I was walking past my garden shed on my way to play with my telescope on Sunday and noticed about 20cm of snake, or perhaps lizard tail disappearing under the shed door.
Thinking that it was probably a large lizard, I proceeded to head into the shed to take a peek. It was nowhere to be found. However, my garden shed is quite busy so the reptile could have been anywhere in there.
After speaking with one of my brothers, he said that it was most probably going to be a snake, as it managed to fit under the 15mm-20mm gap under the shed door. He also noted that I should wear boots and jeans next time I went into the shed in case it had set up home in there.
I was wondering if anyone here knows how to coax a snake (my worst case) out of the shed without going in after it.
Floyd,|
Try this method:
A mouse / rat in a cage with a string on it. Make sure the "victim" has food and water. Set the cage in a good sized pail or box on its side. If you are particularly considerate you can cover the cage in a light cloth.
Unless the snake has recently fed or is shedding the mouse will be like KFC to it and it'll wriggle in - possibly more than one.
When you have determined the snake is well and truly IN - up-end the box/pail using a long handled something. Haul out the mouse, cage & all, cover the vessel and "relocate" the reptile. If its a constrictor just set it free somewhere away from small pets.
Easy as! Its worked for me dozens of times.
Get expert assistance, the vast majority of snake bites are suffered by people attempting to kill, capture ward off or identify snakes, and remember all snakes are poisonous, I am constantly amused by people who claim to be able to ID snakes by their appearance when snakes of the same variety can differ in looks over the width of a farm track. Not unlike humans really.
Hi Dean! I doubt you'll ever see the snake again. Yer run-of-the-mill nasties such as browns, blacks, tigers etc aren't going to set up home in the shed - I've pulled several sheds apart looking for the snake that went in, and never found one yet, LOL!
Beautiful animals, best left alone as taminga16 said.
I gave WIRES a call, but they said that they needed to be sure that the snake was still there as they won't send a volunteer snake handler to look for one. I can't argue with that, as it seems that snakes more often than not tend to move around rather than setting up camp anywhere.
I told them that I'd give them a call from the hospital to confirm that it's still there. At that point in the conversation the telephonist at WIRES took my number and said that she would call me back with further information.
I'm with you Greg. I don't want to go in after the blighter (who may or may not still be there) given that my life skills to date don't include snake handling.
Hi Dean dont be fooled i had a hissed off brown snake in my shed for a week before i got the local snake catcher to come and get him he wasn,t going to leave and i tried to flush him out only to have him rear up and chase me out of the shed were i jumped a fence just outside the shed falling and breaking two ribs ,then the snake ran straight back into the shed ,be carefull and dont try to tackle him .the local snake catcher charged me $40 and had him caught with the right gear in ten minutes well worth the money spent
ALAN
If you were closer to my area I'd come and get him for you...
Removal of an unidentified snake is definitely a job for a professional handler... Even a python bite can do you a lot of damage.. They may not be poisonous, but they do have a hell of a lot of bacteria in their mouth, and a bite will generally end up as a horribly infected, festering wound... Just be careful, and keep a look out for it in the mean time... If you spot it again, get straight on the phone to WIRES and get them to sort it out for you..
Errr,
All snakes are NOT poisonous (that's spiders). Though I suppose it makes sense to treat them as such.
If you are trying to chase it, grab it, wack it or otherwise appear aggressive, the snake is gonna get pissed and have a go. Especially if you try and corner it.
Either that or it will retreat, though probably not far.
Snakes, even big ones, can get into remarkably small spaces. Anything wider than a pencil and they'll be down it. Because we live in the country we can't call "Snakeaway" every time one gets in the house or shed, so we just deal with them carefully.
Luring it out with what it WANTS, i.e. food / dark place is the only safe way to do it. I kept and bred snakes for years. Some of them very aggresive and poisonous and the above method was taught to me by by a reptile house keeper from the San Diego Zoo.
Patience is called for.
Once you've 'bagged' your foe, then you can call "Snakes 'r' Us" and have them remove it.
Nah, just chop it in half with that shovel. The two dead halves will still squirm about in its own blood and entrails, but should settle down within the space of several hours
Speaking of serpents, Has anyone ever tried preparing a freshly caught Eel for dinner? lots of 'fun' there.
Ric - After reading that yesterday I did a simple experiment here at home... I put a few mothballs in a plastic container and put them in one of my python enclosures, in his favorite location... He spends maybe 70% of his time in the location.. For the 3 hours that the mothballs were there, he went nowhere near it.. He regularly climbed half way up the stick and raised his head to see what was there, but quickly turned around and headed back to the floor of his enclosure... Once the mothballs were removed, it took him about 20 minutes to get back to his usual location and settle back in... I'd say its pretty effective
I told them that I'd give them a call from the hospital to confirm that it's still there.
I once had a catcher tell me to poke my head up in my roof to see if the snake was up there still... As if that was gonna happen!!! What if it was right near the man hole still, may as well just draw a bulls eye right in the middle of my face for it!
I once had a catcher tell me to poke my head up in my roof to see if the snake was up there still...
As if that was gonna happen!!! What if it was right near the man hole still, may as well just draw a bulls eye right in the middle of my face for it!
