Male and female snakes (even if they are the good non poisonous ones) is not the thing you want to see when you go outside to uncover the outdoor water faucet so that you can water your garden...But alas---there they were. Entwined doing what snakes do...ick!
This is the female we got her loose and Senior relocated her to the woods without much resistance. Where I hope she stays. we figured she is nearly 4 feet in length as we found a 3 foot snake skin near by.
This one is the male, he slithered away and got a little testy, then he rapidly climbed back up the faucet housing that my father in law built and has been in hiding deep down inside the insulation. We guessed he is nearly 5-6 feet in length, and has obviously been well fed.
We did do our research and they are either "Black Racers" or "Rat Snakes" , a nonvenomous colubrus constrictor snake. But don't let the constrictor part scare you, they actually are not a true constrictor..or so I read. They like to eat smaller snakes, frogs, lizards.. and are big, black and beautiful.
And yes...just like I thought this is their mating season.
I picked up moth balls to throw inside the faucet housing and we hope today to coax him out of his nest and get him relocated. So far, neither he or the female have discovered the chicken coop, as I understand they love chicken eggs. Both are welcomed to stay around the estate keeping nature in balance, but , they need to do their balancing act in the surrounding woods..not in the faucet insulation....
So tonight is operation "relocation" lol will let you all know how it goes with Mr. Slither here....
-JUGM
Look like common Black Rat snakes to me, not that that changes anything :)
ReplyDeleteI bey he was grumpy getting interrupted like that.
I think they have different names around the country....
DeleteYeah I'm sure he hated being interrupted...probably had to go get his mojo back.....lol.
Wow. Good sized 'good' snakes. But, I'm w/you that they need to stay in their own area, not in yours. We had one last year that lived in the railroad ties lining the driveway at the country house. When mowing he would strike at the lawnmower. Also had one strike at me while biking the Baldwin Rail Trail a few years back & I was just riding by, still on the concrete. Scared the bejesus out of me.
ReplyDeleteYea that would have scared the crap out of me too. The male was trying to strike senior...he got agitated and went back into hiding.
DeleteThey're good to have around.
ReplyDeleteYou 'interrupted' his love life... That's why he was pissed... LOL
ReplyDeleteWe have plenty of woods for him to go get his jollies in..lol. my outdoor faucet doesn't come with a red light
Deleteoh crap Gurlie - i would have fainted. our snakes are tiny...tiny, little red-bellied snakes.i showed jambaloney the pics of your snakes (he did 3yrs of a biology degree before switching to philosophy) and he said "oh my god! those are black racers. you want to keep them on your property to take care of any small vermin."
ReplyDeletehe didn't read your post, just saw the pics....but you are right. keep them around the property just don't let them in the house...or the faucet house - bahahahah!
sending much love all of you, as always! your friend,
kymber
We got the female relocated. Tonight we tossed in moth balls ...I think the male abandoned the nest and moved on because after probing the insulation we never felt him and never saw him emerge.
DeleteJUGM,
ReplyDeleteSurprise!!! I hate these type of surprises, glad to hear they're relocated and weren't venomous snakes.
Hugs, and love to you, Senior, and your Boys.
Sandy
Also a good way of keeping out smaller poisonous snakes.
ReplyDeleteI loathe snakes. I used to kill them all. But my daughter likes them, and rescues exotics (no "hot" snakes) up in the city she lives in. They feed them frozen baby mice, which seems pretty sick so I try not think about it. I went up there and stayed in their apartment once, and I slept in the bedroom lined with glass containers full of snakes. All night long the snakes writhed and tried to lift the wire screens off the tops of their cages. The next day I got a room at a motel down the road!
ReplyDeleteHarry- that makes my skin crawl. I would have got a motel too!
ReplyDelete