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View Full Version : 4ft Snake Climbing My Swing Chain



steve urquell
04-30-2024, 09:29 PM
I live out in the woods on 24 acres. We have snakes around. I have a basket hanging under my porch roof and I've had black snakes try to find a way to get to the birds that nest in it. Right now house finches have a brood in it.

This snake couldn't get to the birds and I didn't hurt him. He probably takes care of mice around here and maybe eats a few copperheads. He was very placid. I grabbed a stick and lifted him off the chain and set him in the yard.

Didn't even try to strike at the stick. Not the biggest black snake I've seen here but it's neat to see how well they can climb.

326148326149


https://youtube.com/shorts/TWlJaD5LPGI?feature=shared

contender1
04-30-2024, 09:38 PM
Glad to hear you didn't hurt him.

Yes,, they are good to have around & are harmless. (Unless you are something it might eat!) :D

Their climbing ability is fun to watch!

steve urquell
04-30-2024, 09:55 PM
Glad to hear you didn't hurt him.

Yes,, they are good to have around & are harmless. (Unless you are something it might eat!) :D

Their climbing ability is fun to watch!

Thanks. I have never felt the need to harm these guys. Here's my biggest one.
He hung around here for years and I carried him away from the house many times. Nearly caused a few heart attacks when leaving the house and almost stepping on him laying on my breezeway.
326152

Der Gebirgsjager
04-30-2024, 09:59 PM
I wonder how he would have gotten back down. It's hard to envision him doing a 180 on the stick and passing by himself on the way down. Maybe just let go and drop?

The last few years I've been fortunate enough to live where there are no snakes at all, it would seem. I've been here 7 years and haven't seen any, and the neighbor has been here 11 years without seeing any. Since this is volcanic country and much of the soil is powdery pumice I've been told that the pumice gets in between the snake's scales and irritates them, so they don't live here. Whatever the reason, that makes me very happy.

DG

upr45
04-30-2024, 09:59 PM
We had a snake cause an outage by climbing galvanized steel i-beam to get at a bird nest.

steve urquell
04-30-2024, 10:12 PM
I wonder how he would have gotten back down. It's hard to envision him doing a 180 on the stick and passing by himself on the way down. Maybe just let go and drop?

The last few years I've been fortunate enough to live where there are no snakes at all, it would seem. I've been here 7 years and haven't seen any, and the neighbor has been here 11 years without seeing any. Since this is volcanic country and much of the soil is powdery pumice I've been told that the pumice gets in between the snake's scales and irritates them, so they don't live here. Whatever the reason, that makes me very happy.

DG
When I went to grab a stick and came back he was doing exactly that. He had his head down and was doubled climbing back down over himself. I have heard them thumping on to the porch off the chain before but it was because they were reaching way out off the chain trying to get in a bird bottle I had on my porch wall near the ceiling.


We had a snake cause an outage by climbing galvanized steel i-beam to get at a bird nest.
I heard a thumping sound one night and had one wrapped in my AC condensor fan. I had chipmunks nesting in the condensor and the snake was after them and got caught when the fan started. Had to cut it into pieces it was wrapped so tight.

Bazoo
04-30-2024, 10:53 PM
We have them around here as well. Plus some other good varieties with patterns. Once in a while they will get the baby barn swallows that nest on our porch. It's at that time I think about blasting them, but they are just doing what they do.

jsizemore
05-01-2024, 12:22 AM
Rat snake.

https://srelherp.uga.edu/snakes/elaobs.htm

Barry54
05-01-2024, 08:33 AM
Talk about stink!
A dead snake stinks worse and sooner than other dead critters in my opinion. What a mess to have to clean up!!!

dverna
05-01-2024, 09:34 AM
You will need to "kick it up a notch" on those wasp loads.

Rickf1985
05-01-2024, 10:14 AM
We have black snakes and garter snakes around me and I fully welcome them around the perimeter of the house. When the snakes are present I have no mice whatsoever. Problem is that they will follow the food so once they clear out the mice they move on, and the mice come back. I am about due for a couple snakes to show back up.

Der Gebirgsjager
05-01-2024, 10:34 AM
Talk about stink!
A dead snake stinks worse and sooner than other dead critters in my opinion. What a mess to have to clean up!!!

I think that you're absolutely right about the stink made by dead snakes. That has also been my experience. When I lived in the Sierra Nevada foothills in N. Calif. we had a hayfield, and when it was mowed a couple of diamondbacks would always get chopped up. The very next day if you walked through the field you could smell them... almost nauseous. Whenever we ran across one in the open and killed it we would cut off and bury the head, as we'd heard it said that the meat-eating hornets, wasps, some bees will feed on the dead snake, and if they ingest the venom it doesn't seem to hurt them, but if stung by one of them you can get a dose of it. Is this fact or fiction-- I've never know for certain, but would still follow the practice out of an abundance of caution. I have observed hornet-type insects dining on them in great numbers. Also, that smell might be the reason why the rest of the snake was always gone the next day, scarfed up by some wandering predator, or more likely a buzzard. Buzzard's not only possess great eyesight, but a keen sense of smell. I ran across a buzzard's nest once out in the forest. It was a broken off hollow tree about 10 ft. above the ground. The smell was just ghastly. Of course, ;) the hornets would have a hard time beating some of the members here on the forum to the dead rattlesnake if it was lunchtime. :grin:

DG

waksupi
05-01-2024, 11:03 AM
That's a Boone and Crockett snake!

Handloader109
05-01-2024, 12:13 PM
Had one in bush about 6 ft off the ground last year trying to get to a bird's nest. left him alone. I had about a dozen telephone poles of various lengths out in our front pasture against our south fence. Power company gave them to me about 4 years ago while the replaced about half of the poles in our area. I used a few but gave these to a friend to use for a new barn. Moved them yesterday and found 3 King Snakes in/under and around them. Yeah, they moved off after a bit.

Mk42gunner
05-01-2024, 07:40 PM
It seems like a fall doesn't hurt blacksnakes. One night as I got out of the car I heard something that made me think of a five pound ham being dropped a couple of stories.

Turns out it was a fiveish foot blacksnake wrapped around a robin. The robins' nest was about twenty five feet up in a tree.

I'm sure glad it didn't drop on me.

Robert

steve urquell
05-01-2024, 08:57 PM
We have them around here as well. Plus some other good varieties with patterns. Once in a while they will get the baby barn swallows that nest on our porch. It's at that time I think about blasting them, but they are just doing what they do.
We do too. I've seen speckled kingsnakes and I even had a black racer. The name fits, fastest snake I've ever seen.

Rat snake.

https://srelherp.uga.edu/snakes/elaobs.htm
Yep. We just call them black snakes.



It seems like a fall doesn't hurt blacksnakes. One night as I got out of the car I heard something that made me think of a five pound ham being dropped a couple of stories.

Turns out it was a fiveish foot blacksnake wrapped around a robin. The robins' nest was about twenty five feet up in a tree.

I'm sure glad it didn't drop on me.

Robert
When they were after the bird bottle it was "thud, thud, thud..." over and over. They didn't mind falling from 6ft up for sure.

beemer
05-01-2024, 09:33 PM
I think that you're absolutely right about the stink made by dead snakes. That has also been my experience. When I lived in the Sierra Nevada foothills in N. Calif. we had a hayfield, and when it was mowed a couple of diamondbacks would always get chopped up. The very next day if you walked through the field you could smell them... almost nauseous. Whenever we ran across one in the open and killed it we would cut off and bury the head, as we'd heard it said that the meat-eating hornets, wasps, some bees will feed on the dead snake, and if they ingest the venom it doesn't seem to hurt them, but if stung by one of them you can get a dose of it. Is this fact or fiction-- I've never know for certain, but would still follow the practice out of an abundance of caution. I have observed hornet-type insects dining on them in great numbers. Also, that smell might be the reason why the rest of the snake was always gone the next day, scarfed up by some wandering predator, or more likely a buzzard. Buzzard's not only possess great eyesight, but a keen sense of smell. I ran across a buzzard's nest once out in the forest. It was a broken off hollow tree about 10 ft. above the ground. The smell was just ghastly. Of course, ;) the hornets would have a hard time beating some of the members here on the forum to the dead rattlesnake if it was lunchtime. :grin:

DG
I'll Tell you what else stinks about a buzzard..

Several years ago I came around a sharp curve and ran up on several buzzards dinning on a flat possum pie. The buzzards took off and I actually had one over the hood of the car. He was was really straining to gain some altitude. You can probably guess what happened, I got a couple good squirts. Talk about rotten, I almost threw up wild hosing the car off.

Brassmonkey
05-01-2024, 10:40 PM
Lucky, only snake I’ve seen around here in 4 years was a baby garter.

steve urquell
05-01-2024, 10:40 PM
I'll Tell you what else stinks about a buzzard..

Several years ago I came around a sharp curve and ran up on several buzzards dinning on a flat possum pie. The buzzards took off and I actually had one over the hood of the car. He was was really straining to gain some altitude. You can probably guess what happened, I got a couple good squirts. Talk about rotten, I almost threw up wild hosing the car off.
:lol:

I was recently driving in to work in my Miata with the top down, came around a curve to a similar sight only they had altitude and were circling overhead. I had the thought of how bad it would be to be bombed on my head from above with the top down. I don't know if Ajax would wash that off.

Thank God they held it in. Hope I never experience that in my lifetime.

Texas by God
05-07-2024, 08:04 PM
Today, I tried to stop a 5’ chicken snake from entering the yard. From the vibrating Snapper mower I tried to hit it in the head with my Wrangler .22 pistol…..
6 shots later, it tried to leave with a flesh wound on its neck…..
The zero turn cut that plan short, however!


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Hogtamer
05-08-2024, 03:47 PM
This 5’ ratter spent a cool night in my shoe on the porch!326404326404

ACC
05-08-2024, 04:09 PM
I live out in the woods on 24 acres. We have snakes around. I have a basket hanging under my porch roof and I've had black snakes try to find a way to get to the birds that nest in it. Right now house finches have a brood in it.

This snake couldn't get to the birds and I didn't hurt him. He probably takes care of mice around here and maybe eats a few copperheads. He was very placid. I grabbed a stick and lifted him off the chain and set him in the yard.

Didn't even try to strike at the stick. Not the biggest black snake I've seen here but it's neat to see how well they can climb.

326148326149


https://youtube.com/shorts/TWlJaD5LPGI?feature=shared

I live in the big city and my wife has a four foot snake in the garden. Eats mostly bugs and small rodents.

ACC

beemer
05-10-2024, 09:29 AM
We have copperheads and rattlesnakes around here. I see more blacksnakes than anything else. Haven't seen a king snake for a while till a few days ago. The cat was pitching a fit on the carport so I took a look. There was a nice size king snake in the corner by the grill. I don't like snakes but you are going to have them anyway so that is the best option, took a hoe and carried him to the edge of the woods.

My nephew has a couple barn cars, we scratch their heads feed them a little so they hang around occasionally. They keep the mice away from the shed and out building, no mice and the snakes don't hang around much.

steve urquell
05-10-2024, 11:34 AM
We have copperheads and rattlesnakes around here. I see more blacksnakes than anything else. Haven't seen a king snake for a while till a few days ago. The cat was pitching a fit on the carport so I took a look. There was a nice size king snake in the corner by the grill. I don't like snakes but you are going to have them anyway so that is the best option, took a hoe and carried him to the edge of the woods.

My nephew has a couple barn cars, we scratch their heads feed them a little so they hang around occasionally. They keep the mice away from the shed and out building, no mice and the snakes don't hang around much.

Dead on accurate. Get rid of mouse habitat, mice leave, snakes leave

farmbif
05-10-2024, 11:43 AM
for quite a few years ive had a big black snake living 14' up in remnants of chimney pipe sticking horizontal out of one of my buildings. until a few weeks Aho there was a dove nest in it, haven't seen the snake yet this year but ill bet he's on the job somewhere catching rodents and unsuspecting birds

Texas by God
05-15-2024, 05:46 PM
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20240515/85fbe167a63dfff9f9e46ba9e42ed800.jpg
I left this guy alone today. He’s got enough to deal with in the freshly muddy water….


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