Yikes-Be Careful
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mguzzy
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Snakes.. why does it always have to be snakes....
My irrigation repair guy always knocks on the lids of in-ground boxes before opening them and listens for a rattle. Now I do the same. Unlike him, I learned this the easy way.
The other day I was lamenting that when I check my skimmer there always seems to be a spider or two. I don’t understand how they can be underwater and still alive. Anyway, now that I see what some of you are dealing with, I’ll not complain anymore. In MI, it rare to see anything other than a garter snake. I’m really thankful for that.
Saturn94
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The white under the head, and likely under part of the body, would indicate it’s a Black Rat snake. They are harmless and actually tame easily. It’s not unusual for Black Rat snakes to reach 6-7ft long.
Black Racers are generally smaller and lack the white under the head/body.
CORRECTION: Black Racers can have white under chin/head. (Sorry for the misinformation…memory isn’t what it use to be
).
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Orion7319
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Orion7319
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Not nearly as bad as an experience I had when a dirt dauber decided to build her nest inside of the spring of my hammock chair once. They love to feed their larvae black widows, and they don’t kill them, they paralyze them and entomb them in the nests with their eggs. That was a fun experience! Jumped immediately in the shower, kept checking myself over and over and over again! Yeah that’s a thing!Oh my goodness!! I would have died
This Wasp Kills Black Widows: Meet the Mud Dauber | NEC
www.yournec.org
Saturn94
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Oops, I stand corrected (memory isn’t what it use to be!) Black racers can have white under the chin/head.
Virginia Herpetological Society
Native Reptiles and Amphibians of Virginia
www.virginiaherpetologicalsociety.com
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Wobblerlorri
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We call that long black snake in the second set of pics a coach whip.
My dog & I jumped one yesterday. Snake had his head up & tongue flickering like crazy. At least my dog is smart & came to me. I'm sure it was not harmful & just wanted to get back to biz. By the time I got my phone & .22 he was gone. I figured he would have been!!
mguzzy
Gold Supporter
I bet snake is thinking... "HEY! Can't you see I'm sleepin' heeya! Close da danm doh-Ah!"
I think I’d fill that valve housing up with something that would prevent the critters from making a home. If you took a mesh bag and filled it with marbles it would fill up the space and still be easy to access the valve. The other thought I had is similar to how they package electronics. Take plastic wrap and wrap the inside of the valve housing and then fill it with that expanding foam. In the end, you’d have a form fitted “plug” to fill up the space that could be removed as needed.
Luckily around me it’s mostly garter snakes, I almost went over a decent sized one in the grass with my wheel barrow yesterday. They don’t bother me but my wife is not a fan. The only venomous snake we have in these parts is the copperhead but knock on wood they are pretty rare and I’ve ever seen one in person.
Saw one of those last week crawling up the trunk of a tree. Was wondering what the dog was staring at. My wife hasn’t gone within 10 feet of that tree since. I absolutely can’t stand any kind of snake.
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