Snakes in woodpile

Had a Dachshund that did that.

PapaDave said:

Had a Dachshund that did that.

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Dachsund that hissed at your wife?

Funny guy.
Actually, it would bring dead mice to the porch. Pierced skull and all.

I will usually fire up the weedeater and trim around the piles before doing anything just to let them know that I am about to be in there. I prefer the spade to the hoe for my weapon of choice if the g23 isn't in my belt. I don't do snakes.

Non-venomous snakes are your friend. They eat vermin. Unfortunately, also frogs and toads.

this year my wood pile for seasoning will be in the woods back of our big garage and we are getting chickens in April,so I'm worried about snakes in my pile! Back home in northern Indiana we had no venomous snakes,here in Southern Maryland we have two species. We live in a area that is swampy and has lots of frogs for snakes to fest on.So I'm nervous about snakes this year,though we only see Black Rat snakes around here.

Snakes are not a problem here , if we are getting wood off one of the farms with sandy soil when it is warm, hognose snakes will jump at you and scare the S^&T out of you but nothing that hurts you, one knocked our weiner dog/Rottweiler mix off his feet one time, only time I ever liked those snakes.

TradEddie said:

Copperheads are not poisonous, they are venomous. Not usually fatal, but they'd spoil your day.

TE

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I've never heard it put that way. Hmmm. Not poisonous, but venomous. What's the difference?

My appreciation of poisonous/venomous snakes is that the copperhead is the second most dangerous snake, after a rattlesnake. Death by snakebite in the USA seems rare these days but a bite by a copperhead or rattler can do some serious damage.

I have had two friends bit by copperheads. Both required a hospital stay.

I wish I had a picture of a rattlesnake that a friend of mine found coiled up in his garage. Now, mind you, this a fine home inside the city limits of my small town. Never would one expect a rattler there. But they had clear-cut some land about a half mile away and we think that snake left there and was on the move. I've seen big ones, but this one took the cake. If that guy bit you, wow, I can see how you might not make it! It was OVER six feet and big around as the calf in my leg.

Here in CT, my piles are loaded with garter snakes. Usually find one every time I take some wood.

One time there was something different. A fairly huge all black snake that just slithered away fast as a bullet. Scared me good, and haven't seen anything like it since, nor have I ever been able to determine what it was. Probably a pet that escaped and didn't live through the winter on its own.

chazcarr said:

Here in CT, my piles are loaded with garter snakes. Usually find one every time I take some wood.

One time there was something different. A fairly huge all black snake that just slithered away fast as a bullet. Scared me good, and haven't seen anything like it since, nor have I ever been able to determine what it was. Probably a pet that escaped and didn't live through the winter on its own.

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In the eastern US, a large all-black snake is probably a Black Racer or Black Rat Snake, which are a common native snakes. They can be six feet long sometimes. Not poisonous and probably eating a lot of rodents from your woodpile.

Wood Duck said:

In the eastern US, a large all-black snake is probably a Black Racer or Black Rat Snake, which are a common native snakes. They can be six feet long sometimes. Not poisonous and probably eating a lot of rodents from your woodpile.

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Well that is solved, definitely a Black Racer. Snake was scary fast!

i haven't seen any in the woodpile, but they love to hang out either in my rock pile or under some flag stone. for a while, they made their way into the basement, and when I tore out the bathroom, I found that they had been sneaking in under the tub.... that was quickly taken care of.

One of them was under the fence when I was painting it, and I accidentally painted his tail gray....

neverbilly said:

Not poisonous, but venomous. What's the difference?

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Poisonous means it'll kill or make you sick if you bite it. Venomous means it'll kill or make you sick if it bites you.

TE

TradEddie said:

Poisonous means it'll kill or make you sick if you bite it. Venomous means it'll kill or make you sick if it bites you.

TE

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ah, good answer, lol. Makes sense, I wonder why everybody gets that wrong! Like pronouncing realtor, "real-a-tore?" Not exactly, but kinda.

I HATE SNAKES. ALL SNAKES...... Venomous, poisonous, non poisonous, non venomous, does not matter.

taylorfarms said:

Snakes are not a problem here , if we are getting wood off one of the farms with sandy soil when it is warm, hognose snakes will jump at you and scare the S^&T out of you but nothing that hurts you, one knocked our weiner dog/Rottweiler mix off his feet one time, only time I ever liked those snakes.

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How the heck do you cross a Rottweiler with a wiener dog?[emoji1][emoji1][emoji1][emoji1]

Cats or rats, take your pick. And if it's rats, get ready for the snakes that are going to be not far behind. Rats and mice are the only reason a snake will come and stick around.

I have four shop cats, all fixed females. They all have their areas of my +35 acre farm that they "specialize" in, with some overlap. I've seen my kitties over 350 yards way down to the bottom of my hill, a couple hang out at my pole barn area, which is about 140 yards from the house and my neighbor's hunter (my UPS driver) has seen my cats over a half mile away from our house on the neighbor's property.

Every once in a while, I'll find a decapitated mouse head, but other than that, no rats or mice. Every summer, I see a couple black snakes as they traverse the farm, but they don't stick around long. Of course, it doesn't help that three of my four dogs are one year puppies and will catch and play with just about anything they can get a hold of.

My wife hates cats. But she hates snakes even worse. That's the only reason I can get away with having four cats, Ha! Ha! Ha!

Just this week I came across this taking wood off the stack. Have seen 2 black snakes in the 4 foot range through out the summer aroung the wood piles. I'm not a lover of snakes and there is not much comparable to the adrenalin rush of suprising a large snake in the wood row. But with age has come tolerance and we get along.

Had this guy hit my lace up boots while cutting wood last summer. Saved me from having a bad day. He's actually alive in the picture. Good teaching moment for the niece and nephew to identify the good from the bad. The second picture is a water snake that about gave me a heart attack. Put my hand down to pull back the tarp on my wood pile and there he was. Woooooo

Huge supporter of snakes. They are great for barns and wood stacks. Just not a big fan of surprises

That's my little Yeehaw, she's "getti em' "

firestorm said:

View attachment 175293 Just this week I came across this taking wood off the stack. Have seen 2 black snakes in the 4 foot range through out the summer aroung the wood piles. I'm not a lover of snakes and there is not much comparable to the adrenalin rush of suprising a large snake in the wood row. But with age has come tolerance and we get along.

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My FiL in WNC says that black snakes are good to have because they help keep rattlesnakes away. He was helping us check out our retirement property there last fall and we came across a big black snake stretched out on the road sunning himself. Or herself, we didn't get close enough to check. FiL said that's a really good sign so we gave it a wide berth and left it soaking up the sun.