Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Wildlife Management snake on the pond

Just this morning 8:00 am the feeder went off and a little floated toward the shore. About 8 foot from the bank a small black snake about 12 inches long and about as big around as a pencil appeared to come from deeper water,ate a piece of 1/8 floating feed and went back down. I watched closely for 10 minutes and never saw him surface anywhere!! Any ideas of what type snake that was? Can they stay under water that long? I have only seen one snake in almost a year and it was a black water snake about 3 ft long and maybe 1 and 1/2 inch wide. He swam under water with just his head sticking up. He would go under when provoked but always came back up shortly after.The snake today was about the size of those big 10-12 inch plastic worms we used to fish with for large bass. Feel sure it is not harmful but my grandkids do swim near the area where I saw him.

Flame, I'm a firm believer in - the only good snake is a dead snake..

I know, lots will bash this however, I prefer zero snakes on my pond

Oh he'll be dead if I ever get to him.I would die of a heart attack if I had one come near me while I was swimming. Once I get Overtons lmb in there a snake that size won't last long anyway!! After reading more it may be a new born watersnake. They bare live young anywhere from about 8-30 in count. Yikes!!

Snakes have their place in the eco system. I don't like them either mind you but we killed off quite a few in the past 4 years and now I have more frogs and mice running around it's crazy! All you do is trade one for another! Course all poison ones must go! Copper heads and water mocs and not to be played with!!

RC

I'll take mice and frogs in a trade any day!!

I don't know much about Texas and Oklahoma snakes -- except you have a lot of less-than-friendly snakes that I don't like very much.

Most of the time, I have no issues with snakes. I try to keep the area around my woodland house less than snake friendly by keeping the lawns mowed low, using snake repellent under crawl spaces, having cats, chickens and guinea fowl, and having a good pest service that keeps my rodent population down. I've relocated a lot of large black racers and black rat snakes over the years that have been sunning themselves in awkward places around the outside of the house. Mostly, they just stray by during mating season.

Snakes by the ponds, and in the woods, come and go. I don't pay much attention to them, unless they have an attitude.

Here in the Virginias and Carolinas we have freshwater snakes like Northern Water Snakes, Brown Water Snakes, etc. I don't particularly care for any of them. The Brown Water Snakes like to sun themselves on tree branches overhanging the water. I'm not sure how many have dropped into my canoes over the years as I've brushed branches on the Shenandoah, Rappahannock, and upper Potomac rivers, but they sure scare the poop out of the human canoe occupants.

I've had a lot more encounters with northern water snakes. Here is a rather old post about a water snake that grabbed my pant leg one morning: Bad Attitude. It quickly became a two-piece snake.

Most of the time, water snakes just want to get away from people. They are rather anti-social, and don't like anything or anybody, including other snakes, except during mating season and during hibernation, when they will winter-up with copperheads and timber rattlers in our area.

I don't believe I've ever heard of a swimmer being attacked by a non-venomous water snake.

I don't care for most water snakes because they can become quite aggressive under certain circumstances. They certainly eat a lot of live critters, like small fish, tadpoles, and frogs. I can deal with that. But, they are also efficient scavengers. I like that.

However, even though they are not venomous, they have a very toxic mouth due to all the bacteria from the decaying stuff they've eaten. They have a lot of small teeth, and they will bite repeatedly when cornered. Any bite from them should be cleaned out by at a professional medical facility, like an emergency room. They have some other nasty habits when biting, like vomiting the disgusting contents of their last meal. They also can produce some pretty foul liquid poop and they can expel a really nasty musk. Because of that, they are not a critter I like to grab by hand and move to a new location.

As for staying underwater, here is something from BioKids- Water Snakes





Just remember,

Be afraid, be very afraid

As Ken states, non-venomous water snakes can develop an attitude real quick. I'm all about picking up snakes, but those suckers can be a handful. One clamped down on me a few years back, right in the web of skin between thumb and forefinger. Left a nice, horseshoe shaped ring of bloody dots.

And that smell....

I don't like large snakes..I know about small coral snakes,
but it's the cottonmouth, rattlers, and copperheads that worry me.

My yard guy at the house in Dallas found two rat snakes over five feet long each in my flowerbeds this Spring. I was shocked that snakes that large were in my flowerbeds right in the typical residential big city neighborhood. I even contacted a snake control guy and sent him pictures. He said "oh not to worry those are rat snakes and are harmless". Ummm I thought harmless? Ok not venomous, but couldn't they still bite me if I surprised them in the flowerbed like turning on a hose at night?

He said rat snakes are a lot more common than people think, but normally people are just not aware they are around. If that thing bit me I know I would have to change my Depends!

Yours after seeing it or the snake!

I'm around a reasonable amount of rattlers but don't mess with them unless they are around the house area.

Very few water snakes are venomous. And 99% of the snakes would rather be anywhere but where I am.

But, they're your snakes. Do what you feel like you either need or want to do.

One consolation Dave -- at least the Pond Boss group still appreciates and likes old grumps like you!

I'm not sure if that puts us in the category of being lower than a snake's belly, but ...

I tend to dispatch water snakes whenever I encounter them. To me, it's no different than culling undesirable fish in my ponds. I have seen what they may do when the population is left unchecked, and I don't want to see them everywhere I look.

I'm not the least bit afraid of snakes, of any variety, and will usually pick one up straight away. Water snakes are the only species I will remove. All others are left alone, or at worst picked up and admired for a few minutes.

Sprkplug you sound like me... I get yelled at big time when I bring home a canebrake to show....

After seeing this on the news tonight:

Flying insects caused radar to light up as if there was a large storm near Copper Breaks State Park

Snakes, bugs, and whatever else is lurking -- I'm glad I live in the moonshine-happy hollars of West Virginia.

Personally, not a fan of snakes... poisonous or otherwise. I've had trouble in the past distinguishing between the two types. An easy clue on the water is that poisonous snakes swim with their lungs inflated, therefore float...non-poisonous snakes on the other hand do not and will swim with their bodies and or heads underwater. Either way I'd rather stand clear of them. Got a couple of 18" Diamondback Water Snakes that set up house under my dock...but, I'm afraid they won't be with us long...witnessed one swallow a 2 1/2" lg GSF head first last weekend....not pretty to watch...but, such is nature.

Unfortunately, that is not quite correct. Many non-venomous snakes can swim with 1/3 to 2/3rds of their bodies near the top of the water.

Many years ago I regularly fished the area above and below the confluence of the Shenandoah and the Potomac rivers. During warm water and low water times, like in August and September, the small mouth bass were especially active and aggressive. So were a lot of swimming snakes. And, there were lots of snakes between Harper's Ferry, WV and Point of Rocks, WV/VA/MD. I'm not sure if they were aggressive or just wanting to make friends. But, I wasn't happy about their overwhelming welcomes.

A friend taught me to "whip" the snakes with my fly rod. That is, as the snakes approached me, he taught me to hit them hard, just behind the head, at about the half-length of my fly rod. It also worked with a spinning rod. It would apparently break their backs, they would sink, and they would drown.

All I know is that they would sink, and I wouldn't see them again.

I don't fish that area much anymore.

Ken

Last month I walked the banks and counted 13 large Bull Frogs and 1 diamond back water snake and 1 black water snake (not a Moc). Last week I walked the banks and saw 5 diamondback water snakes and 1 Bull frog. I got to thinking about my goals for the pond, and remembered I wanted double digit LMB, and large Bull Frogs help me get there. I am pretty sure the snakes would have babies and they might feed the lmb. So, do I want a lot of small growing snakes or small growing Bull frogs? The Bull frogs won out and so I took my new 4/10 shotgun and got rid of the diamond backs. That was a week ago and yesterday I saw another new diamond back @ the pond. I will be snake hunting this week. Maybe the blk water snake will show back up.

Tracy

One of the local lakes here was Known for having large bass before our latest draught. It was also known for having many water snakes. My guess would be that either bass don't like snakes....or they had other food that was easier to get to and didn't eat the snakes for that reason.

Personally, all I ever caught there was crappie, and never saw a snake there...but we have been through two droughts since I got here, so the ecosystem of the lake may have changed.

Sean.

Green racers and rat snakes are welcome in the woods. But this year I have already taken 3 copperheads and 4 water snakes. Most years I only see one or two water snakes a year. With all the rain this year, we have more food and more snakes. Its just the cycle of life.

I still dispatch any snake I can't ID as a good snake partially because I don't want them around the places my family and friends use, and partially because I want to keep their numbers low.

Hahahaha....my exact plans for the coming weekend. While laying out plans for the dock, I saw a big 5'er...I let her have her space...as mentioned in an earlier post, I've noticed 2) 18"ers on a regular basis...not sure how many more are around, but not really interested in feeding any more.

We swim a lot in our pond. My wife won't go in if there's snakes around.. Only one has come by this summer, he didn't stay long.
Factor in the price of fish, and my fondness for frog legs, I will endeavor to keep my pond snake free.