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  • 308Scout

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Mar 27, 2020
    6,545
    Washington County
    As for entry points, are you on a foundational basement, slab, or crawlspace? If it's a basement or crawlspace, I'd look at the band-joists to see if there is anyway it could have gotten in. I was getting carpenter ants in my kitchen non-stop when I finally figured out that they were coming through an abandoned hole in the band joist that had been drilled to run power to an old mercury-vapor lamp that was in the back yard. Filled it with expanding foam and haven't had an issue since. Alternatively, a crack in duct work in a crawlspace can let these bastards in.

    Thanks for the advise - Will start the search accordingly. We have all thee due to the slope of the mountain and three separate additions (main house - basement, front addition - slab, the other two - crawlspace). One addition in particular has my attention. It has a crawlspace (with HVAC) and is next to an area where we have seen them previously outside. It looks to be sealed pretty tightly from a prior energy efficiency update that was done before we bought the place.

    We had some renovation work done a couple of months ago and the windows and front door were open/off for extended periods during the day. Am wondering if it may have gotten in then and just been chilling out inside since.
     

    MaxVO2

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Man, that got my adrenaline up just reading about it.

    I wonder where your trapper is going to release him?

    *****Hopefully near a good Chinese restaurant! I was shocked at what was sold to "eat" at their food markets when I was just outside of Guangzhou, in China. They will eat pretty much anything which might explain some of the recent illnesses running about these days! :innocent0

    I've tasted snake before, but it was prepared in a soup with a bunch of bush meat. Dunno about rattler or copperheads, etc.. but in some countries snake is some good eating! It doesn't taste all that different from plain fish like a tilapia but it has a zillion little boney things in the meat you have to be careful of. Snake skin can be pan fried and seasoned so it tastes pretty darned good - it's kind of sugary tasting and super low in fat so it might even qualify as health food!!! :lol2: You can smoke it, or braise it. Smoked snake skin with some spices tastes remarkably like really thin dried and salted fish.

    Waking up to a snake that close to me, alive and not looking at all happy would probably not make me all that happy either. I'd probably shoot it with an AS-007 loaded with snake killer, low penetration loads.

    Bah, I'd probably burn my house down and move out of the State. That snake looked pretty pissed.
     

    308Scout

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Mar 27, 2020
    6,545
    Washington County
    Now you get to search for where all the rest are. If there's one....there's more.

    Yep - that's been our experience too (formerly all outside). Have been fewer the last couple of years though and we've been seeing a lot more black racers, which supposedly are not above eating other smaller snakes, including venomous, when they are a convenient meal.
     

    308Scout

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Mar 27, 2020
    6,545
    Washington County
    How did you trap it?

    Very carefully.

    I set a 18"x10" glue board immediately next to it using a rake handle and "guided" it on the board with the business end of the rake. Whatever adhesive they use on them is pretty damned effective - instant immobilization.
     

    Bikebreath

    R.I.P.
    MDS Supporter
    Jun 30, 2009
    14,836
    in the bowels of Baltimore
    Is it in there for food? Might want an exterminator to quell that. Is it in there for shelter? You will be blocking holes, but are you trapping some inside?

    Might give a call to DNR and see if they can offer any tips that might make snakes want to avoid your house.

    Oh, and jumping quickly out of bed to get the snake could have landed you on his buddy. Not so fast next time.

    Was a .308 ever one of your choices? ;)
     

    tatoocrab

    Active Member
    Sep 20, 2010
    332
    tracy's landing / beltsville
    Killed one 3' from back door 4 years ago. Than found out against the law.
    So wife bought snake tongs next year had good size one in yard got
    put it in bucket with lid. Call DNR thinking they would relocate big
    NO.
     

    smokey

    2A TEACHER
    Jan 31, 2008
    31,412
    My dad made a snake-catcher out of a 2x4 and some rope. He cut a notch out of one end, then drilled through horizontally, then inserted rope, tied it off, and ran the length down the side. Essentially you make a lasso at the notch end, put the rope around the snake, and then pull the rope to catch it. He made it for our trip to texas so he could catch rattlesnakes. He didn't find any rattlesnakes in texas, but he used it in the garden at home. The snake wouldn't put its head through the lasso, rendering the device useless. My dad ended up essentially knocking the snake unconscious with the 2x4 from repeated attempts to get its head through the loop, then just put the loop around its head with his hands and then pulled it tight....declaring his invention a success. Fun times with peak suburb dad glory.
     

    John from MD

    American Patriot
    MDS Supporter
    May 12, 2005
    22,734
    Socialist State of Maryland
    My wife screams when the smallest bug comes crawling through the bedroom. When a 5 foot Black Rat Snake came crawling through the kitchen all she said was "does that belong to you?" Go figure. :lol:
     

    308Scout

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Mar 27, 2020
    6,545
    Washington County
    Is it in there for food? Might want an exterminator to quell that. Is it in there for shelter? You will be blocking holes, but are you trapping some inside?

    Might give a call to DNR and see if they can offer any tips that might make snakes want to avoid your house.

    Oh, and jumping quickly out of bed to get the snake could have landed you on his buddy. Not so fast next time.

    Was a .308 ever one of your choices? ;)

    Making the place less inviting has been our MO - we've been making the place and property around the house less appealing for snakes for the last two years since we moved in and saw our first copperheads roughly a month later. Consulted DNR and a local wildlife service. The original landscaping was very nice, but an unmitigated nightmare from the perspective of having rodents and snakes around - think hillside and flower beds covered in tall pampas grass, thick English ivy, etc. Perfect habitat and cover. That is 99% gone now and we are indeed seeing fewer signs of snakes. Pampas grass is hell to kill btw. We have not seen any sign of rodents in the house (have a annual pest control inspections jic), but chipmunks are all over outside. We know we will never be "clear" of snakes here, our property is bounded on three sides by forested state land and in an area know for copperheads. We are just hoping to reduce the number of encounters.

    The .308 is usually my "go to" choice, but for slightly larger game than snakes!
     

    Uncle Duke

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 2, 2013
    11,667
    Not Far Enough from the City
    You do have the wife scheduled for early morning reconnaissance, correct? Checking around corners, in closets, under the bed etc? Say, beginning an hour or so before you have to get up?
     

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