I went out just a lil bit ago to feed the2 fish I have in my pond and there was this little head sticking up next to the basket that has plants in it. all I saw was the head and this lil flickering at the end of it which says tongue to me ...anyway I have no idea what kind it would be as I only saw the small head then it disappeared...HELP what do I do to get it out of there!!
the fish are fine it hasn't bothered them and there are still tadpoles swimmin around
possible little snake in pond HELP
I had a snake in my pond once. It was happily sunning himself on the waterfall. I saw it and screamed so it dove into the pond, swam across the length right next to the fish and slithered out. Try screaming!!! LOL
If it is just a little thing I don't think it will hurt anything. Snakes don't like people and usually try to get out of there before you see them.
well I hope it goes away but it went under water when I saw it so have no idea if it is still in there or not
That actually means you are doing everything right! A properly maintained pond will attract all kinds of visitors a lot of which you will never be aware of. If snakey gets big enough he will return the favor of having a nice home by ridding you of unwelcome little beasties like mice and moles. Don't be afraid of them. Easier said than done, I can take on a crazed dog that outweighs me but get flustered by a 2 ounce snake. Once I get over that initial panic attack I have noticed that they are quite graceful creatures. The only "attack snake" I have ever heard of is the black mamba of Africa and I think you are pretty safe from them. :^)
well moles gone would be good but this guy is too little to get them and I know snakes are not cold or slimy but I have yet to shake the close call with a water moccasin as a kid ..I if I could get a full view of it to get it ID'ed and find it to be non poisonous then we would be okay.
We're tripping over snakes here. Small common garter snakes and a common brown snake. I'm not at all afraid, buuuut I do get a little startled sometimes. This spring I found one in my hand when I was clearing oak leaves out of the hydrangeas. I don't know who was more surprised, me or the snake! We both survived OK.
That is so funny that you said to try screaming. LOL
Snakes can't hear!
ROTFL
But the point about you must be doing something right is well taken, he would only be there is there were good things for him to eat.
He is probably eating tadpoles, but he will only get the slow ones (natures way of making sure that only the healthiest survive) and he likely eats slugs and bugs, too.
I have tons of little brown snakes at my house and I love them because I have little to no slug problem!
BTW, if you see him again look at his eyes. Round pupils mean non-venomous, cat-like (slit) pupils means venomous - at least here in the US.
Many harmless water snakes take the fall for water moccasins.
it was so small I couldn't see the eyes and haven't seen it again lately so who knows
Have you checked inside the toes of your shoes? ;-D
haha yeah as I wear my scandals and they have no toes in them unless it is mine when I have them on
Don't worry, I have a Brown snake in and near my pond, she (we had a couple babies in the pond area) feeds of bugs,worms, and small yard pests. So she can stay as long as she wants. I sometimes see her in the pond, but she doesn't bother the fish or frogs.
I guess the only thing that bothers me is reaching in for the filters to clean them out haven't done that since we got back from vacation the second week of August ...and not sure rubber gloves will be long enough without getting water inside LOL...if it is something other then a nice one
FYI...There is one exception to the verticle pupil rule...the coral snake. Highly toxic venom but it's very shy.
If you are really concerned you could do a search for venemous snakes in TX. Since I had the same reaction to snakes at first I did that for my state and was surprised to find that there really weren't any to speak of around here. I was getting all twitterpated for no reason. Still do. LOL
Twitterpated! I love that word.
LOL twitterpated is a great word I laughed when I saw it not may use it anymore
from what I understand there are only 3 venomous snakes in Texas but ya know when you aren't expecting one that is when they show u and scare the ba gee bees out of ya
:^)
Four, Phyllis... rattlers, coral, water moccasins, and copperheads. But, except for the moccasins, I doubt any of those were in your pond.
LOL okay will have to remember to look at this thread to remind myself of what they are ..the bad ones that is ...I forgot I took it to the Ru where cocoa looked at it and ti was harmless but DH had killed it already not knowing but now we know and after he found it I always watch the area around me
I had a snake in my pond about a month or so ago...I showed it to my husband and he kinda freaked out. But I was like, no...it's just a harmless snake. I don't mess with anything that doesn't mess with me. So we watched it for a while maybe 10 minutes, and the next time we saw it pop up it was rolling around at the bottom trying to eat one of my shubunkins. This time I freaked out and poked it with a tiki torch until it slithered out and DH chopped his head off with a shovel. He certainly could have lived if he hadn't tried to hurt one of my fishies, but I was so shocked at it squirming about with a fish in its mouth that I just flipped out.
We IDed it after the fact as a garter snake. Poor thing...
But the point is that even if it is a harmless garter snake, it could be munching on your babies! And tiki torches work very well at getting them out. :)
Wildlife has to be somewhere. Garter snakes are harmless to humans. Here we do everything we can to protect them. When I go out to the pond and I spy one sunning itself on a rock I just back off and let it be. It's not out of fear but out of respect. The gardens and the ponds here ( we have two ) have provided a lot of good habitat and I'm honored to have them take up residence. So's my whole family.
http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/Home/species_a_to_z/SpeciesGuideIndex/butlersgartersnake/tabid/6579/Default.aspx
I definitely wouldn't have killed it had I known what it was...I was just so scared! When I was little I would play with them in the back yard, wish I'd remembered better what they looked like that day. But it's a good reminder, snapple that we should respect all living things.
If they startle you, just try to remember that you're a whole lot bigger then they are! ;>)
Snakes-thank goodness not around my home . . . (and if they are hanging around my home they better stay hidden or else I will jump out of my skin!)