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On the property that we had up near Phx, we had a huge king snake that lived on the property, HL used to move it if it came in the yard so the dogs wouldn't hurt it. It kept the rattlesnakes away. All our neighbors saw rattlers, we didn't. The only year we had a rattler was the year we didn't see our king snake.

DS,

When you go outside, make a lot of noise, stomp your feet on the ground to create a strong vibration and the snakes will steer clear.

I was just reading up on these snakes. Apparently they are excellent climbers of trees. Saw a funky picture of two of these snakes mating while climbing a tree. Now that's talent!

Nature Girl!! You are so baaaaad!

DS - I can honestly say while I understand your level of fear, rest assured that Mr. Slithers has not interest in you, your turtle, or even your dogs. He will however do a really nice job of keeing those damn Texas Rats away. Now those creep me out. The first time I saw one when I lived in Dallas I flipped out.

Being a midwest country girl, I have learned to appreciate black snakes. These guys do an awesome job of keeping the bad snakes, and vermin away. I would much rather have a shy black snake living in my foutain than rats in my crepe myrtles, or on my roof, or in my attic.

slight T/J - here in the midwest these creatures can get HUGE, I have had a few around the property over the years that are easily over 6 Feet long. They like to warm themselves on patios, and blacktop, esp as the nights start to get cooler. We used to find one in particular every spring when it would warm up, sunning himself on our driveway. I have also seen the eat fish, so if you have Koy or Goldfish in your pond, you may end up with a few less.

I was very disturbed by this post. You live about 15 miles from me and you are telling me you saw THREE snakes? No m'am .. that is WAY TO CLOSE FOR ME!!!!

I thought this thread would be safe for me because I'm not afraid of snakes. But now my skin is totally crawling, I have actual goose bumps, picturing an actual rat in a tree. OMG. Like, if you walk under that tree - what if it jumps down on you? I'll take a 6 foot black snake over a bubonic plague carrying rat any day. ~shudder~

We need a DISLIKE BUTTON!

Tell me about it...I feel like I'm living in a horror movie

And anyone that has never been to our house and is reading this probably thinks we're a bunch of hillbillies

So no sign of him this morning...but do snakes sleep at night? Or are they always slithering around?

And tushnurse...

Mr. Slithers...lol!! That's a good one even tho it makes my skin crawl

DS,

Snakes don't do a lot of moving around in general. Most of the time it's eat, sleep, and avoid being eaten. We have two corn snakes, and usually they just chill under their favorite hideouts. Like TIKY said, if you make a lot of noise while moving around, you'll never see him again. It's actually a sound strategy for avoiding snakes in the wild - of course, you won't see much else either.

Hey Tred...why don't you and your lovely wife come down here and you can catch Mr. Slithers....I'll make you a cheesecake for your efforts

So if I make a lot of noise he'll probably leave? I'm going to take out a big pot and a wooden spoon and bang the crap out of it right by the fountain

This is a weird idea and is probably going to demonstrate my ignorance on snake-ey things in general...but I think Tred mentioned that the snake will probably leave the fountain once it gets cold, but since you're in Texas it probably won't get super cold. What about dumping a bunch of ice into the water? If you just dumped a shit-ton of ice in there, maybe the water would get too cold and the snake would leave of it's own volition?

ETA: I have lived North of Chicago for 20 years and have never, ever seen a snake of any sort.

Just sayin'.

[This message edited by FacePunched at 8:28 AM, September 27th (Friday)]

DS...you do realize your neighbors are going to think you've fallen off the deep end when they look out and see you walking around banging a kettle with a wooden spoon, right?

Mr. Slither's is actually blessing your house. I'd rather have a snake then rats/mice any day. Hence my 4.5 cats (the .5 is a cat that wants to be adopted by me, I want to adopt him, but the other 4 aren't real happy about the situation). Plus Mr. Slithers eats the entire rodent and doesn't "gift" you with the odd body parts

Mr. Slithers doesn't want anything from you but a peaceful symbiotic relationship.

Be strong.

k9

I'm going to take out a big pot and a wooden spoon and bang the crap out of it right by the fountain

I'm sure your neighbors will love that

but do snakes sleep at night? Or are they always slithering around?

Nope, as Tred said they are pretty happy hiders. They sometimes don't surface for days, especially after they eat. Sometimes they come out at night to pick up some warmth from a rock, then hide again in the morning. If they did a lot of slithering in the open, they'd be goners!

Speaking of which, I'd love to take him back up here and install him in my yard, but we've got tons of hawks and he'd be a goner unless he stayed in my shed full time.

I'll make you a cheesecake for your efforts

Damn...you know my weak spot! If we were a bit closer, I'd take you up on that in a heartbeat. However, I think you'll be fine. I'd actually be surprised if you see this snake again. He's probably been living there for years and is really good at avoiding attention. The easy way to tell is do you have a problem with rats?

I'm going to take out a big pot and a wooden spoon and bang the crap out of it right by the fountain

Please post video of this.

Ice water in the fountain?? I like it!! Will that work?

Everything is making me jump. There was a cricket in the deck bench when I opened it a few minutes ago and you would have thought Freddy Kruger just jumped out at me

Here's a cute East Texas black snake. We call them Cotton Mouths and they do not play very nice.