DH was mowing today and saw this coral snake. Forgive me, animal lovers, but we killed it. The snake was about 2 1/2 feet long. My subdivision has 50-60 houses, and about 6 neighbors have reported snake sightings. The neighborhood "exxagerator" said she saw/killed one about 100 ft long, most people sighted garden snakes, and one other neighbor and I have seen coral snakes. yikes. We had not seen any snakes the last two years (except for the itty bitty ground snakes), so I am back on high alert. Y'all do the same.
they freak me out every single time...
I forgot the pictures
another look
It's VERY okay to have killed that snake. According to my husband, rancher and former biology teacher, it is the poisonous coral snake. There's an old jingle about the color pattern: "Red on yellow kill a fellow, red on black, venom lack." Yours does have red bands and yellow bands next to one another and not red and black together. Good news he said, the snake does not have fangs and would have to get a part of you that he could chew on. Like that would make me feel better!
Patricia
Yes, they are poisonous but they do eat alot of things that BUG us. Most that I have come across at Brazos Bend State Park run/slither away from me almost too fast to take a good picture of. Remember that we are larger and somewhat more intellegent.
PS: my two cents.
Intellegence takes a back seat when I encounter a poisonous snake. A few weeks ago, my DH killed a short fat rattler-like snake. It was only after it was dead that we discovered it was a rat snake — a good guy. I hope we don't make that mistake again. It could just as easily been a rattler though. I've come across too many poisonous snakes on the ranch and would rather not have them near our pets or cattle.
I used to catch the rattlesnakes that appeared in my yard and release them away from populated areas. I really felt bad about killing a large one that was swimming in my flowerbed as I watered. A hoe was right by me and, without thinking, I reacted by whacking its head off. After my niece had 3 dogs bitten by rattlers which cost her a fortune in vet bills, I have been rethinking saving the critters. Also, after watching a television program about the effects of the venom the other day, I don't think I will take any chances with them anymore. I have lots of non-poisonous snakes in my yard and we peacefully co-exist.
I would have killed it also they are highly poisonous coral snake..as for rattersakes I kill them here on the ranch as they have bitten my cattle, dogs and one got my bothers daughter several years ago when she was 2 years old and she lost her leg because of it. Have another cousin who also was bitten years ago and lost his leg. so whenever I see them here in my yard or on my ranch I shoot them........ same as all the ranchers around us the biggest one we killed was 6ft long..........
I'd have hoe'd him down too.... Someone told me it was illegal to kill a rattlesnake... But I have seen them commit suicide by getting under our tires... If a chickensnake gets into the yard we destroy it.... Have pulled too many of them out of the birdhouses...
Snakes are not one of my favorite things... they rank right along with fireants... If I could figure out a way to get rid of them I would...
I don't mind living with the non-poisonous varieties, but I can live without the poisonous ones. Ronda, it's amazing, a rattler committed suicide under out tires also last summer. It survived several encounters with the truck tires, so we used a shovel to help it along. It turned out to be a Timber Rattlesnake, a visitor from Bastrop County. According to Poisonous Snakes of Texas, rattlers are not found in Fayette County, but as my husband says, snakes can't read the DO NOT ENTER signs.
We have seen several coral snakes. They crawl up on my patio and get into my flowerbeds. I don't want to be bitten on the fingers while weeding so we kill them. If I see them, they're dead. If they stay away, they can live. I saw a rattlesnake while Bleu and I were down beside the resaca. He stayed back. I called for the neighbor, but the snake left before he got there. The other day while appraising an empty/abandoned house, I came upon a rattle snake right beside the front porch. I gave him a wide berth, measured all the other sides and let the CAD program close that sketch! DH said I need to get boots to wear.
Might be a good idea. They are ugly as sin, but they could save a leg.
Had a copperhead under the house last night .. he's deader-than-a-doorhandle now, but still doesn't make much difference - I'm still nervous to peek under the house.. YIKES!!!
We had a rat snake come into the house (after mice)-we live in the country- and my youngest daughter, about 8 yrs then, found it, on the curtain rod behind the couch in the living room! It was about 3 ft long and I determined it was not poisonous (in spite of the rattle noise which rat snakes make). My daughter is screaming to CALL SOMEONE!! Who?...on a Sun. afternoon, and of course DH was out of town. I stood on the couch looking at it...my bro would've caught it behind the head but I knew if I did that, it would coil its tail around my arm and I would instinctively fling it, UNfortunately towards my daughter, who was watching the whole event from on top of a chair a few ft away. I decided to try the croc.hunter-way, I mean he catches poisonous snakes all the time this way! I grabbed it by the tail, and not once did it try to turn back on me... I was really kind of shocked by that. I managed to get my older daughter close enough to the door to open it and I threw it outside... Now we have 2 indoor cats!!
I almost grabbed a copperhead last Friday evening as I was doing some last minute yard prep for the party. Yikes! My Brenham sister was bitten by one at Washington On The Brazos State Park about a month ago, it was no fun. So I called a neighbor who has men in the house, they came and rescued me. I really didn't want everyone to have to be looking for the critter during the party.
Before this, it had been years since I saw a snake in the yard, and those snakes were just garden snakes.
Copperheads prefer habitats with lots of vines, vegetation and/or debris, Maggie. So, be careful in your garden.
Yikes Maggie. That is one thing I learned recently at a lecture about snakes--they are nocturnal. So none of this traipsing barefoot thru the tulips for me! don't you do it either.
Well, gee, I've been stewing for an hour or so because we just killed a snake that was sunning by our pool and I'm not sure if it was friend or foe. Our first inclination was that it might be a cottonmouth. We know we have them down by the river about 300' away from the house. It was a pretty thick bodied snake and the coloration seemed right except that after we killed it I noticed that the snake's belly was white with no spots. Mouth was white inside, but maybe not as spongy looking as some of the pics I've seen. I hate to take a better safe than sorry attitude, but I suppose that's what we did. Unfortunately, we didn't get any pics to help us confirm the poor guys identy....
I found a snake in the yard for the first time yesterday and immediately thought of this thread. I'm thinking he is just a brown snake or a rat snake, though, so I left him alone. He's only about 8 inches long. Does anyone have any idea of exactly what he is?
Marylyn thats a harmless grass snake, might be called a Dekay's snake. They eat bugs and are completely harmless. I love snakes, the simple fact that they have not evolved into complex limbed organisms deserves much respect.
Great, thanks! It's welcome to all the bugs it can eat. :-)
One of my favorites nurseries had a lecture series, and one of them was this man, Clint Pustejovsky aka The Snake Man. I anticipated it to be a hokey, freak show, but instead it was a most interesting, dispell all misconceptions, kinda of lecture. He goes around to schools, groups, etc. and gives lectures on snakes. He can also be hired to capture and remove snakes. And he encourages people to email pics for Identification.
http://www.texassnakes.net
clint@texassnakes.net
Marylyn, maybe you can send the pic and get it IDed, free of charge, I believe. You can tell him a friend of yours attended his lecture at Enchanted Gardens.
The day I heard him he has brought a beautiful red honduran something or other snake, totally harmless. I touched it because my friend said it would help me get over my phobia, NOT. It still was eeerie, freaky, just plain scary to me. But overall, I was certainly glad I listened to this man. Do ck out his website.
I got bit by a copperhead while turning off a water hose many years ago. It was during a drought, and had come up to the water, I think. I kill all poisonous snakes I encounter, figuring it's a case of bite me now or bite me later, when I don't see you. I also kill all snakes that venture onto the porch and climb up the rock walls to get the barn swallows in their nests. For a long while after I got bitten, I killed all snakes that I saw. I finally got over that, after about 20 years.
Yesterday there was dead copperhead on the street that borders one side of my house. It was a little larger than the one up against the back step that I found the week before, when I was getting ready for my garden party. So, wonder if this new dead one was coming from my yard, or heading to it? Yikes!
VERY yikes, Mary!!
my sick mind at work here: if you see the littles ones--no big deal. we are way bigger than them. But what worries me is the tought of where mama and siblings might be hiding....
Yeah, that was my thought, exactly. Where is the rest of the family, and are they mad about the one lying in the road? And do they blame me?
gulp!
:-)
am I becoming a snake magnet??? this was in my yard yesterday, we have tentatively IDed as a TX rat snake, non-venomous. over 3 ft long.
What Nery failed to mention is that she was just about to tell me not to worry about snakes. We both saw it at the same time, you could practically hear us tap dancing backward on that lush lawn! You could practically hear us, because the sounds coming out of our throats drowned out the tap dancing, lol!!
M, the was a great shot. sure looks scary, doesn't it? Mark matched it to our book and it is the TX rat snake, exactly.
That's right, I was about to tell her about the coral snake and to "not worry" 'cause the area where we were standing was safe. yeah,right...
Great timing!! LOLOL!
Bump!
I recall reading somewhere in a snake discussion that snakes sometimes smell like wild onions. I ask because I was piddling up and down the dropoff out back behind the tree line yesterday, back and forth, dumping stuff toward the edge (helping the DH's cause for soil erosion, and to keep him from rescuing those danged vines that he wants growing all over the place...). Anyway, I was also raking some dried leaves down away from the treeline, and I kept smelling onions. I looked all around my feet, but never found any. Well, on my LAST trip back from the edge with the wheelbarrow, I stepped over what I thought was a pile of doggie doo. And soon as I did, I realized it was NOT! I moved closer and, sure enough, it was some sorta brownish looking snake, all balled up.
I told a friend this morning at church, and he told me that rattlers do a sorta Hook 'Em Horns kinda ball with the rattler up at one end and the head up at the other. This snake was totally balled up. Didn't really get close enough to see where his head was, but no rattles. I know we have the Eastern Hognose, but those two were reddish orange with distince black dots. This snake was dull brownish, and would've probable have been around 12-14" if stretched out.
And those darned onion smells. I'm thinking I probably was walking all over him without knowing it, til that last time he moved and I stepped over him..Is it only a particular snake that gives off the onion defensive warning?
Please advise, soonest. I've got lots of dumping out there...
We have seen, been close to and/or killed a rattler, copperheads, quite a number of water moccasins, rat snakes, racers, garter and a few more too quick to see well enough to ID and none smelled like onions. Just killed the rattler and the water moccasins that wandered too close to our cattle and after our dog was bitten. Down by the river, we've found some wild garlic and other wild onion members that give off an onion smell. I hope you were wearing some thick work boots. That ground liter is a great cover for snakes and many are very difficult to see.
I've always heard snakes give off an odor but never an onion odor. OTOH, it is wild onion blooming season and you probably crushed some of them while working in that area. Did this snake get away?
uh, actually, I left him balled up. Figured he was another variety of the Eastern Hognose that work in our yard. He wasn't in any kinda strike position, so I went my way and he went his way, cause I went looking for him yesterday (with the DH) and he wasn't there anymore.
I truly don't relish killing the harmless, beneficial ones if they aren't bothering me...
But, I am seeing a pair of thick work boots in my future....
Good girl! They do a good service as far as rodents, bugs ~ even the king snake will dine on "snakes"! As long as it isn't poisonous. I have no problem killing a poisonous one that has invaded my territory. If I'm in their area, they are free to go.
Thanks for the affirmation, Pod!
ok now for sure I am not going out back to do a thin unless I have on my cowboy boots and once things get going in the veggies I will be running a hoe through the rows before going in to et anything ......and I am not coming back in to read anything else it gave me the shivers LOL
they are not cold, they are not slimy and not all are bad but first galnce is the last one for them if they cross my path and catch me by surprise...sorry just some bad experiences with snakes in the past
They really give me the creeps too, Phyllis! I know they're good for the garden (especially if you are organic), so I don't kill them. I'm pretty sure I'd kill a poisonous one if I ever saw one. As for the rest, I'm glad they're there, but I'd rather not have to see them and KNOW they're there. LOL!
For me...they are ALL COBRAS!
LouC