Snakes..... anyone know anything about them???

OK... so I've seen 2 baby snakes in the last 2 weeks in my backyard. I'm assuming it was 2... could have been one snake that I just saw 2 different times.

Completely caught me off guard both times... and dammit I didn't have my camera with me. I think they might be baby cotton mouth snakes (aka water moccasin) as my ex b/f caught an adult cotton mouth in a lot behind my house a couple years back. This baby looked very similar to that snake.

So here is my question.... is there a "mom" in my yard too? Or do the babies go their own way after birth and it's likely just a lone snake?

Yesterday when I was weed whacking was the second time I saw a baby... it was near the fence and I chased it with the weed whacker (since I didn't have anything to catch it with)... it went under the fence.

A few weeks back my dog was really sick.... I thought my sister just overfed him when I was out of town (she was giving him like 8 biscuits a day ). He vomited for 2 days..... he's ok now.... but seeing these snakes in my yard has me worrid...and wondering if he was bitten?

When I get done working today I'm going to go search my backyard for baby and possibly mom. I'll bring my camera in case I spot one. I'm also going to take a shovel to kill it/them if I find them.

I don't like the idea of killing a snake.... but I don't have anything to catch it with.... there are only have a few houses on my street... and almost all have small children in them. I'd rather see a dead snake then a child bitten.

Any advice... tips??????

Snakes of North America Florida Venomous Snakes 1 I don't know much, but maybe these will help.I think once a snake hatches, it's on its own.Some mothers may eat their babies.

Best thing to do is kill it and bury it and forget about it ..

we kill the little bastards out here in the wild west - the dog does sound like he was bitten - and a couple of those baby snakes may stay near home and grow up to be trouble - wear boots

desertrat said:

wear boots

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Excellent advice!!! I'm always out in my yard wearing shorts and my plastic gardening shoes. I'll put on my thick rubber boots before I go hunting.

Jack has a favorite place to lay (in one of my flowerbeds ) so I put some plywood down to keep him from digging his bed out. He dug around the plywood. I've noticed lately he doesn't like to go over there as much... now I'm wondering if the snake(s) made a den under that plywood.

I'm scared shitless to lift that plywood up... mostly the thought of startling a snake and having it "spring" out at me. I'll proceed cautiously.

water mocasins will chase you, they are fearless. may have been a freindly black snake!! they like to eat bugs and small varmits!! i just let them be!! where abouts in fla are you. i'm north of tampa.

take a shovel too him!@!!!!!!

I fucking hate snakes..
One time I was at my grandparents and they use to own a farm. So I was doing some work for them there, I go to the barn and a fucking snake goes past me I freak out, I hate snakes lol.

Another time I was at home went to the shed and a fucking snake came at me lol.

I hate snakes..assholes

420ATTITUDE said:

water mocasins will chase you, they are fearless. may have been a freindly black snake!! they like to eat bugs and small varmits!! i just let them be!! where abouts in fla are you. i'm north of tampa.

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After a hurricane there are a ton of snakes around.... they get flooded out of their homes and end up all over the place... mostly dead or dying from the salt water.

All kinds of critters are displaced after hurricanes. Cleaning up after one particular hurricane I turned around and found this guy trying to come in the front door. Don't let his "cuteness" fool you.... it's a snapper and the little fucker tried to take my finger off when I went to pick him up.

FlipDV said:

I fucking hate snakes..
One time I was at my grandparents and they use to own a farm. So I was doing some work for them there, I go to the barn and a fucking snake goes past me I freak out, I hate snakes lol.

Another time I was at home went to the shed and a fucking snake came at me lol.

I hate snakes..assholes

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I don't mind snakes... actually I like them... in a controlled environment where I'm sure what kind they are. It's when they surprise me in my yard that I get a little sketched out by them.

all i know is when the babies bite you they dump all thier poison cuz they dont know how to regulate it yet so you get really fucked up from baby snake bites be careful i almost stepped on a baby copperhead one time

I am in SW Fl. and I have noticed that the 'racer' snake is very common here. I live on a fresh water canal and I see them all the time. A few weeks ago one actually got into my pool...
I don't know if yours looked like this, but this is a racer:

REMEMBER! You can still be bitten by a dead or decapitated snake. Dead or alive the fangs are still sharp and the poison is still effective for a long time after death. Bury the head, away from where your dog can dig it up.

thcheaven said:

REMEMBER! You can still be bitten by a dead or decapitated snake. Dead or alive the fangs are still sharp and the poison is still effective for a long time after death. Bury the head, away from where your dog can dig it up.

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omg, she should capture one and have it checked out. It may not even be harmful, he maybe even helpful. She shouldn't kill anything until she is sure it is a harm or threat, don't ya think?

Ya, hey lady go catch a potentaly deadly snake, throw it in you car, take it somewhere and find out if it's safe... christ, are you serious?

Yes, I am very serious. All it takes is a phone call, out of the yellow pages. There are several reputable 'catchers' down here. Snakes are here, actually, I believe they were here first. I am not for the slaughter just to rid of something because you 'don't like it' however, if it poses a threat or danger than you do what you have to do to protect your family. I am not one for kill first than wonder later, sorry.
God put us ALL here, all for a purpose...I don't believe ANYTHING should be killed just because of 'fear'....

1st, I never told anyone to kill anything. I gave advise on what to do if they did kill it.

2nd advising someone without training to catch an unknown species of snake is idiotic.

3rd.... What's the point in arguing with you, I have weed to smoke...

jtreuth said:

I am in SW Fl. and I have noticed that the 'racer' snake is very common here. I live on a fresh water canal and I see them all the time. A few weeks ago one actually got into my pool...
I don't know if yours looked like this, but this is a racer:

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Hard to tell from that picture... but the snake(s) I saw were MUCH MUCH smaller... literally babies.

thcheaven said:

REMEMBER! You can still be bitten by a dead or decapitated snake. Dead or alive the fangs are still sharp and the poison is still effective for a long time after death. Bury the head, away from where your dog can dig it up.

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Good advice!!! If I do get it.... I'll use a shovel to move the head... either to flush down the toilet or burn in a firepit (after taking pictures of course) because my dog WILL dig it up if I bury it.

jtreuth said:

omg, she should capture one and have it checked out. It may not even be harmful, he maybe even helpful. She shouldn't kill anything until she is sure it is a harm or threat, don't ya think?

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Well... if I had a snake tong I would try to catch it.... but I don't. We have kids in the neighborhood.... like I said... better a dead snake then a bitten child. Yes it's just a baby snake now... but they grow into BIG snakes later... and like I said before... there was a grown cottonmouth caught in a lot behind my house before so it's a possibility this is also a cottonmouth.

Who knows... maybe I'll never see it again... hopefully when I chased it with the weed whacker it got the message that this is not the place to setup a home

I could not live in Fl. or any other snaky place. They, Pardon my french, FUCK'N scare the shit out of me. I do termite inspections here in CA and I ran across at least 20 baby rattlers this last spring. I can't get over this damn fear. I trout fish, have in the same place for years, we went there earlier this year, saw a 4ft rattler in the 1st hr, I stayed in the damn trailer and smoked mad pot the rest of the weekend.