Calamity Kris Posted June 27, 2021 Share Posted June 27, 2021 Uno called me over to the bed of his truck yesterday afternoon to show me a juvenile black racer snake sunning itself on the bed rail. We giggled and laughed, thinking it was really cute, until it felt threatened and reversed itself back into the hole in the sidewall it came out of. We don't want to kill it because they are really helpful at keeping the rodent population down. We would like to help it "voluntarily" leave. Any ideas on how to safely extricate this little guy from the truck bed would be greatly appreciated. As soon as he leaves, we're going to get a cover for the bed. Thanks, CK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozark Huckleberry Posted June 27, 2021 Share Posted June 27, 2021 Build a fire under the truck. He’ll leave on his own. (edit for a serious answer ) I’d suppose some kind of snake repellant scattered around in the truck bed would get him to relocate; the problem would be knowing for certain the little guy was gone. I’d do the same — I prefer to keep beneficial snakes around — just not underfoot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irish Pat Posted June 27, 2021 Share Posted June 27, 2021 Moth balls or WD-40. Wasp spray..It is going to get very hot in that truck this summer maybe it will on its own Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 Posted June 27, 2021 Share Posted June 27, 2021 Wait for it to bask itself again and encourage it to leave, maybe fill the hole with foam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smoken D Posted June 27, 2021 Share Posted June 27, 2021 Where I live we use mothballs for snakes and scorpions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cypress Sun Posted June 27, 2021 Share Posted June 27, 2021 To get rid of the snake, you have to eliminate it's food source. That's going to be hard to do since the lizards it eats are everywhere. That leaves you with factory snake repellent (Home Depot/Lowes/Etc), mothballs or a mongoose. The next time that the snake is sunning itself, grab the garden hose sprayer and spray it off of your truck and chase the snake as far as possible away from the area. That may work. I don't suggest filling in any "hole" in the bed rail if it is a factory installed opening. The hole is probably for drainage or moisture control of some type. Filling it in make create a standing water problem and with it....rust. If you can't get rid of the snake, at least you won't have mice or lizards in your truck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Father Kit Cool Gun Garth Posted June 27, 2021 Share Posted June 27, 2021 On the lighter side.... Weather is only going to get hotter. Might a well makes life better for your new boarder and add a pool! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Riot Posted June 27, 2021 Share Posted June 27, 2021 In high school a friend had that exact same problem. Black snake in the bed. We took a pneumatic sander hooked up to an airline (an electric sander might do), draped a towel over the bed rail and put the body of the sander (not the sanding pad) against the towel resting against the side of the bed and turned it on. The snake exited within seconds and made its way into the bushes next to the shop building. It didn’t like that vibration at all. Apparently it had been in his truck bed for a few days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smuteye John SASS#24774 Posted June 27, 2021 Share Posted June 27, 2021 Last time somebody around the neighborhood had a snake on their truck like that, it was a water moccasin. (For those that aren't familiar, the water moccasin is venomous, aggressive and pretty much needs killin' on general principles. Contrary to popular misconceptions, they can bite underwater, too.) They asked me what they should do- but weren't amused when I asked if they had a .22 and how good of a shot they were. They didn't like my second suggestion of 2 person operation involving a really long pole and a shotgun either. That's when I suggested that they go old school and offered to let them borrow Grandpa's old cotton hoe. All they had to say was, "No." The profanity wasn't really necessary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpo Posted June 27, 2021 Share Posted June 27, 2021 10 minutes ago, Smuteye John SASS#24774 said: (For those that aren't familiar, the water moccasin is venomous, aggressive and pretty much needs killin' on general principles Damn straight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpo Posted June 27, 2021 Share Posted June 27, 2021 Speaking of water moccasins (and remembering crap that happened when you were young that scares the living hell out of you when you think about it). My friend and I are dove hunting. For those that have never dove hunted, what you do is you find you a big field, and you crouch down in the bushes and wait for the doves to come in at night for a landing. It works better if, if you are with somebody, the two of you are widely separated. It gives you both a better chance. So I pick my spot, and Cary heads off down the field. Couple hours later and I hear a single shotgun blast. Hour or so later and I decide I've had enough, so I start down the field to where he is. There's a ditch you have to cross. {And} IN the bottom of the ditch is a trickle of water - maybe six inches wide. There's a piece of one by six lying in {a} THE ditch crossing the water. There is a muddy boot print on the piece of one by six. {And} IN the bottom of the ditch, underneath the board, is a water moccasin. There's about 2 feet of it sticking out on the right side, and maybe 6" sticking out the left. The end of its tail has been blown off with a shotgun. I look at this obviously dead snake for a little bit. Bend down in the ditch so my face is maybe six inches away from the obviously dead snake and look at it from nose to what's left of tail. Then I straighten up and holler. CARY! What? DID YOU SHOOT THIS SNAKE? What snake? THIS DAMN WATER MOCCASIN LAYING IN THE DITCH! Has it got a head? YES. Then shoot it!! I {put} POINT my gun in the general direction of the snake's head (because everybody knows you don't really have to aim with A shotgun) and put a load of 7 1/2s about 2 inches away from its head. It comes too, or wakes up, or quits playing possum, or whatever the hell it was doing, and scoots down that ditch like he's trying to break the land speed record. I think about that occasionally. How if I hadn't wondered, I would have stepped on that board, which would have pushed down on that snake's tail, which would have encouraged it to bite the hell out of me. That possibly would have been survival. But when I was bent over, nose to nose so to speak, if he had decided to bite me in the face I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be here. And if I had survived being bitten in the face, I don't believe I would be as pretty as I am. I've been told that pit viper venom is fairly destructive on tissue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-BAR #18287 Posted June 27, 2021 Share Posted June 27, 2021 Pat Riot has the right idea. Vibration of some kind is a good option. Maybe play music on your truck’s sound system real loud with the bass boosted to maximum? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michigan Slim Posted June 27, 2021 Share Posted June 27, 2021 1 hour ago, J-BAR #18287 said: Pat Riot has the right idea. Vibration of some kind is a good option. Maybe play music on your truck’s sound system real loud with the bass boosted to maximum? Maybe that's what my rental neighbor is doing.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Utah Bob #35998 Posted June 27, 2021 Share Posted June 27, 2021 I had a friend in Florida who didn’t mind snakes. But when he saw a huge soifder I the cab of his truck twice, he sold the truck. He said it was a muck spider. I knew my tropical spiders and had never heard of that one. I asked him about it. ”It’s one of them spiders that when you see em it makes you run a muck”, he said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wallaby Jack, SASS #44062 Posted June 27, 2021 Share Posted June 27, 2021 In this land of Downwundermint all snakes are protected(venomous or not); ... ......... they are not,however, armour-plated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calamity Kris Posted June 27, 2021 Author Share Posted June 27, 2021 Here's a picture of the little guy...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dantankerous Posted June 28, 2021 Share Posted June 28, 2021 For snakes I recommend Dynamite. Lots of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-BAR #18287 Posted June 28, 2021 Share Posted June 28, 2021 Uh, that’s not a little guy... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cypress Sun Posted June 28, 2021 Share Posted June 28, 2021 26 minutes ago, J-BAR #18287 said: Uh, that’s not a little guy... Not too big but not a little 3 footer either. Go down to the pet store and get a large feeder mouse. Tie it up and put it in the bed of the truck. When the snake takes the bait and eats it, it won't be able to get back into the hole in the truck bed wall. You can capture it and relocate the snake. Use a brass picker upper, they work well for snakes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capt. James H. Callahan Posted June 28, 2021 Share Posted June 28, 2021 Careful shot with a .410 at close range. JHC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capt. James H. Callahan Posted June 28, 2021 Share Posted June 28, 2021 Herebouts they use a little gasoline poured down a waterhose to get rattlers out of their hole. JHC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warden Callaway Posted June 28, 2021 Share Posted June 28, 2021 I found this black snake sunning on the seat of one of our loaders twice. It slipped under the seat before I could capture it. I started looking closely, then reaching in and starting the engine and watching for any movement around the seat. Sawmill Mary had a black snake slather out from under the seat and down her bare leg. We put up with black snakes around the farm because they are some use in displacing poisonous snakes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smuteye John SASS#24774 Posted June 28, 2021 Share Posted June 28, 2021 2 hours ago, Wallaby Jack, SASS #44062 said: In this land of Downwundermint all snakes are protected(venomous or not); ... ......... they are not,however, armour-plated. Then their security detail best keep them away from me. See snake. Kill snake. Good snake! It's so simple that even Dick and Jane could understand it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smuteye John SASS#24774 Posted June 28, 2021 Share Posted June 28, 2021 2 hours ago, Calamity Kris said: Here's a picture of the little guy...... His head's up. Take the shot! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Mountain Charlie SASS #43172 Posted June 28, 2021 Share Posted June 28, 2021 5 hours ago, Michigan Slim said: Maybe that's what my rental neighbor is doing.... Dang lot of snakes, sez I Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watab kid Posted June 28, 2021 Share Posted June 28, 2021 shall we shoot em ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967 Posted June 28, 2021 Share Posted June 28, 2021 I once had a 'bout a 3-ft argyle runnin' loose in my '73 Super Beetle.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waxahachie Kid #17017 L Posted June 28, 2021 Share Posted June 28, 2021 Copperheads, and water-moccasins, and coral snakes, are all fair game for my shotgun. I may possibly cut some slack to a rattlesnake, IF he rattles and warns me. But I have found out that they don't always rattle before they strike. I don't think these are a protected species, in Texas anyway, but that would make zero difference to me. I am the priority protected species. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpo Posted June 28, 2021 Share Posted June 28, 2021 We have apparently had an archive dump. Jack was puzzled by Hardpan's comment, so I was going to link to the original story. I did a search on snike. Nothing. Search on super beetle. Maybe five posts going back a year. Search on argyle. This thread only. Very puzzling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texas Joker Posted June 28, 2021 Share Posted June 28, 2021 6 hours ago, Waxahachie Kid #17017 L said: Copperheads, and water-moccasins, and coral snakes, are all fair game for my shotgun. I may possibly cut some slack to a rattlesnake, IF he rattles and warns me. But I have found out that they don't always rattle before they strike. I don't think these are a protected species, in Texas anyway, but that would make zero difference to me. I am the priority protected species. Oddly we have selected for non rattling snakes by killing off the ones that rattle before they bite. https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=216924322 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Imis Twohofon,SASS # 46646 Posted June 28, 2021 Share Posted June 28, 2021 NOPE Imis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Widder, SASS #59054 Posted June 28, 2021 Share Posted June 28, 2021 16 hours ago, J-BAR #18287 said: Pat Riot has the right idea. Vibration of some kind is a good option. Maybe play music on your truck’s sound system real loud with the bass boosted to maximum? Well, first ya gotta find out what kind of music 'IT' don't like. If ya start playing music it likes, ya might find yeself more little friends slithering around. I understand they hate Booker T and the MG's singing "Shotgun"..... ..........Widder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forty Rod SASS 3935 Posted June 28, 2021 Share Posted June 28, 2021 I'm not afraid of snakes, but I do respect the poisonous ones and will kill them wheneverI find them. Pre-emptive self defense for people and dogs. I'm told that of the many varieties of twenty some venomous snakes in the United States all but two or three live in Arizona, yet I have not seen any since moving here. I encourage the other snakes in the vicinity, dozens of them, tarantulas (I hate other spiders and we have both black widows and fiddle backs in this area and tarantulas eat the other spiders), and lizards (I seem be be breeding central for horned toads). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967 Posted June 28, 2021 Share Posted June 28, 2021 2 hours ago, Alpo said: We have apparently had an archive dump. Jack was puzzled by Hardpan's comment, so I was going to link to the original story. I did a search on snike. Nothing. Search on super beetle. Maybe five posts going back a year. Search on argyle. This thread only. Very puzzling. Dang, Alpo ~ I'm impressed as heck that you remembered! I'll re-post, for Wallaby's sake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warden Callaway Posted June 28, 2021 Share Posted June 28, 2021 Snakes of all kinds were very common in our area. Lots of tree snakes, rattle snakes, copperheads, cotton mouth, spread head. While we still see black snakes as most common, I've not seen a rattlesnake in years. See one or two copperhead a year. I've not seen a tree snake in may years with the exception of one a couple of years back. My thinking is the introduction of wild turkey has driven them to near extinction. I've seen domestic turkey gang up on a snake and in a few minutes it's a skeleton. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.