I think most of the ERs here have anti-venom because of the amount poisonous snakes we have. We have a lot of rattle snakes here too...not sure if all of them are poisonous though. If you know they are there and you are cautious, you usually don't get bit. It is people who are not from around here and don't know to watch out for them who are in danger. I know to never go in water here, and never walk in high grass...and never reach under a storage shed or deck....the places to find either a mocassin or a rattler...I teach my kids that too. Of course when I was a kid, I used to purposefully go to those places just to find the snakes and get their eggs. It is amazing I am still alive. Honestly they do not scare me anymore, it's when you surprise them and yourself that you are in danger. The most common way to get bit is to step on one under a pile of leaves...the rattlers love to hide under leaves. LOL at the sucking venom! I have always heard that too....always wonder if it would work. From my understanding it is not recommended since you get the venom in you mouth that way. I know when I got bit by a spider once, they cut open the bite area and popped the venom pockets and suctioned it out...then they stuffed it with gauze to absorb any left over venom...spider venom makes honeycombs and spreads slowly. Snake venom travels much faster, so I do not think the sucking would work all that well. Amanda

Many years ago I lived in a tiny house with a tiny yard that had a ridiculous number of slugs. I'm not sure if the the slugs were coming from the surrounding woods, under the house foundation, or where, but one dared not walk outside barefoot in the evenings for fear of having a slug sliding up between the toes. (shudder!) Since it was a small yard with mostly rough field grass and only a few garden areas, we tried setting traps (the beer type,) but the found the traps were overwhelmed by the sheer number of slugs. We ended up getting some 6" spikes and going out on damp evenings and skewering slugs and then scraping them off into cans of soapy water which we would then be sure were full of water and fasten lids onto to drown the slugs. We also put out boards and during the day we would flip the boards and squish the slugs which had taken shelter from the day's heat. I'm not sure how much of a dent all this made in the slug population, but it sure made me feel better. Since you have kitties, Escar-Go! Slug & Snail Control is a slug bait made by Gardens Alive which is pet-safe. Don't know if that is the case with Sluggo since I do know that some slug baits aren't safe around small kids and animals. There are probably other pet-safe slug baits - this is the only one I know about. I have heard that crushed eggshells around particularly vulnerable plants is supposed to help keep out softbodied critters, but in my experience the birds remove the eggshells faster than I can eat eggs so I don't know if it actually works. Here is a link that might be useful: Escar-Go! Slug & Snail Control

In my opinion best advice is to seek treatment for phobia. I had a severe phobia of dogs that I had to get treated and it is very worth it and I think a lot of people that have more "socially acceptable phobias" (e.g. spiders or snakes rather than beloved dogs, people thought I was evil for being scared of dogs! even though I have been up to cottonmouths before and been fine, didn't bother me,... but as a kid I got CHASED DOWN by dogs and attacked so...). We share this world with a lot of creatures, it's something to get used to. Desensitization&exposure therapy is best to build yourself up first before you ever see one. That being said, eliminating brush piles in areas you frequent/maintain a lot, keeping it open will keep snakes out of those areas and make them favor more wild spots. Keeping things open tends to be best for the more cultivated areas of the garden anyway, to maintain airflow. ALSO snakes are often not very active in the day except after rains. They don't like being out in the open especially in the day because one of their main predators, hawks, can see them. I rarely see snakes around my house and I have a bunch of brush lol I've only seen them out at night (there's the cutest baby kingsnake but i digress). avoid times when snakes are most active and you'll be a lot less likely to see them. anyway best of luck treating your phobia, it's a hard road but very worth it to be free of it

Hey -- that's pretty neat! Well, my ornate box turtles eat small snakes, but I'd just as well they didn't if they are rat snakes, the only kind I've seen in my yard except for one coral snake that I stepped on barefoot. It didn't react at all like to try to bite me, but just crawled on off. Coral snakes are very non agressive and Texas coral snake's mouth is small and teeth are in the back near their throat so they can't inject venom unless you stick your little finger down their throat.. Also have had 'ring-tail cats' a member of the racoon family, under the deck. They really cleared out a lot of rats. I haven't seen a rat in ages. The paper wasps keep pecan tree aphids in check. And now that I don't use pesticides I know there are many beneficial insects that are natural predators of pest insects that slug it out on a level not immediately observable except in their positive effects. And there's the anole lizards. I've had them dart right in front of my eyes totally oblivious to me and grab a roach. Yesterday one dropped off a shrub and caught a roach on the ground. I'm sure they and the grey fence lizards eat a lot of insects. My dogs chase squirrels, but have only caught a couple of young ones. They've also caught a rat or two. This is all I can think of. How about the rest of you? Here is a link that might be useful: 'Ring tailed cat' ...