garden snakes

i've only seen three snakes in 30 years in nw montana, now i've got them in my garden under my raised beds i know there great for insects removal but now i'm very apprensive about being out there, is there anything that makes them leave cause i don't want to kill them,

If they are the good ones.. leave them alone... bullsnakes are a great deterent to rattle snakes, and they keep the critters away.. rats, chipmonks, and other undesirables. If they are rattle snakes, I would suggest, picking up your hoe and getting busy. :) Or if you dont want to kill them.. relocate them, and keep your eyes and ears open while in the garden.

How in heck do you relocate a rattlesnake? I'd take a bullhorn and tell them to get moving!

888, I'm curious if the snakes leave holes in your garden beds? I thought they lived above ground but not sure. I'm having a pervasive problem with little 1 inch holes all over in various beds. Occasionally they get as wide as 3 inches, no mounds; just a disappearing little hole to nowhere where my water cascades endlessly if I'm not paying attention....

Someone else has a lot of voles this year, and I thought that might be the case here too. Never thought of a snake though. We only get the occasional little black snake with yellow stripe sunning itself, usually in the woods.

Pooch, I know snakes will go hunting in the holes for whatever made them.

Poochella, you relocate a rattle snake by having someone else do it.... LOL. I always got rid of them with a stick or hoe or a 22.
Your holes are propably from voles, snakes usally dont dig holes, but they will use them at times.

I really like it that we dont have any harmful snakes west of the mountains. I grew up in eastern Washington, and came face to face with too many rattlers in my young life, I was always on the lookout for them, and always carried a large walking stick with me. It's peaceful not having to concern myself here in my garden.

Viv

VIZZ,
Maybe we should Steve Irwin over to POOCHELLA house??? lol

That would work... LOL
Viv

No No STeve Irwin! I've got a bullhorn and am not afraid to use it. Only now, instead of sending away rattlesnakes with it, I'm going to be calling all snakes to enter the vole holes ( thanks KatyMac!) and have a little garden snack on me. I'm pretty sure my new neighbors will rue the day they bought their house next to us. Really quite certain.

POOCHELLA,
Ummm, snakes dont have ears, so your bullhorn would be useless, unless of course......better not go THERE, could cause trouble. Just throw your usual tantrum and stomp your feet, lol.

Skidivur,
"Hearing - Although snakes are not equipped with outer ears like people, sound waves from the air hit their skin and are transferred from muscle to bone. When the sound reaches the ear bone beneath the skull, it sends vibrations to the inner ear, and the sound is processed by the brain. "
(from "How Stuff Works".com)

So, if that's true, I'll have to broadcast the vibrations from the bullhorn in a wide area since the snakes here are shy and I won't know where to aim my summoning bellows to invite them in for a vole snack. The neighbors; the poor neighbors....

I let the cat stay out a couple hours after dark and he didn't bring me one little vole. I may have to learn to live with them....

Pooch, all KittyMoose's vole gifts have been first thing in the morning. No presents for the last couple week... dare I hope? Here's a trail that comes under the back fence from the woods and into my sunny bed. If that's a vole I don't want KM to meet up with it! Big critter!

Hey, the photo didn't load. What's up?

That looks like a mole trail to me. I hate them.

Viv

LOL I think you're right. They really don't bother me, they just eat bugs and worms while the durn voles munch on roots too.
Vole(s) got in my raised shady bed and did in several of my new heucheras, either by eating them or exposing the roots during their tunneling. I cheer KM on when she goes after them even if she does sometimes make a mess. She's an amazing digger. There's a critter under the brush pile that Boomer obsesses over. He's got two holes over three feet deep! Keeps his nails short. ;·)

Those mounds just cry mole. I've got them everywhere, though not too many (or any) inside the garden- they are all around the yard, in with the goats, in the woods, at the edges of the raised beds which is where Mr. Vole takes over.

Kitty Moose could handle a mole, they aren't that big. I'd like to see her face. Do you have another photo?

The voles chew on my liatris bulbs/roots and nibbled a couple dahlia tubers last year. The liatris take the brunt of their tomfoolery.

Okay, if voles target the liatris I'm going to have to get another cat! We lost ours a couple weeks ago and I wasn't too sure I wanted to get another animal, but I don't want my liatris disappearing.

We have TONS of garden snakes, varying sizes. Some quite large. I have one that I share my greenhouse with. I'm trying to think of a cute name for him. Are there any famous snakes in children's nursery rhymes? All I can think of is the snake in Jungle Book which I think is named Kahn or something like that but I'm not sure that's the name for 'my' snake. Any suggestions?

Gwen

I think the snake in the Jungle Book is named Kaa -- nasty fellow! Unfortunately snakes seem to be the bad guys when ever they show up. Wonder where that stereotype came from? Heh, heh, heh.

Here's KittyMoose when she isn't being a great feline hunter. At dusk, she comes in for her shrimp snack, the dog and kitty doors are closed and she becomes a pampered princess.

Cute kitty, Katy.
Carol

Say that three times fast! Cute kitty , Katy...;)

I think Sydney is a good name for a snake.

Viv

Gwendalou, how about Snape for your snake's name after the professor in Harry Potter? Didn't he speak the snake language in one of the movies? "Parseltongue" is the language, but a long name for any pet. JK Rowling's imagination must be endless....

KMoose is indeed a pampered princess- doing what cats do best. Shrimp snack! If you cut out the shrimp, maybe she'd develop a taste for mole.

None of my Manx have eaten what they catch but they've all been great hunters. It's the sport I guess. LOL Some of my big males have had intense hatreds for rats. Seriously! I think they instinctively know they are a danger to their kittens. Oddly enough, I've never known them to catch snakes or birds. I guess it's the different evolutionary branch-off from domestic cats. Oops! Sorry 888, I got way off subject there.

Move over huntress Kitty Moose- our mean cat Mo actually nailed a vole today! A vole! It was left lying in state right between two dahlias. Good kitty.

Poochella:

If your kitty has started catching voles you will probably know about every one! Cats don't generally eat voles because they taste bad -- not that I'm personally familiar with the taste. So, each and every one will be left as a present for you. For pete's sake, don't let the cat see you disposing of your gift as that may stop the hunting all together.

Oh, congratulations. :-)

Congratulations Pooch! Lots of hugs and praise to Mo. Brave cat, good cat! Got a pic?

Mo isn't a cat you hug too often without full leather on LOL!
The vets hate him. Heck we don't even like him that much. But he's ours now. It's a miracle if he gets vaccines annually- absolutely no exam is possible although I should take congratulatory flowers to the new lady vet who tried the soft feminine approach and did manage to get a weight and an ear temperature reading without serious injury before the snarling, spitting and raucous screaming began....and that was with sedation!

Here he is doing the "Mo" thing which he will do at intervals all day long on any surface, hard or cushioned. It's the only endearing thing he does besides jumping on your back when you least expect it while working in the garden. 17 lbs of surprise on your shoulder or back isn't really that endearing, I guess.

Sorry to hijack the thread from snakes to voles 888. I hope you get an answer to your snake question. Perhaps you'd care to rent-to-own a 17 lb black and white possible snake hunter?

Awwww, I love that pose. He looks so sweet like that I just want to rub his tummy!

Back to snakes, 888 never did say what size or color hers are. I hope she didn't get her feelings hurt when we went off on tangents.

888111 you and I are neighbors. I live in Kalispell we need to get together. I have had lots of garden snakes and I to am phobic but I never disturb the little buggers. They eat anything you don't want. When you have them you are in an excellent environment. They can live anywhere they want and you are lucky enough to have them. I cringe and shake and quivver with every encounter but I am a firm believer in facing your fears and start eating lunch with them. They are our friends. REALLY> Steve.