Okay. So I am basically freaking out. Let me set the scene. We live outside of town. Not too country, but semi. I was getting ready to let the dogs outside to do their thing. When I opened the door our 4lb. yorkie named Tootie, and our 18lb shih-tzu named Gizmo went out first. I was holding the door for our poodle, Max when I spotted the snake. It was laying under some plastic by the door. I grabbed him up threw him back in and shut the door leaving Tootie and Gizmo outside with the snake. I couldn’t open the door because by that time it had done slithered to the top of the step. I tried and it was a hair away from getting inside.
By that time I am screaming at the top of my lungs. The dogs never once barked at the snake, but was taking much interest. Tootie was the closest and with couriosty was trying to sniff at it. I couldn’t see, but I think the snake tried to strike at her because she backed off like so. I called my other half at work 25 miles away screaming at him. He’s telling me I have to get the dogs back in. I felt so helpless. Finally I couldn’t see it no more and I let them back in. I am freaking out thinking it went under the house. There are holes and could easily get in. I estimate it to have been a simple black snake about a foot long and the size of a mop handle in width. I hate snakes. Now I can’t let the dogs out because I am to chicken shit. I don’t care. I’ll mop up piss till the cows come home before I step foot outside with the dogs.
So what is the worst this snake can do? I know it’s not poisenous. Could it have ate Tootie as small as she is? Does anyone know if putting moth balls out works and do they make something that would keep snakes away? I will be going to Lowes tonight when my hubby gets home if anyone has suggestions. How will I ever get my “security” back. I am going to have nightmares for weeks.
Not knowing where you live makes it difficult to figure out what type of snake it is, but since you seem to know it’s not poisonous, that’s a plus. Given it’s size, I would guess the very biggest thing it could eat would be a normal sized rodent, such as a gerbil or small guinea pig (which is neither from Guinea nor is a pig. Discuss.). Your dogs should be safe, provided it truly isn’t poisonous.
And since your reaction was so extreme, you’re obviously snakea-ma-phobic. No amount of “Don’t worry, it won’t hurt you” is going to help. Wait until your SO gets home, and then make him go under the house and ferret it out. Try not to kill the poor little bugger.
Plus, could be worse. We had a family of skunks move in under our porch once…
I live in East Tennessee. Not far from the Great Smoky Mountains. I know it wasn’t a rattle snake. I have seen a green snake here once, very small though pencil sized. I have seen a copper head before very close encounter, but not on this property. It wasn’t that. I am certain it was just a black snake. I don’t care what color it is, it still don’t make me not scaird. And I doubt hubby will be going under the house. He says he’ll cover holes and stuff when he gets home. I’ll believe it when I see it. But I will make sure he doesn’t get any rest until he does. I won’t quit with the incessant nagging that will forever haunt him.
By the way I now have a shovel inside the house. I managed to snag it from the porch. He’s going down if he gets in here.
I’ve had snakes that were about 3 feet long and big around as a broomstick, and I guarantee, they don’t eat anything bigger than a gerbil. Mostly mice. If you know it’s not poisonous, don’t give it another thought. He doesn’t like you much either, and is probably out looking for something to eat. It doesn’t want your little dogs…they won’t try to eat something they can’t swallow.
Ashkicker, I don’t know where you live, but was the snake all black? If it was all black to the point it was almost blue, then it was most likely a smallish black racer, seen here.
If it had a lighter underbelly and a really small head, it may have been a worm snake. They’re pretty much completely harmless. The other possibility I can think of is a rat snake, but one that small would probably be young enough to be all mottled still and not be black yet, which is good, because rat snakes are constrictors, although I don’t think they’d be able to handle a dog – they usually just eat mice.
You’re not going to want to hear this, but black racers are good snakes to have live in your yard. They’re nonpoisonous and extremely territorial; they will chase off other (read: poisonous) snakes, so if you live in an area that has a lot of snakes, this is really helpful. When I lived in Florida, we had black racers in our yard and they kept the rattlesnakes at bay, and all our neighbors thought we were lucky to have them.
Of course, you probably are not comforted by all that, in which case: mothballs will work, but you have to have a pretty good saturation if you want to go that route – they really only keep snakes away from the immediate area, so you’d have to like line the outside of your house with them. And you have to refresh them about once a month.
Here’s another link that will either help you or freak you right out.
This probably isn’t hepful, but the worst thing that snake could do would be to leave your house and let the rats and mice take over. If the snake was black, there’s very very little chance that it was poisonous (it could’ve been a water moccasin, I suppose, but I’ve never heard of one of those hanging out by a house).
Snake bites can get infected, like any animal bite. But what you probably saw is a common blacksnake, and they’re shy little buggers that just want to eat their rats and mice in peace.
'Course, I’ve got a nasty phobia of injections, so I can’t criticize your snakeophobia too much; I can only suggest that if you can give the snake its room, you’ll probably appreciate the lack of rats and mice around your home.
25 someodd years ago when I lived up north, my mom had a nice garden where she grew strawberries on the side of the house. One day she was quite horrified that a three foot long snake had taken up residence there. My mom HATES snakes. Fortunately (for the snake, and later my mother) a neighbor was able to identify the snake as a black snake and advised her just to leave it be. Mr. Snake wasn’t interested in her, her children (one of whom, her son, thought snakes were really neat ) her dog or her two cats. It was only interested in killing and eating some of my mother’s OTHER least favorite animals, rats and mice.
They found out where his burrow was (it was actually in the garden) and my mom lived by a simple rule. If she saw it in the garden, she’d go away and come back later. Since she knew where the snake hole was, she could keep an eye on it. If she didn’t see the snake, she could work all she wanted, because the snake wouldn’t likely come out when she was around. Snakes really don’t try to scare humans, but sometimes they surprise each other. Her kids were instructed to leave the snake alone, especially her son who liked snakes :), and it was allowed to live in peace.
The snake lived happily in the garden for years. We’d see him now and again, sunning in the garden, but must of the time we’d only see his tail as he slipped into his hole when we got too close. My mother really learned to appreciate that ol’ reptile. She still hates snakes and gets the heebie-jeebies when she sees them, but anytime snakes come up in conversations she never fails to bring up the black snake in the strawberry garden, and how she never seemed to have to worry about pests in there.
It sounds like you REALLY don’t like snakes, but if you can confirm its not poisonous you might just have one of nature’s best rodent hitmen on guard under your house. Either way, for the sake of your nerves and the snake itself, I hope you two never meet again.
You only have one door to your house?
Put me in the “make friends with the snake” club. I know it’s crawly and startling, but except in the very, * very * unlikely event that it’s venomous, it’s a useful creature to have around.
I have quite a large garden snake living under my porch and I usually give him a friendly nod when I see him. (I live in a 150 year old house, and anything that keeps the critters down is fine with me.) Unlike the other species of wildlife that hang out in my backyard, the snake has never tried to bite me, sting me, or nibble bits of my house into sawdust.
i quite understand. i can deal with snakes and rodents but there is one form of vermin that would have me running for the nearest hotel until the exterminator declared the house pest free. of course, fire bombing the house would be an option if the exterminator took too long to arrive.
i think that you and the dogs should hide out it a secure location until the snake hunter comes home and declares the area reptile free. then consider adding a mongoose to the household.
First, rocking chair I just gotta know what vermin sends you into such fits? You just cannot post something like that without letting us know.
Second, a snake story. I killed a rattle snake in my back yard last Thursday. It was about four feet long and looked like it was headed for my pool. Now, I’m waiting for more. There is no such thing as just one rattle snake. :eek:
Ashkicker it sounds like it’s just a harmless black snake. I know this does not comfort you but they’re a good kind of snake. If I may, I throw my vote in with the don’t kill it posters. If you don’t want it on your property, please let it go somewhere else.
well, swampbear, i was traumatized by very large FLYING mutant multilegged things that y’all have down there below the mason-dixon line. some of them may live through a summer up here or have an equally scary relation that just love the urban north. the terminex people are the only thing betwix me and a move further north, like…say… greenland.
camp lejeune is a very scary place in the summer. good thing there were marines around. i would have my cuz stomp around and spray like crazy before i would make a bathroom run.
of course the stomping got really serious when she found out we had used her bottle of chanel #5 as a “raid substitute.”
Yes and no. Only one door that I can exit out of. The other door doesn’t lock and there is a piece of wood nailed to the floor (yes it’s rigged) with a gun case sitting in front of it. So you can’t gain entry or exit through that door. We don’t have any kids, but if there was a fire and I couldn’t get to the door that does open I would easily break a window and climb out.
Jenny Haniver, I checked out all the pictures people have posted and your smallish black racer seems awfully close to what I seen. I was in such a panic I couldn’t be certain. Are these snakes aggressive? Do they kinda chase you? I was suprised that he was a small distance away and then it was like he was trying to follow me in the house. I don’t know probably paranoia. He could have been trying to get away from the dogs even though they weren’t doing any harm to him.
I went to Lowes and got some of Dr. T’s snake repellent. I will be putting it out tomorrow. This stuff which smells like moth balls, stinks and the bottle hasn’t even been opened. I asked the clerk if they had moth balls. The answer was no they quit carrying them. When I got home and told hubby, he said it was probably because it is an item used in making pipe bombs? Don’t know how true that is. Can anyone debunk that? I thought moth balls were everywhere including Walmart, Dollar General, etc. Thanks for all the encouraging words everybody.
Oh hell, I looked like an idiot armed with a $5 mop today. It was the only thing inside the house I could get too. Like that was really gonna work. I did work up the nerve to get the shovel off the porch so at least I do have a real weapon to use if he should decide to come inside. So don’t feel too bad about the chanel #5.
I will join in the “don’t hurt it” group. Black racers are good snakes, they get rid of vermin and are generally shy, as you said he was probably trying to get into the house to get away from the dogs. Being lower to the ground the dogs seemed the more immediate threat than the human he couldn’t really see.
I wouldn’t worry about the striking moves it made because even non-poisonous species will do that if threatened.
As for moth balls, I noticed a while ago that both Lowes and Home Depot did not carry moth balls. I did not know why until I saw the other post here but I eventually found them in the grocery store. I just wanted moth balls to repel moths.
What a law. Somebody call the police I’ve done something illegal. Not this time, but in the past. So should I turn myself in over the green snake I killed last year or that copper head I run up on 12 yrs ago that got the shovel? Anyone think I’ll do time over this?
Some people have all the luck! I’d have had it caged and named before it knew what hit it!
Seriously, keep your little mousetrap around. He might turn out to be your best friend. Look at it this way - if he takes out the local rats for you, he might actually be protecting your little dogs. A good sized rat could mess up a Yorkie.
BTW, I can’t see any snake being a foot long and mopstick sized. (Okay, maybe a Gaboon or Horned Viper, but not in Tennesee.) Which is it? I’m assuming wooden mophandle, say an inch or so across. My little ratsnakes are both well over a foot and maybe half an inch. Even the baby boas at work are about a foot and well less than an inch across.
I’ve been bitten a couple of times by snakes in the three to four foot range and it wasn’t bad at all. The Pine Snake left a row of small punctures, the Kingsnake just ripped the skin a bit and the Corn and Garter snakes didn’t break skin at all. A bit of peroxide and I was good to go. In all cases it was my own fault. I’d been handling rodents and didn’t wash first before picking up the snake. I don’t suppose that’s a problem you’d have!
Ash, in my experience, black racers are shy (like all snakes), but they will occasionally chase you a bit when they know you’ve seen them and there isn’t a bolt-hole handy. It’s just bravado though - they only keep it up until you back away and they’re sure you’re not going to attack them. I’ve never had one actually catch up to me, even though they can slither really fast when they want to and could probably easily catch me. As I said, they’re really territorial yet non-poisonous, which is what makes them good to have around.
) her dog or her two cats. It was only interested in killing and eating some of my mother’s OTHER least favorite animals, rats and mice.
I’d have had it caged and named before it knew what hit it! 