I just watched this great show on GBP's Georgia Outdoors about snakes. It was a great show about appreciating snakes. I loved the piece about the endangered Indigo snake, which loves to eat vipers. This snake grows to about 8 ft. It is the largest snake native to America. I remember being told that my great grandmother had one in her yard. I wish they weren't so endangered.
Ga. Outdoors Snake Show
Did you see the one with Okefenokee Joe before on PBS? He has the right attitude concerning snakes.
http://www.gpb.org/swampwise
hcmcdole, that is a great episode. Here is the snake video.
http://www.gpb.org/georgia-outdoors/season-20/episode/snakes-alive
I've been told I have a 10" copperhead snake in my front bushes. also been told they are extremely poisonous , especially when young.. what to do? someone suggest spreading lime around edges of bed....and not to garden alone--just in case I get bitten. It was in a bag of red mulch from Home Depot....
Copperheads are one of the least poisonous vipers. That our dog has been bitten seventeen times supports the claim. She swells up like a balloon at the site and looks miserable for a day and then she is fine. A ten inch snake is pretty small but a viper is still poisonous at birth. Just not more poisonous. A copperhead is not going to jump out of the bushes and bite you or hunt you down. You don't need a lookout while you garden. Look around the general area before you garden because copperheads will stay still and wait unlike other snakes that will scamper off. Please read this. http://voices.yahoo.com/copperheads-most-misunderstood-snake-america-778629.html?cat=9 Rattle snakes are another story. Thankfully it is unusual to see them here.
We had a huge snake in the yard the other day. Black and gold, not poisonous, but about 6 feet long, and about 3 inch diameter. I did intercept him from getting under the fence into the back yard, where the dogs are, but just left him alone after his route was diverted.
Was it a king snake? I had one in my back yard and I think my dog killed it. They are great to have because they will help to keep the poisonous snakes away.
http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/ReptilesAmphibians/Facts/FactSheets/Commonkingsnake.cfm