What about in Texas?

about NJ

From what I have gathered it is not just normal colored corns that aren't allowed, it is any corn that DOES NOT HAVE RED EYES. Apparantly they want it to be as simple as possible for wildlife officers to know if it is a legal animal or not...I would definitely check on this.

Rat Snake?

I found this in my backyard a couple of weeks ago. My pups were barking all night at it. I had to take the snake down in case it would go for my pups. I think it's a rat snake but I'll let you decide. I got a couple more pix if you need to check them out.

Wow! That's a big snake! Please post the other pictures of it. I'd love to see them!

It's hard to tell from that pic...

but it looks a lot like a Pituophis of some kind. Do you have any more pics. Pics of the head would be better.

I don't know where you are located at, that would help a bunch!

"We want more info"

Thanks,
Brian Miller

z

I don't understand...

why you had to KILL it. I know you had puppies to worry about, but couldn't you have relocated it instead of killing it?

I agree 100% with CornCrazy

I was wondering if I was reading that correctly.

Of course we read it correctly. Another person who is totally uneducated about reptiles taking matters into their own hands because they fear something happening, which BTW could NOT happen. And don't go ahead and say you are educated because anyone who knows anything about snakes knows a puppy is FAR to large a prey item for that snake and would most likely scare the living crap out of the snake.

Unless your puppies are mere hours old, outside without protection and no mother, this snake couldn't have even swallowed one. Go for the pups? How about he was trying to get the hell out of your yard when you violently killed him.

Its not a former pet. It was most likely a native species. Its hardly even "large" Killing certain native species in certain states is illegal and comes with a hefty fine.

bmm

P.S. Before anyone tells me to lay off this post made me ill. Someone kill for NO reason at all makes me SICK.

???????

Well, I was on your side until I re-read your original post and realized that you killed the snake? Why?

From what I could tell, this is a bull snake Pituophis catenifer sayi (and a really nice looking one at that) and not a rat snake. A 5 foot bull snake isn't going to eat any puppies (unless they are a toy breed or something similar...and those shouldn't be alone outside anyway)!

People are always trying to kill snakes that get in their yards. Snakes only come in your yard for one reason, looking for food (rats, mice, etc. NOT PUPPIES). If you get rid of the rodents, you will get rid of the snakes.

The rats and mice pose more of a health problem to your puppies than any snake ever will!

One more question. How do you choose that a puppies life is more "valuable" than a harmless snakes life? This whole situation could have been handled much better. I hope if this situation happens to you again in the future, you will choose not to kill the "evil" snake.

Brian Miller
BC Reptiles

PS - Pick up a field guide at any local book store on the snakes of Texas. This way you can easily ID any future snakes in your back yard! The top two reasons that people get bit by venomous snakes is that they are trying to kill them, or they have been drinking and are just messing with them. If your not sure what the snake is...Just leave it alone!

Thank you...

for removing the picture of the "taken down" snake. That wasn't going to win you any friends around these parts.

Brian Miller

sorry

i am sorry i didnt realize how bad a dead snake was around here.
it was at 4:30 in the morning, it was a school night and i was asleep through the whole thing. my dad killed it cause he knew nothing about snakes.

if i was awake i would have relocated it to a better spot.
by the way if it matters it was new born toy chihuahuas

sorry again

It's not that a dead snake is so bad. Lets say you find a DOR (dead on road) snake and need some help IDing it. It is when you post like you did (and I'm not attacking you); Look at this snake we just killed in our yard, what kind is it? That is when people start calling for your blood.

Like I said earlier, snakes are not going to bother your puppies much. If you feel they are, bring them inside at night or put them in crates that snakes can't get into. It is not responsible to go around eradicating all wildlife that "MIGHT" harm us or our pets.

I for one, am willing to forgive you. You just need to educate your parents about how helpful snakes are in keeping down the rodent populations. Rodents will make your dogs sicker than any snake ever will! Some people who have been "taught" to be scared of snakes their whole lives can be hard to "bring to the other side". But it is possible, I have done it to my mother-in-law, and it only took about 3 years. She still doesn't like my boas, I guess I have some more work to do!

If you are interested in learning more about local herps, you might want to bring your family to the DFW Herp Society meetings. We have one this Saturday night at UTA. Check out www.dfwherp.org for more info, or email me [email protected].

If nothing else, you can meet up with some people in our society who live close to you, who might be able to come and get any more snakes that find their way into your yard.

Good luck with your new education mission and I hope to see you at one of our meetings. Maybe we can help you bring your parents over to the "Dark Side"

Brian Miller

WAIT A MINUTE!!!!

In the first post, Michael said (and I quote), "I found this in my backyard a couple of weeks ago. My pups were barking all night at it. I had to take the snake down in case it would go for my pups."

NOW...he says (quote again), "it was at 4:30 in the morning, it was a school night and i was asleep through the whole thing. my dad killed it cause he knew nothing about snakes."

WHICH story is right??? Either way, Michael lied in one of his stories. And I have a VERY hard time believing that newborn "toy" chihuahuas were outside in the first place. I have worked for a vet for several years, and NO ONE I know has ever put newborn puppies outside in the elements...especially toy breeds! Anyway, you would run more of a risk of a hawk or some other predatory bird getting the pups.

And one more thing that doesn't make sense with your story...NEWBORN puppies DON'T bark!!!

Yeah well the whole story is not only questionable, but another case of snake killers using their UNeducation to deal with a problem in the wrong way.

On a good note, your father will be happy to know the more snakes he murders the more chances he will have of a mice infestation of your property. No snakes, TONS of mice. Happens lots. But IMHO it will be this poor snakes sweet revenge.

bmm

Final Story

I think you all have to realize that this was a long time agur pups were not as NEWBORN as some of you all think. We meant NEWBORN as in not full grown. The pups just barely learned to walk and bark. The snake was hissing at our dogs and might have easily killed the pups if it wanted to. The pups are tiny. Half toy chihuahua and half mini pinchers. As you probably know they are quite small dogs, let alone pups! As for the mix up in time and different "Quotes", that can be explain in the fact that me and my brother have both are sending each side of our story under the same log name and it may seem misleading. Sorry for the mix up. The fact is that we felt our pups were threatened, the snake was hissing very loud and were not about to take the chance of risking the snake harming our pups. We are not as compassionate about snakes as most of you are. Just recently we have started getting into snakes as we are now. Back then, we didn't know a thing about snakes except that they do not have legs or arms. The purpose of this photo and message was to identify the type of snake. We did not mean to cause an uproar in angry messages. Sorry about the mix up, the misleading story, the pictures, and any hard feelings we've caused.

As you are just getting into snakes I can understand your mistake BUT you need to understand that if that snake COULD eat a puppy then a puppy would have been gone BEFORE you found it hissing. Snakes dont sit there and hiss at food all night long, they find it and attempt a kill within seconds.

But all this has nothing to do with the fact that the snake is now dead because of irrational and unfounded fear.

Its nice you apologized but you really should learn more about snakes and what they can and will eat. It's not puppies.

bmm

Just one more thing...two weeks isn't a long time ago.

It is nice that you apologized, but this whole thing still upsets me greatly!

I'm through...

no one said it was two weeks ago




i am through

Re: Rat Snake?

michael lira said:

I found this in my backyard a couple of weeks ago. My pups were barking all night at it. I had to take the snake down in case it would go for my pups. I think it's a rat snake but I'll let you decide. I got a couple more pix if you need to check them out.

Click to expand...

Well I thought I was through with this post...BUT...

What does "I found this in my backyard a couple of weeks ago" mean, then?

I don't wish to argue...this whole thing sickens me, and I hope you are educating yourself on native wildlife so that this doesn't happen again.

do you worry about what i am doing. just worry about youself.

and no "a few weeks ago doesnt mean 2 weeks ago