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when i had many snakes, i use to chop them in half with a shovel if i could catch them...
i live on the water and use to get quite a few..
when fishing one from shore, i was using a weedless frog, and on a few occassions a snake went after it,,one time,,,i let the snake have it,,and it swallowed it,,,hooks and all..
so,,,you can always place some weedless frogs or fake mice around,,,if they eat them, this will probly kill them...
or
get a few larger fake/rubber snakes....put them around your property..
I'm still amazed at how many people have an utterly irrational fear of snakes. I can only surmise that as a young child they had a severe case of NDD...and, most likely, fearful parents. The big problem is that people keep on passing this fear along to their kids. What a shame.
It's not irrational at all but a product of natural selection. Like our (as a species) fear of falling and fear of the dark; most useful for a species that developed in Africa, a species that used trees for shelter and were often killed by venomous serpents and night hunting large cats.
Water moccasins are live bearers and don't lay eggs. If you see a recently born baby moccasin (The tip of it's tail will be yellowish green) Mom can't be too far off. However, they do not care for the babies, baby moccasins are independent and care for them self the minute they are born.
Now that's something I didn't know. I remember thinking the tip of its tail looked strange.
It's not irrational at all but a product of natural selection. Like our (as a species) fear of falling and fear of the dark; most useful for a species that developed in Africa, a species that used trees for shelter and were often killed by venomous serpents and night hunting large cats.
True but a fear of snakes is not common in all cultures. North America has no particulary dangerous snakes. Fear of snakes was not very common among the northern tribes. However the further south you go in the Americas the more common and more aggressive venomous snakes become and the greater the local fear.
India on the other hand has a huge very venomous snake population and has the most deaths per year by snake bites, but fear of snakes is almost non-existent,
Attitude towards snakes seems to be a learned behavior. Babies up to the age of toddlers show no fear of snakes and in regions that do have snakes you will find parents have a great fear toddlers will pick up venomous snakes. Which is a major concern as they will. (A strong indicator fear of snakes is not a product of natural selection) Toddlers will readily reach for and pick up snakes, especially brightly colored venomous ones.
I find that people from Christian Nations that have no snakes are often the people with the greatest fear of snakes. I attribute that is because their most vivid childhood knowledge of snakes comes from the bible.
Now that's something I didn't know. I remember thinking the tip of its tail looked strange.
Here is a very good picture of a recently born water moccasin
The yellow tip only lasts a short time. They don't get their dark coloration until they are a bout a year old. Until then they have a strong resemblance to their very close cousin the Copperhead.
The Water moccasins spend a good part of their first year on land and during that time they eat primarily frogs, insects and mice. They don't become full time water dwellers until they are big enough to catch fish which then becomes their primary diet. Their coloration also becomes nearly black with a light colored belly at that time.
It's not irrational at all but a product of natural selection. Like our (as a species) fear of falling and fear of the dark; most useful for a species that developed in Africa, a species that used trees for shelter and were often killed by venomous serpents and night hunting large cats.
You're afraid of the dark, too??? Wow.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Woodrow LI
Attitude towards snakes seems to be a learned behavior.
Some posters have mentioned cats as useful snake repellers of non-poisonous snakes. True, cats are good hunters - but do be aware that even garter snakes can bite.
A snake-catching cat of mine got bitten once - I didn't realize it until I noticed that his jaw was swollen as if he had the mumps! This was about fifteen minutes after I'd removed a writhing snake from his mouth (and dropped it over the fence)..
So I rushed him to the nearby vet, where some sort of antidote was administered and he was kept under observation for the rest of the day. After he came home, he ate and drank normally, but clearly wasn't feeling good for the several days it took for the swelling to subside. But he survived and lived a long seventeen-year life.
I jinxed myself this morning. I commented that I wondered when my first snake encounter of the spring would be. Of course, I walked outside to do some light gardening in the landscaping beds and encountered my first snake under the porch.
The snakes in my area are non-poisonous, but they can be large! (3-5 feet in length or more). I know they will be near the house this time of year, but I really hate being startled by them. They scare me.
So, there are snake repellants available, prevention methods, some "natural" remedies like marigolds. What has worked for you?
BTW--not much we can do as far as prevention. The small porch area where I encountered one today is clear of brush, weeds, etc. The only solution would be to pull it out and install concrete. That's not going to happen. They also like a few other areas near the house and near the shrubs, etc.
If you figure you dont have poisonous I wouldnt worry about them.Just rember they are there.But I had a copperhead in my flower garden where theres lots of bushes.I think it bit my dog.Just made his head swell.I put mothballs around the snakes hole and I didnt see it nomore. Got rattlers too but never had any trouble with them.
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Wow. 
