# Poisonous snakes?!?!?



## ThisLittlePygmyFarm

I walked in on a copperhead in our chicken coop this am. SCARY!! We have three small children and our coop is like 30ft from our back door. Tips on keeping poisonous snakes away???


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## ksalvagno

Shoot them when you see them.


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## clearwtrbeach

Yes shoot them! Try clearing tall brush and grass, don't give them any extra nice warm rocks or concrete to lay on. And I hate snakes anymore, but I have a bull snake that lives near my hay pile! Scares the heck out of me when I go out with a pole to lift the tarp before putting my hand in there. BUT, because we also have rattlers in the summer I let the bull snake stay since they'll kill rattlers.


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## clearwtrbeach

Oh Yeah and Guinea hens!!!!! They will kill snakes no problems! Yes they're noisy but with small children better safe than sorry.


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## ThisLittlePygmyFarm

I shot it! I'm pretty sure it was the heat lamp on the meat chicks that drew him in there. We've thought about getting a king snake to put out here and guineas as well. I hate any kind of snake, they just freak me out!! Bleck!


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## Used2bmimi

I have a bull snake that lives under my house and I protect it very carefully! I love that thing! Since we started seeing baby bull snakes coming up from the crawl space to the patio, (7 years ago) I have not seen 1 mouse poop anywhere in my house. We live in a manufactured home on irrigated land so that's saying something! I have heard that they keep rattlers at bay also. We used to spray under the house foe bugs and I don't do that anymore, preferring to keep my natural predator healthy. Are there any common snake predators in your area that you could cultivate? I like the idea of guinea hens on patrol!


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## clearwtrbeach

Bull snakes do keep out rattlers and copper heads, but I'm just not keen on them being right where I'm walking -eeww. Believe it or not I actually use to have a ball python. Guineas are great for ticks and snakes they won't back down. We are actually going to get some this weekend.


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## Trickyroo

Ball pythons are like kitty cats , lolol Except no hair 
I had one in one of the vets I worked for , such a sweetheart.
And this is coming from a person who freaks out when I see or even watch a program with snakes !! Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww


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## clearwtrbeach

Tricky you are too funny. I had mine for about 2 years until I got preggo w/ my own twins (gosh 25 yrs ago!). I have to use a wood stake to move my hay tarps so he has a chance to get out of the bale if he's in there- still freaks me out. Plus when bulls are babies they look a lot like rattlers! I killed one last year because I couldn't see the tail (too young to rattle) and reached my hand down to pu rocks when he struck out!
When I lived back east we had a lot of copper heads and cotton mouths- too many close calls.


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## ThisLittlePygmyFarm

The thought of purposely keeping a snake just gives me the heebie jeebies. lol I'm much more keen on the guinea idea! Plus with a bull snake would it bother our chickens or steal eggs?


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## Stacykins

It makes me sad when people just smash in a snake's head or blow it away, as a knee jerk reaction. Even venomous snakes.

By the way, snakes aren't poisonous, they are venomous The difference between poison and venom is that venom is always injected directly, via fangs, spines, stings, etc. But poison is delivered to an organism through the skin or digestive system, such as when poison ivy irritates causes a rash on your skin, or ingestion of poisonous plants makes someone sick. So yea, now you know the right terminology for that.

If you truly want to reduce snake numbers on your property, you must not make it a good environment for them. Clear away all the brush, any piles or rocks, bricks, or blocks. Pickup any scrap wood or debris. Make is so there is no safe place for them to hide, rest, or sun themselves, and they will move on to a better habitat.

And guess what? For every snake you do see, there are others that you do not. This is a fact of life, unless you sterilize your property and live on dirt, nothing green. Thankfully, the ones that were lucky enough to avoid your detection get to live another day. They aren't looking to tangle with a human. *They aren't going out of their way to try an bite you.* Heck, many venomous snakes will *flee* if you give them a chance and do not show aggression unless they are violently disturbed.

And for those who think I'm an animal loving hippie who doesn't know the reality, yea, I do. I've encountered my fair share of venomous snakes in my life. I was in their territory most of the time, usually hiking out west. What did I do? I left them alone. Well, not totally, I'd admire from a distance, then go on my way. I've even encountered the rare massasauga rattlesnake here at my home. Did I kill it? Nope! In this area, it is threatened/endangered. Plus, it was doing no harm to me, it was just sunning itself on a brick. If you are so worried about kids and snakes,* teach* your kids to not handle any snakes, period. If kids are too young to understand such a concept, then *supervise them closely. *

These are a few of the lovely little serpents who have visited my property, that I have had the chance to photograph. A lot of folks bash in western fox snake, one of the photographed snakes. It looks like venomous species that _don't even live in this area. _


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## ThisLittlePygmyFarm

Stacykins said:


> It makes me sad when people just smash in a snake's head or blow it away, as a knee jerk reaction. Even venomous snakes.
> 
> By the way, snakes aren't poisonous, they are venomous The difference between poison and venom is that venom is always injected directly, via fangs, spines, stings, etc. But poison is delivered to an organism through the skin or digestive system, such as when poison ivy irritates causes a rash on your skin, or ingestion of poisonous plants makes someone sick. So yea, now you know the right terminology for that.
> 
> If you truly want to reduce snake numbers on your property, you must not make it a good environment for them. Clear away all the brush, any piles or rocks, bricks, or blocks. Pickup any scrap wood or debris. Make is so there is no safe place for them to hide, rest, or sun themselves, and they will move on to a better habitat.
> 
> And guess what? For every snake you do see, there are others that you do not. This is a fact of life, unless you sterilize your property and live on dirt, nothing green. Thankfully, the ones that were lucky enough to avoid your detection get to live another day. They aren't looking to tangle with a human. They aren't going out of their way to try an bite you. Heck, many venomous snakes will flee if you give them a chance and do not show aggression unless they are violently disturbed.
> 
> And for those who think I'm an animal loving hippie who doesn't know the reality, yea, I do. I've encountered my fair share of venomous snakes in my life. I was in their territory most of the time, usually hiking out west. What did I do? I left them alone. Well, not totally, I'd admire from a distance, then go on my way. I've even encountered the rare massasauga rattlesnake here at my home. Did I kill it? Nope! In this area, it is threatened/endangered. Plus, it was doing no harm to me, it was just sunning itself on a brick. If you are so worried about kids and snakes, teach your kids to not handle any snakes, period. If kids are too young to understand such a concept, then supervise them closely.
> 
> These are a few of the lovely little serpents who have visited my property, that I have had the chance to photograph. A lot of folks bash in western fox snake, one of the photographed snakes. It looks like venomous species that don't even live in this area.


I respect you're opinion on this but I don't completely agree with you. We do educate our children about snakes and they know to never handle any kind of snake. Our youngest is always supervised. That being said accidents happen and my children's lives are much more valuable than a snakes. They could easily not see a venomous snake and be bitten just by doing something completely innocent. Not that it would be the snakes fault or the child's fault. I understand that we are going to have snakes but I will always kill a venomous snake when seen on my property in order to do my best at protecting my children. I know there are more that I don't see but my job as a mother is to do my best to protect my children and getting rid of any immediate danger is one of those jobs in my opinion. I'm not a crazy snake hating yuppie but I don't like them. I don't like any of them to be honest. I try to respect all life but I do believe there is a time when it's ok to do what I feel I need to do for my families best interest and for my pets best interest as well. Kids are going to be kids which means they could easily "violently disturb" a snake unintentionally. That's my two cents. I'm not trying to cause any kind of argument and I'm completely fine to agree to disagree but I did want to say what I thought about this.


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## serenityfarmnm

I live in Southern New Mexico & we bought a very run down farm when we got here. Snakes everywhere! We bought a dozen Guinea Fowl, they are free range on our 4 acres. Haven't seen a snake close to the house, barn or coop since 2 weeks after we got the guineas. They are LOUD but worth it!


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## GTAllen

We catch 100's of Rattlesnakes snakes each year and it seems to have little to no effect on them. Year after year for the past 30+ years the same dens still produce. I doubt people killing a few venomous snakes around their house much effect on the population. But, it really is only a "feel" good measure, like was said. Fir the one you do see, there are dozens more you don't.

Come on out next weekend. http://mangumrattlesnakederby.com/


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## Trickyroo

Dear God !! A rattlesnake derby 
Not this chicky , :slapfloor:


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