Yikes, everyone start being on the lookout for SNAKES. Just came across about a 5 ft. chicken snake stretched out sunning in the pathway down to the pond!! He got away before I could turn it over to see what sex it was. Ha
I was moving a pile of scrap lumber covered by a tarp yesterday and killed a small one (~2 1/2' lg). Stomped him. It's head was angular in shape. Not sure what species it was....but, now he's the best species...."dead snake."
somebody told me last week that rattle snakes in these parts are more and more not rattling when approached because it alerts hogs that approach them and the hogs kill them....if that is true....it's kind of a bummer since the rattling alerts humans in time to keep from getting bit.
If a hog get bit while killing a rattler, is its bacon poisonous?
If I can tell its a nonpoisonous snake and I can move it away from the cabin area, it is left alone, but if I can't tell or it will not leave, or is not nice, it is gone.
I guess I still have snakes but seldom see them. If it's true that hogs eat them, I have no snakes left. I'm loaded with hogs. Kids are heading there this weekend to thin them.
I saw my first snake at the pond day before yesterday. My toy Maultiepoo dog Charlie, actually smelled it first. Snake was on a steep bank at the waters edge and I barley got a glimpse of it as it entered the water. Dark gray color makes me think Moc, but could have been what I call a yellow belly water snake. In ether case, I do not allow Any snake at or in the pond. If the snake stays, his days are numbered.
Tracy Sometimes a minnow trap will catch those pesky snakes and drown them for you. All I have caught in them is water snakes that are not that big, they go in after the BG and it's over....
The daughter acquired a baby wild hog at two days old..... it's now 6 weeks old and follows ya around like a dog only a lot smarter.... it got too big for the house soooo... now dad has it. Hmmm funny how that works. Really a neat critter. We went for a walk to the pond and funny how she won't let ya get very far away before running back to ya grunting...guess we won't have many snakes with her around...... know any body that wants a pet pig? Lol
Tracy Sometimes a minnow trap will catch those pesky snakes and drown them for you. All I have caught in them is water snakes that are not that big, they go in after the BG and it's over....
Pat, I ran minnow trap yesterday and if a snake would have come up with that trap, I would have lost the trap to the pond, Thrown up and out as I departed the seen.
Tracy, did that snakes body stay on top the water? If it did chances are it was a moc. Lot of water snakes all you see is the head. But they all freak me out!!
Flame he pretty much disappeared as soon as he entered the water, so I am guessing he went under. I don't like snakes around my little Charlie, he is so small a snake bite is a no no. Heartbreak and most likely a divorce would soon follow.
I've been worried about my little one. She runs in front of me and loves to go to the pond anytime I go. My wife says they have snake shots to protect them. I told her to ask vet about pro's and con's. As soon as I hear something, I'll give you a shout. We go down to the pond several times a day and my little dog is so small, it wouldn't take much venom to kill her.
Tracy Sometimes a minnow trap will catch those pesky snakes and drown them for you. All I have caught in them is water snakes that are not that big, they go in after the BG and it's over....
Agreed, Pat...I have caught several (drowned) in my minnow traps last year....turtle food!
Like yours farmallsc my Charlie is about 5 lbs and loves the pond, he gets in the water every time we go. He once swam out to a duck decoy, swam around it 3 times and then returned. He loves the water. Maybe it's the poodle part in him that makes him a water dog I worry more of the Moc's, they have a mean attitude, way more aggressive than a copperhead or rattler.
Pond safe treatment on fire ant mounds? Boiling water. Or urine.
Leave the mount alone (so that the queen doesn't grab her heels and run), boil enough water to completely saturate the mound, and then pour the boiling water down the mound. Boiling water will kill the queen and all other ants it hits.
The key is the queen. Don't disturb the mound and have enough water to flood it out.
Regarding urine, it also can work. Just enjoy those 64 ounce gatorade bottles, save up the urine, remember to cap it after each urination, and then when you have enough in the jug go drop it on the mount same as boiling water. I think boiling water is more effective as instant death, but I have learned that fire ants do not like to get pissed on, so I started saving the urine up and man does it make them move away. But they just move to another area. Urine will kill some ants, but not as many as boiling water.
A long time ago a friend went to work for a pesticide company. They wanted to test their new fire ant concoction and he went to my place. They concluded that their new poison was no more effective than any other one. In other words, it didn't work.
Now, I dig/stir up a nest, squirt it with charcoal lighter fluid, and torch it. I do it over the course of several days. It works somewhat but they always seem to regroup.
A long time ago a friend went to work for a pesticide company. They wanted to test their new fire ant concoction and he went to my place. They concluded that their new poison was no more effective than any other one. In other words, it didn't work.
Now, I dig/stir up a nest, squirt it with charcoal lighter fluid, and torch it. I do it over the course of several days. It works somewhat but they always seem to regroup.
Try boiling water. Or your lighter route, but don't disturb the mound. As high as the mound is it is also deep. The queen is at the bottom. By the time you start to make too much noise above or worse touch the mound the queen is gone. That is likely why you see the regrouping - you've made your presence known and the queen departs.
A friend told me that he stirs the mound and then sprays with pesticide. He does it several times and then spreads poison granules. His theory is that by reducing most of the workers, they are suckers for the poison and feed it to the queen. However, my bee keeping experience tells me that they can raise a new queen in a hurry.
I observed a higher percentages of non-rattling rattle snakes over the last 8-9 years on our west Texas property. This was before we got a population of Javenina(no hogs).
A friend told me that he stirs the mound and then sprays with pesticide. He does it several times and then spreads poison granules. His theory is that by reducing most of the workers, they are suckers for the poison and feed it to the queen. However, my bee keeping experience tells me that they can raise a new queen in a hurry.
Dave -
Your mileage will definitely improve if you leave the mound undisturbed before treating it. The queen will scoot right fast when it is disturbed and so if she survives you're just going to get a new mound elsewhere.
"These treatments are most effective when ants are nesting close to the mound surface (as they do when the temperature is mild). Colonies should not be disturbed during treatment."
Looks like I stand corrected. Thanks. I really only mess with the ones close to the house and on the point where I keep my feeder. So far, they haven't gotten into the feeder but I can't figure out why. They must not like fish food.
Ok guys, I discussed the snake vaccine with my vet. The shot is good for pit vipers, so it should work for rattle snakes, copper heads, water moccasin. It's cheap insurance, my vet charges 16 bucks. We were going to do it today, but my pup has a urinary infection and was running fever.
As soon as she gets well, I will get her the shot.
The vet says if they get bit, it helps with the reaction.
I have less snakes this week than I had last week. I have killed around 15 in the last couple of weeks, 3 were venomous wm and two were copperheads. The rest were water snakes. I used to let some pass but not any more, I hate the dam things.
I sure got a snake surprise last night while out with my flyrod.
My ponds have been way above full-pool for the last several weeks. Thus, my pond water edges are up in the high weeds and bushes around the edges of my ponds.
The water temperatures have finally gotten the fish active in just the last few days. Because of the high water, I still can't get close to the water's edge in most places. The fish are greatly enjoying these areas.
Yesterday evening I was using my 4/5 flyrod with about a #6 long-shank wire hook, baited with one of Dave Davidson's scary "Texas Jumper" worms. I was casting it as close to the weed edge as possible. I was getting quite a few small/medium bluegill, some small LMB, and even a few small channel cats.
Then I got something that was really odd as soon as the baited hook hit the edge of the weeds and brush. It felt like a stick, but then it would pull back into the weeds.
As I pulled it to where I could finally see it, I saw that it was a very aggravated and extremely agitated black racer snake, about 4-foot long.
We have a lot of black racer snakes in our area. Lots of them are out looking for spring break one-night-stands when our spring-time temperatures get into the 70s/80s.
Over the years, I've moved countless black racers from around the house and garage. The worst things they usually do is peeing all over my arm when I pick them up to safely move them.
This one had no intention of letting me pick it up to pull the hook out of its mouth. It was also in and out of the water. With the equivalent of about a 2# leader, I couldn't do much to lift or guide it. Even if I could have done so, I don't think I'd have had much luck grabbing it just behind the head to keep it from biting me. I've never seen such an angry black racer before.
I finally let out a number of feet of line, snapped my flyrod as hard as I could in hopes of breaking the leader. After several snaps, the hook pulled out of the snake's mouth. It lodged in my left pinky finger!
catmandoo, Snakes have very dirty mouths, so you might take precautions to prevent infection if you haven't done so already. A couple days ago I saw a black rat snake that had climbed up the side of my chicken house to get at a bird's nest. The birds attacked it, and it dropped off, but the next day the birds weren't going back to the nest, so I guess the snake got their chicks during the night.
O.K. you Texas guys. What kind of a snake is this?
I was at a clients/friends place near Miller Grove last month, and he saw about 18" of this guy sticking out of a wood duck nesting box. I hurried up, grabbed a ladder, climbed up and yanked it out of the nesting box after he guessed that it was NOT a cottonmouth. It had only swallowed one egg, and it wasn't very happy that I interrupted it's meal.
He then said "Look in there to make sure there isn't another one in there!" Oh He.. No I said, there ain't no way I'm sticking my eyeball up to the hole to look inside, but I did stick my phone in and took a picture. There were still 13 eggs in the nesting box.
I picked it up and we drove it about 1/2 mile away and relocated it. It was a bit over 4' long and about 3" across at the thickest part. It was NOT a happy snake...........
I don't want to know, nor do I know much about Texas snakes.
I' no herpetologist. I've spent enough time in the outdoors over the last six decades to know the bad ones from those that people just don't like.
But, if I would have run run across a snake in any pond, river, or lake in this area, that looked like the one in your picture, I would probably have labeled it either a common water snake or a northern water snake (probably not probable in Texas).
Because of their markings and coloration, they are frequently identified around here as being "really big copperheads" which they ain't.
The water snakes in our area get quite a bit bigger than copperheads. If you find a 4-5 footer, you can be pretty well assured it isn't a copperhead.
From my experience with water snakes, they aren't harmless, but they also are not much more than a nuisance where people with odiophobia ophiophobia are rampant.
I've encountered a lot of them in and around water. I've never been bitten, but they can act quite aggressively. Much of their lives ares spent as being the "buzzards" of the water. They obviously don't use germ killing mouth wash. Their bites need to be thoroughly cleaned to prevent infections. If I ever get bit by one, I expect I would go to an emergency room to have the bite properly cleaned.
Names of snakes change greatly with localities. A "rat snake" in this area, it is usually a fairly stout black snake with a lot of white on its chin and belly, and sometimes on its body. They are similar looking to black racer snakes, but our black racers usually have white that doesn't go too far back from their chin. I think each of them have at last a dozen local different names. The juveniles of both look somewhat similar to juvenile the water snakes.
Time to go blow all of the debris away from around the house, decks and garages. I'm starting to see various kinds of snakes looking for love.
Here are a couple of my non-scary snake posts from over the years.
This wood duck nesting box was on a metal pole, maybe 100 feet from the water and it had an inverted metal funnel for a snake guard that was about 24" across. It was firmly attached to the pole, it didn't tip back and forth, so I'm assuming that is how the snake was able to slither up and over the edge of it.
I had no idea how long it was, as it only had it's tail sticking out of the hole, and was slowly making it's way completely into the nest box. Once the ladder was in place I had to get up there fast and grab it before it went completely inside.
My face, when I was standing at the top of the "A" frame ladder was a few inches below the hole going into the nesting box, so when it looked like it's head was coming out of the box, I gave it a good fling away from me. It landed about 20' away and curled up like you see it. When I started to poke and prod it so I could pin it's head to the ground, it regurgitated the one egg that it had swallowed, but it had broken inside of it on it's trip to the ground.
Names of snakes change greatly with localities. A "rat snake" in this area, it is usually a fairly stout black snake with a lot of white on its chin and belly, and sometimes on its body. They are similar looking to black racer snakes, but our black racers usually have white that doesn't go too far back from their chin. I think each of them have at last a dozen local different names. The juveniles of both look somewhat similar to juvenile the water snakes.
Rat snakes actually have a few different color phases. Check out the photos in the link I posted. The black with white chin phase is one of the pics. I have caught them like that in TN, but every single one I have ever caught in GA looks identical to the one Esshup posted.
They are amazing climbers. One time, I caught one climbing straight up a vertical concrete wall of a tunnel under the interstate. It was going after bats in the tunnel. Shortly after I grabbed him he threw up a bat.
I had to Google rat snake to see all the color forms. I also had only seen black ones. We really have no poisonous snakes at our location so I encourage the snakes.
Names of snakes change greatly with localities. A "rat snake" in this area, it is usually a fairly stout black snake with a lot of white on its chin and belly, and sometimes on its body. They are similar looking to black racer snakes, but our black racers usually have white that doesn't go too far back from their chin. I think each of them have at last a dozen local different names. The juveniles of both look somewhat similar to juvenile the water snakes.
Rat snakes actually have a few different color phases. Check out the photos in the link I posted. The black with white chin phase is one of the pics. I have caught them like that in TN, but every single one I have ever caught in GA looks identical to the one Esshup posted.
They are amazing climbers. One time, I caught one climbing straight up a vertical concrete wall of a tunnel under the interstate. It was going after bats in the tunnel. Shortly after I grabbed him he threw up a bat.
wbuffetjr,
It would be great to have a serious hobbyist or professional herpetologist here on the Pond Boss site. Maybe you are that person. We get a lot of questions about snakes.
I'm not sure who started it -- probably (a trouble maker like one of my really good friends ... ) Dave Davidson. Since then, many of us long-time Pond Boss members have continued to identify most pond-related unidentified snake photos as those dreaded "copper-headed rattle moccasins".
I've seen one heck of a lot of different kinds of snakes in my 70 years. Growing up where I did, I could pretty much identify any snake that came across my path.
Since our Uncle Sam invited me to visit many places without ice and snow many years ago, I have become somewhat leery of the snakes I had not met in my non-native territory. My career took me to many places above and below the equator. Few of the snakes I met looked like those around the Lake Superior Basin. Many didn't look friendly. I knew that not all snakes are unfriendly. I've found that except for some very minor differences, way too many friendly vs. grouchy snakes all look very similar in their different stages of life.
It is kind of like differentiating a Texoma Texan from a Texoma Oklahoman. Then, throw in a ****** wannabe who tries to look and sound like one of them. It doesn't take long to find that somebody has just cut off a piece of someone's ear!
Anyway, snake identifying and description inputs like yours would be greatly appreciated. It could help to keep our legless neighbors from being harmed, while helping those of us with legs and arms from being harmed.
It would be great to have a serious hobbyist or professional herpetologist here on the Pond Boss site. Maybe you are that person. We get a lot of questions about snakes.
I'm not sure who started it -- probably (a trouble maker like one of my really good friends ... ) Dave Davidson. Since then, many of us long-time Pond Boss members have continued to identify most pond-related unidentified snake photos as those dreaded "copper-headed rattle moccasins".
I've seen one heck of a lot of different kinds of snakes in my 70 years. Growing up where I did, I could pretty much identify any snake that came across my path.
Since our Uncle Sam invited me to visit many places without ice and snow many years ago, I have become somewhat leery of the snakes I had not met in my non-native territory. My career took me to many places above and below the equator. Few of the snakes I met looked like those around the Lake Superior Basin. Many didn't look friendly. I knew that not all snakes are unfriendly. I've found that except for some very minor differences, way too many friendly vs. grouchy snakes all look very similar in their different stages of life.
It is kind of like differentiating a Texoma Texan from a Texoma Oklahoman. Then, throw in a ****** wannabe who tries to look and sound like one of them. It doesn't take long to find that somebody has just cut off a piece of someone's ear!
Anyway, snake identifying and description inputs like yours would be greatly appreciated. It could help to keep our legless neighbors from being harmed, while helping those of us with legs and arms from being harmed.
Regards, Ken
Haha, well I could probably qualify for serious hobbyist, but not a professional herpetologist. My youngest brother and I have been into snakes most of our lives. Between the two of us we have had all kinds of critters, especially snakes/reptiles. We had everything from Rat Snakes to Copperheads and Cobras to Rhinoceros Vipers. My brother actually had a cobra get loose inside his house! Shortly after that he got out of the venomous stuff. At one point I even had a Nile Crocodile. For YEARS we would go snake hunting with friends just to see what we could catch. Over the last few years I have gotten out of the hobby. These days I only have a small Eastern Kingsnake for my son that we caught in our yard. However, my youngest brother has gone on to become one of the top Reticulated Python breeders in the country and has more snakes than ever.
Sooo, MOST of the time I can ID a snake pic as easily as you guys ID all those fish pics. There are only a couple non venomous species in North America that can be tough and then I can narrow it down to one or another. That's probably where my lack of true professionalism shows.
O.K. you Texas guys. What kind of a snake is this?
I was at a clients/friends place near Miller Grove last month, and he saw about 18" of this guy sticking out of a wood duck nesting box. I hurried up, grabbed a ladder, climbed up and yanked it out of the nesting box after he guessed that it was NOT a cottonmouth. It had only swallowed one egg, and it wasn't very happy that I interrupted it's meal.
He then said "Look in there to make sure there isn't another one in there!" Oh He.. No I said, there ain't no way I'm sticking my eyeball up to the hole to look inside, but I did stick my phone in and took a picture. There were still 13 eggs in the nesting box.
I picked it up and we drove it about 1/2 mile away and relocated it. It was a bit over 4' long and about 3" across at the thickest part. It was NOT a happy snake...........
I was surprised at how strong it was.
esshup, What kind of snake is this? Ha! Under the same conditions, it would be a dead snake
I understand the instinctive fear and desire to kill snakes by some (my father is of the same mind). However, snakes play an important role in the ecosystem and many species are becoming rare. Especially for non-venomous snakes, please try to just avoid contact. Losing a species due to unfounded fear, especially a beneficial species, is sad. They are called rat snakes for a reason.
Rah, I am not afraid of all snakes, and have let many slide by, but the water snakes tried to take over the pond. I had too many(seeing 15 a day is too many) and if I had one going into or out of my duck boxes, he would be gone. I want ducks , not egg eating snakes. I also don't want copperheads or rattlers or water moc's. all of them are here, along with coral snakes also(so I hear) never seen one. You posted u r in an area with little to no venomous snakes. That is not the case here and attitudes change, mine did.
I got a call from one of my rural neighbors about a month ago. he asked about a guy hunting rattlers on my place. He's a professional and sells the meat, rattles and skins. I don't worry about them unless they are around the house or ponds. Others get a pass. Then he called back to say it wasn't going to happen. Evidently, there is a quota of 8,000 pounds on our region and it had been reached. I had no idea.
I get it on the poisonous snakes, not so much on the water snakes. We have a lot of those and they are welcome at our ponds and wetlands. Although very aggressive, I have no problem with them. My son found they do not make very good pets:) Not sure how many times I caught non-venomous snakes as a kid or how many times I got bit. Compared with disturbing ground-nesting hornets (yellow jackets), a little nip from a snake is nothing to me. Hornets are met much more aggressively by me. To each his or her own.
I got a call from one of my rural neighbors about a month ago. he asked about a guy hunting rattlers on my place. He's a professional and sells the meat, rattles and skins. I don't worry about them unless they are around the house or ponds. Others get a pass. Then he called back to say it wasn't going to happen. Evidently, there is a quota of 8,000 pounds on our region and it had been reached. I had no idea.
Note to self.
Don't EVER accept an invitation to Dave Davidson's farm. Definitely, DON'T EVER think about asking my wife to accompany me on such a visit -- even though she really enjoys Dave's company and thinks he is a somewhat sane and normal person (like me).
Ken, I don't worry about the snakes and days go by without seeing one. They prefer the sweeter meat of Scandahoovian Hillbillies.
Actually, I very rarely see one and don't even watch for them or where I walk. I know they are there but aren't much of a problem. On the rare occasion that I do see one, they get a pass unless they are around the house or ponds. And that's probably been 3 or 4 years.
That snake looks too big-bodied to be a rat snake compared to the two I've seen at my place.
My wife and I picked up a small-city advertising periodical in Lumberton, ms. on Saturday morning and there was an add placed by someone who said they would come to your property to catch rattle snakes and water moccasins for FREE! Jodi and I pondered why they would do it for free. From this thread, I guess they sell the rattle snake meat but what about the moccasins? Is there market for the venom or meat?
A few years ago I purchased a pair of snake gaiters specifically for the warmer Texas trips......... Those and leather boots and I think I will be OK visiting DD1's place. LOL
Yeah, there's a market for rattler meat and I guess probably for moccasins. Evidently the quotas are by region. Ours is up into Oklahoma but no idea how big each area encompasses.
I was talking to a transplant from somewhere up North who asked about rattlesnake danger. I told him that I don't worry about them and had never actually been bitten. He responded that once you skinned out a native Texan, most of the remains would be pretty indigestible.
If that snake were _not_ a rat snake I would be surprised. Greatly so. Does look spot on to be a rat snake. Love them around here. Only been bitten once by a 9 footer black rat snake and that was all my doing as I just couldn't get the picture I wanted and kept re-positioning it and eventually STRIKE! I simply walked over to the river, put my arm in the water so the snake's head went under and a few seconds later it released on its own so I didn't tear myself up prying it off.
If that snake were _not_ a rat snake I would be surprised. Greatly so. Does look spot on to be a rat snake. Love them around here. Only been bitten once by a 9 footer black rat snake and that was all my doing as I just couldn't get the picture I wanted and kept re-positioning it and eventually STRIKE! I simply walked over to the river, put my arm in the water so the snake's head went under and a few seconds later it released on its own so I didn't tear myself up prying it off.
When that happens to me I just clinch my fingers and make a fist and the increased pressure just pops the snake right off. Have to be careful doing that though, as sometimes they fly off like an arrow....
I was on a corporate hunting lease in Okla with a group of friends quail hunting a few yrs back. That evening we all set around the campfire when a couple of the guys were showing off the rattlesnakes they had caught that day. These two guys had bought the newest snake leggings(chaps) and wanted to test them out as we sat by the fire. So, dropping two nice sized rattlers on the ground, the guys started to do things to make the snakes bite their covered legs, like stomping the ground in front of these snakes. Will, one bit and when it did the fangs got caught up in the chaps. The guy went to dancing and hollering, trying to get the rattler to release, and the rest of us took off like the quail covey's we had seen earlier in the day. It was funny at the time, how it all happened. I wonder, if through Natural Selection or evolution if these two are still with us today.
Had I seen a snake that size here on my place, there would have been too many pieces for me to pose with it as you are. Maybe with a bucket, but definitely not just holding it with two hands!
Had I seen a snake that size here on my place, there would have been too many pieces for me to pose with it as you are. Maybe with a bucket, but definitely not just holding it with two hands!
Nah, a snake like that is gobblin up rats, mice, frogs, and birds. Good addition to the land. She was actually quite pissed at me for stopping her progress and struck repeatedly until I held her for about 30 minutes, then she calmed down. She'll grow a bit more in length but quite a bit more in girth. What always amazes me is how strong snakes are given their size.
My landscaper found a six foot rat snake in my flowerbed. I called a local snake guy and he said the same thing wbuffetjr. He said "leave them alone....they are all over residences in Dallas/Fort Worth but mostly people don't see them". Needless to say when I go out at night and climb thru some flowerbed bushes to turn my water hose on I now make some noise and have a flashlight. I know they aren't poisonous, but if one of them had bit me at night I would have had to change my Depends!
My landscaper found a six foot rat snake in my flowerbed. I called a local snake guy and he said the same thing wbuffetjr. He said "leave them alone....they are all over residences in Dallas/Fort Worth but mostly people don't see them". Needless to say when I go out at night and climb thru some flowerbed bushes to turn my water hose on I now make some noise and have a flashlight. I know they aren't poisonous, but if one of them had bit me at night I would have had to change my Depends!
My landscaper found a six foot rat snake in my flowerbed. I called a local snake guy and he said the same thing wbuffetjr. He said "leave them alone....they are all over residences in Dallas/Fort Worth but mostly people don't see them". Needless to say when I go out at night and climb thru some flowerbed bushes to turn my water hose on I now make some noise and have a flashlight. I know they aren't poisonous, but if one of them had bit me at night I would have had to change my Depends!
I walked down and around the pond the other day making a few casts and noticed a black diamond water snake with its jaw unhinged and an 8" BC halfway down it's throat. The snake saw me and spit the BC in a heartbeat. It makes me wonder how any fish (alive)could get into a situation to be swallowed head first.
Dave, I was surprised too, with the fins and all. It was up against the bank when I saw it. I thought I might be quick enough to squat down and grab the snake and pull it up on the bank by the tail and kill it, but he was quicker than I would have ever imagined.
I have 3 emails from my wife today in ALL CAPS that SHE NEEDS A SNAKE TRAP NOW!!!!! Apparently our newly laid down bark mulch and our many rock walls have all sprouted snakes this year. Not many in the last years but it seems every time she goes in the landscaping or bushes she sees another (harmless) garter snake.
I try to catch and relocate for her but can't keep ahead of them. We can't take down the rocks in the retaining wall.
Any worthwhile traps that would catch them? How about the advertised sticky traps?
I see snake repellent online which is basically granules or powdered sulfur with some cinnamon and clove oil. but that is supposed to be a barrier on the perimeter of your yard to keep them OUT but what if they are already all holed up in your yard!
I see snake repellent online which is basically granules or powdered sulfur with some cinnamon and clove oil. but that is supposed to be a barrier on the perimeter of your yard to keep them OUT but what if they are already all holed up in your yard!
What to do?
I'm guessing it will just keep them in... My last place my neighbor had a rock retaining wall the one with the caps on top. He would get copperheads in there a lot. We had them pretty bad in that area. Not a good thing with the kids liking to crawl around the walls. As far as sticky traps I assume once they are stuck they are stuck and no relocating expect to the trash. I am not familiar with snake traps. They don't need much of a hole to get in or out. My wife put some bird netting around our strawberries this year and then found a large black snake tangled up. She was braver than I thought and cut if free while I was at work. good luck Dave
I have caught water snakes in minnow traps, so that design might work on land too? My neighbor caught a toad by accident in a live catch trap and a snake went in through the mesh but could not get out after eating the toad.
) Dave Davidson. Since then, many of us long-time Pond Boss members have continued to identify most pond-related unidentified snake photos as those dreaded "copper-headed rattle moccasins". 
