Close Call
 

I was out in our garden this evening changing out a water timer. I had an old plastic flower pot upside down over the faucet. I removed the pot and started loosening the hose. Then I saw it move! My hand was less than 4 inches from this guy and it never offered to strike at me. I removed him from the flower bed and turned him loose in the woods.

There are three different types of rattlesnakes in SoCal that I'm familiar with. I take it, thats a Copperhead?

I live in an urban area but have a large open space canyon behind the house where all the critters live from possum, rabbits, quail, rats, and rattlers to control the rats and other small furry animals. Occasionally the rattlers slither into the yard and sun theirselves on the patio or in the garden. Fire department is just down the street. We give them a call, they arrive with their 'Homer' bucket, pick them up and redeposit them back into the canyon usually behind the firehouse.

Last month a surfer got bit several times by a rattlesnake at the beach of all places. He wasn't expecting to see a snake there.

When they get three to four foot long, I let someone else move them.

That time of year. A few years ago I was getting the riding mower up and running. When I lifted the hood I almost reached down to remove the clump of stuff on the engine.

I'm afraid I don't share the relocation theme. In fact, I caught a local company getting ready to dump a rattler on my property he had removed from another area. I simply explained to him that I would stick his head in the sack with the snake if I ever caught him anywhere near my house. While that kept him from dumping it on my property, he will simply drive a few miles and release the snake near someone else's house - and their kids.

The only species of rattlesnake that should be native to our valley is the Western Diamondback, but due to "collectors" that have went out to the surrounding deserts and brought back other species that later were either turned loose or escaped we now have Pacific Mountain and Mohave that are much more aggressive and dangerous.

While our normal year is about 5 rattlers, I eliminated 27 rattlesnakes in one season around my house a few years ago. That year we couldn't go out the door without finding a rattlesnake in our path. Front porch, rear porch, and patio - got really freaky. We've had three dogs snake bit and spent the money on the anti-venom, and that's not cheap. While we try and teach the young grandkids to watch where they are going, you know when they start playing they have forgotten. So best to to eliminate the problem and possibly save a child's life.

Now before you think I'm just anti-snake, I will stop and pick up and bring back good snakes to my house. I figure the area can only support so many snakes so I try and increase the good ones. Brought back Rosy Boa's, Gopher, King, Black Racers.

I do everything I can to increase the good ones here. Every time I see a black rat or red rat (corn snake) crossing the road I'll gather them up and bring them home to release on my property.

The "range" of the copperhead shows that they extend this far North but I've never seen one here in the last 20 years. If you go 40 miles East or South of where I'm at there are a few sightings.

The BIG problem here is that every single person who sees a corn snake/red rat snake thinks it's a Copperhead and ends their existence. I have no fear of any of them but for sure will relocate any Copperheads that show up here simply to keep my grand kids and dogs safer.........
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We had a 6' gopher snake in the side garden last night.... we were hoping he'd stick around, but he went out the gate into the larger back yard.

I walked out into the garage the other night and had a tiny Western Diamondback... pool net works great for scooping them up and depositing them elsewhere.

Tastes like chicken. ;)

We're lucky here in DE. We have no known rattlesnakes.... from what I've been told. No copperheads either. Lots of black snakes tho. At the parts store where I hang out in the mornings, they get a few. The owner is so afraid of any snake he kills them. I've chewed his a** out many times telling him to leave them alone. They eat the mice and rats and won't bother anyone unless they bother them. You can't fix stupid.

Last one they killed was 8 feet long. What a shame.

We had a lot of creeks, ponds, and deep ditches around my Grandfather and Great Uncles large farms. Water moccasins were pretty easy to spot.

Venomous Water Moccasin
Usually found near water? YES
Body shape is... HEAVY BODY LENGTH IS NOT VERY LONG
Body dark, often with bands? YES
Rough-looking, keeled scales? YES
Head shape is... THICK, MORE TRIANGLE SHAPED
Neck is... NARROWER THAN HEAD
Dark facial band or eyestripe? YES
Eye pupil type is... VERTICAL



We would find them often by hay stacks next to creeks and ponds, or in/by old barns, many were fearless

Tom V.

I have a drainage easement across the back of my property that stays wet until summer. It is not uncommon to see a Water Moccasin or two looking for food in it.
The last picture shows why they are called Cotton Mouths!

non poisonous, no biggi. poisonous I'd a 'kilt it.

I kill all of the ones I find. We get a lot of rat snakes that are not poisonous, but very aggressive. I will live with the mice and frogs…

When snakes start robbing liquor stores and stealing cars, I will be all for killing them...

Good one, I'd prob widen that base of offenders ;)

Till then,when im out back working downed limbs, cleaning the fringe area of the drive to the back door of my shop, my Remington 1100 is within reach. Have killed several copperheads back there on the property, very wooded around here. I've always left king snakes & bull snakes alone, anything to kill mice & rats from the woods is good. My wife freaks out when common garden snakes get into the pool & find their way into the pool baskets, no biggee, just scoop em out.

I about got tagged last year by a copperhead that was hiding in a log pile I was dismantling. His head was removed with a handy shovel. Generally I don't bother them if they are not within a few hundred feet of the house. Lots of black rat snakes here...they have free reign on the area. Their presence is highly encouraged.

I think that attempted murder and coiled in wait by our front door is much worse than steeling cars from people I don't know. Luckily my wife was coming home and spotted the snake by the front door. If she had been going out the door the snake would have nailed her.

Had a real estate friend that was bitten while reaching down to turn off a clients leaking sprinkler valve. Was in shock by the time the ambulance got her to the hospital, and even with the antivenom shots a lot of flesh rotted and fell from her arm. Never did recover the use of her hand or any feeling from the elbow on down.

My old weapon of dispatch was my 870 Bushmaster, but after the second report turned in of shots fired by the housing track people about a mile away I downsized to a 22 revolver with bird shot. It's amazing how well it works and the little pop doesn't result in panicked phone calls from our transplanted urban neighbors. Much less mess to clean up although it leaves dozens of pinholes in the dried skin.

Black and red rat snakes are free to roam anywhere on my property, we look forward to seeing them, handling them for a few minutes, then letting them go back on the hunt for rats and mice. We see a garter snake once in a while, nothing else in the last 20 years or so. Thankfully we've never seen a copperhead or he would be relocated far away from here or dispatched. Can't have the grand kids or dogs nailed by one. The older I get the less I want to kill anything aside from ground hogs and coyotes. They are a real problem in this area...........

A few years back, I found a snake hanging down from a tree near my driveway. Looked like a copperhead, which is not common in SW Ohio. A phone pic and quick contact with a local ODNR person determined it was a foxsnake. I had to look it up. Been here 50 years, first one Ive ever seen.

I've killed 16 copperheads so far at my property. One had a dozen babies in it. So I guess it's 28. I've owned the 27 acres for about 12 years. One was behind the refrigerator in the pole barn. It bit my dog on the nose. Had to give him some Benadryl because his throat started swelling up. I almost stepped on one. It was laying on the gravel road in the evening. I saw it coil up and jumped to the side. It just missed me by a couples of inches. I'm going to plant some lemon grass this spring. I spread some repellant around the pole barn after the dog got nailed.

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Gotta be real careful with those colors in Texas. Coral snakes are the most deadly known to man, as their toxins are actually nerve agents that can paralyze a person or animal very quickly making them unable to breathe. The old saying as a way of identifying them vs. a rat snake is: "Red on Black, won't harm Jack; Red on Yellow, kill a fellow" in reference to their bands of colors.

Bart, not copperheads. Copperheads are far more dangerous than rattlesnakes because they WILL attack without provocation.