Snakes

[DavidV]

Snakes in the wood pile. This year I have had multiple snake sightings in the wood pile. Non poisonous so far. ran some off, had neighbor catch one and threw one 4 foot limp body into the woods. Does anyone know of a snake repellent that actually works?

 

[elkimmeg]

I too have had garder snakes in my wood piles, Chipmunks, mice, bugs, ants, Nature suprises
I do not know of any snake repellent wonder how well snake oil burns?

 

[HarryBack]

there ARE snake repellents, actually! Active ingredient is Naptha, same stuff in mothballs. But I believe the snake repellent is in stuff that looks like kitty litter, rather than the moth flakes and moth balls, which wouldnt ast long in the weather.

 

[KP Matt]

In Taiwan people would sprinkle a big line of some white powder around their tents when camping. I'm not sure if it was for snakes or for bugs, but I think it was lime... or something with an extreme pH.

90% of the snakes you see here are garter snakes, and there are no poisonous snakes. They always surprise me a bit when I see them, but I would never kill one just for existing.

 

[Eric Johnson]

Snakes don't bother me, but I am worried about skunks, especially since my compost bins are adjacent to my woodpile.

How about getting a mongoose?

Or maybe more than one.

 

[fbelec]

stacking this past weekend i had what looked like a 4 foot black with 2 yellow strips go from pile to under the racks. what kind of snake might this be?

 

[Shane]

Rattle snakes are pretty common out here. Heard of a couple in wood piles. Was pulling cable in a crawlspace once. Reachedup into the insulated floor joists pulled out a 5' rattle snake skin. Evacuated the crawl space immediately and ran my wire another route.

 

[ertzog]

my terrier is whining/digging at something in my wood pile. I'd rather not know.

 

[elkimmeg]

stacking this past weekend i had what looked like a 4 foot black with 2 yellow strips go from pile to under the racks. what kind of snake might this be?

I have seen some garder snakes reach 4' in size. They have a yellow stripes, possibly a ribbon snake. A 4' snake will eat mice and moles, possibly a chipmunk or two

 

[bodeen]

FWIW,

Moth Balls no longer contain naptha. Unless you got an old box laying around. The reason is that Naptha is toxic. Turns out that the guy in Texas selling the "Green Pill" that you put in your gas tank to get increased mileage was selling a product made with naptha. Some people will buy anything.


bodeen

 

[clambdin]

Mice like to build nest around wood piles I have noticed a large king snake hanging around my wood piles this spring I assume he is just feeding on the mice..I wouldn`t worry about it to much ..

 

[drizler]

Skunks won't bother you unless you really harass them. I have backed them into the corner of the garage by accident at night, even walked over to pick up what I thought was my black cat. They really don't want to spray you if they can at all help it. Just make a bit of noise so they know to leave the area.

 

[Sandor]

I never kill a snake. Rodent control.

I leave them alone, and won't fool with the stacked wood until they are hibernating.

 

[BrotherBart]

Skunks won't bother you unless you really harass them. I have backed them into the corner of the garage by accident at night, even walked over to pick up what I thought was my black cat. They really don't want to spray you if they can at all help it. Just make a bit of noise so they know to leave the area.

Where I came from in Texas they were big carriers of rabies, and very agressive. More than a few times I have actually had them charge at me. I always took the agressiveness as a sign they were rabid and reduced the skunk population by one.

 

[begreen]

I never kill a snake. Rodent control.

I leave them alone, and won't fool with the stacked wood until they are hibernating.

Agree, as long as it's not poisonous. In the Berkshires we had eastern diamondbacks that loved to hang out in old stone walls. I wouldn't want to meet one of them in the woodpile.

Problem is that when they're hibernating it's the time that you're pulling wood off the pile.

 

[drizler]

Damn , them sure must be some badass skunks down there in Texas. I sure hope they don't stink as bad as they act.

 

[DavidV]

poinsonous or not. I can't keep turning a corner and having the crap scared out of me. If the rodent population goes up I'll use poison.

 

[begreen]

Best to let nature take care of itself. Introduce poison and whatever eats the rodents gets poisoned. That can be owls, hawks or the family pet.

 

[DavidV]

Farm store near here had a really cool vermin trap that electrocutes the little beasts.

 

[babalu87]

Lawyers hanging around your woodpile too

As long as its not poisonous it doesnt bother me to have them around.
If you find one hibernating within the woodpile in the late fall just cover it up with some mulch/hay/grass clippings and it should be OK.... they go into a pretty deep sleep and would freeze to death otherwise.

 

[DavidV]

If you find one hibernating within the woodpile in the late fall just cover it up with some mulch/hay/grass clippings and it should be OK.... they go into a pretty deep sleep and would freeze to death otherwise.

The snakes or the lawyers??

I came home one day this winter to find a very lethargic snake sunning itself on my cement walkway. Tossed him into the woods. I hate snakes as much as warren hates elm.

 

[elkimmeg]

Thought rather rare to find I have seen a couple Eastern Timber Rattlers. My area is hilly and very rocky. Lots of broken ledge clifts in the state forest acrost the street. Just the enviorment these rattlers like. However very rare to actually site one. They are considered endangered species in MA. One should not kill them. I have never seen them on my acerage.

 

[fbelec]

Thought rather rare to find I have seen a couple Eastern Timber Rattlers. My area is hilly and very rocky. Lots of broken ledge clifts in the state forest acrost the street. Just the enviorment these rattlers like. However very rare to actually site one. They are considered endangered species in MA. One should not kill them. I have never seen them on my acerage.

and hope you never get surprized.

 

[Eric Johnson]

I was cutting wood in South Carolina once and noticed that there were snakes hanging from the trees. Makes woods work even more interesting than it already is.

 

[suematteva]

The Misses always throughs a few mothballs in amongst the wood shed, does not seem to bother the chipmunks as they still are there, we don't get snakes, mice or skunks in the shed. We have a few cords outside and keep that wood on pallets and it does not seem to attract the grass snakes. Other places in the yard we do see quite a few grass snakes.