Somthing living in my straw

[Quail_Antwerp]

OMG I'm just shuddering with the thought of it being a snake...a mouse ain't so bad...but you just said possible rattler??????

*thud*

 

[Dace]

Well I don't know of course...maybe rattlers don't like straw...maybe they are allergic I am just saying that we HAVE rattlers....I am not excited about sifting thru that straw!

 

[sylvie]

I don't think it's a bad idea. I most likely would leave it be. Potatoes are in the nightshade family so I'm guessing that any mouse that eats its leaves will eventually take care of itself. I would maybe put a large "sunning" rock next to it, go out in the early morning and see if you've got yourself a snake. Depending on the type of snake, you could have a "farm hand".

Great advice!
Keep in mind that snakes follow rodents into the hole or burrow and rarely make their own hole. So, again, you may have both or only one very full one.

 

[TanksHill]

Dace, sometimes I leave straw bales in my orchard for extended periods of time. I have found mice living in under and around them but NEVER a snake. We have some snakes around our house mostly gopher and garden. I would not be to worried about it.

Just watch your plants. Make sure they are not being eaten.

 

[Dace]

Thanks Gina

 

[Beekissed]

I would just layer on more straw and wait until fall to dig your taters. By then, its a good chance your visitor will be gone.

Want to hear a creepy story?

My sis tried putting black plastic between the rows of her garden one year. She lives in one of our coldest areas here. One day she was in her garden and saw the plastic moving. She lifted up one corner and threw it back......

Hundreds and hundreds of snakes of all kinds were lying just below her plastic! All together in their little sunbathing warmth.


She never used plastic again.

 

[2dream]

I have say be careful digging potatos anyway with or without straw.

We have clay soil which is very hard. Snakes lay eggs in my flower pots and I am guessing also in my garden soil which has been worked and is soft unlike the clay. Eggs hatch out babies. I once found a nest of baby copperheads in a planter setting on my porch rail. Thank goodness that was the day I decided to dump the soil first instead of dig around in it. I kept thinking. How in the heck did that copperhead find that box and then thinking and right behind my front porch rocker. Scary.

Mice and snakes live in my hay that I keep in a wagon for my rabbits. I always poke around with a long stick before I grab a handful. I have a 5 ft trecking stick that I take with me everywhere around here when I do chores. Comes in real handy for poking around in blackberry bushes before picking too.

 

[Dace]

Bee and Wanda..those stories are enough to make me want to throw in the trowel. I could not handle that! Ewwwwwww

 

[2dream]

Dace - I am still chuckling at "throwing in the trowel". Thats funny.

Statisticly speaking - snake bites are rare. You will probably have several auto accidents, a million kitchen accidents and someone you know will get struck by lightening before you have a deadly encounter with a snake. Fell better now?

Since I am a snake -a- phobe and am completely horrified of them I never take a step, pick up a board, or reach for a chicken egg that I am not looking for a snake.

Just use the same caution you use when driving.

 

[freemotion]

I would just layer on more straw and wait until fall to dig your taters. By then, its a good chance your visitor will be gone.

Want to hear a creepy story?

My sis tried putting black plastic between the rows of her garden one year. She lives in one of our coldest areas here. One day she was in her garden and saw the plastic moving. She lifted up one corner and threw it back......

Hundreds and hundreds of snakes of all kinds were lying just below her plastic! All together in their little sunbathing warmth.


She never used plastic again.

Sounds like something out of an Indiana Jones movie....