Wednesday, September 15, 2010

These damned snakes are getting old!

Well,I came home tonight to yet another large water moccasin in the flower bed just beside my front door.

I saw him when my motion activated flood lights came on. He was stretched across four flagstones that I have in the bed where the water runs off the roof.  I rolled out onto my ramp and watched him for a bout 5 minutes. Not a twitch.

I decided that it was probably another dead one that some ass had placed there. However, as soon as I lowered the ramp down and it hit the cement, I was rudely disabused of that notion when it crawled slightly farther into the flower bed.

In the unlikely event that this was one of those fabled aggressive moccasins, I did not want to be on his turf in a wheelchair. I stayed up of the ground on my raised ramp and called the police.

One of the two responding SMPD officers was one of the ones who responded in the daytime a few weeks ago for the first one. I assured him that this one was very much alive and large.

They looked in the flower bed and around the side of the house. Apparently, it had skedaddled back over to the retention pond and swamp in the middle of Brant Creek Apartments from which it no doubt came.

One of the officers told me that they had had several snake calls to that property in the last couple of weeks.

Let's hear it for the friggin Green eco-weenies. Thanks to them, I now havcea protected water moccasin sanctuary just out my back door!

My biggest concern is for Cojack. I already check the back yard before I let him out. I'll be going to Lowes for some snake repellent tomorrow.

11 comments:

Pittsoff said...

Surround your property line with Lime, it irritates their skin and they won't cross it.
Don't buy snake repellant. Just go to the dollar store and buy moth balls....it is the same thing and you will save money. Spread them around your yard and definately in your flower beds and anywhere they could hide or hang out.....they will smell a bit....but pic your battles.

Hope that helps

Jay Moreno said...

Thanks.

Which is more effective - the lime or the naptha in the mothballs?

Do you put the moth balls out whole or crush them up and spread it around?

Anonymous said...

If you find something that works, please let us know because we are having a serious snake problem this year. Have seen a couple cottonmouths in my yard in the past couple of months. I have had people tell me snake repellant does not work nor moth balls and then others who say only moth balls work. Would love to know what really works.

Pittsoff said...

I usually do both. Put lime around the perimeter of the yard, and then the moth balls out in the bushes and such around the house.

Put the moth balls out whole. They will last longer

Jay Moreno said...

Thanks.

I found an interesting "recipe" on the Internet.

You put eqaul aprts whole moth balls and fresh cat litter into a
container with a tight fiitting lid.

Two days later, the cat litter will have absorbed a good bit of the moth ball fumes. You then spread the mixture around your property line.

They caution you to wear a respirator mask though.

Anonymous said...

The cat litter and moth balls sounds like it would work. But if you can stand the smell the moth balls works fine. I put them out on the property lines away from the house. I cannot stand the smell so I do not put them close to the house. This year seems to be really bad with snakes, we have the rattlers and they are BIG. at least they are down the road and not in my yard.

Jay Moreno said...

I suspect that the idea is that a 50/50 mixture of moth balls and cat litter may be less expensive and just as effective as all moth balls to cover a long property line.

Jay Moreno said...

Regarding the use of lime, someone on the Internet made the comment that besides the lime being dangerous to kids and pets, that the snakes will have crawled through it by the time their skin becomes irritated. Then you have an irritated moccasin or rattler on your property.

Swampy said...

As an old Swampstompper I would sujest rope discarded from wharfs i.e. rope that is thick and has lots of spikes such as jute or hemp. Encompas your space with said rope to keep reptiles at bay.

White sand was used deep in the swamps in lieu of grass not as an irratent but for ease in spotting trespassing vipers.

BTW them there cotton mouths aint on no protection list I am aware of and breed as well as rats so iffin you are near water you have a high probability of encountering said vipers has nothing to do with tree huggers. Nope the only protected snakes arround here are the Eastern Indigo and Timber Rattlers ... aint seen nothing on no cotton mouths or other water snakes maybe its cause we got so much water ya reckon,

Jay Moreno said...

The reason I was thanking the Green-eco weenies for my snake problem is that were it not for them, we would not have the ridiculously strict "wet lands" law thatrequired the developer of tghe Brant Creek Apartments to leave unmolested about a quarter acre of snake infested swamp right smack inthe middle of the complex. Hence, the water moccasin sanctuary. Hell, he even had to dig two nice retention ponds on either side of it for their swimming and hunting pleasure.

Jay Moreno said...

By the way, I think my solution is going to be a Taurus Model 4510. Check it out.