Snake peeps, an embarrassing question

[Spryte]

So … I am not a snake person, but am pro-snake, if that makes sense.  I like them, but don’t want to hang out with them.  Live and let live.  

Our basement has occasionally had a snake visitor that we take outside, if we leave the door open.  Mostly black snakes but we also have copperheads around and a variety of others. Maybe three times in five years we’ve had a snake friend appear in the basement.  

This afternoon DS had a vaxxed friend over.  They hung out in the basement with the sliding door open, no screen, fan pointing out.  She left around 3 pm, door was left open till after dark. It was hot all day 80s - 90s.  

Ummmm.  How will I know if we have another snake visitor?  Is there anything I can do to determine if there is a snake in the house?

And to share my snake in the house story from childhood, one summer my mom and I went to our aunt’s cottage, old pre-Civil War cottage.  It was hot when we arrived and we took a nap in the only room with AC.  I dreamed a snake climbed out of the couch and over my body, but I could not move.  Chalked it up to a nightmare.  The next morning, we found the snake in the toilet.  … So I guess my fear has some basis in experience!

[Starr]

Yikes!

 

[Dmmetler]

I'd suggest shining a light around hiding places, just to reassure yourself there's nothing extra there. I think it's unlikely, but I know from experience that if you want to see snakes, they are great at hiding, and if you don't, they pop up everywhere! 

[Spryte]

1 hour ago, Dmmetler said:

I'd suggest shining a light around hiding places, just to reassure yourself there's nothing extra there. I think it's unlikely, but I know from experience that if you want to see snakes, they are great at hiding, and if you don't, they pop up everywhere! 

Lights. Ok.  I should have done that earlier.  Ugh.  Hopefully anything there will stay in the basement over night.  Ugh.  I really hope no one decided to investigate our basement.  

[Spryte]

One more question, a silly one, would our dogs catch on if something is down there?  Smell them?  I might have the dogs help me check around this morning.  

 

[Dmmetler]

1 hour ago, Spryte said:

One more question, a silly one, would our dogs catch on if something is down there?  Smell them?  I might have the dogs help me check around this morning.  

 

Yes. When we've had animals come into the house, or a snake escape, the cats have been the first to let us know. Since you're in an area with copperheads, keep them on leash, just in case. Dogs get bitten pretty often because of their tendency to stick their noses in after the snake, and while antivenin exists for dogs, it's expensive. There is snake aversion training for dogs, which basically is teaching them to detect the snake, but point them vs go after them themselves. (This is also used in detecting animals for study), but how successful it is depends heavily on breed and the individual dog. 

 

 

Edited August 10, 2021 by Dmmetler

[Spryte]

7 minutes ago, Dmmetler said:

Yes. When we've had animals come into the house, or a snake escape, the cats have been the first to let us know. 

Ok, great! Good to know. Dogs are heading downstairs now.  🤣 I will be insisting that the dogs hang in the basement all day!

IRL friend (who is a snake lover, and would happily remove a snake for me) just stopped by, and we did a quick check of the couch and anyplace our tweens will be hanging down there.  All clear.  The rest of the basement, including the unfinished storage area … we will never find a snake who chooses to hide!  

And just to reiterate … snake friendly house here, we would just take it outside, but I am totally not up for snake friends popping up when not expected!

Edited August 10, 2021 by Spryte

[hippymamato3]

6 hours ago, Spryte said:

Ok, great! Good to know. Dogs are heading downstairs now.  🤣 I will be insisting that the dogs hang in the basement all day!

IRL friend (who is a snake lover, and would happily remove a snake for me) just stopped by, and we did a quick check of the couch and anyplace our tweens will be hanging down there.  All clear.  The rest of the basement, including the unfinished storage area … we will never find a snake who chooses to hide!  

And just to reiterate … snake friendly house here, we would just take it outside, but I am totally not up for snake friends popping up when not expected!

If you think they will attack the snake, I wouldn't do this. They might get hurt. 

[Spryte]

2 hours ago, hippymamato3 said:

If you think they will attack the snake, I wouldn't do this. They might get hurt. 

Thanks for thinking of our dogs! 
 

I was being a bit tongue in cheek. It didn’t come across in text, did it?  Oops.  Sorry!

Friend and I checked everything over (mostly sans dogs), and one dog eventually meandered downstairs to see what we were doing.  But no dogs hang out in the basement without a person, and our dogs are the type to point at an animal, and easily taken by the collar and pulled away, had something happened when I was right there with them.

The dog that did go downstairs managed to sniff out some crumbs, so it was a win for him! 
 

No snake discovered.  Hopefully we don’t have a new roommate.

Edited August 11, 2021 by Spryte

[Dmmetler]

I would expect a dog to show a lot of interest in a snake, so I think you're good. 

 

We're reinacting Caddy shack with a mouse in the attic that seems to have trap radar or something. We have three different varieties of live catch traps and have even seen it sitting on the traps (and based on coloration, we're seeing the same mouse). I am sorely tempted to open the attic door and let the cats in, because they definitely are aware he's there based on their behavior.

[Spryte]

1 hour ago, Dmmetler said:

I would expect a dog to show a lot of interest in a snake, so I think you're good. 

 

We're reinacting Caddy shack with a mouse in the attic that seems to have trap radar or something. We have three different varieties of live catch traps and have even seen it sitting on the traps (and based on coloration, we're seeing the same mouse). I am sorely tempted to open the attic door and let the cats in, because they definitely are aware he's there based on their behavior.

That is one smart mouse! I hope you can live trap it. I would be tempted to let the cats in, too, in the hope the mouse would just leave. But as it might end badly for the mouse … I probably would not do it.  

Hmmmm. If only we could combine our attics and basements … my possible snake could chase away your Houdini mouse.

DH and I had coffee in the basement this morning, and I sat down on the couch and immediately had a moment of “what if there’s a snake in the couch?” … It made me laugh. I really think we’re ok. I hope. If not, I’ll be back to this thread posting an update with lots of exclamation points. 
 

 

[Dmmetler]

If it weren't that I was afraid of losing the snake, I'd be tempted to turn Pinkie Py(thon) loose. But given his tendency to eat and then fall asleep, we'd never find him again. The cats have a much higher chance of bringing their trophy out to us. I'd rather not kill it (we've been cutting back trees and reinforcing possible entry points to keep them out, with the idea that then we can trap and remove the mouse and not have a further problem), but I do want him out living his smart mousey life elsewhere. Or maybe back living with the rats of NIMH....

[Spryte]

Rats of NIMH was my first thought, too!
 

[Dmmetler]

Still haven't caught our mouse from NIMH. I'm kind of afraid of what it might be able to do to the cats if I let them in...