Who knows about Snakes?

This morning, I found this 1' long snake in my bathroom!! I can deal with anything except snakes. After screaming like a banshee, my DH came running & caught the poor thing. I just don't know how it got in the house. We live in the middle of New Orleans, although I I have a vacant lot next door that is full of tall weeds. That's probably where I'll release it once I identify it - of it's not poisonous. After looking at tons of pics on the web, DH has decided it's some kind of racer. Here are some pics. What do you guys think?

And it definitely tries to bite you. Hence, my DH's gloves.


This message was edited Jul 22, 2012 10:12 AM

I can't find a trust worthy enough source to confirm species, but I think your husband is right and that it is most likely a juvenile in the Colulbar genus. I know with absolute certainty it is not poisonous. Sounds like you and the snake both will be much happier once it's outside.lol I can do without those kind of morning surprises.

That happened to me a couple of years back. I saw my cat trying to catch something & it was a snake! The only thing I can think of is that we left the door open while unloading groceries and it snuck in.
Send a photo to Jerry Cates,at this link, and he will give you a positive id:
http://bugsinthenews.info/

They also come down chimneys. My sister and husband heard a loud crash about 3AM recently. A large framed print was knocked off the mantel to the floor by a rat snake trying to get to the barn swallows nesting in the chimney. My sis has not recovered from the scare yet! They think it got into the chimney from a large live oak branch extending over the house near the chimney. They think it fell down thru the chimney and was trying to get back up when it knocked the picture off. Husband killed it and they plugged up all the little crevices in the fireplace insert that would allow one of its friends to come into the living room.

Oh, no! I'm not sure I wanted to know that!
Keep Jerry's contact info; he has helped me numerous times. He's very good with bugs too.

Cute little bugger ~ but not in the house please.

That comment on snakes in the commode lends a new meaning to the nighttime trip to the bathroom at my house for sure. Jomoncon could probably hear my screams from here. LOL

If I show this to DW she will never go to the bathroom again ,itis good to be a male UUHH standing up ya know

Southern states get 10x more snakes than Okla, and you learn that if a mouse can get there, so can a snake. They wrap themselves around doorknobs, inside cabinets, under cabinets, and just go unreported- quickest thing I know to make you kill yourself trying to get out of their way- and did I mention washing machines? Sigh, it is a dry year, and racers are drawn to the vibrations of your feet hitting the ground and will race you down on your way to go the other direction- worse tempers than garters and little earth snakes...Ummm, steel wool in cracks can stop both rats and snakes, but this heat makes em a lot more active.

I REALLY should not have read this thread! I have a childhood memory of hearing about a snake coming into a bathtub. It terrified me for many years! And now I know snakes can get into sewer systems? AAAAAAHHHHH! It won't happen to me. It won't happen in my home. Nope. ? heh heh...

OH MY why did I read this thread....??? we just had a snake scare inside the house and it was by the other bathroom that I use, that goodness I had turned on the hall light before opening the door or I would have stepped on it. It was the first time to have a snake in the house and I killed it. It looked just like your the best I can remember. Before it and just only by several days we had a large black one inside the pool cage, then just last week we had a really large back snake at the front door.

In my many years, this is the first place that I've had to deal with them on a weekly bases which is way too much, this is almost, (mind ya I said almost) enough to make me want to move back north.

I hate snakes and I don't care how good they are for a garden, I just hate them plain and simple!

So glad your husband was able to remove it for ya.

Jan

Florida you can't trust em to be good snakes, they are interbreeding and losing things like their rattlers that tell you they are rattlers, just move slow in the dark and be aggressive about removing the things they eat might help

i was born and raised in Tensas Parish Louisiana so have seen and killed almost every kind of snake that you can think of and like Kitt said Oklahoma does not have near as many snakes as any of the southern states and anyway this year we are not seeing any dead snakes on the hiway and I have posed this question to my gardening class and they all agree something has changed with the snake population ..

Grits,
My dad was from St. Joseph, Louisiana!

Loved to go fishing with him across the levy for mud cats, sand trout, goo and garfish, drums, and sun perch!

Best fish in the whole world!

Linda

Curious Grits- how bad are mice n rats this year- maybe too hot for the snakes cept rattlers n copperheads- they'll be looking for moisture- hmmm, add cottonmouths- without rains the frog population gets scarce too, we had so much heat last year the snakes haven't been so bad- so well fed from last year they're staying in the dens? We did catch a coral snake vanishing into one of the lawn planting areas this spring, but did make an effort to remove water features away from the house, chuckl, not that I am home a lot, but daughter has a kill on site allowance for the guys at the house,

It tastes better there too, more east just isn't as awesome the taste!

gym girl I'm from Newellton 13 miles north of St.Joseph one of my Nephews has a hunting camp just north of Waterproof and I go down there every fall to the deer camp mostly just to hang with the kinfolks and to eat at least one meal at Anna's place in Waterproof it is ran by a Chinese Lady that speaks with a total tensas drawl BTW what was your maiden name ???

You have thoroughly made me terrified of my own home and garden. All snakes are killers........I will have a heart attack. Just told DH he will have to put up with the light being turned on in the middle of the night when I get up "to powder my nose". We had a 4 foot rat snake come in through the doggie door about 10 years ago. DH killed it but I dang near destroyed the house getting away from it. I'm feeling sick.....

My daddy was Willie James. His brother was Frank Bivens. Emma James' boys. I had cousins in Newellton (so I hear).

I was born and grew up in New Orleans.

My Family (Father and Mother ) left Newellton in 1953 and I just go back to visit now then ,I lived in Northern California for many years then in northern Nevada (Washoe County ) until retiring in 2001 when I moved to a tiny town In SE Oklahoma wher we have mountains and forest and 8 seasons as each season comes and goes at twice every year..LOL Now about them wicked Snakes what worries me most is I sometimes can see a Rattler rattling but can't hear them ..This is something that usually just happens with smaller snakes I can still hear them big ones JOE

Scorpions, we put bleach bottle collars around bedpost legs, inverted- left the beds away from the walls, no skirts or dragging ends to touch the ground, always shook out our shoes, they like dark places with damp- any leaks around the bedroom?

Thanks Kittriana ~ no leaks that I am aware of. I need to dust the perimeter of the house but with new little guy kittens, I hate to. Think I'll hate being stung worse.

Scorpions - dusting works on them? The widowmakers(spiders) are getting huge too, shudder- another nightmare.

Yes, the scorpion is related to the daddy long legs spiders and the same treatment will work.

Ok, I"m think yall in TX have it worse than I..... so please feel free to keep them in your neck of the woods and not send them my way.

Jan

I got up to go to the bathroom last night. I turned on the light for the first time in YEARS.

Thanks...

So did I. Went to the kitchen for a drink of water.....turned on the lights.

LOL!!!!

Better than steppin on em in the dark! Chuckl, take care guys

STOOOOOP! hahaha, not really! But I have ANOTHER childhood memory about scorpions. I was very young and remember something about a movie being shown at school. I think someone was bitten by a scorpion and went to heaven? Terrified of scorpions ever since but didn't think I ever lived in a place that had them. I live in W. Houston in a neighborhood. Think any scorpions live here?? Maybe I don't want to know... :) Janet

Well the grandson went down to meet one of the kids in the neighbor and what do you think they were in the middle of doing???? yes, the two neighbors had spotted a hugh snake going between their yards, so they were looking for it, with my grandsons help......... plus when we were driving around today, I saw a cat in a yard ready to pounce on something in the yard, of course, it was a BIG black snake, so I backed up in hopes it would come into the road as I was going to run that darn thing over.

So when the least is up I'm out of this neighborhood, I can't stand this many snakes, we have this terrible over flow water hole behind our house and I think that helps with attracting the darn snakes.....

Jan

It attracts the food sources- rats, frogs, snakes eat snakes too, they were there before, can't get away from em, They arent just where damp spots are tho- that's enuff tho, Jan- the scorpions in Mexico can kill, up here its more like a mad hornet. Try dusting with sulphur, crawling things supposedly don't like crawling across it

I just picked up a 50 pound bag of DE and going to give it a try.

Jan

DE works great on fireants. I keep a can of Easy Off in my golf cart, just in case of a venomous snake. I've never tried it but have heard from multiple friends that it works.
I was told to line my property with Lime to deter the snakes but 150 lbs. of Lime later...I saw 3 snakes that month.

Sulphur- tho lime will kill them even if they crawl over it, careful pitting it out, even the var of lime we use is pretty powerful stuff. U do know how the lime works? snakes after all are just the garbage crews staying after little critters.

Yep... Kittriana is correct. The snakes are there to shop for bugs, rodents, birds ~ just looking for edibles. I have always liked to keep cats around. They eliminate the need for a snake to come in the yard and they also alert me to a snake outdoors. I rarely see one inside the perimeter of the yard. Kristi

We aren't that lucky- our cats have been bitten often enuff some refuse to go outside- the rest get this myopic stare trying to see thru the grass before they step out, chuckl, I think they are getting older and the snakes are getting younger, chuckl, snake patrol is good for boys- teaches recognition and caution before they reach out, I was raised in the New Mexico deserts- which were not Nearly as green in the late 50's, mama gave up tryin to keep a handle on the 5 of us and gave us each a sibling to protect, and me a dog to find me in the fields when I was out walking in places with corn as hi as my head( the dog would jump up to see where it was going and they knew where I was) and she taught us from crawling age what to do in lightning storms, and what not to pick up without a stick to turn it, she did tell us not to bring our goodies home, and wildflowers looked better outside- but she could get poison ivy if the wind blew. Chuckl, guess we need better drains around the SWAMP.

I've resorted to Guineas, they are great snake (and tick) patrol. My dogs will corner the snakes but know better than to try to bite them.

sweetmommy wish we could have guineas, as they would be just the thing.

Jan