MY FIRST COPPERHEAD!!

[I*Eat*Chickens*Yum]

Quote:
Because it's their perogative.

I'd feel really bad if I tried to "save" a copperhead only to have it return and bite one of my children.

I would kill every one I saw with the hopes that it eliminated every single snake in my area.

 

[Jenski]

Umm, not to totally derail this thread, as it is an important issue (BTW, I too would kill vipers on my property, no questions) ~ but it is a bit confusing to me leafing through these threads not knowing which posters are minors. It makes it difficult to address questions/comments, as I would address a child (rooster97? am I right?) differently than an adult.

And now ~ back to our topic.

dogzrule5, brave and quick thinking! You get today's gold star, and sorry for the crummy mess awaiting you when you get home.

 

[LV426]

So let me get this clear, you removed the black snakes that controlled the mouse problem and now have to set mouse traps to catch the mice. A copperhead, which the black snakes would also have taken care of, has also moved into your barn because you now have a mouse problem from removing the black snakes.


Are you getting the logic behind this? I realize you don't want a venomous snake around and I completely support this, however removing the non-venomous snakes completely offset the balance in your barn.

I think you need to go get the black snakes, apologize and tell them you were wrong and they can come back and eat all the mice they want.


And no, the snake is not stealing the peanut butter from your traps.

 

[dogzrule5]

I had so many black snakes b/c I had a gazillion mice. I want the snakes and mice out of the barn. I can handle one snake, which is still around, but there are way too many mice still. They are everywhere in the barn and field. I expect a few in the barn but not this many.

My daughter said she has seen a small copperhead around her twice this summer but I've never seen it. I don't know if this is the same one or not.

I still have plenty of very large black snakes around - I posted a picture of one last Friday that had gotten tangled in deer net - 6 feet long he was.

I am not exagerating when I say there were six large black snakes in my small barn. That's more than I care to have to deal with - not to mention they were taking the eggs as fast as the hens could lay.

Anyway - the copperhead has been disposed of. I will now resort to the sugar and plaster of paris to kill the mice that are in there since nothing else has worked.

 

[silkieluvr]

Good for you! I would have been running so fast to get someone else to take care of it for me lol!

 

[WriterofWords]

I'm a fan of "re-homing" snakes I don't want around, but if it comes down to them or me or my child or my animals, we win. We've had a lot of rain recently and it's flushed the rattlers out of their burrows and into areas they just can't be. I found my 4 larger roos and 2 hens circled around a 3 1/2 foot rattler in the front yard last week, with Cogburn getting fluffed up and ready to attack. I shot it, not the roo, the snake,,,, I couldn't risk my birds attacking it and getting killed protecting their ladies. You did what you needed to do under the circumstances, good job.

 

[redhen]

i also have copperheads..and i thought they came up to eat the ribbon snakes i have..(thats what i was told)..so..do they eat other snakes or not?..also...kill them!!!..one killed my cocker spaniel dog a few years ago....so..kill them!...actually...i DIDNT know we had them..even..after my dog died..than like a month later..i see a snake(not my usual ribbon ones..which i love!)..it was in my dog pen...i didnt know what it was...i knew it wasnt a rattler..which i THOUGHT was the only viper we had in mass...so..anyways..i didnt know what it was..but wasnt tooo worried about it..i took a rake and tried to scoop it up (gently)..and the thing coiled and tried to strike at me...so i got it on the rake..threw it out of the pen..TO LET THE DUMMY FREE!!..and it coiled again..instead of taking off!....my hubby walked by it..and it tried to strike again..so i got it again...and just tossed it over my hill,in the woods..NOW i know it was a copperhead!..and thats what killed my dog!..i would of killed it..if i had known...Wendy

 

[panner123]

Quote:
Because they have pets and children around. I will never kill a snake in the forest, but will kill every poisonous snake on my property. Not the normal mouse getters though. I let the chickens do that.

 

[Charlene1234]

I would love to see a picture of this black snake!! We had HUGE mouse problems in our pigeon coop a couple years ago when we lived in S. California and I set out those "humane" traps to catch up to 20 mice. Well, I forgot about it in the coop and one day my husband was cleaning out the coop and found the trap. No mice inside, but inside was a nice little King Snake! I think he crawled inside and ate all the mice. He was alive and well, so we let him out to go eat more mice. I LOVE King Snakes... but that was in Southern California where Rattlers are common and having King Snakes around are a good precaution against Rattlers. Here in Western Oregon I've only seen little Garter Snakes. I don't think they eat anything as big as a mouse - although our barn cats do!

 

[dogzrule5]

If you look under this topic, I posted pictures under the subject of "One Less Snake". The black snake had gotten tangled in deer netting and was cut near its' throat area. It was 6' long and I layed in beside a 6' garden stake b/c people always think you eggagerate when you tell them that.

When I was making improvements in my barn in June, I cleared out 6 black snakes. Four of them were about this big; two were a little smaller but not by much.

I continue to have a mouse problem, which is what attracts the snakes. My house and barn are in a field which is surrounded by woods - perfect for all kinds of critters.

Tomorrow I will buy the plaster of paris and give that a try. I hate to but don't know what else to do...and still don't know what is tripping my slap traps???