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I am unbelievably afraid of snakes and a few min ago I walked into my office in my shop and a baby copperhead was slithering across the floor!!! I called my buddy next door and he came over and killed it. Thank god he was home or there would have been shotgun holes in my floor.
What do I do now? Are there more? Have you guys ever had a snake loose in your shop and how did you catch it. I cant even calm down to do work now!!!
By the way.This is the only thing I don't let my friends joke or get me with. If someone tries to play a trick on me with a fake snake I will punch them in the mouth male or female. I cannot deal with my fear of snakes. Please don't try anything at a meet please. I will not find it funny and we will not be friends afterwards.
-------------------- Ryan Young Indocil Art & Design indocil@comporium.net 803-980-6765
I highjacked Letterville!! Winter Muster 2004 Posts: 904 | From: Rock Hill, SC | Registered: Sep 2001
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Ryan, I had the same problem about four years ago. I was walking thru the back of my shop when I saw an unusual black thing, looked like weatherstripping. I walked on by. When I came back thru, the weatherstripping was sliding along the base of the wall. I called my Dad and asked what to do. In some very certain words, he said "Kill the damn thing". I wasn't too fond of the idea, being it wasn't hurting anything.
Well, I grabbed up a snow shovel (of all things), got on a motorcycle lift in the back of the shop that was close to the corner he was in. When I tried to scoop him up, he STRUCK at the shovel HARD. I backed away and thought, what now?
So I tried again, and he struck AHRDER. He was going for broke on me!!! So in a lil' fit of rage, I went to whacking his head. After three good hits, I had a bloody mess, a dead snake on my floor and dented up shovel. I scooped up the mess of a corpse and tossed it over the fence.
The next day I called my landscaper and he brought some "SnakeAway" over... It's pellets that DOES keep them away. It stinks real bad, but I put them down every two years. Anywhere a snake may slither thru, I sprinkle them.
Don't feel bad, Ryan. I'm deathly afraid of snakes and really don't know why. As a kid, I'd go hunt em' down. But somehow, maybe it's the surprise or just plain fear that makes my skin crawl...
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Are you sure it was a Copperhead? How big was it? If indeed it was a baby Copperhead...you've got more in the immediate area. Any brush piles nearby?I had a nest of them right outside a shop I rented. A friend of my landloards was into snakes and he gathered them all up. I forget the total but there were three or four adults and a LOT of little ones.
-------------------- George Perkins Millington,TN. goatwell@bigriver.net
"I started out with nothing and still have most of it left"
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Yes we inspected it after we cut its head off. It was 12 to 18 long. and thats what I was afraid of J.P.DAMN!!!!!!I guess I need to call someone.
-------------------- Ryan Young Indocil Art & Design indocil@comporium.net 803-980-6765
I highjacked Letterville!! Winter Muster 2004 Posts: 904 | From: Rock Hill, SC | Registered: Sep 2001
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I have found snake skins in my shop but i never see it but i don't see the mice anymore.
my wife seen one in the house one night & i haven't seen any more mice there.
-------------------- Jimmy Chatham Chatham Signs 468 stark st Commerce, Ga 30529 Posts: 1766 | From: Commerce, GA, USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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Thanks for the laugh Ryan......I hate bugs.
-------------------- Chuck Gallagher Pro Graphics Signs by Design Cabool, MO 417.962.3291 "I grew up in Letterville" Posts: 776 | From: Cabool, Mo. USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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Wish I hadnt read this. Now my skin is crawling. A good snake is a dead snake.
-------------------- Maker of fine signs and other creative stuff. Located at 109 N. Cumberland ave. Harlan, Ky. 40831 606-837-0242 Posts: 4172 | From: Ages-Brookside, Ky. Up the Holler... | Registered: Jul 1999
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Funny you mention it. I was helping my brother clean off some land Sunday. We were picking up old tin and boards from a collapsed barn and laughing about finding a snake under one of them. Yep, very next piece had a 6' rattlesnake under it. We pinned it down with a board, got some pictures of it, and took it down the road and let it go.
When we got back the next piece of tin had an even larger one under it. Found a king snake later in the day.
I try not to kill them. We live out in the sticks and have a big enough problem with field mice. Never really worried about getting bit cause I still don't know of anyone that's ever been hit by one.
-------------------- Pat Whatley Montgomery, AL (334) 262-7446 office (334) 324-8465 cell Posts: 1306 | From: Wetumpka, AL USA | Registered: Mar 2001
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Copperheads are close brothers to cottonmouth water moccasins. We have them both here, but mostly cottonmouths. Both are venomous and when they are babies, they have a yellow tail. The copperheads are prettier though.
I have three eastern diamondback skins hanging on my easel here in the shop; two five footers and a three footer. Blew one's head off with my shotgun, killed another with a three-way lug wrench and a friend dispatched the third. They are going to be guitar straps.
I catch the non-venomous varieties(yes with my hands) and turn them loose. BTW Pat...king snakes eat rattlesnakes.
[ October 14, 2003, 07:05 PM: Message edited by: Wayne Webb ]
-------------------- Wayne Webb Webb Signworks Chipley, FL 850.638.9329 wayne@webbsignworks.com Posts: 7405 | From: Chipley,Florida,United States | Registered: Oct 1999
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Ryan, don't worry about the rest of the family coming to the funeral! When is the last time you saw a Mom and Pop snake on a family outing with the little ones? Doesn't happen. You stated that the one in your shop was 18" or so long. He probably had a den of his own established. I have had them come in here before, but it was during extreme weather. IE too much or too little rain or extreme heat. Slabs are nice and cool and they are just looking for a little relief. You probably won't experience another visit tomorrow.
George is right about the trash pile. Check it.
I have a step-son who has a phobia about snakes and no it isn't at all funny to pull pranks. In fact it is down right cruel. If you are really concerned about another visit perhaps it is time to get a shop dog.
-------------------- Kathy Joiner River Road Graphics 41628 River Road Ponchatoula, La.70454
Old enough to know better...Too young to resist. Posts: 1891 | From: Ponchatoula, LA | Registered: Nov 2000
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Well, this talk of killin snakes just ruined Bob Steven's day. And when ya check that trash pile....I'd use a long stick if I were you. Very long stick.
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Years ago, I was painting out of a sublet shop, that was rat infested. I got used to them, for the most part,but there was one night I was clearing at like, 1am, and this rat, as big as a cat come across the floor, and didn't give a damn that I was there.
My friend wandered in shorty thereafter to find me, in my respirator, spray gun in my right hand, and my .45 automatic in my left....whatta site I must have been.
Posts: 465 | From: / | Registered: Jan 2000
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There is absolutely no freakin' way I would ever admit od what I was sceeeered of to no good sum beeeeches.... LOL!
Phobias can be paralizing. I know. I hate it when people pull jokes about them. That just ain't funny.
I sure hope there no more of them around. Come to think of it, I am really glad I wasn't there...
I am sleeping with one eye open tonight, that's for sure. Thanks a lot... LOL!
-------------------- Bruce Bowers
DrCAS Custom Lettering and Design Saint Cloud, Minnesota
"Things work out best for the people who make the best of the way things work out." - Art Linkletter Posts: 6464 | From: Saint Cloud, Minnesota | Registered: Jun 1999
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Got 8 outa the top ten in the world most deadly ones here! Most are "two steps" (two steps is all yer get after being bit!)
Don't mind snakes really. Ran into a few in my travels. Most take avoiding action if you make enough noise.
Working on a mural once near some grain silos. Farmers wife said to watch out for the Red Belly Blacks that came in after the mice. Sure enough, walked around the van and stepped right on one! Only about a foot long. but I was wearing boots and jeans thank god. Back slash with the metal yard stick I was carrying took it in half!!! Brown stains on my jocks took longer to remove Ran over a 6 footer in their driveway on the way out that day ... now that would have been a problem!
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I had a small snake come into the shop last week, picked him up gave em a kiss and put him out side.I love snakes Last year I gave away my pet Boa Constrictor he was about 8 feet long at the time.
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my dad and i killed a copperhead near our home in pa. that measured 38", thats big for a copperhead. and you better look for more. 12-18 is a juvinile. and they are "social" snakes if you find one you got more. me iam one of those idiots like the crock hunter ......i like to catch em. but i know which ones not to touch!!!!! i had a roof put my house in sarasota...i had 3 foot black snake, he was there for a couple years...the roofers were cleaning round the house and the snake ran out and they killed him, they couldnt understand was i was p.o. the house in pa(was out in the country)we had a couple 6 foot blacksnakes, we would see em from time to time. if you got blacksnakes or king snakes..you wont have copperheads or rattles.
-------------------- joe pribish-A SIGN MINT 2811 longleaf Dr. pensacola, fl 32526 850-637-1519 BEWARE THE TRUTH.....YOU MAY NOT LIKE WHAT YOU FIND Posts: 11582 | From: pensacola, fl. usa | Registered: Nov 1998
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Joe is right about it being a juv, but at that length, I would say it would be at least 6 months, and at 18 inches maybe even full grown. If it were less than 8 inches I would worry more about a nest of them close by. An average adult is just over 2 feet, although I killed one a couple of years ago at 34 inches. Hope you live on a slab floor or basement, because they love nesting under houses with crawl spaces. A crawl space, being the case, I would consort with a mongoose soon. Good luck.
[ October 15, 2003, 07:20 AM: Message edited by: Jack Davis ]
-------------------- "Don't change horses in midstream, unless you spot one with longer legs" bronzeo oti Jack Davis 1410 Main St Joplin, MO 64801 www.imagemakerart.com jack@imagemakerart.com Posts: 1549 | From: Joplin, MO | Registered: Mar 2000
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Poor little snake.... I guess the reason I don't fear snakes is because there's not one species of snake in Newfoundland, notta one! There's no Racoons, Skunks, Possums, No Deer, no elk,... there's lots of Moose, Big Moose, Caribou, Black Beer, Coyotes, and Rabbitts, I guess the only thing as far as an animal goes that gives me the willies is a RAT! I hate Rats!
-------------------- "Keep Positive"
SIGNS1st. Neil Butler Paradise, NF Posts: 6277 | From: St. John's NF Canada | Registered: Mar 1999
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I use to catch snakes for people that found them around their homes. I have caught alot of different species of varying sizes. We caught and killed a copperhead beside my shop last year. It was 50 1/2" long and bigger around than a tennis ball. The taxidermist couldn't find a copperhead form big enough to fit it. While at the taxidermists, a S.C. Wildlife officer came by and said that he had never seen one that big. He was a monster and obviously well fed. I have him here, but the mount makes him appear much smaller than the actual living size.
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you definitely would not tolerate life on my mountain...wildlife galore. we just cleared out 5 snakes beside the a/c unit. 2 big ones and a pile of little ones. i have encountered a possum on the porch,deer looking in the windows, a wild turkey roosting on my roof. mice, chipmunks. a squirrel who waits for peanuts on the windowsill..an owl, a fox, at least 6 ground hogs.we see 20-30 deer a night in the yard. can't be faint of heart and live here. fiddles
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Donald, Speaking of big snakes: We were installing sandblasted signs along a boardwalk/bridge complex in a swamp a few years ago whn I noticed a large cottonmouth moccasin coiled up by the bridge. I grabbed a pair of posthole diggers and piledrived him into the mud. I pulled him out, laid him out straight, pulled a tape measure on him and he was 63'' long. He was "pore" though. Is that how snakes look when they get old?
Anyway, I don't think I had ever seen a moccasin over 4' before and I've lived next to a creek swamp for over 30 years. BTW, the nature preserve folks weren't too happy about me killing their snake.
[ October 15, 2003, 01:35 PM: Message edited by: Wayne Webb ]
-------------------- Wayne Webb Webb Signworks Chipley, FL 850.638.9329 wayne@webbsignworks.com Posts: 7405 | From: Chipley,Florida,United States | Registered: Oct 1999
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in Ga it is against the law to kill any non-poisoness snake
-------------------- Jimmy Chatham Chatham Signs 468 stark st Commerce, Ga 30529 Posts: 1766 | From: Commerce, GA, USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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I hear ya, Ryan- I hate snakes! We've only seen two this year, One a 32" cottonmouth about 10 feet from the shop. A car came speeding up the driveway and hit it and killed it instantly. Then about a week ago, I was gripeing about our new kitten. We had the shop door open enjoying the great weather and he kept coming in getting into stuff. about an hour later I see him out in front of the shop "playing" with about a 10" baby cottonmouth. It's okay for him to play in and around the shop now! (We live between two ponds, so the snakes hang around the water) Last year I watched one slither across the drive and climb a tree that overhangs my son's swingset/playground. A good pellet to the head and he uncoiled out of the tree for good, about a 30" cottonmouth. Since I've lived here I've only seen one BIG black snake around and I left him alone. There are also these snakes that we call "Puff Adders" they are not poisonous, but they look just like a cottonmouth and when you get close to them, they puff up there body and head to look mean- so they're dead if I see 'em, 'cause I think they are poisonous!
Don't mess with people if they are truly afraid of stuff like snakes. There was a guy like that in my hometown. Another guy thought it would be funny to put a dead rattlesnake in the floorboard of his truck. WRONG! The guy almost had a heart attack, and when he found out who did it, he came up behind the guy in a parking lot with a .357 pistol and unloaded it into the air about 6" from the guy's head! He then promised that the next time he wouldn't miss!
-------------------- Michael Clanton Clanton Graphics/ Blackberry 19 Studio 1933 Blackberry Conway AR 72034 501-505-6794 clantongraphics@yahoo.com Posts: 1737 | From: Conway Arkansas | Registered: Oct 2001
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Bob, I can probably identify more species of snakes than you can. And I know that cottonmouths, copperheads and rattlesnakes are pit vipers and their venom is mostly hemotoxic. It destroys blood vessels, corpusles, and tissue and generally digests, or "rots" your body in the area of the bite, and if one of the hypodermic fangs happen to hit an artery, the heart quickly pumps this poison to other parts of your body. Coral snakes have venom similar to cobra venom. Mostly neurotoxic. If I find any one of these species, it's a given... Have killed a diamondback by the backdoor steps, which the wife nearly stepped on and a pigmy rattler and diamondback right behind the house. Numerous pigmy rattlers by the pasture gate and the driveway, and several more diamondbacks on various parts of our 20 acres. I couldn't bear to see my wife or kids bitten, Some people have repercussions from it for years frm bites. Little kids can die.
The non-poisonous ones won't hurt you. But they can make you hurt yourself. I let them live. Sorry
[ October 15, 2003, 07:33 PM: Message edited by: Wayne Webb ]
-------------------- Wayne Webb Webb Signworks Chipley, FL 850.638.9329 wayne@webbsignworks.com Posts: 7405 | From: Chipley,Florida,United States | Registered: Oct 1999
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I'm so scared of snakes, I waited this long to even look at this post!!!! Had one in the shop once..............can't even talk about it!! I wanna go home!
-------------------- Tony Vickio The World Famous Vickio Signs 3364 Rt.329 Watkins Glen, NY 14891 t30v@vickiosigns.com 607-535-6241 http://www.vickiosigns.com Posts: 1063 | From: Watkins Glen, New York | Registered: Sep 2001
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like bushie said, down here we have some of the most beautiful and terrifying snakes n spiders that exist any where on the planet
red belly black snakes are fairly harmless, but only because they don't like us any more than we like them, so few people are biten by the suckers they are however great for geting rid of rodents.
my mother in law borrowed the work ute one day to just duck up the street for some milk n bread
200 yards up the road she felt something move across the parcel sheet behind her head and when she glanced back there was a very, very large red belly black who had it seemed just woken up from his sleep in the sun to find his rock (or so he thought) moving faster than any rock should
she loves all creepy crawlies so she imediatly stoped ont he side of the hwy and tried to incourage the snake to come out of the car and onto the grass... the people who saw her all thought she had broken down and so stoped to leand a hand in the end the snake was so spooked by all the humans peering in at it that he hid even further under the seat and she had to drive home with him at her feet
where our shop was my father in law had an avery with lots of little quail running around in the bottom he noticed their numbers declining and mentioned to the crew to keep an eye out for the snake which was obviousely geting in to the avery somehow
he spent days fortifying the avery so that 'the bloody snake' couldn't get in, every time you saw him he had something else in mind that would end the problem
eventually the avery looked like a maximum security prision, but the quail kept disapearing, if by magic
then while admiring the birds one day a lady said 'oh look at that big snake coming out of the middle of that stump in the bird cage'
mystery solved, he'd made the avery so secure that the snake who was in there all along couldn't get out!
father in law ran to get the gun but by the time he got back the snake was no where to be seen so he got my brother in law to pour petrol down the hole in the stump when the snakes head came racing out of the hole father in law blew it apart... trouble was the blast from the shotgun scared most of the birds to death so there was feathers and bits of dead snake and quail parts and dead bird carcases everywhere!
that snake by the way was a 8' king brown, they don't like people either but they will rear up like a cobra and chase you down if you come too close
and we won't even start talking about the spiders hehehe
cheers gail
-------------------- Gail & Dave Hervey Bay Qld Australia
gail@roadwarriorproducts.com.au
sumtimes ya just gota! Posts: 794 | From: 552 O'Regans Creek Rd Toogoom Qld 4655 Australia | Registered: Nov 1998
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I have a daughter that is building and my brother told her that before she puts insulation in, to pour borax in the walls to keep fleas, ants, mice, etc out of the house. I wonder if spreading borax around a house would keep snakes out.
-------------------- Laura Butler Vision Graphics & Sign 4479 Welch Rd Attica, Mi 48412 Posts: 2855 | From: Attica, Mi, USA | Registered: Nov 2000
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This is a true story.It was in a sign shop where this happened...there were 3 of us that came in every morning, and usually we were back in the main work area loading tools etc. for the day's jobs.
One of the fellows, I'll call him O'Reilly, had a habit of using the men's room during this first hour,usually taking his good old time, reading the paper, smoking cigarettes, and hoping all the loading got done by the time he comes out. We used to rib him about it all the time, poor guy.
Anyhow, he's in there one day, reading again, when we noticed something strange. The shop was cement block, and there was a hole in the wall down by the floor, near the door to the bathroom. Out of this hole came about a 6 ft. long black snake, and it eased on in there with O' Reilly. Now this guy was scared of snakes, but for a long time it seems, nothing happened...just the two of them in there together. We were just bustin ourselves trying to keep quite, we were laughin so bad. Suddenly there was this God -awful noise somewhere between a scream and a holler. It was unreal...O'Reilly must have levitated straight up about five feet the second he saw that snake. Then two seconds later he was outside trying to set the world land speed record for running with your pants down..........it was just awful !
Morale of the story ?O'Reilly got where he was real eager to help us load up in the morning, and there were no more long bathroom trips, thanks to mr. black snake!
-------------------- Jeff Ogden 8727 NE 68 Terr. Gainesville FL, 32609 Posts: 2138 | From: 8827 NE 68 Terr Gainesville Fl 32609 | Registered: Aug 2002
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Gail & Jon mention Red-bellied Black snakes- they're poisonous, but in a weak sense- but they're also the only Aussie snake that will eat other more poisonous ones like the tiger snakes, browns, etc. Funny, the King brown is less venemous than the Common brown, which is a bad nasty one from around here- that's why we always keep a fox terrier amongst our bundle of dogs. I'd rather have the dog find them than the kids. That said, about 2 a year is the average. More people are bitten trying to kill them than by leaving them alone, so the statistics say. Our kids always take their 'snake pack' with them when going on a walk 'down the back'- it's a pouch with two bangages 5 inches by 10 feet long- for immobilising the joint, should you get bitten far from help. We've lost a few dogs, and the odd horse or cow to snake bite over the years- well the snake gets the blame anyway! Killing snakes (in Qld) is illegal, but a lot seem to acquire a heart attack about the same time as they die of lead poisoning. On the other hand, at our old place in Ravensbourne, there were always half-a-dozen carpet-pythons in the workshop. Before you started work each day you counted them to work out where they were, and no one got any frights then. They ('experts') also say that if you kill a snake, another will move in on the 'vacant territory'. You can keep killing them and new ones will keep moving in. They also say that if you think you have none, in fact you do have some but they're just better at hiding than you think!
I can not stand those plastic snakes- our kids love them, but they give me more of a heart-stop than the real ones- I trash them any time I fine them, but they seem to breed too!
[ October 16, 2003, 11:53 PM: Message edited by: Ian Stewart-Koster ]
-------------------- "Stewey" on chat
"...there are no limits when you aim for perfection..." Jonathan Livingston Seagull Posts: 7016 | From: Highgrove via Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia | Registered: Dec 2002
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