# You think YOU have pests



## r0ckstarr (Jan 8, 2013)

Very hard to tell from the pics, but my guess is that they're harmless rat snakes. Do you have a link to the article?


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## tnprogrammer (Apr 16, 2014)

I saw this on the news a couple of days ago. They never did say what type of snakes they were.


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## rjniles (Feb 5, 2007)

If it's in my house it is a dead snake.


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## Startingover (Apr 18, 2012)

NIGHTMARE FUEL: Two snakes, wrapped around each other, descending from the ceiling. 

STORY: http://www.fox13news.com/trending/151253114-story

Thanks to Mark Hyatt for sharing the video.


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## Gymschu (Dec 12, 2010)

Startingover, come on back to Ohio for a visit. The 17 year cicadas are on the loose. It sounds as if Tuscarawas and surrounding communities are being invaded by spaceships from Mars!!!


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## Startingover (Apr 18, 2012)

Gymschu,

Ohhh. Would love to hear them. I'm coming back in Oct or Nov. Will they still be around then? Are they noisy all day or certain times of day? Are they eating gardens?


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## r0ckstarr (Jan 8, 2013)

Startingover said:


> NIGHTMARE FUEL: Two snakes, wrapped around each other, descending from the ceiling.


As strange as it may sound, I would think "Oh cool!". For the last 3yrs, I have had a 7ft rat snake get into my attic. As hard as it is to believe that it's the same one every time, I believe it is. I had threads about it, each time. Every year, it has been during June. I am waiting and ready for it this year. I intend to catch and relocate it. How do I know that it's 7ft long? I found a snake skin that measured 7ft from it. I also sat up in the attic for hours with a flash light and seen it. I tried to catch it with my bare hands, but it was too quick in the attic.

Because of these incidents, it has given me a huge interest in snakes. I've learned to identify the snakes local to my area, and now go looking for them behind my fence.

This year alone, I have seen more snakes in my back yard than I have anywhere in the last 20 years. I don't know if it's because I am interested in them and now have the eye to notice them, or because we didn't have a freeze this winter and they are more prominent. I think it's a bit of both. 

So far, every snake I have seen in my back yard has been non-venomous. I have crappy cell phone pics of the Texas Brown Snakes, Ribbon Snakes, and Blotched Water Snake that I caught, but here's some that I found while carrying my DSLR. 

For all of you who fear and hate snakes, enjoy:




























Can anyone else identify these snakes?



rjniles said:


> If it's in my house it is a dead snake.


If it's non-venomous, I would relocate it. I would much rather have a snake in my yard than a rodent.


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## Startingover (Apr 18, 2012)

Rockstar,
I read if the head is triangle shape they're venomous. Also something about the pupil shape of the eye. I have a bush outside my bedroom window and looked out recently and a snake was up in the bush, eye level looking back at me. Then I found a shed skin up in the bush. I also found a skin at the top of a 4' privet hedge last month. Birds like them for nest since they're soft so I used to draoe them on a branch for birds.

I just read the skins can contain salmonella so I won't be touching them again.


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## r0ckstarr (Jan 8, 2013)

Startingover said:


> Rockstar,
> I read if the head is triangle shape they're venomous. Also something about the pupil shape of the eye. I have a bush outside my bedroom window and looked out recently and a snake was up in the bush, eye level looking back at me. Then I found a shed skin up in the bush. I also found a skin at the top of a 4' privet hedge last month. Birds like them for nest since they're soft so I used to draoe them on a branch for birds.
> 
> I just read the skins can contain salmonella so I won't be touching them again.


The general idea behind pupil shapes is that circular means non-venomous and cats-eye shape means venomous. I don't like to follow the idea of the pupil shape because the Coral snake which is venomous has a circular pupil. The cat-eye shaped pupils are because the snake hunts at night, and circular means that it hunts during the day where there is more light. This is not the rule to follow.

Nature always has an exception, which can kill you. I would much rather be able to identify them on the spot, which is what I have been working to learn. Another example, the Blotched Water Snake can flatten its head to look triangular, to make you think it is a venomous snake, but in reality is just a harmless watersnake who wants nothing more than to run away from you. A lot of people mistake this guy for Water Moccasins because of this and kill them thinking they are venomous when they are not. Another exception is the Vine Snake. Circular Pupils and extremely venomous. 

I have never heard that snake skins contain salmonella, but I have also never looked into it. I still have a skin from a ratsnake, that I found in my backyard, hanging in my garage, and am now curious to look into if it could contain salmonella.

The best advice that I can give is that most snakes are non-confrontational. If you cannot directly identify it, the best thing to do is to stay away from it. If it's in your house and you cannot identify it, keep your distance and call someone who can handle it for you.


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## Gymschu (Dec 12, 2010)

Startingover said:


> Gymschu,
> 
> Ohhh. Would love to hear them. I'm coming back in Oct or Nov. Will they still be around then? Are they noisy all day or certain times of day? Are they eating gardens?


Alas, they will be gone, SO. They come out in early June, mate, drop the eggs from the trees and die off by mid-July. They do start eating the leaves from the trees at some point.........


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## Startingover (Apr 18, 2012)

Rockstarr, also read shed skins can contain snake poop.

Gymschu, thats a bit eerie. They look prehistoric. Oh my, those red eyes.


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## r0ckstarr (Jan 8, 2013)

Gymschu said:


> Alas, they will be gone, SO. They come out in early June, mate, drop the eggs from the trees and die off by mid-July. They do start eating the leaves from the trees at some point.........


I'm already hearing and seeing them here. I found this one a couple days ago.










Have any of you ever seen an Eastern-Eyed Click Beetle? They usually stay near the tops of trees.










My girlfriend came home from work, and I went outside to greet her. I felt a slight tickle on the back of my neck, and assumed that a leaf from a tree fell on my shirt since I was standing under a tree. I reached back to grab it, and when I brought my hand back around, I realized that I was holding one of them. They are not small. It was a very freaky feeling. I immediately tossed it to the ground. Grossed me out so much that I washed my hands twice.



Startingover said:


> I just read the skins can contain salmonella so I won't be touching them again.


I looked it up. You're right. 



> In one study some researchers tested an old snake skin shed that had been hanging on a wall for years and it had viable salmonella bacteria on it!!!!


http://www.triciaswaterdragon.com/salmonella.htm

I know what I am throwing away when I get home. :surprise:


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## dd57chevy (Jun 21, 2015)

OK , this may qualify as a dumb question , but why are they hanging _together _like that ? _Mating ??? 
_I'm in Iowa & we don't have a big snake variety , but I've never _seen_ 2 snakes together . _Let alone , _hanging coiled coiled together like the pull cord from _Hell !!!_


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## r0ckstarr (Jan 8, 2013)

dd57chevy said:


> OK , this may qualify as a dumb question , but why are they hanging _together _like that ? _Mating ???
> _I'm in Iowa & we don't have a big snake variety , but I've never _seen_ 2 snakes together . _Let alone , _hanging coiled coiled together like the pull cord from _Hell !!!_


That would be my guess, unless both were just trying to get out at the same time. If you watch the video, his attic door isn't closed all of the way. 

When I had one in my attic, I sat up there perfectly still with all of the lights off, and only a flash light in front of me. After a while, the snake cautiously made its way towards my flash light and got within a couple feet of me. So, maybe the ones in this guys attic seen the light through the crack in the door and were trying to get out together.


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## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

I would say they are mating, the ones I have seen like that were. If the head sets out wider than the neck or body of the snake and it has a real blunt tail it is poisonous, in this area of the USA. A non-poisonous snake's tail has a long thin taper. The only exception I know of is a coral snake which isn't in east Tennessee as far as I know.

The only four kind of snakes I don't want in our house are big ones, little ones, live ones and dead ones. LOL


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## KarenStein (May 30, 2016)

A snake can tell you a lot!

First question is: WHY do you have snakes? If they just 'wintered over' and are on their way out, wonderful. If they were drawn to your house by a mouse problem .... not so good!

What sort of snake? All snakes will eat mice, etc. A 'harmless' King snake is pure terror to any poisonous snakes in your area, and probably nice to have for that reason. Someone's lost / abandoned anaconda might explain where Fluffy went ....

Smaller snakes are easily dispatched by cats, ferrets, and (even) pigs. Possums love to eat snakes, and are generally immune to their venom.

In the USA, we have only four types of poisonous snakes: Rattlesnakes, Copperheads, Water Moccasins, and Coral snakes. The first three are readily identified by their triangular heads and big fangs. Each has it's own preferred habitat; around here the very aggressive copperhead loves to hide among stored goods.

The coral snake is quite different. Small and sleek, it's brightly colored bands make it easy to confuse with a harmless jack snake. Remember this rhyme: "Red next to Yellow bite a fellow; red next to black a friend of Jack."

Useless snake trivia:
-Jewish religious law, which proscribes any sort of work on the Sabbath, specifically encourages the killing of poisonous snakes even then.
-A cat is nearly as fast as a mongoose, and eagerly kills and eats snakes. YouTube has some awesome videos.
-Some of those 'ultra-sonic pest repelling' gizmos will actually lure snakes into your house.


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## cuba_pete (Aug 27, 2014)

Rat snakes living/sleeping in the attic space over my kitchen in Virginia meant that there were no roof rats there.

I left the snake...:wink2:

She was quite beautiful, about 3-4 feet long when sunning herself. I didn't mind rat or hognose snakes, but the moccasins and copperheads found new digs.


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## r0ckstarr (Jan 8, 2013)

cuba_pete said:


> Rat snakes living/sleeping in the attic space over my kitchen in Virginia meant that there were no roof rats there.
> 
> I left the snake...:wink2:
> 
> She was quite beautiful, about 3-4 feet long when sunning herself. I didn't mind rat or hognose snakes, but the moccasins and copperheads found new digs.


If I can, I would prefer to catch and relocate the attic snakes. I would hate for one to get stuck and die in a place that I cannot get too. The smell would be awful by the time I found it.

Here's a good video over the hognose snakes and their dramatic displays.


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## noquacks (Jun 5, 2010)

Startingover said:


> Rockstar,
> I read if the head is triangle shape they're venomous. Also something about the pupil shape of the eye. I have a bush outside my bedroom window and looked out recently and a snake was up in the bush, eye level looking back at me. Then I found a shed skin up in the bush. I also found a skin at the top of a 4' privet hedge last month. Birds like them for nest since they're soft so I used to draoe them on a branch for birds.
> 
> I just read the skins can contain salmonella so I won't be touching them again.


Right- if triangular head with seems like large "ears", its poisonous. BUT, if it doesnt ,doesnt mean it is NOT poisonous. 

Also, yes, salmonella very common on the skin of most all reptiles (turtles, lizards, etc).


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## KarenStein (May 30, 2016)

I've received a LOT of positive feedback over my reply here. I am both surprised, and want to thank you, tell you how much I appreciate it :smile:

I've used any number of forums over the years, even moderated at some, and this audience is easily the nicest I've seen.


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## r0ckstarr (Jan 8, 2013)

Behind my fence is a big field. Between the field and my fence is a small easement that I mow to separate the field from my back yard. I'm learning that when I mow this easement, the snakes like to come out of the field and into the area I mowed. I mowed all of my grass yesterday afternoon. 

In the evening, I was coming home and seen a snake in the street. I'm pretty sure it came from behind my house where the field is. I could tell right away that it was a Texas Rat Snake, about 4ft long. Knowing that it would either get hit by a car, or someone would kill it thinking it was venomous, I went out to save it. 

DO NOT ATTEMPT WHAT YOU ARE ABOUT TO READ.

Once again, before getting close, I confirmed that it was a non-venomous Texas Rat Snake. If I can't tell what kind of snake it is, I don't get close to it.

I reached down and touched it's tail. It immediately went into strike position and opened its mouth pretending to be a Cottomouth. It was a very nice show, and I can see why people mistake them. 

When it calmed down, I touched it's tail again. This time it did a fake strike in my direction. Not directly at me, but in my direction. It very easily could have tagged my hand, but it went off to the side. I am fine with it. I am ready for my first non-venomous snake bite. I have a small med kit in my house and want to get over the fear. 

After a few more dramatic displays, I let it calm down some more, just squatting down next to it, and touched its tail again. This time, it tried to run away. I figured at this point, it no longer saw me as a threat and just wanted to leave so I would stop stressing it out. I also learned that no matter how great of a climber a rat snake is, it couldn't get up my driveway. It just slithered in place not making any progress up the slope. :laughing: I stood directly in front of it and tapped my foot near it, trying to get it to change direction. It was determined to get up a surface that it couldn't.

After a few seconds of this, I grabbed it's tail again and moved it to the grass. It didn't try to fight back or run. I stood next to it some more, and then grabbed the tail again. It didn't show any aggression or defense, so I picked it up by the mid-section and took it back to the field where it came from and let it go. By the time we got around the back of my house and to the field, it was as calm as could be. I almost wanted to keep it. :vs_love:


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## spaceman spif (Jul 28, 2009)

My son is on his way to becoming an Eagle Scout (brag!) and during one of their meetings they were discussing snakes. The scout master asked "How can you tell if a snake is venomous?" My son replied "You die when it bites you."


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## osium (Jun 22, 2016)

r0ckstarr said:


> Very hard to tell from the pics, but my guess is that they're harmless rat snakes. Do you have a link to the article?


People freak out when they have rats, let alone rat SNAKES. I would not want that hanging from my ceiling :surprise:


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## r0ckstarr (Jan 8, 2013)

osium said:


> People freak out when they have rats, let alone rat SNAKES. I would not want that hanging from my ceiling :surprise:


I wouldn't either, but I would much rather find a snake in my house than a rat. The snake will eat the rat and leave. The rat wants to stay forever and invite all of his friends.


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