My daughter almost stepped on a copperhead

there was another thread on this site a few months back about someone asking how to prevent snakes from hanging out under their front porch. Someone came up with a good suggestion. Forget what, but if you keyword "snakes" it might come up.

wyntermoon said:

Any ideas on how to get them to stay on THEIR side of the backyard?

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Reason with them.

Are you sure it was a Copperhead and not a Hog Snake?

http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,1607,7-153-10370_12145_12201-61207--,00.html

Sure glad nothing serious happened, Stace.

You said "picking berries in the backyard" . . . is your backyard woody, or do you just have some berry bushes?

A copperhead is not going to make a home in the typical backyard unless it's close to being naturally woody or very overgrown. Mr. Snake was probably just passing by.

Oh, in that case, that will make a wonderful home for copperheads.

Just kidding!

Just remember, copperhead are not aggressive, and their bite is almost never fatal. I can hear you now, "Oh, great, ALMOST never fatal!" ;-)

Really, I think it's been years, if not decades, since anyone has died from a copperhead bite. I'd have to look it up to be sure, but I think I'm correct.

A copperhead isn't going to rattle, either. That's a rattlesnake.

Copperhead:



Rattlesnake:

Copperheads will twitch their tails when agitated, but I believe only rattlesnakes have rattles.

Yup. No rattle for the copperhead. They do twitch tails and if it was in dry grass or leaves, it can sound a bit like a rattler. But if it was a rattler...:shivers:

What you need is a bunny, like the one in TIO "One bad ass killer bunny" thread. Sorry I don't know how to link.

"Snakes..... Why did it have to be snakes."

I hate snakes.

If you can stand the idea, introduce some King snakes to your property. They'll eat the rattlers.

aliajohnson said:

If you can stand the idea, introduce some King snakes to your property. They'll eat the rattlers.

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If that doesn't work, introduce some badgers and wolverines.

;-)

alleycat said:

If that doesn't work, introduce some badgers and wolverines.

;-)

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Who couldn't do with a pet badger?

If anyone is interested in what a king snake can do to a rattler, there's this. http://www.bear-tracker.com/snake.html

I'll admit, I stopped looking after the second picture of the battle. Blech.

wyntermoon said:

Er, thanks. It's not the snakes themselves I hate (okay, yes I do) but more of the horrible pain they can inflict on my babies; so I'm not adverse to bringing in a mongoose or two if they do the job.

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In that case, I'd definitely find out which kinds of King snakes are native to your area, get someone who knows what they're doing to help you capture one, and then release it on your property. They're not venomous, and they'll eat both rattlers and copperheads. It could be that some kinds are more effective than others, though. I'm not an expert on the little guys, I'm afraid.