We have copperheads here in our area. I hate to kill them but have to admit that it what I usually do. I am fearful that the kids, dogs or other animals will get bitten by a copperhead. I know that left alone the snakes will usually just slither away.

However the dogs usually bark and annoy them until I can get there to kill it if I'm home and by then someone has usually been bitten. I usually treat the snake bites on the dogs myself (benedryl and asprin) unless as happened in the past the dogs have got bitten on the tongue or throat and the swelling interfers with breathing and then its a trip to the emergency vets.

I leave the rat snakes and king snakes alone and even rescue them from the dogs. I know the king snakes will eat small copperheads.

What do you all do when you come across a poisonous snake?

Anita

-- anita (anitaholton@mindpspring.com), September 24, 2001

Answers

I boil small banty eggs and put them around and when they eat them they choke and die.. If you don't have those kind of eggs. You can go to a craft store and buy plain wooden ones... This helps me in my chicken house.. I had a big problem with snakes in there and it worked... Good luck..

-- Maureen (onemaur@yahoo.com), September 24, 2001.

Anita, I know how you feel about the copperheads. I lived in Copperhead Hollow in Tennessee. The snakes killed my small dogs, cats, chickens and bit both sons. I usually killed any I found and it did not put much of a dent in the copperhead department, but made me feel a little better. My 2 Dobies did a fairly good job of keeping them away from the house. good luck! karen

-- Karen in Kansas (kansasgoats@iwon.com), September 24, 2001.

A dead Copperhead is a GOOD snake.

-- Mel Kelly (melkelly@webtv.net), September 24, 2001.

Kill 'em. It's not worth the risk of a family member, or family animal getting bitten. I know snakes are a very important part of our ecosystem, and I personally love snakes. I think they are absolutely beautiful, and have had boas and pythons as pets. But, when it comes to poisonous snakes close to your farm, I have to say, kill 'em.

-- Cheryl in KS (cherylmccoy@rocketmail.com), September 24, 2001.

If they come in my yard I will kill them and if they have a pretty design on them I will skin them out and tan it for craft purposes. If I am out in the woods and come up on one then I consider myself as the trespassor and (no I don't kill myself) I let the snakes crawl free.

-- r.h. in okla. (rhays@sstelco.com), September 24, 2001.

Copperheads aren't like your usual run-of-the-mill snakes. Usually, they will stay out of sight and not hang around in populated areas, but, as I recall from living in the Kansas City area, they do have a reputation for coming after anything they perceive as "game" (meaning, it moves), and tend to be more aggressive than other types of poisonous snakes. I've heard of some that will actually chase people. A few may come onto your place and make themselves comfortable if there are a lot of rodents. If you think your homestead is prone to having snakes of any type, the first logical thing would be to clean up all the piles of brush, rubbish & other debris so they don't have anything to hide under or behind, and either get rid of, or place in steel barrels, anything that will attract rodents, since this is what most snakes are interested in. Trim your bushes up and dispose of the limbs by burning them or hauling them to the dump, or chipping them for mulch. Try to get into the habit of wearing jeans with boots, and keep a walking stick or rake with you that you can drag along the ground to create ground vibrations that will warn snakes out of your path. When they feel the vibrations, most will move off out of the way. If you're scared spitless of them, then it would be best to find a herpatologist who is familiar with their habits to advise you on whether to capture them for relocation, confront it and beat it to death, or call for help. Some snake people (collectors and zoos) will come and gather up any snakes that give you problems. It would help YOU if you would find a book on snakes in the library and familiarize yourself with the habits and attitudes of copperheads.

-- Claudia Glass (glasss2001@prodigy.net), September 24, 2001.

I never kill any non-poisonous snakes (I know my local snake species) but any venomous snakes I find within 100 yds of my house I kill as a matter of policy. I have a two year old who has not yet learned to be respectful of snakes as well as dogs and livestock so I'm not going to take any chances on them. When I was a young man I'd catch them and transport them but I don't take risks like that nowadays if I can help it.

For what it's worth, I just caught and transported my seventh yellow rat snake this year. The doggone thing had three of my eggs in 'em at the time. I take them all at least five miles away so I'm sure it's been a different snake each time. So far this year they've swallowed four extra-large sized plastic Easter eggs and to extra large solid wood eggs and they don't seem to have phased them a bit. I have no idea how many of my real eggs they've eaten this year but I figure a couple of dozen by now. I built this latest hen house to be proof against any predator that we have which might be a threat to the birds so now I get snakes! Aaarggghhh.

={(Oak)-

-- Live Oak (oneliveoak@yahoo.com), September 24, 2001.

I agree with r.h.; if I'm out in the woods and come across a rattlesnake; I leave it alone; snakes are part of our food chain.

BUT . . .

Out near our ranch house, where young children can be left outside, (even attended), sorry Mr. snake, but your invite is denied. Our family members are more important to me than risking a snake bite to a child; children are at great risk of dying from a snake bite, versus an adult, who generally just gets pretty sick.

Still hate to kill them though . . . rattlesnakes are handsome little devils.

-- j.r. guerra (jrguerra@boultinghousesimpson.com), September 24, 2001.

I pick them up,, give them a little kiss,, and put them near the woodpile. But I dont have copperheads here, just rattlers

-- stan (sopal@net-port.com), September 24, 2001.

In the woods they can stay alive..in my yard they are dead if I can get to them in time. Same goes with black widows, etc. Anything that carries poison is not going to be tolerated around here with my grandchildren.. we do let the honey bees and bumble bees alone... the wasp and hornets are history.

-- Lynn(MO) (mscratch1@semo.net), September 24, 2001.

Hi anita, there is a specialty forum(there are specialty forums for most everything and that's where the real experts are)for snakes. it is called The Kingsnake Reptile Forum. Worth a visit. These people can help you with snake things and make it easy. This is how I take care of VENOMOUS

-- Little Quacker (carouselxing@juno.com), September 24, 2001.

Hi Anita, there is a specialty forum(there are specialty forums for most everything and that's where the real experts are)for snakes. it is called The Kingsnake Reptile Forum. Worth a visit. These people can help you with snake things and make it easy. This is how I take care of VENOMOUS not "POISONOUS" snakes. Venomous is something that can make you sick and maybe dead from the outside. Poisonous is something you eat that is bad or fatal to you. I trap all snakes, keep the harmless ones at home. and take the dangerous ones up in the forest and let them go. I'll never understand how some people kill the very creatures that help keep us from being over-run by rats and mice! Snakes carry NO diseases that can hurt us..never mind, you didn't ask that and you obviously are an intelligent person. It is easy and safe to trap a snake. Use something like a large shoebox, put a good rubberband around it and the lid. cut a small hole in one end, about 2" maybe, depends on what you have around for snakes. Place the box where you can put a lamp over it to keep it warm, or a heating pad, whatever. Of course, protect it from the dogs. Do this in the evening,and the next morning,place something rigid against the hole end of the box.Give it a gentle shake. That will tell you if it is occupied. Wrap another rubberband or two,around the box to hold that on. Now Refrigerate it for an hour, take it out of the fridge and go off into the woods or where ever you want to release a dangerous snake and carefully take off rubber band, stand back and with a dowel or long stick take off the cover. Tip the box over and the snake will be on the ground. Naturally you will do this with no children and no dogs around. If it is a non-venomous snake, I put it back in the box, take it back home and release it under the barn, shed whatever so it will be safe until it warms up . Thanks for using good sense instead of all the hysteria we usually see with snakes. They have no legs, they can't chase prey, they have no arms or hands, they can't grab their prey. So nature gave them something to paralyze the prey so it couldn't get away. It is an accident that we are sometimes subceptible to it too. Good luck with this, and keep at it. Also, check your feeding habits. Do you feed your livestock, poultry etc in a manner that encourages rodents? This encourages snakes to come and eat the rodents, and other snakes to eat those snakes.Just a thought. :)

-- Little Quacker (carouselxing@juno.com), September 24, 2001.

We have copperheads and cottonmouths all the time. Once in a while a rattler. We never kill a nonpoisionus snake and even though some will think we are wrong poisonous snakes are shot on sight. Really hard to be a poison snake lover when you look at the damange done from a bite from a small copperhead. I also shoot rabid animals that are dangerous. If I had killed that copperhead when I first saw it it would have not have had the chance to bite Bobby. My mistake his pain nevermore.

-- David (bluewaterfarm@mindspring.com), September 24, 2001.

Blow their head off with the shotgun without thinking twice. As for the non-puncturing kind.....catch them....give the kids a science lesson ....and let them go.

-- Jason (AJAMA5@netscape.net), September 25, 2001.

RUN ! ! !

-- AyleeAnn (AyleeAnn@hotmail.com), September 25, 2001.

When a snake crosses my path, it dies from lead poisoning!

-- ~Rogo (rogo2020@yahoo.com), September 25, 2001.

What do yI do when I come across a poisonous snake? I would know I was in Australia and that just a couple of hours on a plane would get me home!

-- john hill (john@cnd.co.nz), September 25, 2001.

First of all, I scream bloody murder which probably causes the snake to die of a heart attack anyway....and then the snake is killed dead whether it is poisonous or otherwise. Rat snakes eat chicken eggs and can bother baby bunnies so they're goine from here too.

-- Suzy in Bama (slgt@yahoo.com), September 25, 2001.

The obvious answer is to move to Maine, where we have no venomous snakes. All snakes here are good snakes, although you do run across one occassionally that is ill tempered. By the way, I know of no poisonous snakes, since their ingestion will not harm you unless you eat the fangs and poison sacs. Venomous yes, poisonous no. A matter of incorrect application of adjectives! GL!

-- Brad (homefixer@SacoRiver.net), September 25, 2001.

An answer somewhere between Suzy and Lynn's great ones :) No matter how many I see, I still get that little girl scream in me. And yes any snake in my barn or right at the house is a dead snake, and I am very good with a pitchfork. For chicken snakes to be non poisonous, nobody told them that, the way they strike at you! Out in the woods is their place to live, we rarely see copperheads thank goodness, though our neighbors without stock or dogs see them all the time. My biggest creepy is scorpions. No matter how much you are told the ones out here are nothing, just like a bee sting...................sorry but being from California and seeing real scorpions that are very posionous, I don't care how small a scorpion is they give me the willies. vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), September 25, 2001.

Just last week saw one. Ran over it and put a few 380's in it. We take no chances on snakes, spiders or stinging bugs, Both my husband and daughter are allergic. Better safe than sorry I always say.

(S)

-- K & S (healthywizard@earthlink.net), September 26, 2001.

Little Quacker - Thanks so much for your detailed instructions. Hopefully I'll never need to use them but it's great knowing there's a way to move a snake if I ever do. We are in the range for a few venomous species but since we rarely see any every sighting is a joy.

-- Bren (wayoutfarm@skybest.com), September 27, 2001.

Little Quacker wrote: I trap all snakes, keep the harmless ones at home. and take the dangerous ones up in the forest and let them go. I'll never understand how some people kill the very creatures that help keep us from being over-run by rats and mice!

How many dogs have you buried that died of snake bite? I've buried three and we paid big vet bills on several others. There's no immunization against rattlesnakes, cottomouths, or coral snakes and it's well nigh impossible to get a dog to leave a snake alone unless they've had a bad experience with one already.

Trapping snakes is OK if it's feasible but I've never found a rattlesnake or cottonmouth in my barn or hen house, they've all been in the yard, pasture, and once in my garden. Rat snakes I do find in my hen house and if I don't catch them there directly I trap them like you do. If they'd stick with eating rodents we'd get along fine but this year they've taken to free-lunching my eggs. I've caught and transported *seven* yellow rat snakes this year at a cost of several dozen eggs by by the time I got my hands on them. I'm willing to sacrafice a few eggs in return for their services but I'm not starting a snake welfare program. They may well be eating the rodents around the place but everyone I've caught this year has either had eggs in him or he was in the act of swallowing them.

Thanks for using good sense instead of all the hysteria we usually see with snakes. They have no legs, they can't chase prey, they have no arms or hands, they can't grab their prey. So nature gave them something to paralyze the prey so it couldn't get away. It is an accident that we are sometimes subceptible to it too.

You do see a lot of people who get hysterical about snakes and that's a fact. It took twenty years for me to be able to convince my mother not to run over every snake she came across. At the same time there are plenty of venomous snakes that present a clear and present danger to children, livestock and pets when they fetch up too close to human and livestock habitations. Those will have to go. If you feel up to trapping them and are in a position to do so that's fine but in my experience most of the time these snakes are encountered it's by surprise.

BTW, I don't think I've ever seen a venomous snake paralyze it's prey before. Some insects such as wasps can do that but when a venomous snakes gives an envenomed bite it does so with the intent of killing its prey and it's no accident that they can do the same to us since all mammals share very similar physiologies. If rattlesnakes grew to twenty feet the way anacondas do they'd eat us too. It's only the fact that we're too big to swallow that they don't.

={(Oak)-

-- Live Oak (oneliveoak@yahoo.com), September 28, 2001.