O.T. A Snake Tail

I’m pretty much a live-and-let-live sort of guy when it comes to wild critters. It hasn’t been easy, but over time I’ve also pretty much persuaded the women on my place to at least consult me before they blast or whack off the head of any snake they come across. The blacksnakes, chicken snakes, coach whips, garter snakes, king snakes, etc., get a free pass even if they scare the dooky out of us.

So today I got this excited shout-out from the SIL, who lives on my place. BIG SNAKE! I went down, sure enough, about a five-foot chicken snake in her front yard. SIL really wants me to kill the thing, and she’s willing to do it herself.

Thinking I’d just remove Slim to a more remote corner of the acreage, I grabbed him by the tail. They’ll try to coil back up on themselves (and your arm), but if you can discourage them from doing this for the first ten or fifteen seconds they’ll usually hang down and behave for the rest of the trip.

While trying to provide this discouragement, I didn’t notice the sweet gum ball my boot heel found. Oh, krap! Down goes 285 pounds, plus a snake, which seizes the opportunity to seize that arm he’d been trying to reach. Their teeth are not big, kind of like a coping saw blade, but they are sharp. The result is visible in the photo. Snake has won the first round.

I tell the SIL, who’s flipping out by now, to bring me a plastic tub and lid. I placed the tub on its side in front of the snake’s planned escape route, as they like to head to a dark covered place, and he obligingly crawled right in. I popped the lid on and told SIL, who by now is certain that she wants that snake gone for good, that I would haul him down the road. Drove to a gas lease road about two miles away, let the snake out of the tub and took his picture.

Remember I said that they like a dark, covered place when they’re nervous? He immediately turned toward my pickup. Oh, krap! He got under it and lifted himself into the undercarriage. Snake has won the second round.

In a few days I’ll probably get a call from SIL telling me that the snake has somehow found his way back, and that this time she’s chopped his head off with a hoe. I’ll of course just comment that I didn’t know snakes had that good a sense of direction.

Hope you did something with that wound, although they maybe non poisonous I would not trust the bacteria in its mouth.

Thanks for the concern. I quickly sponged it with alcohol, and I just had my tetanus booster on Friday.

By the way, what kind of snakes do you have in your part of the world?

Copper Head
Water Moccasin
Black Snake
Rat Snake
and my favorite: Speckled King Snake
8)

Copperhead, Watermococin.Rattlers,Bullssnake gitrib

copperheaded waterfuciscan

I had a brief "uh oh" episode this weekend with a 4 foot water moccasin.

We noticed a couple in our pond behind the house at the new place and I went out and stuck it with my bow fishing rig.

Of course when I pulled it up to the bank, still alive and very, very mad, our german shepherd took a real interest in it.

Yeap, loose string with an arrow and full grown, angry cottonmouth in one hand and trying to get control of a big german shepherd with the other.

Funny how those "tight spots" just happen so fast. :lol:

Glad your okay, but yeah, I'd be very worried about an infection with that bite.

I too let most snakes go by unless they are in the chicken house or are the type that send a person to the E.R. They say Missouri has all 4 of the poison snakes but I have in the past 32 years of living here only seen the copperheads and they do not live long after I see one.

The mental picture you drew me just now is great!

We have a black snake that likes to change its skin in the flower bed. We leave it alone.

Saw another black snake on the patio several weeks ago. Left it alone.

Saturday saw our first speckled king snake. It was a good sized snake. Didn't know what it was at the time, but could tell by the shape of its head, it wasn't poisonous. Left it alone.

Poisonous snakes seen: 3 cottonmouths, 1 copperhead.

1 cotton mouth survived because it left very quickly.

1 cottonmouth argued with the tractor tire. Tractor won.

1 cottonmouth argued with the bush hog. Bush hog won.

Copperhead wasn't being aggressive, but was very close to the house. Hoe won.

We try not to harm non-poisonous snakes, but the cottonmouths die.

Dead snakes only!

We used to have one named Walter. I don't know what kind, just your common garter snake I think. Any way we haven't seen him for some time. We named him after a customer we used to have.

Rattleheadedcoppermoccasin

Gene

Be careful and don't post in public if you do kill a snake. It's totally illegal in Ark to kill any snake. I guess most of my neighbors are criminals.

www.mytopten.com.au/2011/07/top-10-deadliest-snakes-in-australia/

Don't tangle with these.

other images through the search engine.

Brown snake killed my two Jack Russell dogs, needless to say the snake has joined them.
Just feed them a rat killed with "ratsak".I think the main ingredient is "Warfarin".

saw a kid go after a big blacksnake once & he would not quit. Time after time he reached in to get it but failed as the snake bit him. His arm looked like he'd drug it thru a briar patch; 10 times worse than yours.