this is stupid i know...snakes in missouri (Springfield, Ladue: home, camp)

[20yrsinBranson]

Originally Posted by RedneckHybrid

And speaking of chiggers: This summer we have tried our hand at keeping guineas (now, there's a dumb critter - a bucket of laughs, they are ) for we also have issues with chiggers and ticks, with deer ticks being a potential hazard. Do folks out there keep guineas? Why or why not? Is there any noticeable benefit? What's the going price for guineas around there?

Thanks!
Valerie

You can pick up full grown guineas for about five bucks a head. Three dollars for keets. I am told that they are good when it comes to lessening the tick population (as are chickens too, from what I hear) but I am doubtful on chiggers which are almost microscopic in size. Speaking of hearing....have you ever in your life heard a guinea? It's like a combination of an air horn and running your fingernails across a blackboard. Not for the faint-hearted. har har

I am told that guineas make the best gumbo in the world. Never tried it myself.

20yrsinBranson

[Skip-n-Bit]

Originally Posted by RedneckHybrid

This past winter we were out of the house for half a day and returned to find our parakeet no longer in view inside his cage. What we did find in the cage was a Black snake with a bulge a ways down his length that apparently prevented him from exiting the cage the same way he got in.

Additionally we lost 2 young pullets just this spring to a couple of Black snakes.

J
Valerie

Sorry to hear about your parakeet and pullets.

We have black snakes here in Middle TN and had one try to come through a screen window to get at our Cockatiel several years ago.

Our latest incident was finding two black snakes curled up under one of the nest boxes. I only found them as I had picked up the "box" to stir the pine shavings and found this:



At first, we thought the bulge was an egg. We netted the snakes out of the coop and moved them to the back of the property (all farmland owned by our landlady). I realized the next day that the "egg" was actually the golf ball that we kept in the nest box for the Silkies. If that ball wan't in the box, they'd lay on the floor, instead.

If we had realized our mistake, we would have done our best to save the snake as we have no problem with them.


Dawn

[joetownmom]

Originally Posted by Hillman

Hey how many Poisones Spiders do we have?

hillman

Brown recluse and black widows. Here's a link to what a brown recluse bite can do:

Spider bites, infections aren’t much fun - Neosho, MO - Neosho Daily News

Black widow bites can be even worse.

[dfiddler]

Originally Posted by RedneckHybrid

And speaking of chiggers: This summer we have tried our hand at keeping guineas (now, there's a dumb critter - a bucket of laughs, they are ) for we also have issues with chiggers and ticks, with deer ticks being a potential hazard. Do folks out there keep guineas? Why or why not? Is there any noticeable benefit? What's the going price for guineas around there?

Thanks!
Valerie

I was thinking about guineas for tick control too ... 'course , Ive already found a family of foxes in my driveway, I hear the coyotes at night , see hawks circling in the day, daily chase the neighbor's dogs out of my yard , and one of my neighbors never,ever stops shooting his guns ...Im not sure what the chances of survival would be for the poor little guineas ??

Man, my place has ticks and chiggers out da wazoo ... I cut the grass and see armies of ticks swarming ....big ones, and millions of those tiny seed ticks ( deer ticks ? ) I will be doing battle with them suckers.

My Dad was raking some leaves out of the grass ...then I heard him swearing and fussing over something ... I looked over and he had a snapping turtle clamped down on his rake , and it wouldn't let go .
That was a funny sight, watching him trying to dislodge that turtle

About snakes .... I see many, many more snakes in NJ then I do in Missouri ..... you often have to thrash them with your fishing pole in NJ to keep them away from you .... Ive only found small bug eater snakes in MO. so far ,though I did see a large shedded snakeskin in my grass ...

I was moving debri in my MO. yard and accidently picked up a black widow spider ...beautiful creature , with that cool red hourglass on its shiney black body .... I think I'd be more worried about those climbing in my boots then worrying about snakes .... yeah Ozarksboy ! Tell'em about those black widder spiders that crawl up into your boots and clothes at night out there in MO.

[joetownmom]

Originally Posted by dfiddler

I was thinking about guineas for tick control too ... 'course , Ive already found a family of foxes in my driveway, I hear the coyotes at night , see hawks circling in the day, daily chase the neighbor's dogs out of my yard , and one of my neighbors never,ever stops shooting his guns ...Im not sure what the chances of survival would be for the poor little guineas ??

Man, my place has ticks and chiggers out da wazoo ... I cut the grass and see armies of ticks swarming ....big ones, and millions of those tiny seed ticks ( deer ticks ? ) I will be doing battle with them suckers.

My Dad was raking some leaves out of the grass ...then I heard him swearing and fussing over something ... I looked over and he had a snapping turtle clamped down on his rake , and it wouldn't let go .
That was a funny sight, watching him trying to dislodge that turtle

About snakes .... I see many, many more snakes in NJ then I do in Missouri ..... you often have to thrash them with your fishing pole in NJ to keep them away from you .... Ive only found small bug eater snakes in MO. so far ,though I did see a large shedded snakeskin in my grass ...

I was moving debri in my MO. yard and accidently picked up a black widow spider ...beautiful creature , with that cool red hourglass on its shiney black body .... I think I'd be more worried about those climbing in my boots then worrying about snakes .... yeah Ozarksboy ! Tell'em about those black widder spiders that crawl up into your boots and clothes at night out there in MO.

It's the brown recluse that crawls into boots and clothes at night - the bites are very nasty. Think rotting flesh.

Black widow bites are even worse.

[RedneckHybrid]

Dawn, thanks for your sympathy concerning our parakeet and chickens. The parakeet belonged to our 11 yo daughter - the shock of discovery was quite dramatic. We have an old house with radiator heat which has lots of nooks and crannies for small animals. We've had a beast of a time with mice in the past which is why the idea of black snakes living in the crawl space under our house didn't bother us too much, but I don't particularly like it when they decide to slither about in our living space.

Thanks to others for the info on guineas in the area. Dfiddler, it does sound as if you might have a difficult time keeping guineas alive on your property. Though it appears possible that guineas can be trained to roost in a secure pen every night, ours do - it just means keeping them in there for 6 to 8 weeks before you let them out for the first time (google guineas, I found a true guinea lover that way). You just have to remember to lock them up at night.

20yrs, your description of the sound guineas make is great! Close on the mark, too. Amazingly enough, though I have half a dozen neighbors within earshot I've yet to receive any complaints.

I gotta say, though, this talk of poisonous spiders is beginning to give me the jitters. I have youngins - my youngest not yet 3. I was looking forward to giving them opportunity to be more adventurous and free - if our offer on the house near Mansfield gets accepted. I would appreciate advice on how to train them to watch out for such risks, things to avoid, and what to do when they do have run-ins with them. Oh, and it would be great to know of ways to reduce their presence inside the house and conditions in which you are likely to find them. Y'all seem to be managing your way among them, so it seems as if we should be able to, too - so long as we get and follow some good advice.

Valerie

[RedneckHybrid]

Dawn, thanks for your sympathy concerning our parakeet and chickens. The parakeet belonged to our 11 yo daughter - the shock of discovery was quite dramatic. We have an old house with radiator heat which has lots of nooks and crannies for small animals. We've had a beast of a time with mice in the past which is why the idea of black snakes living in the crawl space under our house didn't bother us too much, but I don't particularly like it when they decide to slither about in our living space.

Thanks to others for the info on guineas in the area. Dfiddler, it does sound as if you might have a difficult time keeping guineas alive on your property. Though it appears possible that guineas can be trained to roost in a secure pen every night, ours do - it just means keeping them in there for 6 to 8 weeks before you let them out for the first time (google guineas, I found a true guinea lover that way). You just have to remember to lock them up at night.

20yrs, your description of the sound guineas make is great! Close on the mark, too. Amazingly enough, though I have half a dozen neighbors within earshot I've yet to receive any complaints.

I gotta say, though, this talk of poisonous spiders is beginning to give me the jitters. I have youngins - my youngest not yet 3. I was looking forward to giving them opportunity to be more adventurous and free - if our offer on the house near Mansfield gets accepted. I would appreciate advice on how to train them to watch out for such risks, things to avoid, and what to do when they do have run-ins with them. Oh, and it would be great to know of ways to reduce their presence inside the house and conditions in which you are likely to find them. Y'all seem to be managing your way among them, so it seems as if we should be able to, too - so long as we get and follow some good advice.

Valerie

[misplaced1]

Hey this was supposed to be a snake thread. Not those other things with legs Show some mercy

[RedneckHybrid]

Originally Posted by misplaced1

Hey this was supposed to be a snake thread. Not those other things with legs Show some mercy

LOL. Truly, would you rather suffer a whole separate topic? I prefer to get all such discussions dealt with under one heading.

Sorry for the double post, I just went in to edit one tiny thing and ended up with that. I wish I had noticed it right away, I suspect I would have been able to delete the first one.

[Hillman]

Now how did I forget these fine Pest Horse Flies and Deer Flies they make things fun.

hillman