Where did my post go? I ask for natural deterrants to copperheads, the one I almost stepped on got a face lift..lol where did my post go?

-- julie (jbritt@ceva.net), April 22, 2002

Answers

I've always heard that encouraging king snakes to take up residence eliminated copperheads. I always caught all the king snakes I could and took them home and released them.

Mice attract snakes. Get rid of the mice and you'll have less snakes. Snakes get into houses looking for mice. After I released the snakes, they wiped out the mice that used to nest in the attic. No more scratching on the ductwork after we found a nice sized skin from a snake that had molted in the attic.

-- Darren (df1@infi.net), April 22, 2002.

Good morning, Julie! You posted that on the Country Style Homesteading forum:

Country Style Homesteading Forum

:-)

-- Cheryl in KS (klingonbunny@planetkc.com), April 22, 2002.

You have a post on Country Style Homesteading to that effect. Format and subject stuff is identical to here and the forums are next to each other in the listing, maybe the pointer got carried away.

-- mitch hearn (moopups@citlink.net), April 22, 2002.

Are King snakes dangerous? We don't have any dangerous snakes in western Washington so I'm (blissfuly) ignorant on the subject. I didn't know if you were being sarcastic or serious about introducing them.

-- Erika (misserika129@hotmail.com), April 22, 2002.

Erika, I was serious. Some folks call king snakes black snakes. They're common in the East.

-- Darren (df1@infi.net), April 22, 2002.

And they're not dangerous.

-- Darren (df1@infi.net), April 22, 2002.

Large geese.

-- Mona in OK (modoc@ipa.net), April 23, 2002.

There will never be snakes around a pig pen (hogs eat them.) I've also heard that snakes hate sulphur, and also the smell of mothballs. Also heard guineas will go after them or at least alert you to them.

-- Jeff (lorianandjeff@aol.com), April 23, 2002.

My wife breeds boas and sells them on the web. We have been involved with snakes for 27 years.

Many times snakes are not identified correctly. In fact I have found the average person will always get it wrong, and assume any snake is posionous. King snakes and black snakes are not the same. While king snakes will eat snakes, rats, mice, insects, birds, etc., the black snake is actually a black variety of the rat snake. Rat snakes do not eat other snakes. The corn snake is a type of rat snake.

King snakes in an area could have an impact on the numbers of other snakes, but I wouldn't expect them to eliminate copperheads from an area they are established in.

Keep in mind snakes kill about 7-10 people a year in the U.S., and dogs will kill several more than that. Copperheads, rattlesnakes, and water moccasins are pit vipers and have eliptical pupils, thus they are primarily active at night. Always have a light to walk around an area snakes might be. They warm themselves on sidewalks and stepping stones. I've caught and handled 100's of non-posionous snakes, but would never handle a posionus snake. When I find one in an area where it is a problem I use a snake "catcher" to relocate it. Most people are bitten when trying to kill or just mess around with a snake, and alcohol is very often involved.

I don't know of any effective snake repellents, but with a little common sense and caution posionous snakes shouldn't be a big problem. I realize some people live in areas where the population of posionous snakes can be much greater than average. Please keep in mind the great good done by all snakes. In places where snake populations have been greatly reduced problems with rodents become severe. Areas where rattlesnake roundups have been held in the past have stopped having them because of the rodent explosions.

-- Paul Moore (boawoman@boastore.com), April 24, 2002.

call steve and terri. The crocodile hunter.

-- bob owwl (bob@hotmail.com), April 26, 2002.