cluless Posted July 20, 2004 Share Posted July 20, 2004 HELP! A snake (dark with yellow stripe) has taken up residence outside my front door. How do I convince him to find another place to live. Non confrontational, non violent approaches preferred. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Royster Posted July 20, 2004 Share Posted July 20, 2004 Use the back door. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hwatkins Posted July 20, 2004 Share Posted July 20, 2004 ---------------- On 7/20/2004 8:34:35 AM cluless wrote: HELP! A snake (dark with yellow stripe) has taken up residence outside my front door. How do I convince him to find another place to live. Non confrontational, non violent approaches preferred. ---------------- Unfortunately you have a very good mouse eating snake. My tact would be to let it make a home nearby. That said... Snakes don't have a lot of brain cells to beused on higher level stuff. While you do not want a confrontational encounter you need to remember you will not be hurting the snake's feelings. Also - this snake is very non confrontational as well - it will want to be rid of you about as much as you want to be rid of it. So, you can: 1. Take a long handled broom and 'herd' the snake away from the house. 2. Use the tines of a rake to pick the snake up and really get it to the far edge of your property (or place under the neighbors stoop if you want to have some real fun). 3. Get the darn cats to do their job - if they ate all the mice the snake would move to a new food source. Otherwise the back door suggestion is better... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fini Posted July 20, 2004 Share Posted July 20, 2004 Boy, you've been having "issues" with wildlife lately, eh? If you have any 7-year-old boys in your neighborhood, they'll get it outta there. (BTW, my wife is DEATHLY afraid of snakes. She practically goes into shock seeing images of the critters on TV, in print, etc. She might suggest you burn the house down...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olorin Posted July 20, 2004 Share Posted July 20, 2004 Yup. Sounds like your garden variety garter snake to me. Non-venomous, completely harmless animal unless, as Henry mentioned, you're a mouse. I'd be surprised if it didn't just leave on its own after you shoo it away with your foot a time or three. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted July 20, 2004 Share Posted July 20, 2004 We have a 6 foot blacksnake living in our crawlspace. Sheds its skin every year. Only seen it once though. No mice in our house! Don't let it bother you Clu. Its harmless. Good recommendations so far though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Adams Posted July 20, 2004 Share Posted July 20, 2004 And for ged's sake....whatever you do, DON'T go out there with a flute and a turbin on your head! It's a known fact that garter snakes are tone deaf. Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZAKO Posted July 20, 2004 Share Posted July 20, 2004 TOM.....Tone deaf... But it likes the vibrations from your KLIPSCH. Ill take the speakers off your hands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Robin Posted July 20, 2004 Share Posted July 20, 2004 My daughter has 2 Boa's and 1 Python; They all live in the same room as my Klipsch. We had a new refrig delivered last week, you should have seen the look on the delivery guys face when i told them not to mind the snakes. My rule is they can stay here as long as they stay in their tank, once they get out i get see how many boots or belts i can get from them. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
picky Posted July 20, 2004 Share Posted July 20, 2004 Clu: Sorry to hear about your slithering woes. My wife hates snakes too, so I totally understand your alarm. Not to worry too much my friend. As others before me have suggested, what you describe sounds like a common garter snake (garden snake), which is harmless to humans and felines alike. They are actually quite beneficial as others have said. I'm certain that any friend or of yours who wouldn't mind moving the snake for you should have little difficulty in persuading the little dickens to move on to bigger and better things. A nice field with lots of brush would be a suitable new home. Best of luck! WARNING! POSSIBLY-HORRIFYING CRITTER PHOTOS FOLLOW!!! Common Garter Snake: Hey, at least you don't have one of these ugly mothers infesting your litterbox..... Giant Vinegaroon: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LOADEDTUNES Posted July 20, 2004 Share Posted July 20, 2004 My sister has the best snake story ever !!! She was sitting on the toilet one morning reading the paper doing her morning chours when all of a sudden something tapped her on the *** !!! She leaped off the biffy about 3 feet into the air !! There coiled up inside the bowl was not her morning steamer but a dam snake !!!!! Poor girl is scared to death to take a crap anymore . Ends up the last tenents of her apartment had lost a snake and it was living thoughout the building buy passing through the duct work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebes Posted July 20, 2004 Share Posted July 20, 2004 Send your Avatar after him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardP Posted July 20, 2004 Share Posted July 20, 2004 Determine if you are giving the snake a reason to be there. What might it be after? I learned this a couple of years ago when I had to deal with four copperheads in one weekend. I had a bird feeder on my deck; dropped seeds attracted mice, which in turn attracted snakes. There is a snake repellant which is sold by Lowe's, etc, but it may be formulated for or effective only on poisonous ones, like rattlesnakes. The main ingredients in the repellant are napthalene (mothballs) and sulfur. If the snake stays around, try putting a few mothballs in the location. If you think there are mice around, kill them and the snake might go away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cluless Posted July 20, 2004 Author Share Posted July 20, 2004 Thanks for the pics Picky. Yep that looks like my snake. and THAT'S ONE NASTY BUG! I guess he can stay since he's helping control the mice. Anyhow senor snake probably just using the front yard for sunbathing anyway since the property is mostly wooded. BUT If I get bit by the bugger and die an excruciating death it's on all of your heads. henry - The cats are pretty useless as hunters, when they were allowed outside, they used to bring their prey into the house alive and kickin. Birds, a mole, a snake and assorted bugs. Gifts for momma. Blech fini- Yep the critters are really ganging up on me this year, between Bubba the squirrel, the carpenter ants, the ticks and now senor snake im kind of at wits end. At least the gardens are flourishing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
picky Posted July 20, 2004 Share Posted July 20, 2004 Clu: Isn't that Poison Ivy?? EEEK! I'm itching already! LOL Yes, that is one, ugly bug. Actually, it's in the same family as the tarantula. It's a whip scorpion found in the South Central and South Western U.S. called a giant vinergaroon. I ran into one of these in the desert while I lived in Nevada. It scared the crap out of me! They are actually harmless in that they have no stinger. But their fore claws are lobster-like and they can pinch the kibble out of you! When alarmed, the bug produces an acidic spray from its tail region that has the odor of vinegar, hence the name Vinegaroon. They are rarely seen in the daytime, which is when I saw mine. Yuck! Giant Vinegaroon showing the claws: Their smaller cousin, the tail-less whip scorpion, which I have also seen, lives in Florida. Tail-less Whip Scorpion (Also sting-less): Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mighty Favog Posted July 20, 2004 Share Posted July 20, 2004 Another snake story- Back int he 70's when I was in the Boy Scouts (Troop 327) we had a Scout Master that was in the Korean War. One day near the front lines the troops dug their foxholes to sleep in that night. While in his sleeping bag ol' Mr. O felt something moving in his bag. He jumped out of the bag screamin, which woke his comrades. One soldier saw a snake latched on to Mr. O's right butt cheek and quickly grabbed a machete and lopped off the snake and part of Mr. O's rear end. Turns out the snake was some breed that causes immediate and permanent paralysis starting from the point of the bite. Mr. O now wears his wallet only on the right side since he was since then a bus driver. When we (scouts) found out about this we would grab a length of rope and throw it at Mr. O just to see him jump. Not nice, but funny. BTW- Where can I get tickets to the Ugly Bug Ball?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juba310 Posted July 20, 2004 Share Posted July 20, 2004 That Vinegaroon is one nasty arachnid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hwatkins Posted July 20, 2004 Share Posted July 20, 2004 ---------------- On 7/20/2004 1:02:55 PM cluless wrote: henry - The cats are pretty useless as hunters, when they were allowed outside, they used to bring their prey into the house alive and kickin. Birds, a mole, a snake and assorted bugs. Gifts for momma. Blech At least the gardens are flourishing. ---------------- Our 14 year old cat spends most of 9 months roaming the property (we have cat door to the screened porch for her comfort. We get all the wonderful gifts (which has included a couple of garter snakes). Lovely garden - I have cultivated a few acres as well - Nothing like that beautiful three leaf design (second only to the five fingered leaf). I will see if I can find the picture of me when I was 15 (just 10 years ago - right) from the local weekly - four of us had killed a 5'6" long rattlesnake whilst working in the woods (girdling timber - another story entirely). If found I'll post to the site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fini Posted July 20, 2004 Share Posted July 20, 2004 Another suggestion: (see below...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fini Posted July 20, 2004 Share Posted July 20, 2004 Another suggestion: Offer the snake as a free prize up in 2-Channel... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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