Snakes

[bandit1250]

There seems to be a higher than usual amount of rattlers in my area right now. Locally there has been rattlers in yards and run over on the local roads. Bad enough that we are infested here with ticks now we have rattlers in town and in people's yards. I know they are protected by law but there is no shortage of them in my area and I don't have to like them. Time to be careful where you step in my area because I know for a fact they don't always rattle.

[PT7]

"It had to be snakes." -- Indiana Jones

[JEBar]

I know they are protected by law but there is no shortage of them in my area and I don't have to like them.

protected by law .. .. some things I just don't understand

[Cowboy Gun Fan]

I would be curious to know what state or at least what part of the country you are referring to.

Here in Virginia, we shoot poisonous snakes on our personal property.

We can even shoot the non-poisonous ones, but personally I usually just leave them alone.

[Deadwood Dutch]

All snakes in Pennsylvania are protected by the Pa. Fish and Boat Commission. Most of the snakes that I see are black snakes but I don't go poking around in the mountains in the summertime. What bandit said is true, they are here.

http://fishandboat.com/factsnake.pdf

[tx gunrunner]

Snakes keep the rodents in check which are carrier of deadly flea diseases which kill 10,000 times more people per year then snakes do ..Tn all snakes are protected too and I agree with the law .

[Deadwood Dutch]

This is one of the main reasons that they are protected here in Pa.

[RetiredSeabee]

I agree with leaving snakes alone as they do far more good than harm. That said, if I had a large number of rattlers decide to make my property their home I would do what I could to eliminate their preferred habitat.

I have neighbors who used to call me over to identify the battered remains of some poor serpent that they had pulverized. out of five they only had one that was venomous a poor little copperhead. The others are harmless tree snakes. I finally convinced them to leave the poor things alone.

[PT7]

Here is our regulation in MO on snakes, published through the MO Dept of Conservation. This reg makes good sense to me.

Missouri's Wildlife Code Protects Snakes
Few Missourians realize that all snakes native to our state are protected. The Wildlife Code of Missouri treats snakes, lizards, and most turtles as nongame. This means that there is no open season on these animals, and it is technically unlawful to kill them. There is a realistic exception, however: when a venomous snake is in close association with people, which could result in someone being bitten. We hope that more people realize that snakes are interesting, valuable, and, for the most part, harmless.

A brief and true snake story. Quite a few years ago when living in KS, my wife was bit by a snake in our backyard. She was hanging laundry to dry, and I was cleaning the car windows so we could head into town for some shopping. She's not at all prone to hollering, but let out a good yelp that Saturday morning. I ran over from the driveway, and there was Mr. Snake, coiled up with his "rattler" going like crazy. I didn't know what kind of snake it was, but ran to the garage, grabbed my ball bat, and "harvested" that snake to take to the vet. I went after it because I didn't know if it was poisonous or not. Fortunately, our vet knew what type of snake bit on my wife's ankle. There were four fang marks, two on each side of her ankle. Very patterned bite job -- all POIs on target! We're most thankful she did not need to be treated for a poisonous bite.

Turns out it was a Blue Racer, which mimics a rattlesnake to a certain extent. It didn't have an actual rattler, but does make a sound similar to a rattlesnake in action. Here's a brief description of how it protects itself:
"Sometimes, when threatened, the Blue Racer will move into bushes or small trees. When annoyed by a person it becomes very aggressive and strikes out at its tormentor. And its bite can be rather painful. A threatened Blue Racer often will vibrate its tail rapidly, making a buzzing sound that can be mistaken for a rattlesnake." I'd guess my wife just backed up and step on it.

That was some Saturday morning for us, and we've not forgotten it. It was a little hard for her to take the laundry outside on her next wash day....but eventually conquered that and we continued to have fresh country air fluffing our clothes!!

Finally (which definitely side tracks this thread!), we'd rather face a snake in the backyard then this fellow trying to get in the front door!
Have a great weekend, Everbody!!

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[Cowboy Gun Fan]

Snakes keep the rodents in check which are carrier of deadly flea diseases which kill 10,000 times more people per year then snakes do ..Tn all snakes are protected too and I agree with the law .

Non-Poisonous Snakes, which are mostly Black Snakes around here, which I also usually leave alone as mentioned, also help keep away poisonous snakes. Now when I say usually, I never bother them away from the house. But if one decides to try to "move in" he will be gone. The only Poisonous ones we really have some problems with once in a while, again right around here, is Copperheads.

[Whaler]

All snakes here on the Olympic Peninsula are good snakes there are no poisonous snakes here.

[RanchRoper]

Ya I'll take snakes over rodents any day.