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Copperhead in the barn.........How do we handle this??!!?

Oh, one thing I forgot to mention -- my dad grew up on a small family ranch in rural Texas in an area that has very high numbers of rattlesnakes. That's why he said there were always more of them around than the ones we saw. His way of keeping me safe was to teach me caution rather than trying to kill them all, because that is what his father did for him, and since he never had a bite as a kid, that had kept him safe. And in turn he kept me safe. I spent the more risky younger years in FL and saw rattlesnakes, cottonmouths and water moccasins regularly including cottonmouths and copperheads in our yard but never was struck at let alone bitten. Never saw a coral snake though.

Thanks for posting, xreinx!
 
I had a big long, post that basically shot out every one of you posts BUT I condensed it. I am not going to kill snakes ever. I love snakes They are my passion. I know more about snakes than most enthusiasts. I am not a reptile hobbyist. I am a reptile freak. I have memorized scuientific names, ranges, general stats, anatomy, and chemisty of snakes. Not just a little info. I am so passionate about these animals I am not about to kill one. Killing one snake makes one less predator for mmice making more mice, increasing the potential for human snake interactions.
 
snakemaster24 said:
I had a big long, post that basically shot out every one of you posts BUT I condensed it. I am not going to kill snakes ever. I love snakes They are my passion. I know more about snakes than most enthusiasts. I am not a reptile hobbyist. I am a reptile freak. I have memorized scuientific names, ranges, general stats, anatomy, and chemisty of snakes. Not just a little info. I am so passionate about these animals I am not about to kill one. Killing one snake makes one less predator for mmice making more mice, increasing the potential for human snake interactions.
Click to expand...

*chuckles* I got a bit of a grin out of this post...

I guess you're gonna be that crazy guy that all the locals will be calling when they find a snake in their barn huh?

Good for you, I do have to admire your passion :)
 
I think cows and chickens are kinda cool, too...

But I sure love that they are killed and grilled :)

Snakemaster - be sure you get some balance to your life. I love snakes, but I don't LOOOOOOOOOVE snakes. And this is a friendly suggestion - not calling you a whacko.

Even if you become a world famous Herpetologist, keep some balance.

And I have learned to "Never say never".
 
What was so funny about it? And hell yes, I already am the crazy local. And I'm freaking proud of it.
 
knox said:
I think cows and chickens are kinda cool, too...

But I sure love that they are killed and grilled :)

Snakemaster - be sure you get some balance to your life. I love snakes, but I don't LOOOOOOOOOVE snakes. And this is a friendly suggestion - not calling you a whacko.

Even if you become a world famous Herpetologist, keep some balance.

And I have learned to "Never say never".
Click to expand...

I have balance. I also help my family with our raceteam, working on the cars and such.
 
My hat's off to you! I can change my oil, that's about it.

I work with Pacemakers and Defibrillators, but anyone that can work on an engine has my respect.
 
On a completely different arguement, someone mentioned to me a natural way of controlling venomous snakes!

Introduce a King snake that's native to your area. They have evolved to be immune to most venoms and are very effective snake killers and hunters, AND they would keep rodents down.

Encourage a healthy king snake population and you won't have to worry much about the hot ones :p

I thought that was a great idea, natural way of controlling the venomous snake populations that isn't interfering with "natural selection" as Kings are natural predators of copperheads and the like.

Sorta like introducing ladybugs to control aphids!
 
snakemaster24 said:
I had a big long, post that basically shot out every one of you posts BUT I condensed it. I am not going to kill snakes ever. I love snakes They are my passion. I know more about snakes than most enthusiasts. I am not a reptile hobbyist. I am a reptile freak. I have memorized scuientific names, ranges, general stats, anatomy, and chemisty of snakes. Not just a little info. I am so passionate about these animals I am not about to kill one. Killing one snake makes one less predator for mmice making more mice, increasing the potential for human snake interactions.
Click to expand...

I need you to talk to my step dad about killing snakes
 
Apparently there are supposed to be kingsnakes here but I never see them. Maybe we should all start a breeding program for release into the wild LOL!
 
Cattsy said:
On a completely different arguement, someone mentioned to me a natural way of controlling venomous snakes!

Introduce a King snake that's native to your area. They have evolved to be immune to most venoms and are very effective snake killers and hunters, AND they would keep rodents down.

Encourage a healthy king snake population and you won't have to worry much about the hot ones :p

I thought that was a great idea, natural way of controlling the venomous snake populations that isn't interfering with "natural selection" as Kings are natural predators of copperheads and the like.

Sorta like introducing ladybugs to control aphids!
Click to expand...

I talked to an elderly man who used to live in the SE who DID that. He captured some local kings & kept them & bred them & raised their clutches until the spring after hatching & released them. He didn't get rid of 100% of hots around his home but did see many fewer after about 5 years and just kept breeding kings until he moved away. I think he said he went from seeing a hot every month to seeing one every year, so I think it worked!
 
When introducing animals to control the population of other animals, it is EXTREMELY important to NEVER introduce anything that is NOT native. Just wanted to clarify that.
 
Where I live it can take DAYS for animal control to show up and they are 8 blocks away how sad is that? Cops laugh if you call and say help there is a poisonous snake! Fire Dept seems to only be trained in firefighting and dealing with car accidents. I have 3 kids. If there is something that can mame or kill my children or me it DIES. I give no quarter just as they do not. It can live in the woods just fine but not in my house, my barn, or the yard within 25 feet of my house. I am a mother and as any mother in nature I will kill for my children.
 
Vicky, I'm in total agreement with you. The guy I talked to caught kings within 100 feet of his house & kept at it until he had a pair. Then he bred them for about 5 years. He caught another wild adult & held back some babies to breed it with. He kept going this way, using 1 WC from his yard & one of the babies of the preceding pair. His was releasing about as local a locality as you could wish for, and I am not saying someone SHOULD do this, I am saying I have talked to someone who did it successfully. Maybe the better way would be to find out what one could do to improve the environment for wild local kings so they would multiply & keep down the hots?
 
Do milks eat other snakes? Milks are abundant in my area though I have yet to catch any. I would be happy to encourage milks if they eat other snakes then they could do the killing for me. I do not believe any kings are native to my area though. If I am wrong please do tell me. I am not against natural control of pests but will not shrink to protect my family when it falls to me.
 
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