Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Pond Boss Snakes?

so i have a black snake my my pond. it has eaten two of my fish.i don't want to hurt or kill it but i want to remove it. when we mow the back yard it comes out. it has shed its skin about a week age. any ideas on how ti catch and remove it....i know that it is NOT poisonous. i was thinking about relocation. i love snakes and reptiles but i don't want them eating my fish. i also would like to spend as little, if not any, money as possible.

My neighbor put out a live-catch trap for a chipmunk. He caught a toad. A snake went in through the wire cage and swallowed the toad. The snake was then to big from the lump in his body to get out. Thus my neighbor trapped a snake. This method may not work for all situations:)

it has to be about 8 ft or longer by looking at the skin it shed.

That would be bigger than anything that I have seen here in Indiana. We do get some big black rat snakes, but not 8 feet long that I have ever seen. If it is eight feet long, I would try and catch it and see if it is a record for your area. If it were me, I would keep it close by to control vermin.

I have a mouse problem under our rather large front porch. It is enclosed with stone walls, but the rock walls, vents, and general foundation has areas that I don't have any reasonable way of completely sealing. Out cats and exterminator company attempt to keep the mouse population under control, but several black racers still attempt to move in each spring and early summer.

They often come out from under the dark porch to sun themselves on the attached deck -- at very inopportune times, like when we have guests.

I've found that bird netting, meant to keep birds from getting to our blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, etc., laid around the edge of the deck and porch makes a great trap that is usually non-lethal.

Here is an old thread about how I discovered this technique. Snakeprise in the tomato patch

Most of the time I can take them well away from the house. It takes two people to get the them out of the net my pulling it tight, several inches above the ground.

The last one I got about a week ago didn't get a second chance. Our three guinea hens turned it into an afternoon game and snack. It was about 5-ft long.

I'm curious how you know that it ate your fish? I've never seen a black snake consume a fish, but they're pretty awesome predators so I wouldn't put it past them.

Once the "8'long" tidbit of info came out, this snake went right to the top of the 'gotta go' list.

We gotta get you conditioned! You and Todd L scared the heck out of a poor little turtle in the outhouse at your pond.

Now you want to deport, or worse, punish a poor little 8-foot snake.

Maybe Yolk Sac can develop a quick cure for you guys.

Calling Todd3138. He knows everything about snakes and what (scream) pitch drives them off

8 foot snake equals .40cal boom boom in my book just to be sure.

Probably an exaggeration tho.

All snakes are much larger than the one you actually saw, or claimed to have seen.

That cracked me up!

vally...I bought one of these snake tongs on e-Bay recently.

Snake Tong

Testosterone injections?

It does not say "8 FEET LONG," so I stand by my response.

My Dolly cleans out the snakes in the pond area every spring. She does such a good job that I haven't see a snake for several weeks.

This guy was in the water as I approached, then up in the tree he went.

Any ideas on what kind it is?



At this size he's not one I want to encounter, anywhere or anytime!

Vally, one of the things that I love about this forum is wide range of ideas that are expressed. The typical response concerning snakes is probably like Highflyer (a good snake is a dead snake) which I personally agree with. But you obviously have a more open mind viewpoint which is very cool. Wish that I more flex in my attitude about snakes.

Moving an 8 foot snake is probably out the question with the possibility of getting a nasty bite from a non-poisonous snake. So what about just accepting that the price of having this snake around is the cost of a few fish. Some of us encourage wood ducks to nest around our ponds at the expense of some fish. Is this really much different? Just suggesting a different viewpoint.

Not saying this the course of action I would take, in fact I would work very hard to make it a good snake.

I'd just "go with the flow" and let him do his thing. It's unlikely that he'll put a noticeable dent in your fish population. Of course, I like snakes so that influences my response.

The only quick cure that will work for us involves a high velocity lead supplement to "aid" the obviously misguided creature!

It's not so much of a scream as it is a guttural expression of distaste. Get it straight, buddy boy!

Oh, that was a low blow!

Jeez Todd, you are MIA for months at a time and someone utters the word "SNAKE" and here you are!

Glad to see you're back. How's the construction project coming along? FWIW, Savage discontinued their Muzzleloader, it's not even available thru the custom shop anymore.

The pavilion and bathroom project is nearly completed and it's fantastic!

Yeah, that snake thing jumped out at me - popped my head in to see what was going on real quick and it was like a neon sign!

Life is good. Been far too busy but spending a little time at the farm this summer and getting some days cleared off my calendar so I can have a little fun here and there.

Just getting ready to leave the office now. Ugh.

Bummer about the Savage. It was a great product.

Pics?