Worried About Charlie

[John L]

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And speaking of losing a friend, I'm concerned about Charlie. Yesterday, I got Michael to help me move some of my continuous water feed bucket garden planters from my rear deck to the sunny side of my house. I'm in the process of replacing all the decking and railing to the old deck, and have to move some of the items out of the way, so I can do half of the flooring and them move the loose items to the other side and finish up the flooring.

But I just have too much back there, so I needed to move the tomato planters out front. Well, my buddy Michael and I did the grunt work moving them out, and setting them up on the side where the sun shines most of the time. One of the planters I use against the side of the house is a long planter where I plant my string beans and let them climb on a trellis. Its been there since last year, and because the concrete is not flat, I have one end elevated with blocks, leaving an opening underneath the planter.

As Michael and I were setting the planters down, I happened to look over at the bean planter, and Holy Cow, what was looking out from under the planter box, but this ugly head. It was a copperhead snake. No telling how long he/she had set up shop there, but judging from the size of the head, it must be at least 3 1/2 - 4 feet long. I mean it just eyeballed me and didn't act like it was afraid of me.

And here Michael's shih-tzu Gizmo, and my Charlie ran around the yard all the time whenever they were let out to take care of business, and here was this poisonous snake that could reach out and send Charlie to the dog cemetary. With a little help I went after Mr. No-Shoulders, but it managed to escape out the back door of the box, into an opening in the pavement, and around the corner into the front hedges. It got away, and we couldn't tell where it has gotten to. So we had to give up and worry about the guys getting bitten by this critter.

Well, today I was out tending the vegetables and I looked over at the opening under the bean planter, and Mr. No-Shoulders was right there checking me out again. I didn't even try to get to it, because I didn't have anyone to help me coral it. But I am going to have to get this fellow and get rid of it some way or another. I just can't take a chance and let Charlie, or Gizmo, get too curious and end up taking the Long Sleep.

Has anyone had a similar problem with a poisonous snake in their yard, that was determined not to lose its head over it all? I'm not sure how to root this guy out and get rid of the danger. I have a healthy respect for snakes, but am not overly afraid of them. Living in the South, I had better not be, or I would be in need of medication on a continuous basis.

[Twitchin Kitten]

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John, I split your post off LK's cat thread and put it in with dogs. It'll get better attention this way.
I also renamed it appropriately.

[twisteroo]

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I don't have to worry much about poisonous snakes and stuff, so I have no real good input.
Do you have like a local animal control or game warden kinda snake catching patrol, or a .22 rifle, or a good pellet rifle?

[Twilla]

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You might find something useful here.

[Gunnen4u]

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John, I would use a .22 using the shotshells. Put it in a .22 rifle, and point the business end as close to the head as possible. No more snake, and the pellets won't tear up the deck or anything.

Whenever I was out in Eastern Montana, or North Central Montana, I always carried a .357 loaded with .38SPL shotshells for snakes.

As for prevention, Twilla has linked a nice thread. First, I would remove the problem to begin with. Goddamned snakes. I don't hate them, but they tend to be inconvenient.

[Twitchin Kitten]

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John, I don't have the "pleasure" of dealing with snakes where I live, but if you keep a fire extinguisher around that blows out Co2, give shooting him with that a try to slow them down. When I kept my lizard, sometimes he would escape and for some reason, he always looked for a dark corner to hide. It always turned out the dark areas were very cool for him and it nearly paralyzes them and makes catching very, very easy. Paralyze the snake and you can dispatch it with ease.

I can't believe it took me two days to remember that!

[Rhubarb]

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I was thinking of moving to Ireland.................

I can't bare the thought of a snake within a mile of me. We only have Adders locally, which rarely kill, but can make a horrible mess if not treated.

My Uncle in WV has told of lots of tales and one or two about copperheads. They sound frightening.
I sincerely hope your problem is solved very soon.

Makes my mouse in the kitchen pathetic.

[Twitchin Kitten]

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We have our share of poisonous snakes here too, just not in the are I am in now. Couple towns inland and yeah, I've come across a few Pineland Rattlesnakes while on horseback. We have water moccasins and copperheads too. I don't like snakes, even non-lethal ones.

You should see how fast a horse can dispatch a snake and chop it into several pieces! That happened to me while in NY still. It was a common black snake and Mickey went nuts! Both front feet, toes pointed down with great accuracy and dispatched that snake before I knew what he was doing. When he was done, I noticed snake bits all over. Horses are very accurate with their front hooves. You ever see a horse up on it's hind legs, get out of the way before he strikes!

[twisteroo]

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Well there ya go, get a horse to roam your yard for awhile.

I did see a series of pics once of a horse kicking the fuck out of a bobcat, or mountain lion or something. I should try to find those just for the hell of it.

Geeze, it was a mule, look at those dogs sitting in the background.

http://www.blackbearheaven.com/horse-kills-cougar.htm

[Twitchin Kitten]

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Don't mess with mules! They're deadly accurate front and back!