I was not prepared this morning. :(

FarmerJamie

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patandchickens said:
Kala said:
I know I'm really gonna panic when I finally run across a poisonus one.
Kala, you probably never *will*. SE Ohio "theoretically" has two rattlers (timber and massassauga) but they are extremely rare; and "some few" copperheads but not very many, certainly not comparable to a couple states south of you.

So, relax :)

Pat
Uh, I've lived in this area all my life. Kala is not really that far from where I grew up. Yes, black snakes are more common, but we had copperheads, particularly around old farmsteads with lots of debris. We used to hunt them with a '22 around my grandpa's farm in my younger days.

Rattlers are somewhat rare, but are around.
 

mlynd

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Ok I have to tell this story a few yrs ago when we first had chickens I would go to get the eggs, well one day I went out there and as I reach in the nest I herd a rattle noise, I thought OMG a snake and a rattler to boot well what do I do I can't see in there I have no idea where Dh is and It was eating my eggs grr so I call DNR got no help call police got no help, kids get home off school bus I tell them don't go in to the hen house there is a snake in there and as I tell my Son what I think we should do my youngest who was in kindergarten at the time says to me. Mommy Call the croc guy. Huh??? I say, U know mommy the guy that get croc for people on TV. (now at the time she was big on watching Steve Irwin ) I say oh honey hes to far away and wont come here to get mommy snake. she says Yes hun Mommy he makes house calls:D I sent that to him before he passed away and She got a email form him tell her she was a smart girl for not getting the snake and leaving it to the adults and it turned out to be a big old Black snake
 

Farmfresh

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While talking about snakes ... my new neighbor girl (about 16) came over last night to "warn" me about the snake that she saw go into my yard. Evidently they tried to kill it but it escaped under the fence. She wanted to make sure that I knew about it to "protect my chickens".

In my neighborhood we have a nice population of Garter Snakes. Which I love since they keep down the bugs and mice so prevalent in the city. I told her that those snakes are ok and not to worry about them, but I could see she was still freaked out.

I didn't have the heart to tell her that a neighbor and I spent quite a bit of effort "importing" our snake stock! :ep :lol: Several years back I actually bought a sack with 5 Garter Snakes in it for a dollar each from a kid selling them at our local convenience store. I did it just to keep the snakes from being harassed and then gave it to the neighbor friend as a kind of joke. He loved those snakes and gave them a fine home in his garden near a brush pile behind his old shed.

The mouse population has gone down ever since! :thumbsup
 

Marianne

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At first I was thinking 'just grab it by the head' or 'leave it alone, it will leave'. Until I read copperhead. Big copperhead.

Open the doors, chase the chickens out and run. Screw the eggs. Call somebody. Any body. Know a snake handler or collector?

Agh. Even that would make me take a couple steps back and snakes usually don't bother me.
 

KevsFarm

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Wow...snake bite kits not a good thing...?
I know its best to seek medical attention as soon as possible.However,would like to know, whats so bad about using the suction thingie in a snake bite kit...??
 

Wannabefree

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KevsFarm said:
Wow...snake bite kits not a good thing...?
I know its best to seek medical attention as soon as possible.However,would like to know, whats so bad about using the suction thingie in a snake bite kit...??
It's just wasting time. You should focus your energy on getting to the hospital. The venom is already in the tissue doing damage by the time you get to the kit anyway usually. Best to just get in the car and go...JMO :hu
 

Wannabefree

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Oh and I killed an different snake this afternoon :th
 

FarmerJamie

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Wannabefree said:
Oh and I killed an different snake this afternoon :th
did ya put its head on pike as as warning to the other beasties? :D
 

patandchickens

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Wannabefree said:
Wow, I thought copperheads were the only ones that would rattle their tails like that. All we have around here seems to be copperheads, chicken snakes, the rare occassional hognose or racers, and water mocassins, so I'm not terribly terribly experienced, but most of those look a good bit different.
Off the top of my head, racers and hognose both do the tail vibration (hognose are notorious for it, in fact, it is part of what makes them such good rattlesnake mimics)

I'm not saying it couldn't have been a big copperhead, all I'm saying is that the tail rattle thing is not at all diagnostic

Pat
 
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