Do you kill snakes you find in your yard?

[Melicious]

VERY few people get POISONOUS snakes in their yard...

-Snickers.- Agreed.

[pitbulls4me]

No... I have found a couple baby copperheads and we just get them in a bucket and release them deeper in the woods. I dont like the killing of any animal really. And especially if the snake is in his habitat, I mean they only have so much space to live in. And where I live that space is growing smaller by the day. you dont see too many copperheads around here and from what i hear they dont lay as much or have as many in their clutches. So my answer is definitely no!

[anatess]

Mike, seems like you and I are the practical cold-hearted ones out here.

Okay guys, I hear ya... the only bad snake is a dead snake.

BUT... listen. I have a 5 and 7 year old. Yes, they know A LOT about snakes - from the books they read. Have they ever seen a diamond back? Yeah, in the book. Maybe in the zoo (do they have one in the zoo, Mike?). A water mocassin? Yeah, at the pet store. A coral snake? Yeah, in the book and that one Bindi the Jungle Girl episode. Would they recognize one if it slithers down the backyard? Well..... I'm not leaving that up to chance. So yeah, they probably won't die if they get bit - PROBABLY. Am I going to take that chance? HECK NO. Nobody dies from falling off the swingset too. But, when my son flew off the swing and shattered his elbow, I cannot begin to tell you how difficult it was for my husband and I to sit there and wait while my son went to surgery - all these dreadful things going through our heads - would he have any bad reactions to general anesthesia, what if he doesn't wake up, what if the bone cannot be set and he'll lose mobility in that arm. Anything can happen out there. I am not about to willingly put my kids through that experience if I have anything to do about it.

I live in the city. We don't usually go out the backyard and see a copperhead. Most of our neighbors have young kids as well. We are one of the very few in our 150+ family neighborhood who can identify a racer snake. I feel that it is even more of a danger for my little kids to see a hot one out there because they THINK they know everything about it and have that "false confidence". There's a reason you have to be certified to own a hot - because you have to know what you're doing before you go "snake hooking" it. I don't know of anybody in my neighborhood who has that certification. I can see this now - people saying - that's why you need to educate your kids about not touching hots... Okay, try that on 5 and 7 year old boys and let me know how it works out for ya...

So, if I ever find an aggressive water mocassin in the backyard while the kids are out playing and the husband is not around, I'm fairly certain he's going to be fish food. It is EXACTLY the same thing if I would be driving, and an animal - be it a dog, a cat, or whatever - crosses the road, and I have kids in the back, and I can't be confident that if I apply the brakes or swerve that the car won't turn turtle, or skid, or whatever, heck - I'm running over that thing whatever it is. The safety of my kids ALWAYS come first. ALWAYS.

By the way, those of you who said to call animal control or whatever to relocate the snake - have you ever done it? Because I have (before I found out that the racer snakes living in my hedge are non-venomous), and they charge $425.00 to take the snake out.

[starmom]

My heart says 'no' and my reality is 'yes'.

We have 64 acres in eastern Oregon. Big rattlesnake country. Not evil, nasty rattlesnakes that would sooner kill you than warn you, but rattlesnakes none the less. Some years are snake years while other years aren't. That's how they breed.

The older grandkids know the sound. The younger ones don't. When my own kids were little they didn't know the sound until they were old enough. When they were old enough to know the sound, they thought they were old enough to wrangle them. Wrong. Call someone? Ummm, even if we had a phone out there, the closest rancher would come with his .22.

If a rattler comes into the homestead, we shoot it. They return to the same place to breed, so relocation is kind of a drag. If the kids are out of the homestead area, then they are with adults and when we run across a snake (or vice-versa) the snake gets left alone.

It's just that simple for us. We're almost 2 hours from the closest hospital and doctor. We won't take a chance with one of the kids being bit. We give our dogs the rattlesnake vaccine each May; they don't make them for humans!!

Rattler bites are a drag and cause pain and sickness, hospital and fluids, and it's a real drag. I don't advocate the killing of animals nor do I advocate the harming of children. We do the best we can out there to respect the environment and all the critters in it, and sometimes that means we need to kill something to protect something else. It's just a reality.

[Typical_08]

No. We get a few venomous species around here, but I have done my best to educate the kids on what they can and can not touch. And they are still younger, so they aren't in the yard without myself or my wife out there with them.

But we have only found two snakes in our yard. An eastern diamondback (which are protected), and a coachwhip. Both times they went back into the woods on their own.

[AndrewGeibel]

I do see the argument with kids. That makes a lot of sense. I do not have kids and therefore did not consider that. I would have to be in the situation to make that decision. For me right now though I do not kill them. I would be a little more hesitant moving a rattle snake than a copperhead though. I live in a pretty heavily wooded area though and I know even if I kill or move a snake there is just gonna be another one the next day. I think it just comes with where I am living and it is something I have to deal with. In all honesty there are so many more dangerous things to worry about.

[littleindiangirl]

another interesting fact... the poll shows like 95% of the people voting no. However the actual typed replies show many more would if it were a venemous species.

I was under the impression we weren't talking just venomous snakes, but all snakes.
This thread has certainly gone off towards "just venomous snakes deserve to be killed".

I think all mosquitos/ irritating bugs, disease ridden birds, large road crossing/ roaming herds of dangerous animals, frogs, toads and squirrels need to be killed when met. They cause so much damage to cars and people. Oh, forgot turkeys. We got a lot this year running amok, pooing on things and running into cars.

It's only right.

Oh, and also dihydrogen monoxide. Yes, it is a big killer. It actually forms WEAPONS of mass destruction that will break off of a colony and spear any helpless creature walking below.

[Mike Cavanaugh]

I was under the impression we weren't talking just venomous snakes, but all snakes.
This thread has certainly gone off towards "just venomous snakes deserve to be killed".

I think all mosquitos/ irritating bugs, disease ridden birds, large road crossing/ roaming herds of dangerous animals, frogs, toads and squirrels need to be killed when met. They cause so much damage to cars and people. Oh, forgot turkeys. We got a lot this year running amok, pooing on things and running into cars.

It's only right.

Oh, and also dihydrogen monoxide. Yes, it is a big killer. It actually forms WEAPONS of mass destruction that will break off of a colony and spear any helpless creature walking below.

Who said it was only about hots? My personal belief; kill a species I find in my yard that poses a threat to my kids, or the neighbor kids who know NOTHING about snakes. In my case, because I am fairly educated about the local species, that is only hots.

I honestly feel that some arguing just aren't in touch with the reality of having kids and being in the situation. When your kid, or the neighbors kid gets accidentally bit by a hot, and it becomes known that you have known about it being around but did not kill it or pay $425 to have someone else come and kill it (They do NOT relocate in my case a water moccasin. They take your money, take it away and they kill it) you can get in BIG trouble. No snake is worth a visit from HRS.

As stated by Tess in the state of Florida, you have to have a license to mess with hots. That license is almost impossible to get, and for good reason. You have to be taught how to do it by someone who knows, and have many hours of practice under supervision. Yeah, I know how to pick up and handle ball pythons, corn snakes, boas ect. I DO NOT know how to catch, bag and relocate a hot. I have no interest in asking a "friend" to do it who may claim they know how to do it. Heck, once they get bit, trying to remove it from my yard they can sue me!

This is a snake forum. Obviously most people will immediately say "NO WAY" to the question. But what will they actually do in the situation? Exactly.

[DutchHerp]

Why do you need a license to touch hots in Florida? Also, how do they enforce that?

[Jsh]

Personally I would not kill the snake. I would pull out the tongs and the trash bin put the snake in there and transfer it to a suitable location. Some might be against relocation but this way neither the snake, me or the neighborhood kids are harmed in anyway. I'd rather take an hour out of my day then somebody or something getting injured or killed. I haven't went through all the pages so I'm sure this has been mentioned but I wanted to say what I personally would do. --Josh