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Florida Gardening

Snake experts: What the 'helk' is this & why is he in my house

12 years ago

Found this little creepy fella in my house. What the heck is he?

I don't mind snakes but they cannot live in the house with me. Eeek!

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Comments (9)

slopfrog
12 years ago
Looks like a Brown Water Snake to me.
babalu_aye
12 years ago
Looks like a corn snake, aka red rat snake. If that's what it is, they're good to have around, although I wouldn't want it in the house with me either.

John
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Catching a snake is frustrating and time consuming if you are sitting out there waiting for it to come out of it's hole. You can't sit quietly enough to keep it from knowing you are there. They hunt by detecting heat and vibrations. The easiest way is to use the normal behavior of a snake to get it to go where you want. Snakes like warm dark places so you can lay out a paper bag ( a pillow case will be too bright, a burlap sack will do fine) with an opening arranged so the snake can go inside. Wire or a frame of some sort will help keep it open but the object is to create a dark cave. If there is no sun to make the bag warm put a heating pad under it. The snake eventually will go inside, curl up and go to sleep. Then you can scoop up the bag at the open end, twist it a couple of times and tie it off. Twilight is a good time as is noon. Those are times the snake finds a place to nap. Put the snake, bag and all in a garbage can with a snug lid. They can get out of anything that is shorter than a standard garbage can. The advantage to this is you don't have to chase it and it won't be injured and you won't get hurt either. Sandy
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Snake in the house!!!
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Comments (7)
It was purely a defensive move. It felt threatened and probably had no idea where to try to hide, not being used to rugs and furniture and the like. BTW, neither red rat snakes nor black snakes (presuming we're talking black racers) are "timid" at all. They are harmless, but both will defend themselves if necessary, and in fact, black racers will bite like fury. They do not tame down very well, remaining quite wild and very willing to bite. Red rats DO tame down easily, but will certainly defend themselves when they feel threatened. Any description of the snake, Nancy? It would be interesting to know what it is. And do you have an indoor/outdoor cat or dog, by any chance? They will often catch snakes and bring them inside, especially cats, who can play with them for hours without hurting them, if they choose. Marcia
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Snake In The House, Suggestions, Please
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Comments (58)
They are really active right now at our place, too. Every year a pair of Carolina wrens make a nest in an old decorative watering can that I hung on a trellis just past our front porch. I had noticed the bird was sitting on her eggs just about 4 days ago. Well, we were relaxing after yard-work on Saturday on the porch. I noticed a lizard ran very quickly almost under my chair and up the wall and even commented, "there must be a snake around somewhere", happened to look and there was a black snake's head sticking out of the watering can. I exclaimed "there's a snake in the bird's nest", my husband went over and dumped it out, couldn't believe the size of this thing that was all wadded up inside this really small space. Anyway, no sign of the brooding bird since so I'm afraid the whole family has been wiped out.
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i just found a snake in my bluebird house.
Q
Comments (21)
Meant to tell you that I love Fairhope- such a charming little town. I would think that if the female isn't going in to lay anymore eggs or to incubate them, that they're not going to move forward at that location for right now. Are you sure she's not going in there? It could be that the Chickadees are hesitant to move forward wondering if the bluebirds are going to come back. If you know that the bluebirds aren't entering the box, my sense would be to remove the eggs & nest. If you don't have any continued activity or new activity, I would definitely get the box out of the tree & on that pole you purchased. I guess you could wait until your pole & baffle arrive- & if no changes, remove material & put the box on the pole with baffle at least 15 feet from tree, but close to it since it's a location they seem to like. I would put any houses that you have on a pole. You could actually move the baffle around according to where you have activity. The golf course side could be another desired location, since it sounds like it may be more open, which is what bluebirds seem to like. How awesome would that be if you had Chickadees in one location & bluebirds in another! As far as the snake repellant, maybe it is ok if it's herbal (& powder at that). I thought that what I sprayed last year should be harmless, but 2 of the fledgelings couldn't yet fly, so they were hopping around in my courtyard for 2-3 days until they died. They were so adorable! I actually took the last one to a rehabber when I realized that it seemed stressed & wasn't accepting food from the parents. As soon as we pulled up to the location, the baby died. It took me about a month to get over losing them. One died in the box, too. Again, wondered if was due to the spray that I used. My neighbor saw the one that flew out into my front yard a few days after it fledged & it seemed fine. Just not going to chance using that spray again during nesting season. You're right though- it's so hard to know exactly what to do because all we want to do is help them, not harm them. If you get a chance, would love to hear what happens. Again, great experts on bluebird nut.com. Nicole
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Yme405
12 years ago
I'm not an expert, but I found a pretty easy to use identification site. I tried to figure it out by looking at the pic, but some characteristics I could not identify. Using what I could see and the site, I came up with a Puff Adder (non-venomous). Give it a go... Link attached

Here is a link that might be useful: UFL Snake Identification Key
trini1trini
Original Author
12 years ago
I checked all the species listed above and it seems like it is a Brown Water Snake because it best fits the description. This is the first snake in the house in 15 years (and I ain't happy about this). I have no idea how s/he got in the house, but I let it out. Hopefully, there are not sisters and brothers. Thanks everyone.
gatormomx2
12 years ago
Thank you for the link to the excellent ID section of the UF Herpetology site.
Love the gorgeous color photographs on there.
So nice that this snake story has a happy ending.
Hurray for Trini!
manature
12 years ago
99.9% sure this is a brown water snake, as several have said. A good ID point is the way the brown "squares" are spaced. A row down the middle of the back, and then rows on each side beneath that one, with each "square" offset in between the ones on the back. They are non-venomous water snakes, but they can bite like CRAZY, with a slashing motion that can really be painful. Handle with care.

Very glad you let this one out. They are an important part of the lake/river environment.

Marcia
tropicalfreak
12 years ago
Definitely not a Red Rat Snake. They are a clay red.

Tropicalfreak
trini1trini
Original Author
12 years ago
Even though it freaked me out, I didn't have the heart to kill it. So I scooped it up in the dust pan and put hit out. It was striking at the broom viviously. I have a lot of snakes around the yard but that is the first time I've seen that one. I'm glad he's on his merry way too. :)
rosesforthesoul
12 years ago
Hi!
To me it looks like a banded water snake.
It is good to have it in the garden because they keep the rodents under control. However, they will eat your pond fish and they have a nasty temperament. From your picture, if you pay attention, you can see its eyes from the top of the head, if it were a water mocassin, it would have a hard brow and you would not be able to see the eyeballs from the top of the head. Just keep in mind the saying: "When in doubt, don't touch". Hope this helps!

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