Oh no! Could Someone Please Come And Remove This?

Scutler one of our resident experts on snakes is trois: http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/461045/
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/495161/
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/431896/
His wife could give you tips on shooting them (it's the cottonmouth that is in her sights but I'm sure the shot she uses would work well on the copperhead).

Most importantly keep your bathroom light on and eyeball your commode before you sit ;)~ :
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/601612/




This message was edited May 28, 2006 4:55 PM

Some quick facts on Saskatchewan (in case you are reconsidering ;)

Population 996,194 (Source: Statistics Canada)

Capital City Regina - Population 200,854

Largest City Saskatoon - Population 237,017

Time Zone Central Standard Time (CST) year-round

Highest Elevation Cypress Hills - 1,392 m (4,566 ft.) above sea level

Major River Systems North and South Saskatchewan, Assiniboine, Churchill. All empty into Hudson Bay.

Principle Industries Agriculture, mining, manufacturing, tourism

Origin of Name From the Plains Indian word, "kisiskatchewan", meaning "the river that flows swiftly"; a reference to the area's major river

Land & Geography Approximately 651,900 square kilometres (more than a quarter million square miles) in size. Contrary to popular belief, one half the province is covered by forest, one-third by farmland and one-eighth by fresh water.

Location In the heart of North America. To the east and west, the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Alberta. To the south it borders the American states of Montana and North Dakota. To the north are Canada's Northwest Territories and Nunavut.

Heritage Saskatchewan is culturally diverse, with people of Aboriginal, European, Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, Scandinavian and British heritage.

Pati, good idea.. except for this one little problem: "not allowed into Canada or the United States because of their destructiveness". well, that and, frankly, the whole destructiveness thing seems like a bit of an issue, too, lol.

Seems like a cat might work just as well, huh? Except, that I live in the city and am not permitted to have an outside cat; said cat would land in the animal control truck in no time.

But, folks, I've been out there wacking and mowing down "habitat" like crazy, especially around the patio.

I just got an email from Mexico .
They broke the cattle prod and would I please bring another .
Very good for stopping snakes .

So Scutler, what's the end of the story here? Snake still there?

X

Geez-a-mitey, Scutt ...

Apparently, word's gotten out .. that you are a friendly, compassionate, lovin' and sharing soul by nature. Jes someone's managed to forget to make note that, the offer is limited to non-poisonous vermin! .. (hee) ..

At least our Timber'll warn ya .. and in ample time, to boot!

Sure hate that I've not spotted this thread, till now ... but looks like you've had plenty of company and some significant support. Not sure, if a 'move' will do you any good tho' .. (lol)

Ohhhh, but isn't s/he horrificly beautiful tho' in its own 'creatively' wicked way!!?!! (gotta be a gal, ya know .. with 'em pinkish hues goin' on, 'ey?) .. hee .. A spectacular close up image, for sure! I believe you guys have several color phases of the Copperhead also. (Now, that oughta make you a bit more peppily excited).

Ya know to expect that where you may feed one varmint, there is almost always gonna be another critter to reap the benefits of the feeding station also. Mice have probably been drawn to a perimeter area where .. for instance, the areas under the bird feeders and where you've provided food for raccoon, etc. .. even where you'd started chunking it over the fence. Mice/rats will carouse and travel about, when *you* don't/won't even see them. Hence, snakes of both types .. will do the same, in search of the mice/rats or any other vermin that is about the place. Snakes are heat seeking missiles in a sense: just better for us human beans to not 'miss' seeing them in time.

Of course, stands to reason .. that any other small critter (as our furry pets) .. can/will and do fall prey to them too. Soooo, in all seriousness .. I'm just very glad your lil poochem managed to stay back for a peice also. Not to intentionally upset you further: but thank the good Lord that you go out and generally stay out there with him, while he does his bizniss ...

Have you tried to chunk out a few mothballs around the perimeter of the exterior walls of your home? Just don't let poochum get a gnaw on 'em, nor any lil people-yunkins either!

The only other option, is to put up a sign - - 'No Snakes Allowed' or, try a large DETOUR sign with an arrow pointing AWAY from your yarden!... Hey, ya never know - stranger things have happened! I dunno; with you, lately .. it's becoming the ‘protocol’ to expect such! (jes merely luvinly teasin’ ya, Scutt)

Just keep your spyballs peeled 'GOOD'... and things will let up a bit ... sooner or later. (hopefully sooner!) I can only imagine that you may be feelin' like you're needing to walk on stilts, by now (tall metal ones) ...

((huggerooners))

- Magpye

How did it end? Well, I don't know if it ever ends. I've been too exhausted to write lately because I've been mowing, weed wacking, weeding, pruning, etc. Here's the plan:

remove habitat - tidy up, wack down liriope, vinca, etc esp around foundation.
remove food source
get that Zapper Equil mentioned to eliminate rats attracted to feeder
have the folks X mentioned come out to look for and seal any places
critters can get into the attic
be careful
buy some of those wild, wacky colored garden boots for leg protection
wear those stiff, heavy gloves while weeding (I usually do this for roses)
call envenomated guy if snake shows up again

After thinking things over I cancelled the pricey appointment for the animal control folks to come out and look for the snake. If he shows up again, I'll deal with him then.

On the plus side, all available info shows copperheads to be generally shy and non-aggressive (yes, I did read trois' thread, but they grow everything bigger and 'badder' in TX ; ). Literature also shows the copperhead to be among the least toxic of the venomous snakes and goes on to say that deaths from this snake are virtually unheard of.

In the end, as all of you who live in snake country know, we have to live with them. I used to watch those nature shows, and wonder why the zebras grazed peacefully with the lions resting in full view nearby - you know, just waiting until dinner time. Now I understand. They don't have a choice. Wherever they go, the lions will be there, too. So it is with the risks in our lives. I could stay out of the backyard, but there is no guarantee that a snake won't show up in the front yard, or as Lily points out, even in the house.

This weekend as I began to get a grip on my fear, get back on the horse I fell off of, and go back out there and reclaim my garden, the plan was not without a few wrinkles. I ran screaming like a girl when a bee buzzed near me. My dog nearly gave me a cardiac event when he brushed against my leg unexpectedly.

And then on Sunday I was sitting defiantly on my garden seat in the middle of a path bulging over with gaillardia, echinacea, lilies, speedwell, verbena, and a host of other foliage in which a snake could feel real comfy. Then I heard the very distinct sound of leaves rustling amidst the dense planting before me. The sound was coming from ground level. It was a dragging, reptillian sound. I kept trying to convince myself that it was nothing. But I kept hearing it, and worse it was getting CLOSER. Duhn..duhn......duhn...duhn...cue the Jaws music. Then in a moment of sheer panic, I froze unable even to manage a scream as a mottled brownish reptile "slithered" into view as it emerged from beneath a nearby viburnum.

You tell such good stories!!!! Now I can go to bed.
CJ

Lol .. i love happy endings .. thanks for the chuckles Scutler and kudos to you for your bravery in being able to turn a traumatic turn of events into smiles and laughs for yourself and your readers .. even if for a while.

X

i forgot to tell you. i bought some stuff online called Serpentgard. it's kind of pricey, but it lasts a long time because you mix what you need with water. you spray where you don't want them. i can't really say if it works well or not, because i usually forget to use it, but when i first got it and used it, i didn't see any snakes in the garage. it smells like cloves. i started a thread about it maybe a year ago, but as i recall, no one answered it.

Might just take a clue from tracks and sprinkle cloves around. At least they smell better than mothballs.
;)

here's the site, i spelled it wrong up top, it's serpentguard. http://www.serpentguard.com/?OVRAW=snake%20repellant&OVKEY=snake%20repellant&OVMTC=standard

Hi - the Wal-Mart chain sells a "snake-rid" product that I've been tempted to try......as the rascals pop-up too frequently here for my comfort (and I can't bring myself to kill them - I just want them to go away). I'll go by today and read more of the information on the packaging and let you know.

Ok ya'll it's been RAINING (washing away my newly planted babies) for 5 days now...the lilies are drowning and I think that the lavendar is completely done in....even the zinnias look soppy and miserable.

send that rain over here!!! please!

I wonder if the serpentguard eliminates the lizards too. They also have Jacobsen's organs. We were thinking about using it after we read the post, because our garden snakes are obviously eating up our lizards and frogs. We have never seen so many snakes and so few lizards. We like our lizards and frogs!

.. cara10 ..

A big ol 'hearty' welcome to DG .. to ya!!

- Magpye

i don't know about the lizards. if you just do the perimeter, would it lock the lizards in? course i guess it would lock the snakes in too if that were true.

T'would appear so.... I guess we'll have to start catching snakes. Oooeeee!

Here's one of the little sweethearts - about 2 feet long. Now, I have never minded these snakes, but the lizard population is WAY down, and when I found him crawling up and through the flowers of 6' tall cannas looking for - what? aphids, I don't think so - frogs and lizards would be my guess, I kind of put 2 and -2 together and came up with zero lizards.
CJ

oh but he's a pretty one! i had a hognose snooping around the other day. a toad-eater if there ever was one. they are such funny snakes, i don't mind having him around, but i love my big toads too. *moan*

OMG,
You guys just gave me all the reason I need not to move to the South. We do have rattlers here,(S. Calif.) but in 23 years in this particular spot I'd never encountered one and one popped up 2 months ago. Gardening is my life and I'm thinking I'll have to give it up or move...3 words for you..."Whidbey Island,Washington"....NO poisonous snakes. Banana slugs you can live with. If you can't move, maybe you could just spend a lot of time on the road. After hearing that story, I'm sure we'd all volunteer to let you spend a month at a time at our houses! In 2 years time, if no further snakes appear, maybe go home.....
Sherry

WCGY,
NOOOOO!!! You CANT move THERE!! They are over their quota. Try Coos Bay, Oreg, or Victoria Island, BC. ;) :)) lol

Best;
bluelytes

bluelytes,
We do have history there (Whidbey), built a house there 23 years ago and are considering going back. Pretty bad, huh? We've wondered...Victoria, yeah, in my dreams..Don't think they're encouraging people to move there, are they? I'm just about ready to leave the U.S. and I love BC;, I think we'd have to sneak in. But....whatever vague thoughts I may have entertained about the South are gone..maybe Whidbey needs to start rumors of their poisonous snakes!
Sherry

WCGY,
Oh, YES!! Some of the MOST DEADLY snakes found in the world are HERE in Western Washington. We have the Webfooted Limpet snake, the Geoduck Snake, (some are over 3' in length, and hang out at the beach), and the Western Washington Tireback Garden snake. So BEWARE!! And they can SMELL furriners!! ;) LOL

Best;
bluelytes

too sad

Sherry, I've read your comment a few times, and every time without fail I chuckle out loud when I get to the line "...if you can't move..." It has the air of the perfect blend of friendly concern with humor. lol. and a most interesting idea for travel...

I had no idea that it was possible to have snakes but no venomous (or otherwise deadly) ones. Wow, hard to imagine being able to view a snake with carefree abandon, not having to rack your brain for clues to its identity, not having to jump and scream and run away just in case. Wow. how strange even to imagine.

Now bluelytes,

a few bones to pick with you:

(1) do you have any idea how much time I spent trying to figure out the four words for which WCGY are internet shorthand? You know like ROFLOL and DH. I just could not seem to match WCGY to any set of common words. ; )

(2) I thought those snake names sounded a bit odd and was surprised that I had never heard of them, but I had to look them up on the internet just in case. I found a clam, some kind of round shell thing, and, well, I never found a link for the tireback.(insert scowly face here)

(Just kidding of course, well, except for the fact that I did actually DO those things)

SCUT,
Consider my bones picked! :P hehehe However, WCGY = WCGYPSY, and as for the rest, I got them from the dictionary of madeitupbook. Try looking THAT up in your Funk and Wagnells, LOL.

I was just giving WCGY the business. And if you are old enuf to KNOW THAT reference re: "giving the business", you are in deep kim chee!!

Best;
bluelytes

Lily, if you're still with use, sorry for the belated response. Over the weekend, I worked SO hard trying to take back my garden and came in each day SO exhausted. I read everything but could barely manage a quick response here and there.

I did, however, follow your links and read much of the info. Like I said earlier, they grow everything bigger and "badder" in TX. My snake was on the small to med size. I've never had a snake chase me. If one ever does, I will be moving to SK for sure!

A few years ago I saw one of those Discover or TLC or Animal Planet shows about snakes. A guy went to the BR in the middle of the night and found a boa constrictor in the "bowl". Turned out that he lived in an apartment building. Someone upstairs had lost a "pet" boa. The snake had traveled through the pipes to surface in his toilet! [Something to think about if you live somewhere where there are no poisonous (or large constricting) snakes.] Anyhow, even though I live in a free standing house, ever since I saw that, I can't "go" until I turn on the light and inspect the porcelain. ; )

SK sounds wonderful, although perhaps a bit cold for a born and bred southerner. As it seems my ancestors have been here for a few hundred years, I fear that we have likely "selected" away our cold-survival genes. But I must say that I have seen some incredibly awesome calendar photos of Canada, some of the most beautiful I've seen of anywhere on the planet. I'll keep mulling it over for now.

bluelytes,

Yeah, I figured all of that out in time. I felt pretty silly when I got the WCGY thing.lol
No fair talking Washington-ese.
Oh, and I try to avoid admitting anything that "dates" me.:)

i'll admit it, i'm old and i don't understand a word bluelytes says. *O*

TRACK,
HOW could you SAY such a thing!! IF I had even a shred of self-respect, I could be insulted by THAT crack!! But since I dont....hehehe.

Best;
bluelytes

LOL

Magpye, if you are still with us, nice to hear from you. I'm starting to calm down a bit now. I've lived here in snake territory almost all of my life. I still get freaked out when I see the venomous ones, but in time I get a grip again. My theory of snakes is that we very likely encounter them many times more often than we actually know and that with very rare exception rarely is anyone harmed by one.

As I was only recently telling someone, I've never been bitten. I don't know anyone who has been bitten. In fact, I only know one person who knows one person who was bitten by a venomous snake - a cottonmouth. In his case, he was wading around through tall weeds on the edges of a swamp while deer hunting. He received antivenon, and although his leg did swell badly and turn black, he survived without any lasting ill effects.

And, yes, mildly amusing isn't it, that when we endeavor to create wildlife habitat we somehow only invision the desired animals inhabiting it? Rats and snakes aren't supposed to show up when we put out the welcome sign and ring the dinner bell!

Well, I was considering the mothballs, but glad you warned me about the puppy. At 8mo. he's still sampling the world with his mouth - and that includes plants. I'd better wait until he's older to put that out. I do go out with him. He's afraid to go out alone (I tease him that next time I'm going to get a rotweiller so I don't have to "protect" the dog.) One night while we were out there in the early AM, I heard an owl. As Widget only weighs 4.5lbs, I fear that an owl could carry him away in a minute, so I don't leave him outside alone even in the day time. But I do let him play during the day while I garden, so I fear that he would munch a few mothballs. I've already had to pull a few daffodils out of his mouth!

Thanks, Tracks, I need all the support I can get.

scutler, did you see the post i made earlier about serpentguard?

cara10, I sure hope your rain has stopped for now. It is beyond parched here. I am spending $$$ running the sprinkler system for a few hours every few days to keep my plants from being completely frizzled. Even so the mophead hydrangea blooms are hangin upside down most of the time.

Since the snake-proofing product tested by the military isn't going to work here due to moisture, I'm doubtful that any of the other snake-proofing products will either. Moreover, I'm reluctant to invest a lot of money in repeated applications of such a product without any kind of lab data to indicate that it works. Otherwise, since, thankfully, we don't see snakes very often, how will we know if it's actually working or we just haven't seen any snakes lately by coincidence?

i know, that's how i felt too.

tracks, I thought I checked the serpentguard link and concluded that it was the same product that tonyjr had indicated as (1) used by military in desert, (2) effective, (3) rendered ineffective by moisture. The last one means it won't last more than 2 days here and would be cost prohibitive.

I will have to go back and check (tomorrow) to be sure it's the same stuff.

From all that I've read, I think my best defense is to eradicate the rats (outside) that have come to eat the bird seed (I see where they have made a tunnel underground), and eliminate as much habitat as possible by trimming, edging, weeding, etc.

If they have fewer safe places to hang out (esp near the house) and there is no food here, they will be less likely to come around. I think that is the best defense - other than outside cats, music, etc, which for me are not feasible.

This is all starting to be reminiscent of the titmouse thing. A titmouse was destroying my house. We all brainstormed solutions. I tried many of them. I opened the windows in the middle of summer w/ the AC on to blast him with loud music, but that only sent him up to peck on the 2nd story windows. I pounded the windows till they flexed. I ran around the yard chasing him with a broom. In the end, I had big orange and black scarey faces taped to all the windows, mylar strips hanging from the trees, a motion activated scarecrow aimed at, and testing the water tight security of, my windows - while the hose connector leaked a stream of water across a muddy yard already soaked by daily rains. None of it had more than a brief effect on the bird but it sure made the house look pretty tacky.

On Sunday a non gardening friend offered to come over and bulldoze the garden flat so the snake would have no where to hide! He was serious! I'm picturing a flat, lifeless, plantless, barren, newly "bulldozed" backyard, punctuated by mothball "snow", smelling of cloves, covered in enough lime to insure that nothing will ever grow here again, the post-titmouse remains of the house laid waste by a frolicing mongoose and some ferrel cats, with a big copperhead, 2 rattlesnakes, and a cottonmouth all frantically circling the perimeter where they are unable to exit due to the array of snake-proofing chemicals applied there!

Ohh Scutt ...

After those descriptive couply paragraphs; jes please tell us .. that your future involves the construction of a ticket booth .?.
( .. still, and even more luvinly teasin' you, kiddo ... )

Hang tuff ...
Not everyone is handed the opportunity to experience first-hand .. the wild one-to-ones with natures critters!

((huggerooners))

- Magpye