Wildlife Encounter

12 years ago

This evening after picking a bunch of peas from our vegetable garden, where I saw the red fox chasing the gray fox yesterday, I decided to move some volunteer marigolds from that garden to the front flower garden.

After that I was doing a little weeding in the front garden, and cutting a few saplings that had sprouted up through the vinca, and as I reached under a dwarf crepe myrtle to cut a walnut sapling, I felt a sharp pricking sensation on the back of my left leg. I reached down to brush away whatever it was, and discovered a snake hanging off the back of my leg.

A knocked him loose, but also cut a finger on his little sharp teeth, and leaped, frightened and screaming like a little girl out of the garden, and ran into the house.

It was scary, but doesn't seem serious, I'm sure it was the black rat snake I've seen in the yard several times.

and then after cleaning the wound.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (25)

alisande
12 years ago
Yikes!! They say you shouldn't move around much if bitten by a snake (at least a venomous one), but even though I'm not normally afraid of snakes I'm sure in your situation I'd scream and run too!
pam_25f
12 years ago
Just when I was planning to work in my garden tomorrow morning! Eeek
Related Discussions
O/T Dawn I saw the cougar tonight
Q
Comments (47)
Scott, I agree with every single word you said, except for that "Roll Tide" comment. LOL I cannot imagine the wildlife management folks would do anything to harm the mountain lions and, in fact, I'd rather it not come to that. In a perfect world, they'd trap and relocate them to very remote areas and wildlife refuges, not that there's any guarantee the cougars would stay in that area since they are going to follow their food source, so to speak. Of course, it isn't a perfect world. I have watched the NW wolf re-introduction program with great interest too and feel like the feds have made some mistakes that have led to great mistrust of them and their program. I wish they'd had a better/more efficient plan to deal with the problem wolves preying on domestic ranch animals right from the start. I'm merely hoping for a better year here at our place in 2010 with no real big kitties visiting the garden. Maybe I shouldn't have planted that whole row of catnip and catmint for my kitties and it is right along that garden fenceline too. Roll Tide? So, you support Alabama? Having suffered through OU's bowl game, and then TCU's and UT's, I'm just glad the bowl game season is over. At least the Dallas Cowboys are still hanging in there, and that gives us a little something to watch as we wait for seed-starting time and planting time to arrive. With the Florida sub-species, I'd like to see them thrive and grow because they have their role in the ecosystem. What will happen, though, if they start preying on animals or being a threat to people? What will happen if they start moving into Georgia and other areas? The 'idea' of having them around is easy, but the reality seems harder to manage. Jay, I felt exactly the same way when I read the post from our visitor from Texas. At first I wasn't going to say a word but then I thought I'd make the points I made. Maybe this is a person who has no idea of the danger involved in having large predator animals hanging out in people's front and back yards. I have found there are lots of people who have no clue about wildlife. When someone tells me they think it would be "cool" to walk out their door and see wolves or bears or cougars 'out there', I just shake my head. Let's not forget the elderly couple here in Love County that was attacked by that buck this fall. The one thought that sticks in my mind is the statement that our undersheriff made about how there was so much human blood on the ground when he arrived that he figured someone had to be dead. I'm glad they survived, and now whenever I see one of "our" deer hanging out around the pond or compost pile, I head right inside the house and wait for it to leave before I come back outside. The last two weeks we've had both coyotes and bobcats on our property, and I know this because the coyotes are leaving scat and both the coyotes and bobcats left tons of tracks in the snow and mud (thankfully the mud is about to dry up.) In an odd way, seeing them around a lot is good because they become a lot more scarce when something bigger and meaner than them is nearby. Dawn
...See More
could a rabbit get into my garden?
Q
Comments (9)
Shelley, Now that the photos are bigger, I can see even more clearly just how much work you've done. Is your garden smaller now than it was when you first set it up as a potager or is it that my memory is bad and I remember it being bigger than it ever really was? We planted a forage mix out behind the barn that the rabbits, among others, seem particularly fond of. We used a deer forage seed mix and overseeded it after cutting down the pasture grasses after they had gone to seed in the fall. So many of our pasture grasses are clumping types and there was too much bare soil in between clumps and we wanted to fill in the bare spots with some winter forage for the wildlife. We used a 'deer wildlife plot mix' or some sort of thing. The deer, as near as I can tell (no deer tracks there, no sign of anything in that area browsed....), could have cared less about the food in that wildlife plot, but the rabbits love it. In particular they love the clover. We let that area stay a couple of feet tall except when Fire Danger is Extreme, at which time we mow down that pasture extra short to slow down the flames if a wildfire makes it to us. The cottontails flock to that area and have their babies there near my hay bale beds. The garden plot in that area should be called the rabbit garden because we are growing a fine crop of wild rabbits back there. Does your HOA have the right to tell you what lawn grasses you can grow, or are there height restrictions for backyard plantings? There isn't much that chokes out bermuda grass, although Johnson grass (it is like bermuda grass on steroids) can shade it out. Maybe Ken will know of something. We have bermuda and I hate it, but not living in an HOA neighborhood means we can do as we please, so I've let every "weed" known to mankind infiltrate it. Besides that and shading it out with trees and shrubs, I like to overseed it with rye grass in the winter. The rye grass feeds the bunnies and other wild things, and if we let the rye stay kinda tall in spring (i.e. for as long as possible before we cut it), it hurts the bermuda grass by shading it out until the heat begins to kill the rye grass. On our property, wherever the land is open and not wooded (about 10 or 11 acres are wooded and the rest is open), the rabbits live, but they all come to the rye grass to eat it when it is up and growing. Sometimes there's a ridiculous number of them out there, but they've got to eat and we've got something they like. Our lawn is not a conventional lawn, having tons of henbit, chickweed, dandelons, etc. but I don't care. It is not a sterile monoculture lawn and it does support a lot of wildlife. I've only had a couple of rabbits find their way into our fenced veggie garden the last couple of years, and I'd like to think it is because there's as much to eat outside the garden as inside of it. One got inside in the winter, and I never found where it had eaten anything, but something else got in there and killed the rabbit and ate most of it. The other one only nibbled nasturtiums that were companion planted with tomatoes and some herbs. It showed me how it got in so I could repair a cut in the fence that it had used. It is virtually impossible to fence out every possible creature that can get into a garden. I just overplant to allow for losing some plants to wild creatures. It is odd. You'd think animals sneak in over or under fences, or find a way through them? Most of my wildlife encounters, including with a fox, a cougar, several deer, a bunch of rabbits, feral (and dangerously so) dogs and a whole ton of timber rattlers occur right at my garden gate/entry arbor. I close it and latch it behind me now when I enter because I don't want most of those creatures to come into the garden when I'm in it. Usually the snakes see me coming as they are crossing the driveway and race me to the gate, which is not amusing. Most of the other wildlife I encounter when I "suddenly" (from their point of view) open the gate and walk out just as they are either approaching it or passing by. Obviously using the gate is easier for them than finding a way over or under an 8' fence. When the fence was only 4' tall, we had bobcats in the garden almost daily, which likely is why we didn't have vole problems in the garden then. We surely do have them now. I've left the gate open all winter, hoping bobcats are coming in there at night looking for voles. About the only creatures I'm seeing less of around the garden are skunks, armadillos and possums and I don't particularly miss them. What is on the other side of your back fence? Is that open land? Is that the wildlife corridor your visitors are coming from? If it is land that is not maintained by anyone, I'd expect it to be a mixture of different native grasses and forbs that the wildlife would like, except it all might be plants that are dormant in winter. Our lawn and meadows have lots of cool-season plants, so they are green even now. If the only green plants in your yard right now are the ones in your garden, well then, of course the wild critters will want to eat them. Winter is their hungry season. Dawn
...See More
Summertime again
Q
Comments (26)
Stockergal, I used to think I couldn't tell the difference after it hits 100 degrees, but I have to say that in 2011 once we were hitting about 108-110 I could tell the difference pretty well, and on the days we were out fighting fires and the thermometer said 115 or 116, it was a whole different kind of heat----and that was away from the actual fire itself since we don't set up food and drinks too close to the active fire line. If we never hit a temperature of 115 degrees here ever again, that's okay with me. Amy, For me it was the summer of 1980, which was the hottest summer ever in Ft. Worth until 2011 rolled around. I had a little AMC hornet with no AC and I don't know how I survived the summer driving to work in it at 1 pm every afternoon. I had to wear street clothes while driving to work and then change into my work clothes after I got to work, or I would have been too hot and sweaty and my work clothes likely would have been dripping wet. I haven't had a vehicle with no AC since then. Stockergal, I love containers. At least with them your plants have a chance of thriving in the heat as long as you water regularly. I have a row of them along my garden fence line on the east side of the garden and another row of them along the eastern fence line of the dog yard. It helps shade the dog yard in the mornings because I grow a lot of tall plants in them. I agree it is too hot to weed at 7 am, which means it is too hot right now to weed period. This is how I lose control of the garden in July or August, but eventually I reclaim it once the temperatures start dropping a little. Dawn
...See More
Storm check in thread
Q
Comments (32)
Eileen, You're welcome. The coyote incident did shake me up quite a bit, but we have recurring issues with them, so it wasn't that shocking. The shocking part was how close it came to the house in the middle of the day. Normally, they mostly hunt from around sunset to sunrise, but in winter months as their food supply becomes depleted, you'll see them out in broad daylight sometimes in January or February. It was odd to have it out in daylight in Spring. The incident shook up Casper a lot more. He is really bad to roam far and wide but has been sticking much closer to home and voluntarily spending a lot more time indoors since then. We expected wildlife when we moved here, but we certainly got a lot more than I ever dreamed we'd have. Some of the wild things are fun to see---like the shy and elusive ring-tailed cats. Some of the wild things are horrifying to see (any skunk out in broad daylight is going to be rabid and should be shot, for example), and I never, ever, ever in my life thought I'd ever see a cougar live, in person (so to speak) and up close on our property. I was wrong about that. Thankfuly such encounters are rare. I hate snakes. We have had the rat snakes and chicken snakes get so many of our eggs, our chicks and our keats (baby guineas) that we shoot them on sight. I'd rather not, because they will control voles, field mice, etc. but they are lazy and are just as prone to eat chicks. We had a big rat snake kill and eat 4 half-grown keats inside their coop once. I caught him with his body wrapped around the 4th one, squeezing it to death, and he had three suspicious lumps in his body that were the other three missing keats. That was the end of any patience we previously had shown them. Tim used to catch and remove rat snakes and chicken snakes and carry them off 100 yards and release them, which greatly irritated me, because half of the time they were back at the chicken coop before he could walk back to it. After the keat incident, the catch-and-release crap stopped. Our worst snakes are, unfortunately, Timber Rattlers, which seem incredibly abundant here on our property although, in general, I've seen them described as rare and endangered. Maybe they are rare somewhere else, but they are common here, especially in July and August, and they love the garden. Most of my encounters with them are at my garden gate....it is like they are waiting for me to come open the gate and let them in. Their venom is very powerful and I try really hard to always spot them and hope to never be bitten by one. We have water moccasins, but not near the house although we finally had to fill in our water garden because the water moccasins kept moving to it to stay during drought and it was just too dangerous to have them that close to our home. I miss my water lilies, but I don't miss those water moccasins. I might have felt like we could tolerate a non-venomous water snake, but not those horrible cottonmouths. Copperheads have been the big snake group we're seeing so far this year and that's pretty common here most years. They don't seem to mind living pretty close to people and really are sort of timid and don't want to get too close to people. They'd rather just leave if they see you coming, but will strike if cornered, so I try to stay away from them and to avoid doing anything that makes them feel cornered or trapped. I love, love, love living in the country and don't believe anything on this earth ever could send me fleeing back to the city, but there are times the wildlife is so abundant and so aggressive that I do think about what life was like in the city and how the only snakes I ever saw there were garter snakes. Then I remind myself that when we lived in the city, I never got to see eagles flying overhead or baby cottontail rabbits playing together (such a sweet sight to see!) in the yard and I know I'm country through and through now. My typical response to bad wildlife encounters is to just spend the next couple of days indoors as much as possible until I calm down and get over whatever thing just happened. Gardening here in our location is possible only because both big garden plots have 8' tall fences. Otherwise, the deer, coons and other wild critters will eat everything, and I'm not growing the garden for them, no matter what they may think. Yesterday, we saw 10' tall metal t-posts at Atwood's and I turned and looked at my husband with a question in my eyes--I've never seen the 10' tall ones before. He said they are for the high-fence game/hunting ranches that have the tall fences to keep the deer in. I was thinking how wondeful it would be to have that sort of fencing around our acreage, but it is never, ever, ever going to happen. The cost would be prohibitive in the first place, and then even though it would be great to keep the bad wildlife out, we'd end up with a malfunctioning ecosystem on our property because of the lack of free movement of the wild things. Still, if we ever won the lottery (and we won't, because we don't even play the lottery).....I'd want that high game fencing around at least the acre or two closest to the house. Dawn
...See More
jim_1 (Zone 5B)
12 years ago
Volunteer marigolds can draw those snakes in close. Gotta watch out for things like that!
murraysmom Zone 6a OH
12 years ago
Now he tells you!!

Yikes!! I would have run screaming too. And probably still be running.............
lindaohnowga
12 years ago
I'd be getting that bite checked out at the ER since you aren't "sure" exactly what kind of snake it was. Better to be safe than sorry in case that was a poisonous snake.
sylviatexas1
12 years ago
Ok, now that my heart has started up again, I'll give you my advice:

Call the paramedics & ask them if you're likely to live since you aren't already dead.

I *think* all snake venom acts rapidly, so if you haven't succumbed yet, you likely didn't get 'injected' by the poison sacs, but check with the paramedics anyway.

*******IMPORTANT!*******

Keep applying topical anti-biotics all night long, start taking oral anti-biotics if you have any in the house, & go to your doctor first thing in the morning & get some powerful anti-biotics.

Most critters, people included, who die after being bitten by a snake die not from the venom but from massive infections from the truly disgusting septic tank/plague ship of bacteria that is a snake's mouth.

If you experience nausea, faintness, or anything weird, or if the bite site becomes red, hard, or hot, or if it blisters or oozes or does anything at all, call the ambulance;
don't risk your own & anybody else's life trying to drive yourself.

All this is probably way way over-reacting, it probably is just a glancing blow from a terrified garden snake...
but better over-reacting than under-reacting.
sleeperblues
12 years ago
I'll take a badger any day over a snake bite. Hope you are OK, Bob.
bob_cville
Original Author
12 years ago
I'm sure it was this guy, cause I've seen him several times around in the yard, and I saw him again as I dislodged him from my leg.

One person has told me unequivocally that it is a black rat snake, another person swears it has to be a black racer snake. However both are non-venomous, and mostly harmless, unless you step on them or something stupid like that.

A friend of mine was bit on the hand by a copperhead a couple of years ago, and was going to drive himself to the hospital, gut his wife said "Nonsense, I'll drive". Later he said that before they got to the hospital the pain had grown severe enough that he wouldn't have been able to continue driving.
sylviatexas1
12 years ago
nice-looking snake, but please don't let that seduce you!

Watch for signs of infection.
ravencajun Zone 8b TX
12 years ago
Sylvia is correct about the very nasty infections that can come from a snake bite. It would be prudent to have it looked at and let the doctor decide if a preventative dose of antibiotics is advised. You can lose a limb from the bite of a non venomous snake due to the various types of bacteria they carry.
rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
12 years ago
Bob, how scary! I would absolutely see a doctor regarding the possibility of infection. This would be a good time to drop into one of those "doc in a box " (as Robert calls them) clinics for non-emergency medical care. Do you have those clinics where you live?

It is a black ratsnake, by the way. Not only is it physically different from the black racer, but the ratsnake is much more likely to strike if cornered and frightened.

When entering your garden area in the future, be sure to stomp your feet frequently. Snakes can't hear but they sure do pick up vibrations from the ground.

You're lucky to have one of those hanging around ; I wish I did.

Anyway....please see a doctor this morning.
bob_cville
Original Author
12 years ago
I checked with my doctor's office this morning, and my doctor had had a cancellation so I was able to get in to see her. She said that the standard of care is to not start a preventative course of oral antibiotics, but instead to use topical antibiotics, to keep it clean and to watch for signs of spreading redness or swelling. In that case to call her right away.

She did check and I am up-to-date on my tetanus vaccination. She also said in some ways it was less likely to be a problem then if it had been wild rose thorns, (which is what I first thought it might be when I felt the pricking sensation on my leg) since the thorns often leave their tip beneath the skin, greatly increasing the chance for a nasty infection.
Charlee_MO
12 years ago
Glad you had it checked out. That would scare the_____out of me!
chisue
12 years ago
Thanks for having it checked. We are all happier that you did!
rob333 (zone 7b)
12 years ago
I wish he hadn't bitten you. I am glad you checked. His face is adorable. Your pictures are turning me into a snake lover. I never liked them before, but this is twice now I am seeing the cutie pie faces. Bad snake! don't you bite Bob again.
mare_wbpa
12 years ago
I'd have to move!!!
bob_cville
Original Author
12 years ago
I think I must have stepped on him, and he was just saying to me "hey fatso, your hurting me, will you kindly get the heck off?"
Unfortunately the only language he speaks, that I would understand, is biting.

A week or so ago I was taking pictures at a horse show my wife was riding in, from the far side of the ring, when I suddenly heard screams of panic, and saw people fleeing the tent on the other side of the ring. I heard somebody say it was a snake causing all the fuss, and I thought to myself, I'm sure its a harmless, beneficial snake, and some bozo is going to He-Man-Up and kill the poor thing. However at the next break in the show I went over to the tent and found that one of the ladies had picked it up and was holding it to show to some of the kids at the show.

After a while she handed it to another lady who carried the snake over to this unused, out-of-the-way jump, which it briefly explored and then nestled down underneath waiting for the hub-bub to end.
socks
12 years ago
Bob, maybe you should wear long pants when gardening. Glad you are ok. We have no snakes but many lizards.
lindaohnowga
12 years ago
I'm very glad you had the doctor check you out. Snakes and spiders can be pretty, but I want none anywhere near me. Now I do love the little lizards.
marilyn_c
12 years ago
I've been bitten by non venomous snakes several times and they always make little scratches like that, that bleed freely.
Elmer J Fudd
12 years ago
I'm with Mare hitting the road on this one. I wouldn't live in an area where snake encounters occur. We have some snakes around in undeveloped hills and properties, but rarely in town or other built-up areas. Thankfully.
murraysmom Zone 6a OH
12 years ago
I'm glad you are ok, too. I'm happy to be around people that remain calm around snakes. I don't care to get close to them, and it think it is the element of surprise that scares me.

A couple of times now while riding my horse in the woods, I have come across a big black snake. The first time the snake was sunning himself, stretched across the trail. My horse just stepped over it and then it slithered away. The other time was just a couple of weeks ago. I was with my friend. She was behind me and as we are riding along, I start to hear her screaming and screaming. I turned around to see what happened and she said she saw a snake. LOL

As long as the snake is not interested in me, I am good with leaving it alone.
blfenton
12 years ago
There aren't any snakes where I live. Bears - yes, snakes - no and I'm good with that.
Jasdip
12 years ago
That is NOT the type of "wildlife encounter" I was expecting to see, Bob! Sure glad you're okay. Brrrr, I've got shivers down my spine.
sylviatexas1
12 years ago
Thank goodness!

Thanks for sharing what your doc said:
topical anti-biotics, watch for redness/swelling/etc.

& I know she's right about those rose thorns;
I once got a scary infection (after a hunnert years of messing around with soil, worms, rabbit poo, decaying matter, compost, etc) after pruning one afternoon.

& the doctor reeeeallllly helped my mental outlook when he said,
"At least it's not the flesh-eating kind. I don't think."

Take care!

Wildlife Encounter

Comments (25)

alisande

pam_25f

Related Discussions

jim_1 (Zone 5B)

murraysmom Zone 6a OH

lindaohnowga

sylviatexas1

sleeperblues

bob_cville
Original Author

sylviatexas1

ravencajun Zone 8b TX

rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7

bob_cville
Original Author

Charlee_MO

chisue

rob333 (zone 7b)

mare_wbpa

bob_cville
Original Author

socks

lindaohnowga

marilyn_c

Elmer J Fudd

murraysmom Zone 6a OH

blfenton

Jasdip

sylviatexas1

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Wildlife Encounter

Comments (25)

Related Discussions

bob_cvilleOriginal Author

bob_cvilleOriginal Author

bob_cvilleOriginal Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

bob_cville
Original Author

bob_cville
Original Author

bob_cville
Original Author