientist, for real), asks if they can catch the snake. So I think to myself, we have insurance if they get bit, they already had their tetanus shot so I said Sure! So I took the mop with the hole in the end of the handle, and put a loop of old time speaker wire in it through a loop and told the youngn' to slip the loop around the snake's neck, and pull the loop tight and they'd have the snake. BTW, easier said than done.
So they go out (the cat had to go too), and they start poking the biggest fattest garter snake I have EVER seen with the mop end. It was probably a pregnant female as big as it was. Well, the snake has the toad, and doesn't want to let go. I'm standing a few feet away on the TOP of the steps. Finally, the snake has had it with the poking thing, lets go of the toad, and turns on the kids, chasing them (and the cat) up the steps right toward and past me. The snake actually came up three steps chasing the kids and the cat. Then it sees me and must have guessed I am not going to run.
All of a sudden, the tide turns. The snake tears off back down the steps, and the two kids and the cat now turn and chase it.

The snake got away and is probably still telling the story about how her dinner got away that day and she encountered a huge and incredibly ugly creature.
The children grew up, moved away and are constantly "busy".
Jennie Toad died.

100% true story.

Back in SE Texas as a kid, we had a Hognose snake that hung around for a few years. It was actually a bit fun - the snake would run from us. But when we would then start heading away, the snake would chase us. Got a (mild) kick out of the game of almost-tag.

 

[Limitool]

I just caught this copperhead having some dinner at the gold fish pond in the front yard. Unfortunately for this guy he was in the yard or he would probably still be alive. I always leave them alone if I see them in the woods or elsewhere but I can't have a poisonous snake hanging around the house for the sake of others. He is a pretty good size joker, about two feet long or more. Looks like he at least had him a last meal anyway. If you look at his center, looks like he got him a frog. Anyway watch your step out there. --HH--GL. View attachment 1290116View attachment 1290117

Hey guy.... I realize you meant well and believed at the time you killed a copperhead... but you just happened to make a mistake. Post #2 IS a copperhead. And please believe me... I KNOW MY COPPERHEADS living here in Middle TN. And a 2ft. one is NOT uncommon. I do not bother them in the woods (I live in the woods). But if there in my lawn I take them out. Every dog I've ever owned here has been bitten once.... ONCE! Not one died. Now they may have had a bad 24-40 hrs... but they all pulled through. And every one of them were bitten on the face / neck area.... meaning they were biting at it.

But the one you killed was not a copperhead. It was a harmless snake. Pay attention to the head of the snake.... A "diamond" shaped head is your first clue as dangerous... rattles are next.

 

[smokeythecat]

I saved a baby groundhog a couple years ago. It was big enough to eat on its own, I assumed and was up against my basement door - lost. So I picked it up with a shovel, not hurting it of course, and moved it back into the woods in a brushy area. I then raided the refrigerator and put out a bunch of yummy groundhog type treats, like strawberries. So a year later, it comes back to the house and makes a hole right next to the building. Love you too, groundhog. Now, it can make a home on the property, but next to the building! Please! So I started putting used cat litter in its hole. One day, I'm dumping some and I hear a disgusted grunt from the hole, like, sorry for dumping it on your HEAD, dude. Well, he moved 15 feet away under a tree and is still there. Now somebody tell the blasted skunks to move away, please.

 

[smokeythecat]

Hognose snakes are AWESOME. I've only seen one in my life. Had the kids out in Virginia and a 12" hognose is in the path. So I told the kids to "watch this". I take a very small stick and gently touch the snake. It goes into the death scene from Hamlet and rolls around and acts like it's going to die any second. You have to understand I'm the one who swerves on wet "back roads" at night to miss earthworms.

 

[ScubaDetector]

 

[austin]

Interesting. Sister saw a bumper sticker in Montana. Wolf with the diagonal line drawn through it. Simply said, "Smoke a Pack Today". Feel the same way about snakes, spiders and most insects. Build a wall, kill them all. Oh wait, that's my Trump saying...

 

[Rawhide]

Well all the experts will disagree with me. But Copperheads interbred with other snakes. Grandma Sadie told me that and I believe here. Grandma Sadie never told a lie in her life.

 

[FreeBirdTim]

You killed a harmless garter snake. Maybe you should bone up on the wildlife around your home before you start killing things out of an irrational fear of snakes.

He was probably just sunning himself on a rock to get warm. Just like this guy was doing when I took his picture a couple of years ago.

 

[kcm]

Yes, it's true that vipers can mix with non-vipers. Had a small dog one time that we called our "Snake Dog", Rusty. He kept several people in the area from being snake bit, including me. One time he kept barking at a snake. It looked like a non-poisonous snake on the outside, but had unusual colorations. I finally had to kill the snake to shut the dog up. I looked in its mouth and was amazed to see a perfectly good, functional set of fangs!

 

[pa plateau hiker]

NONSENSE, UTTERLY NONSENSE. Different species of snakes do not interbreed. Non poisonous snakes do not interbreed with each other. Poisonous snakes do not interbreed with non poisonous snakes.

The only good snake is a live snake.