Snake next to my bed (Ozark, Fisk: house, live in, to eat)

[STLCardsBlues1989]

My cat caught a snake tonight. It was a foot from my headboard. Little bitty snake. It was colored like a rattlesnake, but it had round pupils. None of us got bit, except maybe my cat. He doesn't act hurt, though.

Anybody else have snakes in their house before? I have a nickel-sized hole in my wall where cables used to go. I guess that's where he came in.

We threw the snake outside. I'm a little shaken up.

And my cat is mad that I took his prey away.

It's a Great Plains Rat snake.
Apparently they're mostly found around the Missouri River counties and in southern areas of the state excluding southeastern counties. I live in Southeast Missouri. Is he a bit out of his place?

The snake beats its tail really fast when scared, which is why I thought I heard a June Bug.

Speaking of bugs, some little bug (ambush bug?) came walking across my screen. It's gone to bug heaven.

Great Plains Rat Snake (Elaphe emoryi)
Great Plains rat snakes have a light gray background color that is covered with black-edged, brown blotches. There is a dark brown stripe between the eyes that extends along the sides of the head onto the neck. The belly is white with bold, squarish, black markings in a checkerboard pattern. This species ranges from 30 to 58 inches in length.
Great Plains rat snakes are found throughout the Missouri Ozarks and into western and northwestern parts of the state. They are commonly found on rocky, sparsely wooded hillsides, in or near abandoned farm buildings and in the vicinity of caves. Rodents are an important food, but this species is also known to eat bats.

Other Missouri constrictors include the black rat snake, the western fox snake, the Great Plains rat snake, the bullsnake, the prairie kingsnake and the speckled kingsnake.

All of our constrictors vibrate their tail when alarmed as another defense measure.

Missouri's Constrictors

[kshe95girl]

Girl, ya need to stopper up that hole with something! Before something worse comes through....... take my word on this, I know where ya live!
On another note, my beloved kitty Chaos got bitten by God-knows-what down here the other day, and he is an indoor kitty, we have been looking for holes ever since!
BTW, hope your kitty is ok.

[STLCardsBlues1989]

He acts alright. Apparently the bite is generally almost painless. I assume it bit him because he flung it up in the air. I kept feeling his paws and he didn't act like he was in pain. It's nonvenemous.

Mom's chihuahua is terrified.

[STLCardsBlues1989]

I'll go back to bed soon.

But the TV stays on. And maybe I'll sleep on the other side of the bed.

He's gone, but I'm still a little freaked out.

[kshe95girl]

Originally Posted by STLCardsBlues1989

I'll go back to bed soon.

But the TV stays on. And maybe I'll sleep on the other side of the bed.

He's gone, but I'm still a little freaked out.

Please keep an eye on the kitty's paws for a bit, Chaos' paw swelled up to almost twice its size. I know it didnt hurt him, but it freaked him out a bit....
BTW, is it wrong of me that I laughed that your moms dog was bit freaked out?

[STLCardsBlues1989]

No. Everything scares her: big noises, bubble wrap, balloons, fly swatters, the list goes on. And somehow she knew to be afraid of an immobilized snake.

[kshe95girl]

LMAO, sorry, STL, just had a mental image of the dog, so funny!

[kshe95girl]

STL, it just bothers me that you have a hole in your wall...... I have been having trouble with bears down here, so I am worrying about you, get somebody to plug the hole up, please?
Reminds me of when I lived down at my Grandmothers in Fisk, there was a hole by the window, a panther came sniffing.

[tambre]

Hi,
There is nothing more unnerving than finding some sort of creepy crawly inside the house, unexpectedly. Glad your snake was non-poisonous. When we last visited our land we came across these two snakes, having a
"private moment".

[Towhee]

A few years ago I walked into my bedroom in the daytime. My DH was behind me going down the hall to his room. He yelled "Thers's a snake! " It was hanging on my bedroom window's curtain rod. I could see it was a non poisonous one, but DH chose to go get his 'snake catcher' and take it outside. ( I would have used my hands.) :-)

I never did know how it got in, but I suspect the same way all the mice do. Probably the same way the op's snake did, or through where water pipes come in ?? I have never worried about it. :-)