Recent content by Thamnophis

The snake was most likely a rat snake of some sort - they climb and eat eggs. They also vibrate their tail in a manner that produces a sound very much like a rattlesnake, depending on what it's vibrating against. As you know, they are harmless. We are always happy to see a few around as they eat...

Hummer, I think i"ll start a new business. For $186.95 I'll look at ariel photos, your own photos of your property, a survey of 20 questions you'll need to answer, topographic maps and other data in order to devise a snake management plan for people with snake problems. What do you think? Oh...

Snake Away does not work - at all. You may have no more rattlesnakes but if so, it is just a coincidence. Please read: http://www.justbelowthesurface.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=74:do-snake-repellents-work&catid=43:farm-wildlife&Itemid=61 or if that link doesn't work, use...

Quote: Sad thing is, I used to assume those Monty Python skits depicted fictional people. Then along came Sarah Palin, and now I'm thinking they may have been documentaries.

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Wow, your so lucky to have so many great snakes where you live. The speckled king snake may just be shedding? As someone said, that is a young eastern hog nose snake. The others are indeed: rough green snake (much thinner than a smooth green snake), a black rat snake and a prairie king snake...

Quote: I think you have the right idea! You can try to tell people the truth for decades - why not just take advantage of their ignorance and make a good living selling them crap that doesn't work? There is, apparently, no end to the ignorant in the world....

Quote: The burden of proof lay in the hands of those who make the assertion! I've heard these assertions for decades. People may be interested to know that the only "active" ingredient in moth balls or the product called "Snake Away" is napthalene. The "professor" who came up with Snake Away...

can you hear me now? : He was better to see we got rid of the snake. On the other hand I gave him the buff brahma bantam and he seemed to be happy with that. Yes I did what I thought was right for the situation. I think the lesson for your son wasn't "vengence" but rather, "we need to protect...

Earwigs thrive in moist/damp environments. In the midwest we've had 3 consecutive years with above average rainfall so the earwigs, gnats, mosquitoes . millipedes, etc, etc are going crazy. There may just be too many for your birds to eat.

People keep replying about mothballs, so I'll take a minute to try to explain how idiotic this is. So you take a small wire cage of mothballs and place them around "cool, dark places", or you just sprinkle the mothballs around on the ground. Imagine a snake coming upon them. Lets just say, for...

Quote: Once again - moth balls poison the environment and do not deter snakes - at all. It is a bad idea to spread poison around against manufacturers recommended uses. Birds, including pets and your chickens, may eat them.

I'm running the risk of repeating myself but here goes anyway... Mothballs do NOTHING to deter snakes. Any effect you may see is a coincidence. Snakes freely crawl all over mothballs - they don't care. But the myth persists. Sometimes people see a lot of snakes in the spring when they are most...

Could the heat be killing them? I wonder too if heat would cause the chickens to lay less? You have Mojave rattlesnakes in your area, as well as other species. Mojaves have a relatively high neurotoxic component (attacks the nervous system) to their venom which means they might produce fewer...

Quote: Good Lord. Please listen to CMV and others here. Skunks generally do not spray when trapped and can be relocated with a blanket, towel, whatever thrown over the trap. They do not forage during the day so keep your birds in a secure coop at night. For those of you who hate snakes...