This country living is freakin' me out!

[1GirlTwinBoys]

We've lived here 3 1/2 weeks and already seen 3 snakes. We have 3 acres and one of the snakes was out in the woods, which is fine because that's where they belong. One was in our backyard, and the other was in our driveway today. :001_huh: The two around the house were 2' garter snakes. I know they help keep mice away, but I just need them to stay down in the woods. DH used his 12 gauge on the last one and I used a shovel on the one I saw today. What bothers me the most is that they won't slither away when we get close, which means we could very easily step on them. That FREAKS me out!

 

I don't know if I'll ever adjust to country life. Any advice on how to handle it when we see them?

Edited September 25, 2011 by 1GirlTwinBoys

[Perogi]

Ummmm...my advice is I guess to get used to it?! Like you said, they are actually helpful and I think they are just a part of country living! If they are garter snakes they aren't anything to worry about.

[Starr]

If they won't hurt you I would leave them alone unless they were in the house. But I wouldn't use the 12 gauge in the house. :D

[K-FL]

I live in the 'burbs & we see black racers all the time. As long as they're out side, I'm happy.

[creativish]

:D Welcome to the country!!

 

When we first moved out to our acreage, a snake somehow ended up in my living room on top of the rim of my laundry basket basking in the sunlight:eek:-- I was thankful I was able to quickly carry the basket outside without much commotion. So glad I didn't have to chase it around the house or something crazy!

I'm not a fan of snakes either but they sure enthrall the kids!

[pqr]

A 12 gauge on a snake? Overkill.

 

If you need to kill snakes try some snake shot (small pellets) in a .45 or even a .22 pistol.

 

Just out of interest, other than a red mist, what was left after you used a 12 gauge on a snake? Pictures???

 

I am not making fun of you, honestly I am not, but a 12 gauge on a snake is like a sledgehammer on a snail.

 

Most snakes are a boon to a place, they keep the rodents down and most will stay out of your way. Not to scare you, but for every one you see......

Edited September 25, 2011 by pqr

[elegantlion]

Snakes are part of country living. We had 3 acres of woods in our previous house. Snakes of all kinds. They are actually helpful and really you should let them be. I found google a frightening kind of friend to help identify the snakes.

 

You learn to wear shoes and look down when you walk. You really do have to get used to them. The only one we ever killed was a copperhead that was in the carport.

 

A garter snake was the first I held, it was calming in a way.

 

I would take pictures of them for nature study. If you learn their habits you can safely co-exist.

 

btw, not to freak you out but they can climb. We used to have some sit on top of our carport posts and one was on top of our open garage door. We got a broom and shooed that one away.

 

Spiders will make me climb the walls, snakes I learned to respect.

[Ann.without.an.e]

We bought an old farm house and for the first year we must have come across a dozen Copperheads :001_huh: Made me nervous. Getting a dog helped. In general, the activity will ward them off. Black snakes eat other snakes so they are good, don't kill them.

[regentrude]

Why do you feel the need to kill harmless animals that pose no threat?

Leave them be. They won't go into the house. They do not bite you if you step on them (and would probably manage to get away). Call your kids and show them the beautiful snake (but teach them never to pick up any snake, just to be safe. Much easier than relying on them to tell apart the harmless from the venomous ones).

[Guest IdahoMtnMom]

We have snakes here in the Idaho mountains. Water snakes, mostly.. about 10 miles south, there are rattlers (lower elevation) and THEY freak me out... but here, I remind myself they are good because they eat mice and voles and they are NOT poisonous. I don't kill them... that is crazy... they can't hurt us!!! I usually scream like a girl and RUN... but from June - October, we see them most days we are outside... so one a week isn't bad.

[WishboneDawn]

Poor snakes!

 

Put your energy into learning to appreciate them. Grater snakes are completely harmless and endlessly fascinating.

[FaithManor]

OP, I just wanted to be a voice of commisseration since so many have been appalled at your course of action!

 

For what it is worth, I am not opposed to hand grenades and nuclear devices in the extermination of sneaky, creepy, reptiles out to scare the living daylights out of me! :D

 

Astrid understands me well on this point.

 

As for the mice and vole population, I'd rather harbor a colony of feral cats than one snake. I think I've developed an anti-snake reputation amongst the reptiles in our area...we've lived here five years now and they are staying away. Apparently, they know that the kind of person who will hire a hit on snakes has moved into the territory. :lol:

 

I wonder if a mongoose makes a nice pet????

 

Faith

[catz]

Poor snakes!

 

Put your energy into learning to appreciate them. Grater snakes are completely harmless and endlessly fascinating.

 

:iagree: I can't imagine pulling out a gun (if we had one) for a garter snake! :lol: Heck, I wouldn't pull out a shovel. We live in the city, but see them on a regular basis.

[dangermom]

Get used to it! :) Don't shoot poor innocent snakes, they don't do any harm and they help you. It's like squishing ladybugs.

[Jennifer3141]

My advice is to stop shooting the garter snakes or frankly, you deserve the rodents and giant bugs you'll get instead.

[ktgrok]

Um, well, stop killing them. That would be a start. If you have habitat for snakes you will have snakes. Better to have that habitat occupied by a garter snake than a rattle snake. Keep killing the nice ones and you leave a vacum for the venomous ones.

 

That said, clear the brush around the house, woodpiles, etc where mice might be living. If you get rid of the mice the snakes will go away too, for the most part.

 

I have heard of a repellent made with garlic, but I don't know if it works. It was on some exterminator show my son likes to watch.

[1GirlTwinBoys]

My DH thought the one he shot with the 12 gauge was poisonous, so he got his gun and shot it. I realize it was over reacting, but we are new to the country and have no idea about this kind of stuff. He was just told the day before about someone being bit by a poisonous one not too far away. He was just trying to protect his family so we don't feel bad about it.

 

Anyway, thanks to those that actually gave info and advice.:)

[Kile529]

lol makes sense to me. In a new area completely out of your comfort zone and confronted with a potentially poisonous snake? I'll be honest....if I were down south where there are a ton of dangerous snakes....a 12 gauge would certainly take care of a problem without me having to try to get it with a shovel. Honestly, I'm a good shot....with a gun. ;) Shoot first...ask questions later....

...but....as I've grown up in the country (Michigan)....I'd just leave the garters alone. In my book...anythings that's not a garter must die. ;) haha

[Joyofsixreboot]

Um, they're just snakes. Garter snakes aren't going to hurt you. Now city living, that would scare me.

[regentrude]

My DH thought the one he shot with the 12 gauge was poisonous, so he got his gun and shot it. I realize it was over reacting, but we are new to the country and have no idea about this kind of stuff. He was just told the day before about someone being bit by a poisonous one not too far away. He was just trying to protect his family so we don't feel bad about it.

 

The first thing you might want to do is to read up on the species that are venomous in your area. There are usually only a few. Learn to identify them.

Whereabouts do you live?

[zookeeper]

Snakes don't bother me too much because we've got a resident herpetologist. :D My ds takes care of all our snake issues. Now, when we moved out here 6mths ago nobody told me we'd deal with SCORPIONS on an almost daily basis. They make fun of me for carrying around a flashlight at night.

[DawnM]

We have snakes. We live on 2.5 acres.

 

We leave the black snakes alone, except the one that ended up in the basement that freaked us out.

 

I grew up in Africa and I still hate snakes!

 

Dawn

[WishboneDawn]

My DH thought the one he shot with the 12 gauge was poisonous, so he got his gun and shot it. I realize it was over reacting, but we are new to the country and have no idea about this kind of stuff. He was just told the day before about someone being bit by a poisonous one not too far away. He was just trying to protect his family so we don't feel bad about it.

 

Anyway, thanks to those that actually gave info and advice.:)

 

;) I still think, "poor snake," but don't worry. I don't think you guys are horrible folks for blasting or beating the occasional snake. :D

[the evolving homemaker]

If it makes you feel any better, I live in suburbia in town, and I almost stepped on a baby garter snake taking the trash cans to the back yard last week. lol. My husband has seen a large garter snake in my garden, and I have found like a two foot long skin...which the kids loved. I, not so much. When we lived in the mountains we had a snake family, of a lot, living under our porch. Not cool. Freaked me out a lot. But we also had mice. Luckily the kids were so young they didn't really play out there! They are always creepy to me, but I see no need to kill them. If they were poisonous I would definitely call someone it to rid us of it. We live where rattlers can be an issue, luckily I have never, ever seen one and I have been here almost 20 years!

 

good luck!

 

:)

jen

[KungFuPanda]

That's HOW people new to the country learn not to kill beneficial snakes. They freak out, kill some snakes, and ask for advice. Everyone jumps down their throats and they learn what to kill and what to leave alone.

 

My born-in-Brooklyn husband once chased down a blacksnake with a rifle when we lived in south Georgia. Since MY real fear is rodents I begged him to never do that again. He just didn't know the snake was harmless, and, when in doubt, the snake really should go.

[BillieBoy]

I'm not sure where you live, but I would suggest you make a learning experience out of it. Heck, if there's anything left of that garter, disect that bugger! Your county extension office or state wildlife website has information of the wildlife in your area. Hurry, before something else sneaks up and surprises you. :tongue_smilie:

 

We have 20 acres in a remote local in NW Washington. The twelve gauge is reserved for bear and moose charging. :D My 10 yo DD can identify every species of reptilian and amphibian within a 10 mile radius and know their habitat. (I've had most of them in my tub or sink at one point) It makes me feel better that she knows what to leave alone and where those critters may live.

 

If reading up doesn't make you feel better...well then as we say in the country..

 

Buck up :001_smile:

[WishboneDawn]

That's HOW people new to the country learn not to kill beneficial snakes. They freak out, kill some snakes, and ask for advice. Everyone jumps down their throats and they learn what to kill and what to leave alone.

 

:lol: Yup. It's a right of passage.

 

We have garter snakes, red bellied snakes and the beautiful little green snakes. My husband had to rescue a baby garter snake last month. Poor little thing had no idea it was about to slither into the pen of 24 big and hungry meat chickens. :D

 

ETA: For those who don't know, chickens are vicious and relentless predators. No small bird, mouse or other small living thing should wander anywhere near them.

Edited September 26, 2011 by WishboneDawn

[Laurie4b]

I wouldn't kill any nonpoisonous snake for any reason. They compete with other snakes that you may actually want to kill--like poisonous ones.

 

And I agree if you don't want to have them around your house, clear out food sources.

 

However, at this time of year, you often see more snakes--they are traveling around getting stocked up for hibernation.

[foxbridgeacademy]

The snakes are drawn by the rodents (rats!) if you KILL the snakes, they won't be able to eat the RATS and your house will be infested with rodents. Unless it's poisonous you should simply get a stick and gently poke it to shoo it away. We had a 7 foot long black snack that lived between our garden and house. It not only ate the rodents but scared the rabbits and copperhead (poisonous) away. Get a book to aquaint yourself with the good and bad ones.

[chrissymama]

I have always been terrified of snakes. I have no fear of bugs, spiders, rodents, but snakes make my skin crawl. 2 years ago, I decided that I was going to try to work on my fear and so I would seek out snakes and look at them. We are part of a Waldorf co-op that meets weekly in the woods and we see snakes often. This has really helped me. My kids have no fear of snakes, though they do know to have a healthy respect of them.

 

I won't say that I am not afraid of snakes anymore, but I will say that I am no longer terrified of them. I do not want to be surprised by one, so I am usually on the lookout when outside. If I do see one, I always jump a bit, but then try to take some time to just look at it and NOT be terrified.

 

Like so many others have said, I would not kill a non-venomous snake.

[2squared]

You have two 7yo boys and an 8yo girl??? Sounds like you have pest control under control. My dc love, love, love to catch garter snakes. Their biggest catch has been 21 in one day.

 

Country living is living science. Embrace it!

[endurancerider]

Rid your area of ivy, tall grass, hiding places, and other low lying bush.

 

I live on 5 acres, when the grass gets tall, the snakes are around. I let the lawn mowers out (horses ;)) and the snakes vanish.

 

Good Luck on your country living adventure. :)

[Mommy to monkeys]

We've lived here 3 1/2 weeks and already seen 3 snakes. We have 3 acres and one of the snakes was out in the woods, which is fine because that's where they belong. One was in our backyard, and the other was in our driveway today. :001_huh: The two around the house were 2' garter snakes. I know they help keep mice away, but I just need them to stay down in the woods. DH used his 12 gauge on the last one and I used a shovel on the one I saw today. What bothers me the most is that they won't slither away when we get close, which means we could very easily step on them. That FREAKS me out!

 

I don't know if I'll ever adjust to country life. Any advice on how to handle it when we see them?

 

Well don't kill them. Just be thankful they will keep your mice population down.:tongue_smilie::tongue_smilie:

[Denisemomof4]

I'm surprised you've seen so many! I live in the middle of the woods with conservation land all around us. I rarely see them.

 

I do feel bad that you killed them, though. :( I know, you probably think I'm weird, but if they're not harming anyone................

 

When we first bought our house I was TERRIFIED of bugs. I've gotten SO much better now, 15 years later. Give it time. You'll adjust.

[CalicoKat]

Wear your shoes!

 

That's my newest soap box.

 

I personally bought a pair of high top hiking boots. And I'm switching out the kids tennis shoes for these too.

 

That way IF I step on one there will be more shoe between me and it. :D

 

((shudder)) Knowing they're beneficial is not comfortable for me yet.

[Live2Ride]

We've lived here 3 1/2 weeks and already seen 3 snakes. We have 3 acres and one of the snakes was out in the woods, which is fine because that's where they belong. One was in our backyard, and the other was in our driveway today. :001_huh: The two around the house were 2' garter snakes. I know they help keep mice away, but I just need them to stay down in the woods. DH used his 12 gauge on the last one and I used a shovel on the one I saw today. What bothers me the most is that they won't slither away when we get close, which means we could very easily step on them. That FREAKS me out!

 

I don't know if I'll ever adjust to country life. Any advice on how to handle it when we see them?

 

You will rather have snakes outside than mice inside. I promise you that...:tongue_smilie:

 

My advice is to become familiar with the wildlife in your area. Find out what the poisonous snakes are and teach your children to watch out for them. Most poisonous snakes will go away if given ample warning (bells on dogs when walking in the woods, loud kids, etc). Don't kill the good ones and never the big black long black ones (racer snakes or chicken snakes). They eat the dangerous snakes...and unfortunatly chicken eggs....but I'd rather them get a few and still eat the bad snakes.

[hollyh]

What a fun story to tell the kids! :) Good luck. I live in the city and have never seen a snake in the wild. I would act just like you!

[Starr]

I'm surprised you've seen so many! I live in the middle of the woods with conservation land all around us. I rarely see them.

 

I do feel bad that you killed them, though. :( I know, you probably think I'm weird, but if they're not harming anyone................

 

When we first bought our house I was TERRIFIED of bugs. I've gotten SO much better now, 15 years later. Give it time. You'll adjust.

 

:lol: In 15 years you'll feel better. Just teasing ladies. :D I'm not a fan of snakes or bugs and I stay away from the howling coyotes.

[Word Nerd]

Just the other day I was looking up info on what to feed garter snakes because DD wants one as a pet. Not sure I want to OK that idea, but there's no reason to kill them and several beneficial reasons to learn how to live in peace with them.

[LBS]

I requested husband to remove really large old black snake, seen her several times in one summer, kids were toddling and wanted to mess with her....he moved her, but was not happy about it. I also didn't want mice traps around the house, inside. So, sitting in my living room, seeing mice in three locations in my room, while reading, cured me. Snakes are great, black racers, corn snakes, anything that will keep the mice outside. I think there's another big one living under the front porch, now, years later, cause she cleaned out the baby birds in the bird house bottle, in the spring (yack!) but, so be it. Nasty little mice leaving evidence everywhere, really gross me out worse.

 

I thought I was pretty much a cool country convert, till a medium sized black racer, about two feet, came on in the house one night, when I was unloading groceries. So, I screamed like a little girl, woke husband up, he (in underwear and boots) clomps downstairs, dons grilling gloves and tries to capture this guy, who is FAST! So, she gets under some furniture and husband goes back to bed, and I calm down, knowing I will sleep upstairs. Couple hours later, dog spots her, and I chase her around with gloves, corner her, and ("they don't bite") she gets into classic striking position. So, her tiny mouth is no match for these huge gloves, but its so scary to see even a small snake in strike position. SO, I scream again, wake big, strong (mad at me, now) husband to come get the snake. He does, and it clamps down solidly on the finger of those gloves ("they don't bite") so he has to lay it and glove on the ground so it can get its tiny fangs out of the glove. Uh, huh. Maybe they don't bite, but they sure do chew.

 

I love, love looking at snakes, and admiring them, but its so much nicer if some nice herpetologist is holding them for you.

[silliness7]

OP, I just wanted to be a voice of commisseration since so many have been appalled at your course of action!

 

For what it is worth, I am not opposed to hand grenades and nuclear devices in the extermination of sneaky, creepy, reptiles out to scare the living daylights out of me! :D

 

Astrid understands me well on this point.

 

As for the mice and vole population, I'd rather harbor a colony of feral cats than one snake. I think I've developed an anti-snake reputation amongst the reptiles in our area...we've lived here five years now and they are staying away. Apparently, they know that the kind of person who will hire a hit on snakes has moved into the territory. :lol:

 

I wonder if a mongoose makes a nice pet????

 

Faith

 

 

:lol::lol: My sentiments exactly!!

[scrapbabe]

Snakes don't bother me too much because we've got a resident herpetologist. :D My ds takes care of all our snake issues. Now, when we moved out here 6mths ago nobody told me we'd deal with SCORPIONS on an almost daily basis. They make fun of me for carrying around a flashlight at night.

 

We get scorpions here too. Luckily there's a few wild road runners that show up from time to time to keep the population down. We have lots of bats too, but they eat the mosquitoes.

 

To the original poster. Sorry about he snakes. Hopefully you guys can happily co-exist from here on out.

[Katiebug_1976]

Welcome to country life!:D Don't worry, you will adjust and get used to them. I used to be terrified of snakes, but after so many years of living "with" them (not in town, but out in the country) they don't freak me out anymore. I still don't like finding them, but I'm not scared of them like I used to be.

[ktgrok]

FYI.....the "bad" snakes are not poisonous, they are venomous. Poisonous means something that is poison to eat. Venomous is when they can inject you with venom.

 

Sorry...pet peeve of mine.

[wapiti]

Better to have that habitat occupied by a garter snake than a rattle snake. Keep killing the nice ones and you leave a vacum for the venomous ones.

 

:iagree:Better to have garter snakes than either rattlesnakes or mice. Where we are, there are rattlesnakes (knock on wood that they stay far away from our yard!) and lots of garter snakes and lots of field mice. It's the time of year when the cool weather sends the mice looking for shelter in our garage. We did find a baby garter snake dead in our basement recently - I'm hoping it came in through the crawl space. A two-foot one was in a window well the other day, and apparently it managed to escape.

 

When I see a snake, I usually try to get a picture, so that I can confirm identification. Recently DH saw a large bull snake down the street (>6ft) and was afraid it was a rattler till he got home with the picture and we looked it up.

 

The first thing you might want to do is to read up on the species that are venomous in your area. There are usually only a few. Learn to identify them.

 

:iagree: Google your state and snake identification.

[GWOB]

:lol: I'm laughing WITH you, not at you. Sigh. We bought our current home because I had crazy city-girl fantasies of farm life. I totally forgot about the bugs, rodents, reptiles, and wild animals. We've lived here about 3 1/2 years. We have had FOUR (!!!!!) snakes INSIDE our vintage farmhouse. Oh, the house has tons of character, but FOUR snakes?!?!?! And the constant bugs. Shiver. And mice. Barf. When the farmers cut the fields after the weather has cooled, the snakes are usually underground, which means all the mice in the fields decide to squat in our house. Shall we discuss the coutless times our pet doggies have had encounters with either skunks or racoons? We can also discuss the fact that some sort of critter ate all of our chickens, despite the fact that they were locked up in their coop.

 

I would rather deal with crackhead neighbors than snakes in the house.

[creekland]

Hubby killed a fair number of snakes the first year we moved to our farm and we seldom have seen any since. I guess they got the message. I'm one of those with somewhat of a phobia about snakes. Spiders don't bother me. I'll pick them up and transport them outside. Snakes and I will only get along with a truce when I'm out hiking in their territory. Then I let hubby and/or the boys go first so snakes don't surprise me.

 

But in my place, if a snake dares to come, they will pay for it with their lives if we can get to them.

 

Cats take care of rodents at a much quicker pace than snakes. Chickens do a good job on insects/slugs, etc. Our chickens even killed a baby snake once and they pecked to death a mouse that got in their coop! Yeah for the chickens!

[SweetMissMagnolia]

lol grew up in the country--don't really like snakes but if they come close to the house they are "fair game" IMO LOL I think you're going to find alot of critters in your new surroundings LOL---I've heard that mothballs can keep snakes away--if you can I would toss some around the house or perimeter of the yard.....

 

**side note-I can't tell you how many snakes BIL killed when we were growing up and he would leave them for us to find and then sit back and watch for someone to walk up on it..... :tongue_smilie:

[Jeannie in NJ]

can snakes hurt cats? We currently live on maybe 1/4 acre on an island and one of the houses we are looking at is backed by 11,500 acres of woods which I will love if we get that house but who knows what kind of wildlife there will be. Heck, I don't even know if New Jersey has snakes but even on our 1/4 acre we have seen possums, foxes and once a deer (we have immense area of wetlands and meadows behind us). So IF NJ has snakes, will I have to worry about my cats being outside when we move?

[WishboneDawn]

can snakes hurt cats? We currently live on maybe 1/4 acre on an island and one of the houses we are looking at is backed by 11,500 acres of woods which I will love if we get that house but who knows what kind of wildlife there will be. Heck, I don't even know if New Jersey has snakes but even on our 1/4 acre we have seen possums, foxes and once a deer (we have immense area of wetlands and meadows behind us). So IF NJ has snakes, will I have to worry about my cats being outside when we move?

 

More likely the cats will hunt the snakes. New Jersey likely has a lot of the same snakes we do here in Nova Scotia - red-bellied, garter, garden and such.