Here is a screenshot from the serpent video. Makes me nauseous.

Wow that snake is no joke! Any idea what kind?

I can sympathize with your wanting to burn the house down. I’ve been there. Actually I AM there but for different reasons. For ants I’ve had success with Max Force products. Moths, you’ve provably done what you needed to do. Mice are the worst as they just torment you with their scratching, esp when the house is quiet and you’re trying to get to sleep. My best success has been with the old fashioned spring traps, peanut butter as bait. I use gloves when touching them as they say human scent can deter them. I’ve also found that overloading the area with traps all at once works best, seems they get smart to them quickly.

Sounds like you need a vacation from your vacation. Good luck!

Jesus Amylou, that's twilight zone stuff! And, as fate would have it, on your holidays too boot! At least your cupboards are clean 😉!

Oh my sympathies to you. I detest ants, absolutely unequivocally detest ants.

We are having an outside moth infestation right now for some unknown reason. And snakes? we don't have snakes here and I am never moving anywhere that does have them.

I wish you peace and free of creepy-crawlies for the rest of you vacation.

FOAS, I have no idea what kind of evil that snake is. The video did not show its head or tail. I went outside after it because if it was venomous, I was going to kill it. But as I said it was nowhere to be seen. There is a pond on the property not far from me, i can see it from my porch. We have had a bunch of snapping turtles make their way to our yard from that pond. So I worry about copperheads and water moccasins and other horrors. I hope its gone back to hell where it came from......

Normally with a snake I would call my sister. She would probably bring her 2 oldest sons with her. If it was a rat snake or something like that they would catch it and take it back to their farm. If it was venomous it would be killed of course. But their whole household had covid, so I won't call about this one. I am grateful it was on the camera when I saw it. If I had just came upon it while in the yard I might have fainted from fear......

Sorry your vacation has started out so badly. I would rather have almost any of your creatures (except the mice), than the centipedes that keep coming into my house. I also have flies and mosquitoes right now too. I would've thought the flies would be gone as it has cooled down quite a bit today but nope.

I would just get out my handy dandy battery operated sprayer and go on a slug hunt. 10% solution of ammonia will kill them. It has to be make contact with them. When the solution hits them they wriggle up and DIE. It's a great feeling!! just sayin.

Are you sure it's a mouse up there? Could it be larger, a squirrel or raccoon? We had a young raccoon invading a rental, it really creeped everyone out. We got someone to come and trap it.

Its a mouse. We put our live trap up there in case it was something bigger. We do have a raccoon thay visits to eat George's food. We put a camera up there too to be sure.

UGH!!!!!

Its impossible for me to tell from your screenshot but that might be a python. A big one. They are killing wildlife as large as deer in south Florida, a real problem. You sure don’t want one entering you house to find that mouse.

Report it here - they may be able to identify it - good luck

“report the animal via the “Ive Got 1” reporting hotline (888-483-4681), the EDDMapS reporting site,”

https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/what-should-i-do-if-i-see-a-python-wild?qt-news_science_products=0#qt-news_science_products

Wow! Life is never dull for you is it AmyLou?

Yikes that snake! Sure glad I don't live where there are any, aside from a very odd harmless garter snake. That thing would scare the beejeebers out of me, and I'd be house-bound, probably forever.

Your mouse is cute though!

Dang! You've got your hands full gurl! Put on the camo gear and take 'em out! I'm NOT living with any of those crawlies in my home and I KNOW YOUR NOT!! smile The snake....I'd ignore....just saying....

That snake is enormous!! I would have grabbed the dog and moved to a hotel!

I understand your dismay. I don't care to share my home with any creatures other than the four footed ones of MY choosing. The worst I have had to deal with are the spiders that like to party in the bathtub overnight and last summer, a strange crawling fly hatch in my utility room/pantry. The vacuum cleaner took care of that :-)

The mouse is kind of cute. The snake, not so much although handsome in his own way. Id be freaking out. My ongoing problem is clothes moths. I have battled them every way I can but they always seem to win. Hate to think of the value of all the clothes Ive tossed.

I suspect invasion stories are repeating all over the area affected by Ida -- in addition to no electricity, no gasoline, no groceries, and in some cases no roof...or no house! Critters are taking to the high ground to escape the water. Is there anything to do about it, like a 'perimeter barrier' around the exterior of the house?

Can you get some Boraxo? sprinkle amounts on the ant trails, especially where you think they are getting in, or bordering the woodwork (I found that they were entering via a gap in a windowsill) - that will take care of them. Also will not hurt your dog. Non-toxic and effective.

Laying down a a strip of diatomaceous earth bordering your carport and porch will stop slugs in their path. Works to protect plants also. Also non-toxic.

You can set shallow pans of beer out away from the house, which will attract them - and they drown in it.

While I think the snake is beautiful and useful, the rest are I agree a pain, and you don't deserve such pestilences rained down on you especially during your vacation.

“While I think the snake is beautiful and useful”

Not sure how useful a snake that size is. Especially if its an invasive species that can kill your dog. Or a child. A python can lay up to 100 eggs at a time.

OMG! That snake is huge! I don't mind garter snakes but larger snakes like the one on your porch are another thing altogether. Do you live in Florida, Amy? Or somewhere in the south? If not, it seems like that could be an escapee or an abandoned snake. Is there somewhere it should be reported if it's not a common resident of your area?

So sorry your vacation is being taken up with all the critter activity!

We've had rats in our garbage bin "garage". A wooden cupboard that the garbage bins go in. There have been rats across the street at my friend's bldg as well. Never had them before.

A new subdivision is going in not far from me, and the rats and other small wildlife are leaving the woods and river to find new digs.

Bluebell i live in Alabama.

I have been assured that it is "just a chicken snake." Which seems to be a catch all term for harmless snakes that eat rats. Me and SO went hunting for it this morning but we didn't see it so maybe it went away. I hope for its sake it does not come back.

Am I allowed to fed ex a snake to texas!?!??!?

You either must go through their (long) certification process, or use a Fedex certified reptile shipper.

All I can say is, good luck with the varmint catching!! I don't envy you in the least, definitely not a fun way to start a vacation. And I agree with you about the snake. In my mind I know there are good snakes around, snakes that help keep other pests in control, but in my heart, I don't like them, I'll handle the mouse, etc., control myself, thank you!

The diatomaceous earth mentioned in a post up page a bit, is very good and can be used to combat ants, too. I think it is effective against all kinds of creepy crawlies. and quite safe to use around pets.

Rusty

Amy, it looks like a gray rat snake. Not a python. The camera lens is somewhat distorting the size, and rat snakes (also known as ’chicken snakes’) can get quite long. Their prey is small birds and animals such as mice, ground squirrels,etc.

I’m sorry you have such an invasion. Good advice on getting rid of the ants and mice. With all the wet weather we hace had, you have to treat the ants on the outside of your house primarily, but you can do some things in the inside with borax.

Hope you get rid of everything quickly! That big snake is scary and mice are so messy and destructive!

When I get pantry moths anything coming into the house gets stuck in the freezer. Any dry goods etc already in the house gets thrown out. That way I don't give them new food minimizing the possibility of a continued infestation. This has always worked for me.

With clothing moths I set traps everywhere and I continue to leave them out for months to follow. I also make sure to look under collars and in the underarms etc of all of my clothing for moths. I also double bag and freeze any wool clothing. I've saved numerous outfits this way. It does take time however.

We have an interesting infestation here in BC. There are coyotes in our big park in Vancouver that are biting people.

The ongoing discussion is how to get rid of them. Apparently if we cull only some of them the females will have much larger litters of pups and they will be born healthy and continue their existence.

The only way is to cull them completely. Is that even possible?

They are not in danger they are not native. They are an invasive species that bite!

Certainly very cruel to exterminate coyotes simply because humans have taken their habitat.

I am surprised to hear about the biting coyotes. We have them in the neighborhood and they are very elusive, avoiding people.

The only way is to cull them completely.

I don't think one can claim this to be the only answer yet, investigators are still trying to find why this is happening and apparently it is unusual.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/vancouver-coyotes-biting-humans-spree-mystery-1.6148154

"They are not in danger they are not native. They are an invasive species that bite!"

Sorry but this is incorrect. Coyotes are indeed native to North America and are not considered an invasive species!!

And when populations are large enough, they can and do come into contact with humans and are far less shy and elusive than one would think. There are many where I live and I see them during daylight hours often, galloping across my yard or strolling nonchalantly down the street, ignoring cars or any passers by. They will often trail dog walkers.

And like any wild animal, if they feel cornered or threatened, they will attack and bite.

My mistake I thought they were invasive to our area.

Thank you for the replies. I am not saying that culling them is the best answer. I don't know the best answer. Obviously the experts will decide. I am very nervous about their attacking children though.

ETA to add a news article.

https://globalnews.ca/news/8153934/more-stanley-park-coyote-attacks/amp/

In my opinion, since apparently a particular park is the risk area, one would hope that parents have the sense to keep small children away for now.

sort through my halloween stuff to make sure everything is in order for the trip up to work

There are some great ideas here for Halloween scaries, and maybe not too difficult to make: a very large snake, some mice, a group of ants with fangs......

I am probably the scariest thing around here at the moment. I went to refill a bottle of cleaner to do another round of scrubbing and when I unscrewed the top...a MAGGOT (or perhaps a pantry moth larvae, who knows at this point) squirmed out of the top. How the hell did it get there?!?!? I hate this. Hate . I hate creepy crawly squirmy wormy skulking slithering scratching scavengers. I am calling the pest people tommorow, if I can stop gagging long enough to hold a conversation. Now I must go burn my hands. And eyes. And brain. Ugh!

I must confess, I am a bit jealous of the slugs. Our area has a fellow with 3 ducks that he transports behind his bicycle. He hires himself and his ducks out to look after peoples garden slugs. I would love to have the excuse to have them over https://www.comoxvalleyrecord.com/business/video-comox-valley-entrepreneur-opens-pest-control-business-with-ducks-as-employees/

Amylou, do you know any exorcists?

Probably. I know a few witches as well. I wonder if they could come drive them out......

An exterminator told me Windex is good for ants and kills them instantly. I can attest to that. Of course use it only on surfaces that won’t get damaged by it. Regular exterminator visits will keep pests under control. No one likes using chemicals but sometimes it’s necessary. Sorry this happened to you. Better days are ahead.

Oh boy, you have all my sympathies! No snakes, but we've had coons, skunks, possums, ants, termites, mice, and roof rats, at various times.

The last infestation of mice made us sign up with a pest company for bi-monthly service!

At the height of the mouse-fest, they woke us up every night by what sounded like steeplechasing - I kid you not - between the ground and first floor, around 3:30 a.m. That's our bedroom ceiling, and I could not believe these small little rodents could sound like 160-lb teenagers stomping overhead.

Gaahhhh.....I don't even want to think about it any more.