We have a full-sized rattle snake under the house

Pecos

Pecos

Well-known Member
Location
Washington State
This morning I caught a glimpse of a full-sized rattle snake slithering into the crawl space under the house. It has been a long time since I have seen one that large and I am not messing with it by crawling in there after it on my belly. I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I will skip this little adventure. It will leave on its own.

We do have a lot more pygmy rattlers around and they actually cause more trouble because they are small and rather pretty. Kids think that they can play with them. I don't know of anyone who has died from one, but they can sure mess up you hand or arm with all the swelling.

My best move against snakes is a couple of bird seed feeders. Cardinals, Blue jays and several others will nail snakes on sight.

And this is my adventure for today.
 

JustDave said:
I had copperheads moving into my woodshed. I put out poison for the mice, and the copperheads seem to leave when there are no more mice.
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I sure hope my rattler moves out fairly quickly. It has been years since I have seen a mouse around here so hopefully there is nothing to eat down there. Having a cat seems to squash the mouse problem in a hurry.

Copperheads can be nasty too; I see them in the nearby woods fairly often and we had a lot of them when I lived in West Texas. When I lived in Texas as a kid, the ones that spooked me the most were the water snakes. Having something bump you when you are swimming in a river gets your attention.
 
Pecos said:
This morning I caught a glimpse of a full-sized rattle snake slithering into the crawl space under the house.
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Yea, I wouldn't have a moments rest until I got it collected up and relocated. Haven't had any rodents in or near the house lately, but I can see their tracks further out on the property. No rodents usually means no snakes.
 
Nathan said:
Yea, I wouldn't have a moments rest until I got it collected up and relocated. Haven't had any rodents in or near the house lately, but I can see their tracks further out on the property. No rodents usually means no snakes.
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I sure wish that capturing it would be easy, but my crawl space under the house it very tight, and very dark. In many places, I have to scoot on my belly when I venture down there so my ability to maneuver is pretty restricted. Plus, there are so many hiding places that the snake could hide in.

The idea of going down there with it is spooky to me.
 
Pecos said:
This morning I caught a glimpse of a full-sized rattle snake slithering into the crawl space under the house.
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You might consider spraying some Ammonia or Bleach under your house. The strong odor of that stuff should quickly chase the snake away. There are commercial snake repellents available, also.

https://www.aidsquilt.org/best-rattlesnake-repellents/

Luckily, we usually only get black snakes and garter snakes around here.....which are good rodent controllers. I did have a copperhead sneak into my workshop one time, a few years ago....luckily I saw him moving around, and was able to chase him back out with a broom.
 
squatting dog said:
Double ought. Problem solved and no need to get too close. Live and let live won't work once they move in. Come winter, wouldn't that be a nice surprise to see this guy in your kitchen.


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It sounds tempting, but I am going to pass up the opportunity to shoot holes in my air conditioning duct work, my insulation, and the various cables that builders seem to string under houses these days. Being down there firing a shotgun in that closed space might be a little hard on my hearing.

LOL, I will give my "advantage point" to the snake.
 
Pecos said:
It sounds tempting, but I am going to pass up the opportunity to shoot holes in my air conditioning duct work, my insulation, and the various cables that builders seem to string under houses these days. Being down there firing a shotgun in that closed space might be a little hard on my hearing.

LOL, I will give my "advantage point" to the snake.
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Ok, then 7 1/2 bird shot when he pokes his head out will do the job with little or no damage to other under house things. Myself, I'd hate to lose a cat, dog, or grand child to a rattler. Besides, once he's gone, some putty would fill in the bb holes if any in the duct work. doubt field shot would penetrate wire or plumbing, but would sure do a job on mr rattlers head.
Also, let's hope it's a he and not a she about to unload a bunch of little vipers under your house. (shudder).
 
My dd had snakes on her land most days.. the dogs would just ignore them in the end...

The garden over the wall is the orange grove and where the dogs would play ball..


CBIQ7839-1.jpg
 
Pecos said:
This morning I caught a glimpse of a full-sized rattle snake slithering into the crawl space under the house. It has been a long time since I have seen one that large and I am not messing with it by crawling in there after it on my belly. I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I will skip this little adventure. It will leave on its own.

We do have a lot more pygmy rattlers around and they actually cause more trouble because they are small and rather pretty. Kids think that they can play with them. I don't know of anyone who has died from one, but they can sure mess up you hand or arm with all the swelling.

My best move against snakes is a couple of bird seed feeders. Cardinals, Blue jays and several others will nail snakes on sight.

And this is my adventure for today.
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Get a couple of chickens and keep them around the house .
 
Pecos said:
I sure hope my rattler moves out fairly quickly. It has been years since I have seen a mouse around here so hopefully there is nothing to eat down there. Having a cat seems to squash the mouse problem in a hurry.

Copperheads can be nasty too; I see them in the nearby woods fairly often and we had a lot of them when I lived in West Texas. When I lived in Texas as a kid, the ones that spooked me the most were the water snakes. Having something bump you when you are swimming in a river gets your attention.
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Or have one drop into your boat when fishing. Florida rivers are bad for that.

I had a nice large black snake that lived in my neighborhood doing no harm while keeping the mouse population under control until a new neighbor killed it thinking she was doing the neighborhood a favor. Bless her heart, she was a Yankee and didn't know any better. :sneaky:
 
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