Getting rid of a snake?

[smilequeen]

Something I can do? Or do I need to call someone?

There is a snake living in the landscaping next to our driveway. The landscaper said black snake, probably harmless, but then said that they are starting to breed with copperheads (???????) so you can't know for sure. Ugh. My kids play hockey and ride around in the driveway all the time. The older ones are out there alone a lot. I am usually pretty live and let live, but I want this one gone.

[hellokitty]

I would call your local nature center and ask them what to do. I know that our local nature center, the director there gets all sorts of questions. They should be able to tell you if they think that the snake is a threat or if it is a matter of relocating it or destroying it, I am sure that they would know somebody for that too.

[pb&j]

Oh please, your black snake is NOT breeding with copperheads. Let it be, it keeps the rodents down and is harmless.

[niccig]

Let it be, it keeps the rodents down and is harmless.

So I'm Australian and growing up had a lot of snakes as lived in semi-rural areas. Dad killed the venomous snakes (as in snakes on top 5 of most venomous in world) because of safety, but only if they came around the house (some are territorial and you don't want a nest of king brown snakes under your house!).

But the non-venomous, make lots of noise and they will get out of your way before you can see them. That's my rule to DS when we go back to visit, and before we play in the yard. He also knows that if he sees a snake, he's to stop, walk away slowly and get a grown up. No touching ever.

[kristenk]

I'm not sure about the whole "breeding with copperheads" thing. That sounds extremely unlikely (and perhaps impossible?) to me.

I understand that snakes are beneficial and keep the rodent population down, etc. With that said, I don't want a pet snake, whether it's inside or outside of my house.

Is the landscaping overgrown? Maybe you could trim it so it's not so inviting to the snake? I'd concentrate on things like that instead of actively trying to get rid of the snake.

There was a hot tub and deck in the backyard when we bought our house. The hot tub wasn't in very good shape and we planned on getting rid of it. When we actually got rid of the deck that the hot tub was on, our snake population decreased significantly. Evidently the deck was a great place for snakes to hang out!

I know that DH still sees snakes in the yard at times. He just doesn't tell me about them if it's a non-venomous snake. It works for us!

[soon2b4]

If your kids are playing hockey and running around - the snake will choose a better/quieter location.

And the copperhead thing? - I looked at a number of websites about snakes - they all indicate that isn't true.
HTH

[o_mom]

Oh please, your black snake is NOT breeding with copperheads. Let it be, it keeps the rodents down and is harmless.

:yeahthat:

Black rat snakes lay eggs. Copperheads have live young. Way too much biology to overcome there.

[Pennylane]

Can your DH just carry it somewhere further away? I am not a snake fan so I totally get you not being comfortable with it.

Ann

[Binkandabee]

Probably harmless is way too potentially harmful for my comfort level. Sorry snake, but I'd be calling an exterminator ASAP.

[indigo99]

I wouldn't kill it, but I wouldn't want it living that close to a kid play area either. I'm not sure who can relocate it though. When we had one in our garage, I called my dad who came and took it to his (rural) neighborhood.

[elliput]

The landscaper said black snake, probably harmless, but then said that they are starting to breed with copperheads (???????) so you can't know for sure.

Did he offer to take care of it for you? Sounds like a nice scheme to make some extra $$$ for very little work.

[trcy]

Oh please, your black snake is NOT breeding with copperheads. Let it be, it keeps the rodents down and is harmless.
:yeahthat:

[maiaann]

OMG! I'm terrified of snakes. Reading this is giving me the goose bumps! :eek:

[kbud]

I totally understand! We found 6 snakes in one week last year! Fun! All had made it into our screened in pool. I had some luck with a product called "snake away". You can buy it at hardware stores. It smells very strongly like moth balls. They don't like the smell of it much and often will relocate. I had luck catching them with a net too to move them out. I admit to killing a few with a shovel that we couldn't catch. With 6 snakes in the enclosed pool area that connects to the house we had to get them out. Hoping the mama doesn't nest right outside of the pool enclose again this year! Oh and I took care of them all! DH is more afraid of snakes than I am.

[jerseygirl07067]

I wouldn't worry too much about it....black garden variety snakes are harmless. That being said, I don't mind them outside, but if I ever found one inside my house I would freak out, lol! I am always yelling at my kids to shut to door to the garage!

They usually slither away from people. I saw one the other say crossing the concrete as I was walking to a patient's house. It was probably 6 -8 feet long. I just stood there and waited for it to slither away...while contemplating taking a picture of it, lol..

[smilequeen]

OK, so I am guessing you are right and he is wrong on the breeding with copperheads thing ;) It does sound silly, but what do I know (and no, he wasn't offering to remove it, he was just letting me know it was there). I'm not too worried if it IS a harmless black snake but we do live in a copperhead area, so I guess I should try to see if one of us can get a look at it...all of the snakes I have seen have been black snakes. The landscaping is definitely not overgrown...in fact it was all just revamped for spring, but there are big rocks (there is a hill that drops down just off of our driveway) and I think it's hiding in there.

I'll probably just keep an eye out and give the boys a lesson on snakes if I'm not out there. It's going to rain and get cold the next few days so it buys me time :)

[fedoragirl]

We had black snakes in our yard, and I saw them while I was gardening plenty of times. They always run away from you and don't attack. I hate snakes but even I couldn't bring myself to kill them.

[dogmom]

Well, the Kipling and Rikki Tikki Tavi fan in me wants to say get a ferret.
Of course my distaste of rodents would make me want to keep the snake.

[Momit]

You should be able to track down a professional who will come relocate the snake to a more rural area if you aren't comfortable with it near your house. Otherwise enjoy mother nature's way of keeping the rodent population in check.

[MizMojoLaveau]

One thing to consider is that, by having the harmless one around, you are somewhat protecting against the copperheads moving in. If black snake has set up shop in an area, chances are another, possibly dangerous, snake will go looking for another territory rather than encroach on his established territory. This is as least what I tell myself when I am overcoming the shock of seeing a snake in my yard:wink2:

[o_mom]

One thing to consider is that, by having the harmless one around, you are somewhat protecting against the copperheads moving in. If black snake has set up shop in an area, chances are another, possibly dangerous, snake will go looking for another territory rather than encroach on his established territory. This is as least what I tell myself when I am overcoming the shock of seeing a snake in my yard:wink2:

Great point! On another board I'm on, a poster said she wanted to relocate a King snake until she came out to find it in the process of eating a copperhead.

[StantonHyde]

One thing to consider is that, by having the harmless one around, you are somewhat protecting against the copperheads moving in. If black snake has set up shop in an area, chances are another, possibly dangerous, snake will go looking for another territory rather than encroach on his established territory. This is as least what I tell myself when I am overcoming the shock of seeing a snake in my yard:wink2:

I am very happy to have gopher snakes in my yard--keeps the rattle snakes away. Edward Abbey wrote about "befriending" a gopher snake when he was a ranger at Arches NP so that it would live under his trailer and keep out the rattlers!

[smilequeen]

One thing to consider is that, by having the harmless one around, you are somewhat protecting against the copperheads moving in. If black snake has set up shop in an area, chances are another, possibly dangerous, snake will go looking for another territory rather than encroach on his established territory. This is as least what I tell myself when I am overcoming the shock of seeing a snake in my yard:wink2:

I'm definitely going to keep this in mind :)