Originally Posted by Misty's Mom

This is my husband to a T. He won't wear his hearing aids and wouldn't hear me if I was screaming for my life in the next room

Originally Posted by alwayslearning

Glad everyone survived your scary situation! Snakes really scare me, but I respect them, too. They are not all harmful and many, in fact, are quite usefull eating and keeping populations of pests like RATS under control. Having said that, I live in a state that has every poisonous snake in this country.
The 911 emergency number services are for criminal and medical emergencies. They try to respond to everything they can, but some things are beyond their reach and resources. Something like this would go to animal control, which is quite understaffed. The also handle the alligators.

Originally Posted by lynnie

thank god everyone is o.k.
what can one do as a deterrent to snakes????
hero kitty to the rescue, I hope all the kitties got an extra snack that night.
that was a scary surprise I hope you never see one again

Originally Posted by chris_quilts

So glad everyone is okay!! Another nightmare in New Brunswick, Canada involving a snake yesterday. To young boys suffocated by a large snake above a pet store. What are people thinking to IMPORT trouble? ~ from Tartan

Because they are DUMB **** STUPID and short-sighted. ~ from Bearisgray

Ladies, I agree with both of you. My DH wanted a snake as a pet when we first got married. I said not if you want to marry me. We didn't and have been old married farts for awhile now.
Snakes are not pets. They are vermin but useful for critter control. That being said, protected or not, on my porch steps it would have been a dead snake.

Mousie ~ glad for you that it turned out okay and that BC saved the day for you.

Originally Posted by PolarBear

Okay girls I'm as scared of them as anyone and this is what I was advised to do, and did.


Get rid of any type of debris on your property: piles of branches, twigs, leaves, get rid of broken down equipment, etc, anything that
provides protection or nesting for the snakes. This will also help reduce other unwanted critters.

Although a snake can be life threatening to a human, not one of the 911 list of concerns. Arm yourselves will a list of snake killers, in
other words, people that will kill it for you, buy and learn how to use a snake gun. The gun is not very expensive and shots a
range of BB type ammunition therefore covering a larger area. That weay you don't have to be a perfect shot.
If your brave enough to get close enough to kill it with a shovel, be sure its a pointed shovel with a sharper edge.
Call neighbors, pest control companies and talk to everyone you know about avid hunters, trappers, etc. that you can contact to
see if at any future time you can call them if confronted with a snake. Put these phone numbers with other emergency numbers
in the house and store on your cell phone. You may never need them. But well worth the time investment. If you can't
identify a snake call someone to kill, if poisonous, or relocate it. If some one gets bit -- if there are enough people present and
youare not absolutely sure of what kind of snake it was, have someone keep track of the snake until it can be identified or kill it.
Identification can be key at the ER in treatment and sometimes survival.

If you have outside burn barrels or trash cans spread them at lease 2' apart so you can see around each one.

If you have a fenced yard - line the outer side of the fence with very small hail screen and bury the hail screen 3" into the ground.
Yes they can still come in under the gates, which you should run a strip of concrete under and than drop the gates as close as
possible to the concrete. Also place hail screen on the gates. Hail screen must be wired on securely. it comes in various heights
and is expensive.

Have your pets vaccinated. The first year the dogs (don't know about cats, I don't have one) get the vaccine they have to have a
shot and booster and than annual boosters. It gets very cold here in winter, in climates that stay warm year round you may
need boosters more often.

Take you dogs to Rattle Snake school. You have to participate, but its well wroth it. This will train your dog to retrieve from the
rattling sound.

The major hardware stores sell various types of snake away. Make sure the brand you buy deters the type of snake in question
IE: the only poisonous snakes we have are Rattle Snakes, 4 varieties. My deterrent only repels that type. I still have bull snakes
on my patio occasionally, I scream and my son relocates them 1/2 mile away as a bull snake will kill a rattler so don't kill the bull
snake. Husband doesn't pick up snakes so once one comes that close to the house he kills it, bull snake or not. I have not had
a Rattle Snake within the perimeter (set area around the house that I applied the deterrent) of the house since I started using it
5 years ago.

Must poison/trap mice and rats in all buildings on property. Snakes are attracted to mice/rat urine! Power wash old buildings inside
and out, then set out poison/traps.


Yes my man thought all this ridiculous until he paid the $1400 vet bill. The bill would not have been so high if my previous
(as a result of her not being able to identify the bite, even find it) veterinarian would have let me know my dog needed a second
shot the first year. She was bit 2 months after 1st shot. We are a very rural area. Vet bills can run much higher elsewhere.
It took me, complaining, five years to get all this done. It is no quick solution.

Haven't seen a Rattle snake anywhere near the house since all completed. Yes expensive. But all said and done was cheaper than
the $1400 vet bill!

Originally Posted by QultingaddictUK

WOW thank goodness we don't have much problems with snakes over here, although a poor little doggy was bitten by an Adder and died , it is the only venomous snake here in the UK, it was only last month right here on the Isle of Anglesey, it was in the grass on the cliffs.

I think your Pussycat deserves a gold medal and plenty of extra treats, and I think you were wonderful on how you handled the situation, maybe the Police are frightened of snakes, like me! But I would have thought they would have info who does deal with a terrifying situation like this, and well done your DH good job with shotgun.