I just had to save my family from a snake

[totoro]

A California Kingsnake.
He was beautiful. About 3.5 feet long. He was cruising along our wall in the back yard, not a good place for the snake or the rest of the family.
K started yelling "SNAKE" "MOM SNAKE"
I went out and checked it out, no not a rattle snake.
It was so cool! Huge.

I brought it out front to were the things that it could snack on are much more abundant. And Annie the hunter is not in the front much.
N and husband do not much care for snakes.

K got to touch him and I got to hold him for a bit. I love snakes.

My good deed for the day.

 

[Shari]

Truly a warrior mom...

 

[mstang67chic]

Good for you. Um...I suppose.

Me?

:wildone: :wildone:

 

[Hound dog]

I don't have a horrid fear of snakes, but I'm not gonna say I like them either.

At least you didn't need to kill it.

 

[mrscatinthehat]

Well the next time I need a snake removed I know who to call. My easy child would get along great with you she loves snakes too. Shudder!!!

 

[DDD]

If you get a permit you can hold Big Mother Snakes in the Everglades this month. Finally the Governor and the government decided to get rid of the "exotics" that are ruining our natural environmental balance. Yikes! DDD

 

[DammitJanet]

Totoro....you would so get along with Tony and Jamie. And evidently my granddaughter Hailie..lol. Tony and Jamie like snakes and Jamie is teaching Hailie to like snakes which I dont think is such a good idea because now she goes chasing them.

Tony is actually thinking of changing careers to being a critter remover which is actually a person who goes into peoples homes and removes wildlife from inside houses...and it can be inside walls which means the guys have to cut into walls then repair them so they need trustworthy men with construction experience. Right up his alley.

 

[Star*]

Toto,

You are.......

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<:{>--------< sssssssssso my HERO!!

 

[gcvmom]

Yesssss.... he'ssss a pressssent from me! I gave him directionsssss to your placcccccce when I landed in Phoenix

 

[TerryJ2]

So, how do you catch them? We've got king snakes and black rat snakes, one of which lives behind our garage and is 6 ft long. I've heard that their bites really hurt. Did you use a stick or just grab it? Maybe I should take lessons ...

Anyway, bravo.

 

[Marguerite]

Well done! I just Googled it, it's a beautiful snake.

If you can encourage it to stick around then it could keep the numbers of nastier snakes down to a minimum.

In Australia (especially on the farms) we encourage Diamond Pythons (or other pythons) to stay because they are so valuable at keeping rats & mice down.

I notice that this is a colubrid snake, so it does have fangs (at the rear) so a bite wouldn't be pleasant. However, a snake that is accustomed to kiling by constriction is less likely to bite you if you handle it gently and it doesn't feel threatened.

Something to watch out for - if you have small pets. Our village resident (large) Diamond Python tried to eat a neighbour's terrier. Fortunately for the dog, the family children rescued it. We had it attack one of our hens, twice. Unfortunately for the hen, the second attempt the snake took her head-first and she suffocated. However, it was just doing what snakes do, we couldn't fault the snake. It generally leaves our hens alone when they're where they should be.

Marg

 

[AnnieO]

EWWWWW. Shudder. Better you than me. I don't do snakes.

Ex-H had one that he didn't take care of. I ended up having to feed it once. The next week I had a snake rescue place come and get it. I don't think ex-H ever forgave me.

 

[Abbey]

Put me in the category of NO. I was traumatized by an older brother with snakes when I was a kid. I'd have beat the thing to death, venoumous or not.

I shiver at the thought.

Abbey

 

[totoro]

Thank GCV fore the present!

Well- "Cali" as K is calling her, hopefully is hanging out in our front yard. It is very scrubby and has tons of critters that are right up her alley.

I do hope she stays because we do have a real issue with Rattlers here. Kingsnakes are one of the few snakes that can take their venom and eat them.
They also like the pack rats and little pests.

Terry- I walked up to her giving her enough striking distance and watched to see how aggressive she was. But because she is very long, I decided to use a small broom to hold her down right behind her head and then I picked her up.

She never actually opened her mouth. She did strike and shake her tail. But once I picked her up she was very calm curled around my arm and just lay there.

When husband came home he was very happy he hadn't been here!

Even though it has been around 105+ lately the critters around here are so cool!

Oh, and the tarantulas are out and about.... they still make me jump a bit when I almost step on one coming out of it's burrow.:wildone:

 

[Mattsmom277]

Okay, I was creeped by talk of snakes and rattles. Then TARANTULAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OMG!! I'm having heart palpatations. Seriously. You nearly walked on a tarantula? I am beyond freaked out. I think they are kinda cool BEHIND GLASS but I could never ever ever LIVE (or even VISIT) somewhere that they roam free and wild. OMG. I'm going to leave this thread for the good of my heart rate. YIKES!

 

[Suz]

Suz

 

[Wiped Out]

I am so glad it wasn't me-I very likely could have had a heart attack!

 

[busywend]

Um, no thanks. I like to look at them at the zoo - that is about as close as I want to be.

You are BRAVE!!

 

[Star*]

Sooooooooooooo are we supposa ta call you..........

St. Patrick of Arizona?

 

[mstang67chic]

I'm sorry Totoro but if I'm ever near you......I'm NOT stopping by. I'll meet you somewhere developed and covered in cement and asphalt but I'm NOT going to your house.

That's definately one of those Ron White, things that make you go "bbllllllluuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" moments.