Snake visitor

[Marsha Cassada]

We noticed a rat snake in the flower bed a couple of days ago. Now we are rather having fun seeing what he is up to (except for the raid on the swallow nest). We weren't sure what kind of snake he was at first. Their colorings can be quite different, so books or internet photos aren't always a good guide.
We heard the swallows scolding but when we went to check, it was too late. How he got to the top of the porch and managed to hang there is amazing. Then last night he was layered in the kitchen window, watching us through the glass. This morning, he was checking out the porch vignette, then slithered into the rug on the bench. Probably he will cozy up there for the day.

 

[Bluebell2]

He is a busy little fella. Hanging from the porch probably would have scared the heck out of me.

 

[Cayuse]

Oh, I can't wait to torment my hubby these pictures . Snakes make him nervous. They make me nervous, too!
Love the picture of him in the window. I wonder if he was getting some warmth there? How long would you guess him to be, six feet maybe?
We don't have snakes that big around here. The longest I think I ever came across was maybe four feet. We have smallish ones in our pasture, usually garden snakes about 18 inches. Every once in awhile when we are out working my husband will let out a scream and leap across the field at a run. I never have to ask the reason why.
Thank you for sharing the pictures of your new pet !

 

[Ryan Johnson]

oooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhh

I am not a fan of them at all. Probably because I grew up knowing we have the deadliest snakes in the world here. I have not seen any in the last few years. When we brought our property 10 years ago, we had to remove so many pine trees that had died. The day we pulled them down we counted 8 Tiger snakes. Is this one poisonous Marsha ?

 

[Marsha Cassada]

No, rat snakes are not poisonous. He's pretty long; maybe 5 feet. We have rattlesnakes and copperheads on our property, which are the only local poisonous snakes. We are respectful but don't get too freaked out about them. This one can come and go as he pleases, unless he finds his way to the chicken house. Then he will have to go. We have seen quite a few unusual snakes since we've lived here. Zero tolerance for the poisonous ones, but we don't bother the others.

 

[Ryan Johnson]

Some snakes have the most amazing colors. They move so effortlessly. As long as they leave my animals alone, they can do their own thing.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Mr Snake is still here. I'm starting to worry about all our lizards and toads. Maybe we will need to rehome him.

 

[minihorse]

You are much more welcoming that I would be. I can put up with snakes at a distance and not too close, but when on my usual areas, then we have issues and the snake may get moved but probably dead.

He is interesting in your photos, and good he chose your home to be around.

 

[lilly the pony girl]

You are much kinder than I would be. When I find snakes I put them as far away as possible. They freak me out!

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Went to gather eggs and no eggs and and the golf ball was gone too. either the rat snake has found the chicken house or we have another snake. the golf ball is supposed to kill a snake if swallowed. we'll see...

 

[lilly the pony girl]

the golf ball is supposed to kill a snake if swallowed. we'll see...

Wow I did not know that. We have a problem with snakes eating our eggs. I might try this.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

I saw a snake trap on one of the chicken forums. Might be useful if one wants to relocate the snake. I know they are good to eat rodents, but I prefer to keep the songbirds and lizards and toads instead of snakes. We have a pair of beautiful mountain boomer lizards; I would hate for a snake to get them. If one wants to live under the leanto where we store hay and implements, that would be okay, but they don't generally stay where one wants them to be. We have not seen the rat snake since the golf ball disappeared.

 

[Raistar]

Wow, this is just an incredible story. Why didn't the snake just leave you? Did the snake like you and therefore it did not leave or did you have something that this snake was looking for for a long time?

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Wow, this is just an incredible story. Why didn't the snake just leave you? Did the snake like you and therefore it did not leave or did you have something that this snake was looking for for a long time?

No, the snake did not like us. It was after the swallow nests on the porch, hoping baby birds would fall. Then it moved off to the chicken house to hunt for eggs. I'm not sure what the territory of this snake is, how far they might travel. It stayed on the porch as long as it was looking for baby birds, then moved on.

 

[YKate]

Last year the day after my husband cut hay, I was getting our horse out of his stall when a 5 foot black snake fell out of the rafters into the stall. I had the horse half way out. Guess who panicked? Yep, it was me. It didn't seem to bother the horse at all. After we got him out, we started to check out the rafters to find 5 others hidden up there. We realized they felt driven inside with the mowing of the hay. This year - none! I was very glad.

 

[MerMaeve]

For me, snakes =

 

[YKate]

Amen to that!!!!

 

[bidlo]

OMG! How can you tolerate snakes in your environment? How hasn't she bit you or your family members yet? Letting snakes into your environment seems very dangerous. I had a similar situation when a snake crawled into my garden. My children were in a panic and immediately ran to me to solve this situation. Luckily, a friend of mine lives next door and has a pet, that eats snakes. Ten minutes after we released the mongoose into our garden, he calmly finished off his prey. It might be cruel, but I'm glad mongoose solved my problem.

 

[Dragon Hill]

Bidlo most snakes are completely harmless and keep the rodent population in check. I'll take a snake over a rat any day

 

[Maryann at MiniV]

I WELCOME snakes on our place, EXCEPT for VENOMOUS, of course. We have Rattle snakes in our area, but haven't seen one in all the years we've lived in Central Oregon. <knock on wood> Those I definitely would dispatch. We have garter snakes mostly, and occasionally a king or rat snake. All of them indicate our area is very healthy environmentally. When the eco-system is unbalanced, the first to go are frogs and snakes.