Pure EVIL...

[Dennis1209]

This evening I was barbecuing by myself in the gravel driveway. I was constantly going in and outdoors for this and that. One of the times I went out to check on it, I was about 6 feets from the grill checking to see if it needed turned over. Out of the corner of my eye I see something. It is slithering by me about two feet away. It is stopping every six inches or so and looking at me, as to say, "Howdy neighbor"?

It was a snake about three feet long. I immediately identified it as a non-poisonous snake, as it's head was not a big triangle and it's eyes were round and not slitted. I have never seen a pattern on the back of a snake like this, it was beautiful. Not being a snake expert, my best guess it is a Rat Snake or Chicken snake?

Being new to the country, my wife wants me to kill every single snake around here. She is very afraid of them. Well, I can understand her fear of snakes, as many people fear them and consider them vermin. I have talked to her many times about the benefit of snakes, and they are not of the "Adam & Eve" variety.

Snakes play a very important role in our ecology eating mice, rats and lizards. If it were not for the snakes, we might be over run with vermin and disease.

If you remember your history, the "Black Plague" was caused by mice and rats harboring fleas with disease that bit humans and caused tens of millions of deaths.

I've even ran across a few Water Moccasin's (Cotton Mouths) and Copper Heads the last few years on my property. They seen me and beat feet and were no danger. So... I left them be. However, had they been aggressive and not fled, I'd consider dispatching them as a threat to myself and family.

I guess my point to this post is; next time you run across a snake on your property, please reconsider dispatching it. Mice and rats can and will generate disease, will cause you home and vehicle destruction as they will gnaw through anything including electrical wiring, I know about that first hand.

Snakes serve a purpose in our environment as God intended. Please don't ever consider the phrase, "a good snake is a dead snake".

Just my .02 cents guys and your mileage will vary.

[Chazmr]

You make some real good points. Unfortunately snakes are the one thing that absolutely terrifies my wife. So if I see them out in the woods, I leave them alone to do their thing, but if they're up around the house or yard, they have to disappear.

[Oh Shoot]

....I have talked to her many times about the benefit of snakes, and they are not of the "Adam & Eve" variety....

Good post. I also have quite the small crusade about not killing snakes myself.

If one does indeed start talking to me, though, I dunno. Guess I'll have to at least reconsider the agnostic thang.

- OS

Edited August 12, 2012 by OhShoot

[Ebow1]

Could you describe the pattern in more detail? The only chicken and rat snakes I've ever come across are just the solid black.

[Dolomite`s Breezy]

There was a recent thread about someone offing all the snakes around their property..

I go out of my way to NOT kill them since even the poisonous snakes are rather beneficial here. Where we live the poisonous snakes are so far and in between tho..Dont see to many..I think we have seen 2 in the 10 years we have been up here.

There are some really pretty ratsnakes here..

Edited August 12, 2012 by Sour Kraut

[Oh Shoot]

Could you describe the pattern in more detail? The only chicken and rat snakes I've ever come across are just the solid black.

http://www.tn.gov/tw...nakesposter.pdf

Zoom it up so you can see if it's one of them, although these are" East TN" snakes, only one like this TWRA seems to have on site.

- OS

Edited August 12, 2012 by OhShoot

[Ebow1]

Thanks, but I was really just curious about the one he saw cause he said it was perty. Also, for those of you with wives terrified of snakes, I would reccomend informing them about kingsnakes. They're territorial, non-venomous, and they kill other snakes. Throw one in your backyard, it will take care of bothe venomous snakes and small furry vermin, and it'll stay in the area. If yall can convince the various wives that these guys aint the bad guys it is an excellent solution to give them a little piece of mind.

[Oh Shoot]

Thanks, but I was really just curious about the one he saw cause he said it was perty....

Yah, I meant for him to look, though I quoted you.

Edited August 12, 2012 by OhShoot

[Ebow1]

It was still helpful. I didn't realize TN had black racers.

[Oh Shoot]

It was still helpful. I didn't realize TN had black racers.

Yeah, just not the blue ones. That chase you.

- OS

[Guest Springfield1911guy]

Snakes rock! They are the most misunderstood, vilified creatures that ever lived on this planet.

[jtmaze]

Many years ago I worked for a summer camp for diabetic kids and the camp director was Robert Allen of Allen Reptile company out of Memphis. The most important thing he taught me was non poisonous snakes are territorial and poisonous snakes are not. Every body of water can support a certain number of snakes and if you have plenty of non poisonous snakes around the poisonous ones will move on.

JTM

Sent from my iPhone

[Dennis1209]

Could you describe the pattern in more detail? The only chicken and rat snakes I've ever come across are just the solid black.

It was a very shiny deep black, as if it just shed its skin. It had opaque whitish markings along its sides and back that would be hard to describe the pattern. I have a pretty good wild life book to identify snakes but, you just about have to pick up the critter to positively identify it from belly markings, etc. Best I can say is, I know what it's not, so that leaves open about three species it could be.

This year I've seen some pretty neat snakes on my property that I did identify. A ring neck snake, a rough scale green snake and a racer.

[peejman]

Wish a good sized rat snake would pay my yard a visit. Or an owl. Or a red-tailed hawk. I'm sick of the rabbits & field mice. The one resident Cooper's Hawk just can't keep up.

[Guest bkelm18]

The most important thing he taught me was non poisonous snakes are territorial and poisonous snakes are not. Every body of water can support a certain number of snakes and if you have plenty of non poisonous snakes around the poisonous ones will move on.

JTM

Sent from my iPhone

None of that is really true. Snakes are not territorial. Any snake will strike if it feels threatened.

Venomous and non-venomous snakes are not mutually exclusive. One wont drive the other out. Venomous snakes are rarer to find in this area, so you are naturally going to see more non-venomous snakes. However, you can rest assured, if there is a food supply, there will be a population of snakes around, both venomous and non-venomous.

Edited August 13, 2012 by bkelm18

[TMF]

It was a very shiny deep black, as if it just shed its skin. It had opaque whitish markings along its sides and back that would be hard to describe the pattern. I have a pretty good wild life book to identify snakes but, you just about have to pick up the critter to positively identify it from belly markings, etc. Best I can say is, I know what it's not, so that leaves open about three species it could be.

This year I've seen some pretty neat snakes on my property that I did identify. A ring neck snake, a rough scale green snake and a racer.

Could be a garter snake. They can get up to that size and I've seen 'em before that are so dark green the look black. They got a long opaqish strip going down their sides and sometimes will have other markings. I used to catch the small ones when I was a kid since they usually wouldn't bite.