Other than keepin the grass and weeds down and choppin em into little pieces does anybody have any hints for keepin copperheads away from the house? I just killed another one and it was a baby so there's more of the little buggers out there. that makes 3 this year, 2 bigs ones and the little one. This one was under the horse tank. Reached under and grabbed ahold and turned it over and there the little bugger was.
That makes 6 or 7 I've killed since we moved out here.
Pam, there is a spray or powder, I can't remember which that Lowe's used to have to keep snakes away. My youngest son was a Lowe's store mamager and I asked him if it worked and he said he had several people tell him it kept snakes away. It is probably worth checking on. Get more cats, that might help,most cats can't resist messing with a snake.
Pam, Google "Snake Repellent", several results.
Thanks Frank, I worry about the grankids runnin around.........
Pam, Copperheads like cool, dark and damp places. Try to keep the weeds, shrubs, undergrowth cut and cleaned out as much as possiible, don't give them a place to hide out of the Sun close to the house and outbuildings.
There were copperheads where you grew up, Pam, but snakes will not survive where there are pigs, so you might think about a couple of them.
will add this P.S.
Just talked to Marvin. He said if you could get a couple black snakes or bull snakes, they will keep copperheads and rattlers away. Know Billie had a big black snake and her carpenters killed it, next thing she knew there was a rattler on her back step. Jr. came up with a couple more black snakes and have had no more rattler problems. Marvin also mentioned the powder or granuals of some kind that you can sprinkle around the yard.
Naphthalene--moth balls--is described as a deterrent for copperheads and cottonmouths on one web site.
Thanks everybody :)
yeah Ma, that's what I was tellin Joe about hogs. We're lookin at gettin a couple. I didn't know that about black snakes tho. I haven't seen any out here, just garter snakes and copperheads for the most part. I try to keep everything trimmed around the house, guess it's just cause the woods are so close that we have so many.
Try to keep cats around but between the owls hawks eagles and coyotes their life expectancy ain't too long around here lol.
This thread brings back my childhood growin up on a lake in Missouri where copperheads, rattlers, and cottonmouths were everywhere. My suggestions a little snake education for what to do when encountering snakes for the kids Give the snake a way to escape. Be alert for snakes. Leave them alone. Wear proper clothes when in snake habitat Know that while few people die from snake bites in the US it is a medical emergency. Know how to treat a snake bite. Much of this can be learned from the Boy Scout handbook.
I thought you might be interested in our local "pest" problem beyond our ever present rattlesnakes. During the last month we have had 3 Mt. Lions spotted near schools in a 5 mile radius of my home. This time of year they are very active. Attacks are rare, but when they do happen they are serious. Same rules pretty much apply. I like having the snakes and Mt. Lions around.
David
Man there is all kinds of wildlife here David lol. Haven't seen any rattlers tho, knock on wood. Just copperheads and cottonmouths. Year before last we were at the river and me and ashley were out in the middle when everybody started hollerin at us and I turned around and there was a big-ass (scuse my french but that's only way to descibe it :P) cottonmouth comin right at us, it had got stirred up from all the people. I started easin ashley around behind me and started back towards the bank and it swam right by me. talk about sweatin in ice cold water lol.
I like mountain lions too, there were pictures took of a panther last spring about 30 miles from here. We got everything from bobcats to coyotes to coons to armadillos runnin thru the yard somtimes. The coons come up on the porch and eat the left over catfood :P bald eagles nest in the woods back of here, hawks do too.
All the grankids learn about snakes pretty early, cause they are everywhere even in town. Josh used to have em in the retaining wall where they lived. Just a little nerve-wrackin at times :P I don't mind snakes EXCEPT for copperheads for some reason they just creep me out.
Quote from: pam on October 13, 2008, 01:30:15 PM
... copperheads for some reason they just creep me out.
Probably because they stink so bad... When I smell THAT smell, I always get panicky & paranoid.
I was going to suggest pigs, but see someone else did first. I really don't know how that could work, they'd keep the snakes out of the pig pen for sure, but you can't just let pigs have the run of the yard... I hate pigs though, almost rather have snakes (just kidding!)
My brother-in-law (and yours) suggested ginny hens; but if you can't keep cats, ginny's probably wouldn't last long either. Good luck!
What type of dog or if any do you have? Someone suggested Rat terriers where we used to live. We had one and didn't see any around the house. Not sure if it really works or not. But they are such cute dogs!!!
Yeah I thought of guineas Jo but thought the same thing as you on account of the cats :P
I don't have a dog Angie, I have a wolf. Don't know if she would kill a snake or not, she sure hates possums and armadillos tho.
I have noticed in my last 3 or 4 days of walking, that the snakes are out and trying to stay warm.
Where I walk is the old road that used to go north of Longton across the Hitchin creek bridge. I like it cause as soon as I get across the highway, I don't have to deal with cars (except for Lloyd, and him I dodge) and or dogs or people.....
The old blacktop is still there and I usually walk to the bridge and except for a few clumps of grass I can see where I walk.
Plus Scooter ( a rat terrier) is ahead of me on a leash and would sound off if a copperhead or something else was there.
He is very good about finding Cat Scat and his nose is the best at sniffing out trails.
the snakes I have seen he ignores.
The largest was about 3 feet long and heading into the grass as we walk up to him, there wasn't any way that Scooter did not see him.
the other ones were all young ones that looked like twigs and all of them were laying in the sun and trying to stay warm.
I didn't have any trouble, except I started
"Tip Toe-ing through the place and really keeping alert.
You could call it snakey!!! LOL.
But, they ran (slithered) from us and I knew I was safe.
With the weather changing, they are starting to den up and you really need to watch in lean-tos or wood piles until we get snow or freezing temps.
Just be careful. Maybe get a pellet gun and or carry a gun.
When we moved out here to the farm 22+ years ago, nobody lived out here for about 7 years. I had copperheads and rattlesnakes in my yard. #1 thing we did is poured a cement top over our rock well. Copperheads loved the cool dampness and would thrive by our well. #2 I kept my grass mowed short and had about 30 guineas and 10 to 15 chickens. We also had 3 dogs and lots (20) of cats. I would lose a guinea or two to cats but they usually hatched out enough chicks to make up for it. They are very good protectors. Once in a while I will see a snake down our lane but in our yard very seldom. Any animal that roams, cats, dogs, chickens, guineas, ducks, pigs, etc. will keep the snakes away plus keeping the grass mowed. Now I have 3 dogs, 1 cat. No snakes.
We used to have lots of cats, too. Once in awhile we would find a partially eaten snake and once we found a cat carrying a snake. We didn't have to worry about rattlers or copperheads in Sedgwick County, but having moved there from here we were fully aware of snakes. My husband grew up in Elk County and he could smell a copperhead, too. Here in town, the only snake I have seen is the six foot black snake that I told about in the snake thread. Being that close to it and having time to really look at it, I realized that it was a beautiful snake, but I still don't want to handle one.
Daddy always had a "bunch" of rat terriers around and we didn't have a problem with snakes around the house - we also didn't have problems with mice, rats, possums, raccoons, etc. He tried to start a prairie dog town once, the rat terriers took care of that idea!!!