Welcome to Garden junk, sistersunnie! You will soon find your way around the garden web forums. To reach our conversations page, go back to the 'Messages'. the second line says 'on topic ....' and then 'switch to conversations'. Anything that is not strictly garden junk should be put on that page. A lot of people forget that, and we lose GJ posts off the last page.

One of the best ways to get over being afraid of snakes is to handle one. Contrary to what many people think, they are not slimy at all. They feel like patent leather, and are rather pleasant to hold. But not a wild one, fresh caught. Those can be nippy. Sometime when you are at a zoo or other animal exhibit where they have tame snakes about, you might ask if you can touch one and see if that helps with the squeamies. (I used to be a docent at the Central Florida Zoo, and one of my jobs was to walk around with either the indigo snake or a ball python and let people touch them.) Tom, the chances are very good that the BIRDS put the snakeskin in the nest box. They often use the shed skins in nest building. It seems to appeal to their "weaving" instinct, and I think they are opportunists who know a good, strong building material when they find one. Birds who really weave a tight nest will often have a snakeskin woven in and out all through the basket portion. If you have a snake baffle up, I'd bet money the bird collected the skin from elsewhere. As for your coral honeysuckle issue...yes, a snake COULD snatch a hummer out of the air, but the odds are in the favor of the hummingbird being too fast for them. And if it isn't fast enough to avoid getting caught, it is likely sick or old. Hummers build their tiny little nests way out on skinny little limbs, and disguise them by gluing lichens all over them. They have a better than average chance of avoiding predators, so they are usually safe. And for every bird our snakes eat, they probably eat DOZENS of mice & rats & other vermin. The advantages of having them in the garden outweigh the disadvantages, though I can't say they don't TRY for birds when they see them. Usually with all predator-prey relationships, there are way more food animals than there are hunters, and it all balances out. When WE stay out of it, that is. Mother Nature is good that way. Wiley, I get a "tighter breathing and zero at the bone" sensation when I spot snakes, too. It's one of the things I love most about them. They always give me the slightest shiver in that split second that my eye first registers what I'm seeing. Then that passes and I sit back to enjoy watching them. (You have to love the phrasing of that last line, don't you? It's always been a favorite verse of mine.) Marcia

Ok - Here is how I recieved my first snake bit (for those curious) I knew it was going to happen (even before I stuck my hand in the aquarium). A friend of mine ran a apartment complex in Georgia. He had found a Red Tail Boa in a apartment that had escaped, and the owner had been evicted. He took it home, put it in a 10 gallon aquarium, the snake was a good 5' or more. He had crammed the tank full of towels, and put in a hot rock, and had a 150W light bulb shining in the poor snakes face 24 hours a day (for warmth he said) He added a coffee cup of water for the snake to drink out of - and of course - the snake had tipped it over. David, while his intentions were good - he was afraid of the snake. He had not fed it, and it was "not happy" I knew that I was going to get nailed before I even put my hand in the tank to remove the wet towels, and clean up the water. The snake did exactly what I expected him to do. He struck me, and wrapped my arm very quickly. I stood there (my daughter watching) with a snake stuck to my arm. I gently pryed his mouth from my arm - and after cleaning the cage, returned him to it. I made sure not to even cringe - as I did not want my daughter to develop a fear of snakes! I never made a sound, and I think my calmness helped both me, the snake, and my daughter. I told Richard and his elderly mother that the snake needed to be with someone familiar with handeling snakes (I had grown up with boa's because my brother had one when I was a little girl) They sold me the snake, I put it on a plane to Texas, took it to my brother - who then placed it with a person who handles boa's and takes them to schools as a part of a teaching program. I have a fondness of snakes, and would hate to kill it unless it poses a danger to our lives. My snake bite was expected, thankfully I do not meet any of the "reasons that people get snake bitten" - but thanks for posting - because I think you are exactly correct. Most (but not all) snake bites are due to stupidity - many of the others are probably just due to being in the wrong place at the wrong time. We almost stepped on that poor snake in my images before we noticed it. Its only defense would have been to strike - this would have just been - being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Thank goodness for all of us - our situation ended up ok. I will just have to keep a closer eye out before I go treading through my garden. RT

I "stumbled" upon this thread as I'm reading quite a bit on snakes lately. I moved into an area in Alabama that is known to have Copperheads, (unknowingly until AFTER we closed on the home) and there are other snakes (Cottonmouths, rat snakes...) as well. I haven't seen Cottonmouths but I have seen other snakes. I have eliminated quite a bit of the things that provide food and shelter for them. I plan to expand quite a bit of hardscape (concrete, crushed aggregate, river rock, pavers/patio) and ALL monkey grass, jasmine, pine straw, and other ground cover including shrubbery will be history. The goal is to keep everything clean and green and incredibly unpleasant for snakes. I have also found rodent holes and filled them with crushed aggregate, and rocks. I make certain to use long garden tool handles to push the rock into the holes and pack them to the point where no further material can be packed. We have killed two Copperheads to this point. one was under my vehicle as I headed out one morning. We have younger children, visitors, dogs and cats... that may not be aware of the dangers. The Copperheads are particularly dangerous as they can be aggressive and may not be easily seen by an unsuspecting visitor... We want to decrease the likelihood of an encounter but we also don't allow the snakes to live once we discover them on the premises.