so we bought/closed on our house sept. 15th last fall, and the previous owner before us had snakes....friggen hate them....with a passion...I kill every garden snake I see. so at the closing I asked the owner...you took your snakes with you right? he laughed and said yup. this morning my wife and I were raking an area between 3 trees to make a nice spot for 2 hammocks and she screamed (like always) I looked down and saw this snake......I grabbed a shovel and killed it. what kind of snake is it? is it a pet snake?
I call those corn snakes. I think they're also called fox snakes and rat snakes. Some people keep them as pets but they're wild and common. They're a good snake to have around. Completely harmless.
What a shame that you killed it. I am shocked to see that several of you think that all snakes should be killed. They do a great job of keeping rats and mice under control. Most snakes are completely harmless and the rest of them have no intention of bothering you unless you mess with them. It is an irrational fear.
I was completely kidding with my first post, but I agree with this 100%. I only kill the snakes that can kill me or my dogs (around here that's rattlesnakes and copperheads). Anything else I just shoo out of the way, or play with because they're fun. As mentioned, you'll find nothing more effective at keeping mice and rats in check. A couple weeks ago my brother and I spent a couple hours cutting out two big black snakes that were tangled up in fruit tree netting. My brother pinned their head down with a stick, I covered their eyes with my cap, and went to work by hand with a pair of desk scissors. One of the little suckers struck me, but I had on thick gloves. No harm, no foul.
LOL. Sorry, without the little smilies I am too dumb to spot sarcasm sometimes. Christines comment I was able to spot as humor. Pretty good one too. lol
I've even cut copperheads loose of berry netting...they keep the small rodents in check that ticks especially favor. The kingsnakes keep the copperheads in check...
wow maybe im taking this way wrong......LOL but what a shame I killed it? haha!....coming from hunters who kill deer that cause no harm.....HAHAHA!!!! i am scared to death of snakes..i kill everyone i see. and they invented mousetraps for a reason.
The deer, and some other game, well, they're just delicious...snakes around where I live are too small and bony...
honestly like i stated i had no idea what kind it was...if it was dangerous, i wanted to eliminate it seeing as it was in an area to be used by my family, i understand everything has its place in nature, and i understand the snakes role. i just hate them... but now i know if i see another one around that's its not dangerous....and after thinking about it...it did slither across my wife's foot causing no harm.....lol
Some people it's spiders others it's snakes, yeah most of them are harmless but damn every time I see one it just creeps me out. So if that makes me a wuss then so be it. They also eat eggs of animals I like to hunt so they are competition but mainly they just freak me out.
Yup, the black widows around here are a bit unnerving. Snakes used to bother me, but my brother (a biologist) pointed out the few dangerous snakes we have in NC so they don't bother me much anymore. The wife and especially the MIL, different story.
If a snake means no harm to me then it should be no where near where I am. If they are in sight they are gonna die. I hate them. Scared to death of any snake. It's either them or me.
Which side of the Missouri river do you live on ?? The only snake on the west side that is venomous is the prairie rattler. Nothing venomous on the east side ( majority of the state ). The prairie rattle is not very big but does have a very bad temperament for it's size. Tim