Author Topic: Getting a snake out of a workshop? (Read 14691 times)

tokugawa · « **Reply #50 on:** July 21, 2015, 08:06:40 PM »

Hate to spool you up, but why do you think there is only one? And if you get the "one", why do you assume another one won't take it's place? Creatures look for a good place to live, a food supply, water, shade, etc- very hard to keep out a creature from a place that meets the criteria.

BUT- here is what I would do- go to goodwill and buy a cheap electric blanket and put it on the floor. If it gets cool there at night it may make a snake cozy and Bob's yer uncle.

Or get a live rat and tether it somehow, maybe put it in a cage the snake can get into but the rat can't leave.

I have opposite problem- used to have some plywood laying around on the ground with forty or fifty garter snakes living under them. I moved the plywood, the snakes are gone and there is an infestation of pocket gophers now.

MechAg94 · « **Reply #51 on:** July 21, 2015, 11:51:46 PM »

My Dad raised some guinea birds once. Had about 40 of them in a chicken coop. The rat snakes were small enough to get through the chicken wire at night to eat a couple chicks, but we caught a couple that were then unable to get back out after eating. Might be an option for a snake trap.

I'll leave this here also.

Okay, maybe the glue traps wouldn't be enough for this one.

RoadKingLarry · « **Reply #52 on:** July 22, 2015, 12:11:59 AM »

Now for snakes in a chicken house where they are stealing eggs I have a fun method.

Get medium size fish hook and some stout wire leader. Attach the hook to the leader and poke a hole in the egg just big enough to slip the hook in and then seal up the hole, a couple drops of superglue will work. Secure the end of the leader, put the egg back and wait. I've gotten a few big black snakes with that trick.
Just for the record, I won't hurt a nonvenemous snake unless they are stealing eggs or other such dastardly deeds.

RoadKingLarry · « **Reply #53 on:** July 22, 2015, 11:09:02 AM »

Here is some "stuff of nightmares" for CliffH to enjoy

I went out this morning to finish moving the last of an old compost pile in the back of my yard and found a few surprises buried in the compost.

4 large clutches of snake eggs No idea what kind but the eggs ranged from a large-ish chicken egg size to medium/small size

If you might be a tad squeamish skip this next picture.

No idea what kind of snakes they were other than dead by the time I got done with them for size reference they are laid out on a railroad tie.

vaskidmark · « **Reply #54 on:** July 22, 2015, 02:17:51 PM »

Those are the ones I see eating the mice that scare the pink elephants. Never knew before that the elephants were wearing team uniforms.

stay safe.

Cliffh · « **Reply #55 on:** July 22, 2015, 02:57:34 PM »

Yesterday was my Saturday, spent the entire day snake/frog/mouse-proofing the shed. Half a can of spray foam, ~12' of rubber, a few 2x4's and a lot of screws. I'll have to keep an eye on the materials used to see how they're holding up in the weather and/or chewing but for now it's secure.

Distributed 16 glue traps in various areas in different configurations based on the location and put out 4 rat traps. None were disturbed this morning, but the day's still young.

And even though there are a lot of areas for snakes, etc to hide in there I'm pretty sure there is/was only the one. If it's the one I'm thinking of, I saw him out in the far north corner of the (5 acre) lot sticking his head up out of a hole in the ground watching me on the riding mower. Also saw him once a few years ago on top of the compost heap, we stared at each other for a while until he headed north.

[Wizard of Oz]It did not lay eggs, it did not lay eggs, it did not lay eggs.[/Wizard of Oz]

Unfortunately, for a few reasons, the night time temps now-a-days only drop into the high 70's. Not exactly cool.

Still want to build a short screen door and set a baited trap but that's going to have to wait for another day. The damn water heater let go this morning so (my) Sunday's going to be taken up dealing with that.

tokugawa · « **Reply #56 on:** July 22, 2015, 06:25:10 PM »

If you really want a horror story of snakes the Dark Continent has great ones.
The author Roald Dahl ("willy wonka and the chocolate factory" was his best known popular work) wrote some great tales of his upbringing in east Africa, the one that sticks in my mind was a guy running thorough waist high grass with a big mamba behind him supporting four feet of its body off the ground so it could keep it's head above the grass and see the guy. Apparently mambas are quite aggressive.
As a side note, he had an interesting life, he was a fighter pilot in Greece during the war, talked about moving the base every day trying to get out from under the advancing Germans.
And wrote some quite twisted adult fiction.

MechAg94 · « **Reply #57 on:** July 22, 2015, 06:55:22 PM »

RoadKingLarry, did you take those snake fetus' down to the local Planned Parenthood office?

RoadKingLarry · « **Reply #58 on:** July 22, 2015, 08:03:34 PM »

Quote from: MechAg94 on July 22, 2015, 06:55:22 PM

RoadKingLarry, did you take those snake fetus' down to the local Planned Parenthood office?

I thought about it but I don't think they wanted livers from their own kind.

vaskidmark · « **Reply #59 on:** July 22, 2015, 08:42:02 PM »

Y'all remember Law Dog's snake and other stories from his youth?

stay safe.

Cliffh · « **Reply #60 on:** July 23, 2015, 11:20:16 PM »

Quote from: tokugawa on July 22, 2015, 06:25:10 PM

If you really want a horror story of snakes the Dark Continent has great ones.
The author Roald Dahl ("willy wonka and the chocolate factory" was his best known popular work) wrote some great tales of his upbringing in east Africa, the one that sticks in my mind was a guy running thorough waist high grass with a big mamba behind him supporting four feet of its body off the ground so it could keep it's head above the grass and see the guy. Apparently mambas are quite aggressive.
As a side note, he had an interesting life, he was a fighter pilot in Greece during the war, talked about moving the base every day trying to get out from under the advancing Germans.
And wrote some quite twisted adult fiction.

Holy Crap!

I'm going to have to look into Mr. Dahl's writings.

Quote from: vaskidmark on July 22, 2015, 08:42:02 PM

Y'all remember Law Dog's snake and other stories from his youth?

stay safe.

Can't say that I do. I take it they're interesting?

vaskidmark · « **Reply #61 on:** July 24, 2015, 01:14:58 AM »

Quote from: Cliffh on July 23, 2015, 11:20:16 PM

Can't say that I do. I take it they're interesting?

http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=146333

Scroll to Dec 18, 2002 to start. Then let me know next week when you climbed out of the rabbit hole.

Law Dog's blog is still up, but he's been almost completely silent for over a year. I miss his postings.

stay safe.

makattak · « **Reply #62 on:** July 24, 2015, 08:23:41 AM »

http://thelawdogfiles.blogspot.com/2006/06/hey-get-out-of-there.html

Here's one of the stories from his blog.

HeroHog · « **Reply #63 on:** July 24, 2015, 11:40:00 AM »

Here is the whole series, in order:
http://thelawdogfiles.blogspot.com/2006/06/hey-get-out-of-there.html
http://thelawdogfiles.blogspot.com/2006/06/hey-part-2.html
http://thelawdogfiles.blogspot.com/2006/07/get-out-of-there-part-iii.html
http://thelawdogfiles.blogspot.com/2006/07/okay-where-were-we.html
http://thelawdogfiles.blogspot.com/2006/07/ratel-end.html

OMG but my sides hurt!

makattak · « **Reply #64 on:** July 24, 2015, 11:54:15 AM »

Quote from: HeroHog on July 24, 2015, 11:40:00 AM

Here is the whole series, in order:
http://thelawdogfiles.blogspot.com/2006/06/hey-get-out-of-there.html
http://thelawdogfiles.blogspot.com/2006/06/hey-part-2.html
http://thelawdogfiles.blogspot.com/2006/07/get-out-of-there-part-iii.html
http://thelawdogfiles.blogspot.com/2006/07/okay-where-were-we.html
http://thelawdogfiles.blogspot.com/2006/07/ratel-end.html

OMG but my sides hurt!

I love that story, but you missed one part: http://thelawdogfiles.blogspot.com/2006/07/last-chapter-different-viewpoint.html, comes right after "Okay, where were we?"

HeroHog · « **Reply #65 on:** July 24, 2015, 03:22:07 PM »

Ah! Right you are sir!

Pb · « **Reply #66 on:** July 24, 2015, 03:33:18 PM »

Quote from: Cliffh on July 23, 2015, 11:20:16 PM

Holy Crap!

I'm going to have to look into Mr. Dahl's writings.

Can't say that I do. I take it they're interesting?

Read "Going Solo" by Dahl; it's his autobiography of when he was a young adult. It's a fantastic book, but keep in mind he "enhanced" some of the stories (ie, lied).

"Boy" is his autobiography as a youth; also fantastic.

BobR · « **Reply #67 on:** July 25, 2015, 12:03:02 AM »

Quote from: RoadKingLarry on July 22, 2015, 11:09:02 AM

Here is some "stuff of nightmares" for CliffH to enjoy

I went out this morning to finish moving the last of an old compost pile in the back of my yard and found a few surprises buried in the compost.

4 large clutches of snake eggs No idea what kind but the eggs ranged from a large-ish chicken egg size to medium/small size

Pretty sure they ~~are~~ would have been non-venomous, I don't think OK has coral snakes.

bob

RoadKingLarry · « **Reply #68 on:** July 25, 2015, 01:51:39 AM »

You're probably right Bobr. Probably Black snake or King snake guessing by the size. I didn't so much destroy them out of any malice or fear, they just happened to be somewhere That wasn't going to be there anymore when I got done moving the dirt/compost.

BobR · « **Reply #69 on:** July 25, 2015, 01:57:15 AM »

It's actually kind of neat that mom instinctively (maybe) laid the eggs in a compost pile so there would be a constant temp. She has probably been scouting your place for years.

bob

RoadKingLarry · « **Reply #70 on:** July 25, 2015, 11:06:54 AM »

I started that pile 5 years ago with a load of fresh chipped brush I got from the county. I Added to it with another load 2 years later.

Cliffh · « **Reply #71 on:** July 28, 2015, 11:06:47 PM »

Sorry about the delay, things have somewhat hectic here lately what with the water heater bursting, another SSDI hearing for DW, work, working on a used riding mower we bought & still trying to get 5 acres under control after not being able to mow etc. for a couple months (due to the above-normal rainfall, which of course caused everything to grow even more than usual).

Oh, and spending over 3 hours Saturday night cleaning up the threads on the oil filter nipple that somehow got bunged up inside the oil filter.

I've got all the links provided saved, maybe some day things will slow down enough to read 'em.

I have had time to check the glue and rat traps a few times, so far I've only caught a couple insects and a small lizard, and none of them have moved - so I'm feeling fairly confident he's gone, at least for now.

birdman · « **Reply #72 on:** July 29, 2015, 09:01:32 AM »

Quote from: Cliffh on July 21, 2015, 12:51:00 AM

Yeah, I figure if he's got a glue trap stuck on he's gonna be "unhappy". Might even be a bit snappy.

Earlier this year I did a little searching for the .38 snake shot, couldn't find any. If you run across a supplier it'd be nice to know who they are.

Looks like sulfur is easy to get. Might have to get a pound or two & dust it around the inside. Ought to smell real good with the mothballs.

Snake shot is something I'm interested in. Turns out there are copperheads around the (hopefully, closing is 8/31) new homestead, so if im out walking the pup, slithery thinks are going to meet their maker.
Specifically looking for 45ACP, in some thing that will hold together through a can.

Or should I just use 22LR and just hit them a bunch...

MechAg94 · « **Reply #73 on:** July 29, 2015, 09:35:22 AM »

You can get 22 Mag shot shells. They have bigger shot then the 22 LR stuff and more of it.

Tallpine · « **Reply #74 on:** July 29, 2015, 12:09:44 PM »

Quote from: birdman on July 29, 2015, 09:01:32 AM

Snake shot is something I'm interested in. Turns out there are copperheads around the (hopefully, closing is 8/31) new homestead, so if im out walking the pup, slithery thinks are going to meet their maker.
Specifically looking for 45ACP, in some thing that will hold together through a can.

Or should I just use 22LR and just hit them a bunch...

The .38 and .22 LR shot shells are pretty commonly available around here. I think .45 Colt is available too but not .45 ACP. I doubt it would cycle anyway - you'd probably have to load it directly in the barrel and drop the slide

There's not much vital area on a snake so killing them with a solid bullet is pretty difficult. It's sort of like trying to kill somebody by shooting them in the leg

The sights are usually not even accurate at a typical range of maybe six feet.

I think maybe that I've killed a grand total of one rattlesnake with a pistol shot shell. Usually I see them when I'm on horseback and I don't have my gelding trained to shoot off of yet. Lots of bull snakes around but I don't hurt them

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Author Topic: Getting a snake out of a workshop? (Read 14691 times)