We are having the family over on Monday for a pool party /barbecue, so we will find out if they fall for the "They are part of nature". Hopefully I wont freak them out too much when I walk around the pool area with a shovel all day. Oh..... My neighbor told me that he had a garter snake fall out of the rafters in his shed and land on his foot the other day, so at least I am not alone with the snake issue. Thanks for the Info everybody...Have a safe weekend and remember the troops!!!
Oh..... My neighbor told me that he had a garter snake fall out of the rafters in his shed and land on his foot the other day, so at least I am not alone with the snake issue. Thanks for the Info everybody...Have a safe weekend and remember the troops!!!
When I was in my late teens, I was extremely fortunate to buy half of an old couple's farm that fronted on a nice lake not far from the south shore of Lake Superior. For about 50 years, this couple raised and sold white mice to the scientific community.
At any one time, they usually had between 200,000 and 300,000 mice in their barns/sheds.
Talk about snakes! Walking into one of the mouse houses was quite an experience -- not because of the mice, but because of all the snakes overhead! You had to open doors slowly, otherwise there was a good chance that, if you opened it too fast and just walked in, you'd find a snake on your shoulders.
The Lunds were good people. They weren't wealthy, but they were happy. They lived well into old age, raising and selling white mice. The last time I saw them, way back in the late 1970s, they had their AMC Pacer filled with boxes of mice headed for the U.S. Post Office in Iron River, WI to ship mice off world-wide.
When they finally retired, I'm sure there were a lot of very disappointed snakes in northern Wisconsin.
When I was a kid, we had these all over: Blue Racer, they get big, and they do bite! Plus they are fast!
The general consensus, while in grade school, if you ticked one off, was to run like hell in a zig-zag fashion. Therefore the snake, while pursuing you would roll over, either on a zig or zag, and had to right them self, thus improving your chances of a clean getaway. Third and fourth grade were a lot of fun.
When my Mom and Dad built their new house about 11 years ago, they had a problem with these snakes. They were just everywhere. Not that they are poisonous, but they were true pests. And they do have a mean streak.
After two years of dealing with them, they hired someone to take care of it.
It was about, maybe, 14 inches long. If Todd saw it, undoubtedly, a new species would have been named: Copperhead Rattle-moccasin Cobra, and it would probably be a spitter
Picture is from the MI DNR website.
14 inches my butt! Probably more like 4 feet and probably really WAS a spitting cobra that escaped from the zoo or something! You, sir, were waaaaaay too nonchalant with that bugger!
My neighbor told me that he had a garter snake fall out of the rafters in his shed and land on his foot the other day, so at least I am not alone with the snake issue.
When I was a kid, we had these all over: Blue Racer, they get big, and they do bite! Plus they are fast!
The general consensus, while in grade school, if you ticked one off, was to run like hell in a zig-zag fashion. Therefore the snake, while pursuing you would roll over, either on a zig or zag, and had to right them self, thus improving your chances of a clean getaway. Third and fourth grade were a lot of fun.
Todd will have nightmares for sure!
We don't have blue racers, but we have black racers. They are very closely related. I'm not sure why Michigan is fortunate to have their own version of this snake. The black racer isn't extremely aggressive, but it certainly will bite with the right opportunity. I find them quite attractive, and I'm not even a snake fancier. I just make sure I'm wearing my welding gloves (very long leather gloves) before I grab one to relocate it.
Although I'm crazy enough to believe that nightmares are a great adventures of the mind, maybe I can begin a "sensitivity" program for Todd and my spouse. I've been trying with my wife for about 35 years. It hasn't worked, so far.
I'm making progress with my youngest grand daughter. She is doing pretty well with appreciating critters of all kinds. Maybe I can get her to start conditioning Todd's little ones, who are just younger and older than she is. I can just see Todd's family heading over the mountain after a visit -- "hey dad, do you know what kind of snake this is?" -- as she holds it up for him to see in the rear view mirror.
My neighbor told me that he had a garter snake fall out of the rafters in his shed and land on his foot the other day, so at least I am not alone with the snake issue.
Oh, good heavens! They FLY now too???!!!
Actually Todd, yes there is a species of snake that "flies" from tree to tree! It "cups" the bottom of it's body and slithers thru the air from one tree to another.
I've seen those Blue Racers in the woods behind the house here. It was slightly unsettling to walk upon a 3'+ long snake, try to get closer for a better look and find oneself backpedalling away from it because it wants a better look at you! Those hog nose snakes are in this area as well, if you poke at them long enough they'll puff up and roll over, playing dead just like a 'possum.
Since Todd is the next recipient of the travelling lures, I might just slip an Arbogast Wheedler in the box and listen to see if I can hear him scream when he opens the box!
Last edited by esshup; 05/28/1010:34 PM. Reason: Wheedler
"hey dad, do you know what kind of snake this is?" -- as she holds it up for him to see in the rear view mirror.
Sound of squealing brakes and car doors opening, following by a falsetto scream and stomping and bludgeoning noises
Todd: "Yes, sweetheart, in fact daddy does know what kind of snake that is. DEAD!"
Hey Todd -- why don't you and the family come to our side of the mountain for some fish cooking on Saturday or Sunday. I promise I won't put any snakes in your car -- I just can't vouch for the younger generations!
Sounds great, Ken, but the fam already headed to the in-laws in Ohio today and I'm headed that way tomorrow. However, I do get the lures next week and you have them the week after and I'm planning on a personal delivery. The kids will be out of school by then, too, so maybe a raincheck if you're offering!
Sounds great, Ken, but the fam already headed to the in-laws in Ohio today and I'm headed that way tomorrow. However, I do get the lures next week and you have them the week after and I'm planning on a personal delivery. The kids will be out of school by then, too, so maybe a raincheck if you're offering!
The invitation is always open -- to all the Pond Boss regulars. I sent a PM before I saw this.
Hopefully, when we get the lures, the fish will cooperate. Last night, my pond was going crazy. I think they would have grabbed bare hooks. Tonight, I went down to the pond for about 45 minutes. Not a single hit or bite! It was like they left town. When we went down to feed this evening, it was at least 10 minutes before any fish showed up. Even then, it was a sparse sampling.
Something I'd like to share about Black Racers. Many years ago I lived in CT, and belonged to the local F&G. We were on our spring stocking and I had two buckets that I released by an old mill dam. As I stood on he wall of the old mill well house hole, I spotted two Black Racers. There was a dead branch that had fallen into the hole, so I picked it up and poked one of the snakes. In the blink of an eye those snakes scooted up that branch and after me. I took off, buckets in hand, and almost broke a speed record getting back to the stocking truck. They don't call them Black Racers for nothing!
Something I'd like to share about Black Racers. Many years ago I lived in CT, and belonged to the local F&G. We were on our spring stocking and I had two buckets that I released by an old mill dam. As I stood on he wall of the old mill well house hole, I spotted two Black Racers. There was a dead branch that had fallen into the hole, so I picked it up and poked one of the snakes. In the blink of an eye those snakes scooted up that branch and after me. I took off, buckets in hand, and almost broke a speed record getting back to the stocking truck. They don't call them Black Racers for nothing!
Neat story SF. Yep, prepare to retreat. And I think the word esshup used was "unsettling", and the phrase "they want to get a closer look at you", might do it for most folks.
This didn't occur to me until just now (thank you brain-cell destroying seventies) but the very first time I ever saw our property we were being shown around by a real estate agent. I was walking on a path that crosses the dam and a well fed four foot King Snake crossed right in front of me. I took that as a great sign - - King Snakes like to snack on Rattlesnakes so I saw it as a positive sign.
I've never seen a King Snake or a Rattlesnake at our property since that time, I did however see a Garter Snake a couple of years back.
Now at DIED's elevation it's an entirely different story. In addition to large GSF, he grows huge Rattlesnakes on his place, lots and lots of them.
JHAP ~~~~~~~~~~ "My mind is a raging torrent, flooded with rivulets of thought cascading into a waterfall of creative alternatives." ...Hedley Lamarr (that's Hedley not Hedy)
I used to catch rattlers for fun. On a big dredge pond or old granite mine above Folsom Lake was my biggest. a 46" with 16 rattles, and it had been broke at very end. I was coming out just about dusk and there was only one dirt road coming down to water's edge. So I would think it was either hunting or drinking. I almost stepped on it. So I hooked it with a ultralite outfit, splitshot and baithook. Just snagged it behind the head. But I have hand caught many others. I've caught quite a few big ones. I used to raise boas, was a wholesaler to all of the local pet shops. Had all of the locals, Kings, my favorites, gophers, garters, racers, longtails. Just don't see as many as I used to. I only have one now, a false cobra, and Mrs. Frog wants it gone this year. Kind of got big, and it is venomous as a timber rattler. Best snake as far as attack mode I ever had. But time to go.
![[Linked Image from i108.photobucket.com]](http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n22/arvomaki/misc/I_subscribe.gif)
