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Natural History/Field Observation Field observations of corn snakes, field collecting, or just general topics about the natural environment they are found in.

Copperhead in the barn.........How do we handle this??!!?
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Old 08-21-2010, 05:39 PM   #21
Christen
Quote:
Originally Posted by rich333 View Post
just reach down and pin it down behind the head..pick it up...look at it, admire it...let it go. a stick...heavy boot,(with light pressure), course the pushbroom,trash can idea is awesome. and i'm a bit of a daredevil at heart, i have no experience with HOTS..but that wouldnt stop me from trying to touch such a beautiful creature(this is WHY i dont have HOTS...owning A gaboon Viper would be like heaven to me. i've heard they (copperhead) are rather nasty natured. you probably did the right thing in your situation. i'd probably be in the hospital telling all the nurses about the copperhead, while recovering from a snakebite.
My husband does the same thing. It drive me up the walls.

However, you are going to get a vet tech answer on this one. I have seen the damage rattlesnakes and copperheads have done and it is not pretty. I don't think that you were wrong to kill it in that situation. Rattlers and Coppers have been known to be territorial so it is a possibility for them to come right back if that is their home. My husband is usually the one that picks them up and then he will take a 3 mile hike and let them go. But if you are like me and do not want to have anything to do with them. Call the fire department. I have never heard of a fire department not coming out for that. They prefer to pick up the snake then come back out and pick you up after being bit.

There have been times that the fire department has also brought in a snake to us when a animal got bit. So that we can identify what kind of snake it is and the age. That way we can be prepared with lots of anti venom if it was a baby snake.
 
Old 08-21-2010, 06:11 PM   #22
John3:16
that's a good idea if we find one when my hubby isn't home.
Thanks!
 
Old 08-21-2010, 06:32 PM   #23
WingedSweetheart
Lots of copperheads in my area. Supposed to be timber rattle snakes too but I've never seen one. Just see the copperheads. Even as a child, when I would find one I would not tell my parents about it because I knew it would die. We have a farm and large fields and our house is on the edge of the forest. We also have a pond. So snake heaven for me since I was little. When I was a kid I would find a bucket or trashcan and a long stick or broom and poke the snake til it turned around and went into the container. If it didn't go by itself I would push it in with the stick or broom and then take it into the woods and let it go. My parents on the other hand would take a hoe and chop it's head off.

Not long ago we had a brush pile on the edge of the woods filled with baby copperheads. I knew about it for a long time and didn't tell anyone. But my dad found it and him and his friends came and killed every last one of them. It does disgust me as one poster said. But I guess if you are afraid of snakes then the snakes are going to suffer for human fear.
 
Old 08-21-2010, 06:35 PM   #24
gob144
That was very disrespectful and uncalled for to tell this women that you are disgusted and cant respect someone who had to do this. If this women felt this is what had to be done to protect her family and way of life then she is completely in the right. You deserve a ban for saying something so ridiculous to a someone who was not educated on the subject and didn't know what to do or what resources were available. The poster did the right thing. That is a comment id expect to see on some teenage forum.
 
Old 08-21-2010, 06:45 PM   #25
gob144
my mistake people have addressed this comment and mine was not needed. i apologize.
 
Old 08-21-2010, 06:47 PM   #26
WingedSweetheart
I didn't say that I was disgusted with the poster. I meant I was disgusted that so many people kill snakes for no better reason other than they fear them. My parents kill them. Their friends kill them. Everyone I know who lives around me kill them. They don't even have to be venomous to die.
 
Old 08-21-2010, 07:41 PM   #27
gob144
no no that was ment towards an earleir poster on the first page.
 
Old 08-21-2010, 07:51 PM   #28
WingedSweetheart
Ah I see. I wish I could edit posts sometimes because I'll type things and when I read through them again I think they could be taken the wrong way and sometimes they are.

But for the poster. You may have killed one snake but like others have said there are likely more around that you don't see. I would suggest doing research for wildlife places in your state that you may be able to contact in such a situation if you don't want to deal with the snake yourself. Do as one person suggested and call the fire department or maybe even the police if you have no kind of humane society that would deal with a snake. If they won't help they may be able to suggest someone who would.

But if you live out in the middle of nowhere like me and no one wants to come out so far. Then I suppose you would have no choice but to kill the snake if you didn't feel confident enough to catch and release.
 
Old 08-21-2010, 08:06 PM   #29
dickdeuel
You did the right thing in killing it! The family comes first anytime someone is put in danger. It's not like they are rare in you area and there are probably many more.

Copperheads and timber rattlesnakes have always been around where I have lived, but I have never seen one on our property. If I do, they will be dead. The important thing is to educate everyone in the family that they exist and what to do if someone is bit.

Relocated snakes usually will die in their first winter without any known hibernation retreats to go to.
 
Old 08-21-2010, 08:47 PM   #30
John3:16
Where we live if I called the fire dept they would kill it....so would the sheriff......we don't have animal control.

Anyway..as I posted I found a person who might drive all the way out to where we live and relocate it next time.
He is a herp major.

Dick..I didn't know that they will die if you relocate them....interesting.

Its also easy to see who knows about children vs those who don't.

No way I'm leaving a hot in my BARN where my 7 year old kid could sit on it while playing with her baby goat....
The stalls are ankle deep in hay. Its not like a garage where you can see everything on the floor....

I'm not going out and hunting them down for heaven's sake!!!

I mean seriously!!!
 

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