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Old 01-05-2003, 06:47 PM
Tom Gauldin
 
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Default Snakes are out and about

Susan Hogarth" wrote in message news:tO_ka.2023$W%

My dogs seem to ignore snakes, although I have seen other dogs who react
strongly to them. The dogs and I nearly stepped on a young copperhead once
before I realised it and hopped on one foot


It was probably just a corn snake and you imagined it to be a Copperhead,
since it makes for a more interesting story. grin

FWIW, I have a picture of a black snake (unless it was a Cotton Mouth) I
found in the bird feeder one day. He'd caught a Finch (or perhaps it was an
Ostrich) and had it about half way down the hatch. I picked him up and took
him out to the woods so Klepto (or maybe it was a wolf) wouldn't get him. I
didn't realize that a snake could spit out something that was almost down
the hatch. Unfortunately, the snake (or was it a stick) didn't realize it
and spit the bird out.

About all I could do was to put the black snake (or was it an Adder) down by
"his" bird and put Klepto in the garage. By the time I returned, he'd
retaken his prize, so when he got it about 3" down, I again picked him up
and placed him way out back by the stream (or was it a creek) beside a Pine
(or was it an Oak) tree.


  #17   Report Post  
Old 01-05-2003, 06:47 PM
Bippy
 
Posts: n/a
Default Snakes are out and about

"Tom Gauldin" wrote in message
news:VB%ka.4723$2_3.2295@fed1read04...
| Susan Hogarth" wrote in message
news:tO_ka.2023$W%
|
| My dogs seem to ignore snakes, although I have seen other dogs who
react
| strongly to them. The dogs and I nearly stepped on a young
copperhead once
| before I realised it and hopped on one foot
|
| It was probably just a corn snake and you imagined it to be a
Copperhead,
| since it makes for a more interesting story. grin
|
| FWIW, I have a picture of a black snake (unless it was a Cotton
Mouth) I
| found in the bird feeder one day. He'd caught a Finch (or perhaps
it was an
| Ostrich) and had it about half way down the hatch. I picked him up
and took
| him out to the woods so Klepto (or maybe it was a wolf) wouldn't get
him. I
| didn't realize that a snake could spit out something that was almost
down
| the hatch. Unfortunately, the snake (or was it a stick) didn't
realize it
| and spit the bird out.
|
| About all I could do was to put the black snake (or was it an Adder)
down by
| "his" bird and put Klepto in the garage. By the time I returned,
he'd
| retaken his prize, so when he got it about 3" down, I again picked
him up
| and placed him way out back by the stream (or was it a creek) beside
a Pine
| (or was it an Oak) tree.

LMAO!!!!


  #18   Report Post  
Old 01-05-2003, 06:47 PM
Bippy
 
Posts: n/a
Default Snakes are out and about

"Penny Morgan" wrote in message
m...
| Well, it's Wednesday, and I just found my second snake of the
season. My
| cat just earned her keep. This one was a common Garter Snake and
only a
| baby (6"), but I found it dead in the grass on my front lawn.
|
| It will be interesting to see how many snakes the cats will hunt
down this
| spring. I know that snakes are beneficial in keeping mice, voles
and moles
| at bay, but I already have 3 cats and a dog that do this for me. So
it
| doesn't hurt my feelings to find dead snakes. I just want to be
able to
| wander freely in my yard without stepping on one.

Hubby says that snake might not be dead at all. In the cold weather
they look dead, but they come "back ta life" when the weather warms up
(or when ya bring 'em into the house to show 'em to your kids). grin

Course, it might've just been a stick. ;o) You sure you didn't just
call it a snake to make for a more interesting post?


  #19   Report Post  
Old 01-05-2003, 06:47 PM
Susan Hogarth
 
Posts: n/a
Default Snakes are out and about

On Wed, 9 Apr 2003 13:43:32 -0700, in article VB%ka.4723$2_3.2295@fed1read04,
Tom Gauldin wrote:

Susan Hogarth" wrote in message news:tO_ka.2023$W%


My dogs seem to ignore snakes, although I have seen other dogs who react
strongly to them. The dogs and I nearly stepped on a young copperhead once
before I realised it and hopped on one foot


It was probably just a corn snake and you imagined it to be a Copperhead,
since it makes for a more interesting story. grin ...


Amusing. Fortunately I had my amateur herpetologist husband with me.

- Susan (hmmm, likes snakes, married me. interesting)
  #20   Report Post  
Old 01-05-2003, 06:47 PM
Tom Gauldin
 
Posts: n/a
Default Snakes are out and about

"Susan Hogarth" wrote in message
news:mW0la.2105$W%4.2533@www.newsranger.com...
On Wed, 9 Apr 2003 13:43:32 -0700, in article

VB%ka.4723$2_3.2295@fed1read04,
Tom Gauldin wrote:

Susan Hogarth" wrote in message news:tO_ka.2023$W%


My dogs seem to ignore snakes, although I have seen other dogs who

react
strongly to them. The dogs and I nearly stepped on a young copperhead

once
before I realised it and hopped on one foot


It was probably just a corn snake and you imagined it to be a Copperhead,
since it makes for a more interesting story. grin ...


Amusing. Fortunately I had my amateur herpetologist husband with me.


Isn't there an ointment nowadays for Herpetology? grin

BTW, I have no fight with snakes at all, unless they're I perceive them as a
threat (the cotton mouth) or they take my by surprise. I leave them alone,
respect them for killing rodents and think they're interesting. However,
when I'm surprised by one, or have one come at me, I react violently, which
is probably a shame.
--

Tom Gauldin, Las Vegas NV
NEW EMAIL
NEW PHONE (702) 263-8804 voice/fax




  #21   Report Post  
Old 01-05-2003, 06:47 PM
Susan Hogarth
 
Posts: n/a
Default Snakes are out and about

Tom Gauldin wrote:

"Susan Hogarth" wrote in message
news:mW0la.2105$W%4.2533@www.newsranger.com...
On Wed, 9 Apr 2003 13:43:32 -0700, in article

VB%ka.4723$2_3.2295@fed1read04,
Tom Gauldin wrote:

Susan Hogarth" wrote in message news:tO_ka.2023$W%

My dogs seem to ignore snakes, although I have seen other dogs who

react
strongly to them. The dogs and I nearly stepped on a young copperhead

once
before I realised it and hopped on one foot

It was probably just a corn snake and you imagined it to be a
Copperhead, since it makes for a more interesting story. grin ...


Amusing. Fortunately I had my amateur herpetologist husband with me.


Isn't there an ointment nowadays for Herpetology? grin


Let's not go there ;-)

BTW, I have no fight with snakes at all, unless they're I perceive them as
a
threat (the cotton mouth) or they take my by surprise. I leave them
alone,
respect them for killing rodents and think they're interesting. However,
when I'm surprised by one, or have one come at me, I react violently,
which is probably a shame.


I am terrified of snakes. It's something I am working to overcome, because
they are so beautiful and useful.

However, my fear makes me an *excellent* snake spotter. Maybe that's why
Bill married me (although on one of our first dates I nearly blundered
into the rattlesnake (--NOT something else we were actually looking for.
I was distracted by love

--
Susan Hogarth
  #22   Report Post  
Old 01-05-2003, 06:47 PM
Susan H. Simko
 
Posts: n/a
Default Snakes are out and about

Susan Hogarth wrote:

I am terrified of snakes. It's something I am working to overcome, because
they are so beautiful and useful.


I grew up with snakes (and not just the two legged kind) so they don't
bother me. One of the first snakes I remember having in the house was a
beautiful indigo racer. We lived in Florida on a military base and the
neighbor's kid kept all his snakes at our house because his mother
wouldn't let him.

OTOH, I was phobic about spiders. Standing and screaming was about as
much as I was capable of doing. Now, despite being truly terrified of
them jumping on me, I will scoop up spiders I find in the house and
release them outside. Slowly but surely... Of course, any wolf spider
that again stumbles into my house is a gonner.

However, my fear makes me an *excellent* snake spotter. Maybe that's why
Bill married me (although on one of our first dates I nearly blundered
into the rattlesnake (--NOT something else we were actually looking for.
I was distracted by love


*smile*

I've only ever seen one rattlesnake live and free. The guy was *huge*
and was coiled up on a deadfall near the Columbia River in Washington
State. My practical joker uncle offered to catch it for us so we could
see it closer if we wanted... (The same unlce who smeared ham fat all
over the bumper of his car so that when we got to the garbage dump to
see the bears, we could see on up close. We did.)

Susan
s s himko at duke dot edu


  #23   Report Post  
Old 01-05-2003, 06:47 PM
Lance R.
 
Posts: n/a
Default Snakes are out and about

"Susan Hogarth" wrote in message
news:mW0la.2105$W%4.2533@www.newsranger.com...
On Wed, 9 Apr 2003 13:43:32 -0700, in article

VB%ka.4723$2_3.2295@fed1read04,
Tom Gauldin wrote:

Susan Hogarth" wrote in message news:tO_ka.2023$W%


My dogs seem to ignore snakes, although I have seen other dogs who

react
strongly to them. The dogs and I nearly stepped on a young copperhead

once
before I realised it and hopped on one foot


It was probably just a corn snake and you imagined it to be a Copperhead,
since it makes for a more interesting story. grin ...


Amusing. Fortunately I had my amateur herpetologist husband with me.


Tom was just pointing out that even amateurs can get confused *snicker*.

Lance


  #24   Report Post  
Old 01-05-2003, 06:47 PM
Susan Hogarth
 
Posts: n/a
Default Snakes are out and about

On Thu, 10 Apr 2003 10:30:47 -0400, in article
, Susan H. Simko wrote:

Susan Hogarth wrote:

I am terrified of snakes. It's something I am working to overcome, because
they are so beautiful and useful.


I grew up with snakes (and not just the two legged kind) so they don't
bother me.


I also grew up with them but I'm phobic of them. I sometimes wonder if such
fears are at least partly under genetic control. Centi/millipedes also bother me
quite a bit.

...
OTOH, I was phobic about spiders.


And I *adore* spiders, and don't fear them at all (except to fear hurting them.

Standing and screaming was about as
much as I was capable of doing. Now, despite being truly terrified of
them jumping on me, I will scoop up spiders I find in the house and
release them outside. Slowly but surely...


It's nice to get over those things. I have a friend who grew up in SLC, Utah,
and had never seen ticks. For the longest time she would call me up to de-tick
her dog if she finds one on him. On the other hand, she had never seen a firefly
(which is a bizzarre thought to me) and only half-believed in them before she
came here. She was delighted to find that they were as wonderful as described.

Of course, any wolf spider
that again stumbles into my house is a gonner.


:-(

However, my fear makes me an *excellent* snake spotter. Maybe that's why
Bill married me (although on one of our first dates I nearly blundered
into the rattlesnake (--NOT something else we were actually looking for.
I was distracted by love


*smile*

I've only ever seen one rattlesnake live and free.


Actually, come to think of it, this was probably my only rattler, too (so far).

The guy was *huge*
and was coiled up on a deadfall near the Columbia River in Washington
State.


Ours also (Bill had seen it there before, that's how we knew to look for it
there) was huge, and coiled up happily snoozing on a large flat rock. She wasn't
inclined to move just because a couple of large mammals were gawking at her. She
didn't even deign to threaten us.

My practical joker uncle offered to catch it for us so we could
see it closer if we wanted...


Apparently when my husband took one of his herp classes they were supposed to
collect snakes to show the instructor they had them, and then return them. I'm
not sure if Bill collected a rattler, but he did say he collected a copperhead -
his instructer was a little less than 100% enthused about that

Now he doesn't routinely handle poisonous snakes, but if one was in someone's
garage I suppose he would to save it. He does routinely pick up non-venonous
snakes to say hi and photograph them. He is so gentle most of them don't seem at
all bothered by it. Sometimes he has a hard time putting them down if it's a
cool day

(The same unlce who smeared ham fat all
over the bumper of his car so that when we got to the garbage dump to
see the bears, we could see on up close. We did.)


Ah, a park ranger's nightmare ;-)

- Susan
  #25   Report Post  
Old 01-05-2003, 06:47 PM
Susan H. Simko
 
Posts: n/a
Default Snakes are out and about

Susan Hogarth wrote:

I also grew up with them but I'm phobic of them. I sometimes wonder if such
fears are at least partly under genetic control. Centi/millipedes also bother me
quite a bit.


I know they can be learned. I learned my spider phobia from my mother.
She still can't bare the thought of me picking up a spider on a
piece of paper to dumb it outdoors.

It's nice to get over those things. I have a friend who grew up in SLC, Utah,
and had never seen ticks. For the longest time she would call me up to de-tick
her dog if she finds one on him. On the other hand, she had never seen a firefly
(which is a bizzarre thought to me) and only half-believed in them before she
came here. She was delighted to find that they were as wonderful as described.


I really don't like ticks either. tick=spider and bad spider at that.
I remember being woken up by the feel of a tick crawling on me in the
middle of the night years ago when my ex snuck our german shepherd into
the bedroom. (I'm allergic to dogs and the one place I can not have
them are in the bedroom. Of course he always thought I was lying.)

Of course, any wolf spider
that again stumbles into my house is a gonner.

:-(


This one was particularly dastardly as she dumped her babies before she
made a run from us. Several months later, I discovered a dead wolf
spider in the bottom of a nuked cup of coffee. (dark midnight blue
coffee cup stored on the bottom shelf of the kitchen island cabinet) I
presume it was one of those babies all grown up.

(The same uncle who smeared ham fat all over the bumper of his car so
that when we got to the garbage dump to see the bears, we could see
one up close. We did.)


Ah, a park ranger's nightmare ;-)


Not in this case - just a public menace. *grin* We were truly at the
city garbage dump in Colville, WA. Most nights you will see black,
brown and cinnamon bears all down there munching away.

Susan
s h simko at duke dot edu



  #26   Report Post  
Old 01-05-2003, 06:47 PM
 
Posts: n/a
Default Snakes are out and about

In article , Susan H. Simko wrote:
Lance R. wrote:

Looks like somebody forgot to take their bitchy pill today.


That's not true. A lot of people kill brwon water snakes because they
think they're copperheads. Even knowledgeable people. Last year my
s.o.'s stepdad killed one in their yard because he thought it was a
copperhead despite my thoughts to the contrary. The attitude tends to
be better safe than sorry. He was unhappy a few days late rwhen I
pulled out my reptile guide and idnetified the snake he killed as a
brown water snake.

I think whther or not you perceive someone as being "bitchy" may have to
do with how much you value the critter. Personally, I like snakes and I
dislike the knee jerk "let's just kill it" reaction a lot of people have
to them.

My mother has always had cats who were fond of snakes - particularly
garter snakes. My mom's neighbor would throw a hissy fit anytime Joseph
P. Pussycat (a *huge* maine coon) or his successor Joey would bring
home a snake. It was always my job to retrieve the snake from the cat
and release it in the woods because if I didn't do it *immediately*, the
snake was dispatched with a shovel.

Most of the snakes you encounter in this are are harmless. Leave them
alone and they'll leave you alone. In addition, they will make dinner
of any local rodent you may have plaguing your garden.

Susan
s h simko at duke dot edu

Right on!!!

--
Wes Dukes (wdukesNOatSPAMpoboxdotcom)
  #27   Report Post  
Old 01-05-2003, 06:47 PM
 
Posts: n/a
Default Snakes are out and about

In article tO_ka.2023$W%4.2263@www.newsranger.com, Susan Hogarth wrote:
On Wed, 09 Apr 2003 19:27:03 GMT, in article
, Lance R. wrote:

"Susan H. Simko" wrote in message
...
Most of the snakes you encounter in this are are harmless. Leave them
alone and they'll leave you alone. In addition, they will make dinner
of any local rodent you may have plaguing your garden.


Or the local pets.


It's not very responsible to let your pet rodents run free. They should always
be supervised for outdoor play.

My dogs seem to ignore snakes, although I have seen other dogs who react
strongly to them. The dogs and I nearly stepped on a young copperhead once
before I realised it and hopped on one foot (the one that was *not* just about
to step on the snake) to the side. Of course Bill was there with the camera in a
flash

This was at Schenck Forest, where we have seen several copperheads and many
watersnakes. The copperheads are *gorgeous*, although of course it doesn't pay
to get too close to them. But they don't seem inclined to attack. I used to walk
at Schenck with the dogs every evening, and we often saw snakes and many people
had their dogs off-lead, but I don't recall any bites.

I may try to find the pictures Bill took and post them. I even made up a flyer
with pics of copperheads and water snakes so people could have an easier time
identifying them - myself included, as without Bill I am hopeless to ID any
snake but the copperhead reliably. Well, I can also pretty reliably ID worm
snakes

- Susan


Far more people die from insect bites than snake bites in the US. I
don't know if ANY die from snake bites because the head for the doctor
immediately. But wasp and bee stings they don't and an hour later they
are dead of allergick reaction.

--
Wes Dukes (wdukesNOatSPAMpoboxdotcom)
  #28   Report Post  
Old 01-05-2003, 06:47 PM
 
Posts: n/a
Default Snakes are out and about

In article , Penny Morgan wrote:
Well, it's Wednesday, and I just found my second snake of the season. My
cat just earned her keep. This one was a common Garter Snake and only a
baby (6"), but I found it dead in the grass on my front lawn.

It will be interesting to see how many snakes the cats will hunt down this
spring. I know that snakes are beneficial in keeping mice, voles and moles
at bay, but I already have 3 cats and a dog that do this for me. So it
doesn't hurt my feelings to find dead snakes. I just want to be able to
wander freely in my yard without stepping on one.


So stepping on a garter nake is going to keep you from out of your yard?
Kind of a callus attitude IMHO.

Just observing that it was just the food chain in action would be more sensible.
This is my first spring in this house. I'll keep you posted.

Penny
"Penny Morgan" wrote in message
...
Just wanted to make people aware that I found my first baby (12")

Copperhead
Snake on Saturday. My cat was playing with it and it was coiled up with
just its head out of the grass. Make sure you watch your step and wear
shoes in the grass.

I live in N. Raleigh near Mt. Vernon Church and Creedmoor Rd.

Penny






--
Wes Dukes (wdukesNOatSPAMpoboxdotcom)
  #29   Report Post  
Old 01-05-2003, 06:47 PM
C.L. Lassiter
 
Posts: n/a
Default Snakes are out and about

Susan Hogarth wrote:
On Wed, 9 Apr 2003 13:43:32 -0700, in article VB%ka.4723$2_3.2295@fed1read04,
Tom Gauldin wrote:

Susan Hogarth" wrote in message news:tO_ka.2023$W%


My dogs seem to ignore snakes, although I have seen other dogs who react
strongly to them.


My dogs, cairn terriers, go for anything that moves quickly:
snakes, rabbits, birds, mice, hell, even deer.

cl, wondering what Lorien would do with a deer if she could catch one
  #30   Report Post  
Old 01-05-2003, 06:47 PM
C.L. Lassiter
 
Posts: n/a
Default Snakes are out and about

Susan H. Simko wrote:

OTOH, I was phobic about spiders.


Heh. I had a black widow as a pet when I was an adolescent. My
parents made me keep her in the garage, and one day I came home to find
her released (and probably smushed under my dad's shoe).

Standing and screaming was about as
much as I was capable of doing. Now, despite being truly terrified of
them jumping on me, I will scoop up spiders I find in the house and
release them outside. Slowly but surely... Of course, any wolf spider
that again stumbles into my house is a gonner.


I'll pretty much scoop up any spider and release it outside.
Though I tend to be pretty careful these days because I can*not* see the
violin shape one is supposed to be able to see.

cl

I've only ever seen one rattlesnake live and free. The guy was *huge*


Not a rattler, but the largest snake I've ever seen was crossing
the road as I was on the road home--in northern Chatham County--from my
army draft physical in 1972. (Thus, I remember both quite well!) My
friend, John, saw the snake start to cross the road, and he has the fear
that it will slither into the car somehow, plus I don't like killing animals,
so I stopped. By the time it's head was on the right hand side of the road,
its tail still hadn't hit the left hand side. I was amazed at how long it
was. It was also fairly large in circumference.

cl
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