I've been reading alot of posts and quite a bit of people are talking about killing snakes, particularily if they're poisonous.
Please consider that they have a right to live. They were here alot longer than we were. Also, alot of non poisonous snakes are being killed because people assume or misidentify them as poisonous. If you find one, please put a garbage can or recycling bin or something over it and call the state. They will send people to relocate it for free.
Killing Snakes
Mind you, I'm all for the under dog, but...
Keep in mind some people on this forum are pretty old, sick and or have very young children. Sometimes it isnt practical to call the state, and alot of times they will not come out anyway. It is very very very dangerous to attempt to catch a poisonous snake, so please, do not try it.
Remember, a snake can strike very far in a split second. It only takes one bite and you're dead.
We just killed a four foot rattler in our yard. My grandparents couldnt catch it- had it bitten them they would have died. My mother and I are both sick- one bite from a snake that obviously hadnt eaten in a while would probably kill us.
The state/county will not come a callin` to relocate a snake. They are swamped as it is.
It is sad that sometimes we have to kill something, but that is life. We can not over step every ant so that it may live. It just can't happen.
May I suggest a breeding program for endangered/threatened snakes? If you don't have kids, you might wanna try it.
- Jocelyn.
I am all for living and let live. I do everything I can to protect wildlife. I relocate any critter that might be causing some disturbance here. I raise fowl, crops, and have numerous pets.
I've got a six year old that is always on my heels. I was lucky she wasn't on my heels the night I found the cottenmouth. She would have been bitten.
I know my harmful snakes, I am a daughter of a man who made a living out of the swamps. Yes, snakes were here way before we were, however, I will not and can not have one living 15 feet out of my back door that has the potential to kill my daughter.
If you doubt my intentions on wildlife and protection of it, you can check out the following:
http://davesgarden.com/j/viewentry/18485/
I figured if your Daddy taught you about cottonmouths you probably knew what you were doing, growing up around something is the best teacher. Knowing kids 150 feet wouldn't be far enough.
But if you can't get close enough to trap it, or it's not safe to get close enough to trap, why is it safe to get close enough to kill? They're being killed with sticks in most of these posts. Not trying to offend, just wondering.
I don't doubt anyone's love and respect for wildlife. Personally, I can't stand when any animal gets hurt and some times I'm irrational in this respect although I detest bugs and have often killed them in the past.
Sorry CaptMicha, Perhaps in my posting I should have made myself more clear, but for the sake of keeping a long story short, I just mentioned "I whacked it with a stick"..
This is the how the long story went.
I passed 2 feet from the back of the snake, it was laying in a mud puddle. Since I was busy in my thoughts I really wasn't paying attention to anything but dodging mud puddles. The snake was in a puddle, at first I thought it was a stick because it was getting dark and the snake was dark. When I realized it was a snake and-- a Congo at that-- (I could tell right away by the shape of the head) I walked over to the shed and got my dads snake catching pole that I now own. It is long, say about 8 feet, at the end are some grabbers. Not harmful for the snake at all. However, with it being old and unused, it malfuntioned and that is when the snake lunged at me. I got out of its way, and it persued me. (Congos can jump off the ground and lunge 1/3 of their body length)
The snake then crawled under some pallets next to my kennel runs. I went inside and got my husband. I moved pallets, he then called the neighbors and they(neighbor and son) came out with a .22. (we don't own a gun) It was over in one shot, as humane as possible.
I see rat snakes almost on a daily basis here, some big, some not so big. I tell them to "watch out for little people and I'll let you live here..." So far they have complied :-)
If I've offened you, please accept my apologies, but I stand firm, the snake had to go.
There is a difference between using a shovel or a gun to lop a snakes head off and trying to capture it alive. One whack or bullet and the snake is dead. I have been handling snakes for years- even poisonous ones. These past couple years my health has gone down hill. I can not handle a snake bite.
Trying to rally the snake into a garbage can or using a stick (mind you not all of us have a snake stick,lol) is very dangerous. It's kind of like allowign a Puma to live wild in your suburban neighbourhood. Eventually, someone's gonna die.
Thinks I would have liked your daddy Lisa.
I don't like killing them either, but at times it has to be done..With small children, pets, and also myself being put in danger, they have to be killed..Here in GA, much like Lisa, we have many Cottonmouth's.. We have lost farm animals and pets to them over the years.. When you go out and they are on the steps, porch, patio or wherever your family and pets stay, that's one of the times you have to kill..I too, deal with rat, oak, and other harmless snakes daily..I try not to have to kill them, but even sometimes they have to go..When a huge one is eating chicks, killing hens, and eating all the eggs..You can take them to the woods, but more take their places.. They raise like roaches here..Killing any animal is against my grain, but sometimes necessary..More than once I have nearly stepped on a Cottonmouth simply getting out of my car, that's too close for comfort..Believe me, when one nearly bites you or your child or pet..The last thing you think about is relocating him..
Larkie
Larkie
There is a wonderful book by Machelle Small Wright... Behaving As If the God In All life Mattered http://www.perelandra-ltd.com/AB1473/showdetl.cfm?&DID=8&Product_ID=288&CATID=37
i just meandered across this thread and thought i'd post :)
i'm currently in the process of moving a whoooole bunch o cottonmouths outta here lol
we've got a pile of bags of mushroom compost up against a fence, and apparently that makes the absolute perfect place for them to live
several of them (like 5-10 are living in and around the bags, and have been meandering out into the yard, thus being killed by my grandfather (he's got a strict no snake policy.. they creep him out for some reason)
i'm completely opposed to the idea of killing them just because they're there
so i've got my snake grabby stick and i've been pondering the best method of grabbing them and relocating them.. since the "throw a trash can over them and call the state to come get them" method does not work around here
if the state responded to every call about a cotton mouth in someone's yard... well.. there's just not enough hours in the day for that :)
these are pretty aggressive, they're more of the "bite first, ask questions later" mentality so they definitely have to go, but i dont want to kill them.. i HATE killing them (actually, i've never actually killed one.. but i've seen my grandfather lop their heads off with a shovel..eewe!)
any suggestions?
Get a Pro....You are risking your life..
Larkie
yes, well
the pros around here dont care enough to relocate snakes
so it's either leave them there, kill them, or relocate them yourself
they cant stay because they're too aggressive
i'm opposed to killing them
so they've gotta go
I wish I had an idea for you... but I can't think of any better way to capture them other than the snake grabber. Get a pet mongoose?
My dad was mowing the lawn a couple of days ago (he can't see well at all and he deniesit and insists on mowing anyways) and he mowed over a huge snake. I think it may have been a rat snake. We were both really sad.
Sorry, no sympathy here for the cottenmouths that get in our yard. With my son, my pets and me, I wont take the risk.
I have 1 garden snake that is allowed to stay, and every once in a while I'll see a black racer that is allowed also. Cottonmouths? No way.
But, before you bash me, I'm also the one that saved a baby blue jay that my cat managed to get. It's wing was hurt and couldnt fly (not that i think it could anyway, i think it had just fledged). I called the wildlife resue mission and drove 30 miles to bring the baby to the center...
Hate to admit this too, but....black widows and brown recluse..I'm sure they have a right to live also, but not in my house/yard/garage. Raid to the resue.
Do they even have cottonmouths in MD?
oh i'm not gonna bash you, jen
i just dont like to kill them if there's another alternative
and since we do kind of live in their native habitat, i really prefer to find an alternative
and they dont really bother us unless we disturb the area where they've decided to nest, it's not like they come out hunting for us or anything.. but we do get in that pile of mushroom compost periodically and it's unpleasant to say the least to have a cottonmouth striking at you
i share your sentiments about the brown recluses, though
i love spiders.. i'm the one who always picks them up by hand and escorts them safely back outside...
but i HATE brown recluses for the sole reason that one bit me and almost rotted my arm off
lol
i think black widows are pretty, though, and as long as they stay the heck away from me, i'm fine with them existing.. until one bites me ....
i understand that sometimes things have to be killed .. but only when there is absolutely no other choice in the matter
if you're going to kill the snake with a shovel, then you're just as close (if not closer) to the snake as you would be if you were grabbing it with a snake grabby stick.. or a similar device
anyway..
i was just kind of hoping for a tried and true method for catching them..
like.. is it best to go out and do the snake catching early in the morning before it warms up and they get really active?
or.. what?
Kim
The thing is when you line the shovel up with the snakes head you use momentum to kill it. It's dead- it can't strike.
Using a stick or whatever to capture the snake alive, gives you a live, deadly snake to man handle into a trash can. This is very dangerous.
Try using a net if you dont want to kill it.
It's your skin. :)
what *kind* of net?
like.. a fishing net with a big pole? wouldnt it be really hard to get said very aggressive snake *into* the net?
or do you mean.. like.. using the grabby stick to put the snake into the net....?
I meant a mesh net you can toss over the snake. The rest is up to you- I no longer handle poisonous snakes and I can't tell you to catch them. I'd feel really [deleted] if you were bitten and died.
lol
ooooh ok then
well i'm sure i'd feel really [deleted] if i got bitten and died too
:)
For future reference, I'd like to know if you hit the snake with the flat side of the shovel blade or the thin edge?
I've never seen a snake around here, perhaps because of the outside cats, but one never knows.
my grandfather uses the sharp edge of the shovel blade....thin, i guess?
Same here- the thin edge.
Okay, alot of responses to alot of different mentions here.
#1 to crimsontsavo: Snakes CAN strike after dead. There's been incidents of roadkill snakes that have bitten people due to neurological reflexes.
#2 Snakes are sluggish when it's cool outside and there's a lack of sun- but I would never rely on that slowing down a snake. But it would be safetest to catch them at this time oppossed to when they're heated up.
#3 to MSJen. There aren't any cottonmouths in MD. We have 2 venonmous ones and one semi dangerous one but not nearly as potent as the cottonmouth. These include,
Copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix)
Timber Rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus)
Northern Water Snake (Nerodia sipedon) which make you bleed profusely due to anticoagulants in their salvia. And these are often mistaken for cottonmouths and killed.
misskitty .... love your sense of humor and the wit to express it.
MissKitty, A GRABBY STICK??? I LOVE that technical talk. (LOL)
CaptMicha, thanks for the information on the snakes. Not that it makes me feel any better about Florida snakes, but a little better informed.
Edited for P.S. As I said on another "snake thread", that high rise apartment is looking mighty good right now (grin)
This message was edited Jun 14, 2004 9:08 AM
No, a snake can not strike you when you chop it's head off.
It can bite you if you get ahold of it's head- but it can't strike you.
I feel like i need to clarify my statement. Its not like i go on "snake hunts" to find them to kill them, but should one be encountered that poses a threat to me & mine, then yes, a shovel does come in handy.
Do i run over them in the road? I really try not to, I've swerved to avoid many of them, but sometimes its unavoidable.
I'm surrounded on 2 sides with ponds and brush areas on all sides. When the neighbors bushhog, we seem to always have snakes. My only defense is to make sure i have a shovel handy. Sometimes you come up on them and they are just as startled by you as you are them. A startled cottonmouth is not a good thing.
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