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Field Collecting/Observing Sightings of herps in the wild, where-tos and how-tos, as well as photos of herps in their native environment.

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Old 08-12-2013, 08:35 PM   #11
WingedSweetheart
We have black ratsnakes. But they never really bother the birds. I never see them around the bird feeders. I think they prefer the chipmunks.

However we do have a red tailed hawk that likes sitting on top of the bird feeder in front of the kitchen window. When he is out there none of the other birds will come around. I'm not sure if he would eat the other birds. I think he is after the rabbits, squirrels, and chipmunks that are also attracted to the bird feeder.
 
Old 08-13-2013, 12:07 PM   #12
mxracer4life
Quote:
Originally Posted by WingedSweetheart View Post
We have black ratsnakes. But they never really bother the birds. I never see them around the bird feeders. I think they prefer the chipmunks.

However we do have a red tailed hawk that likes sitting on top of the bird feeder in front of the kitchen window. When he is out there none of the other birds will come around. I'm not sure if he would eat the other birds. I think he is after the rabbits, squirrels, and chipmunks that are also attracted to the bird feeder.
I raise chickens and have caught then released 5 black rat snakes in less than a month. They LOVE chicken eggs. Funny thing is, from a visual inspection there was 4 females and 1 male. The male was the biggest being over 6ft. I ended up having to release them at an old farm out in the middle of nowhere.
 
Old 08-13-2013, 01:19 PM   #13
WebSlave
Well, this morning I looked out the bedroom window and there was another gray rat snake sitting in one of the lower branches of the fringe tree next to the hummingbird feeder on that side of the house. He was trying his best to just look like a tree branch so a hummingbird wouldn't notice.

Well I had to bag him up too. He didn't kick up any fuss except being a little squirmy when I grabbed him. The gray rats around here rarely ever try to bite unless they mistake your hand for what the meal they have been waiting for. He was maybe 3 ft long, so maybe he was the one who crawled under the house the other day. But anyway he's now out at the edge of the Apalachicola national forest.
 
Old 08-19-2013, 04:01 PM   #14
Metachrosis
This year the black rat snakes are really a handful here.
Alot of quail and chicken breeders in the area at war with them
and they are shot on sight.
 
Old 07-13-2014, 08:32 PM   #15
WebSlave
Was walking out by the old reptile building and something odd caught my eye by the generator. Well, well. A good sized gray rat snake was crawling out of it, hopefully on patrol for those danged rodents that have been chewing up the wiring in the generator. Still haven't gotten that fixed, btw, as the yellow flies have been pretty fierce and I didn't want the technicians to have to get chewed up rewiring the thing for me. They probably would have charged me double.

By the time I called Connie over to show her the snake, he was all the way out, laying there in front of the generator just watching us, not really acting all that concerned about it. And by the time I went to the house to grab my camera, he decided to go back into the generator to have another look around....











I gave him a talking to, telling him he was welcome to prowl around looking for rodents, but the bird feeders were strictly off limits. I think he was around 5 ft long, so he could easily snag and eat our cardinals. Not that I think he would purposely ignore me, but I'm going to be keeping an eye around the bird feeders anyway. If I catch him there, he gets to take a ride out to the nearby national forest to live among the other exiles.
 
Old 07-13-2014, 09:32 PM   #16
LauraB
Quote:
I gave him a talking to, telling him he was welcome to prowl around looking for rodents, but the bird feeders were strictly off limits.
Quote:
Not that I think he would purposely ignore me ...
Well, of course he wouldn't purposely ignore you and Connie
I probably should have used that same argument against the rat snake I found had raided the tiny, little wren nest in my planter on the front porch last spring.
I just didn't think he/she would listen, lol.

Good pics, Rich.
 
Old 07-16-2014, 01:10 PM   #17
WebSlave
Been keeping my eye on the bird feeders in case the big guy decided to stake them out for a meal, but haven't seen him around lately. But this morning I was watching a humming bird near one of those feeders and he acted pretty strange. Tail feathers all fanned out and not landing on the feeder, weaving all around it instead. Sure enough, a small gray rat snake was perched on a tree branch close to the feeder. So had to go out and pull him out of the tree. He's only about 3 ft. long. Only musked a little bit but beyond that didn't seem at all perturbed about being handled. Got him in bagged up and will run him out to the national forest later today or tomorrow.
 
Old 11-04-2015, 05:51 AM   #18
Nathan Tow-Arnett
You should think about making your grey rat snake story a children's book . A rat snake named Lassie
 
Old 11-04-2015, 07:03 AM   #19
E.Shell
I had chickens and would catch and release the same black rat snakes over and over. Very tame, almost like they anticipated a long walk to the swamp.

Watch your friend and that generator.

I have a 1999 Ford Explorer with manual transmission. My wife took it out one day and had trouble with the clutch, couldn't get it to release, then it wouldn't engage. Towed it to the dealership on a Friday, and got a call on Monday that they could not work on it (!?) and that the clutch seemed to be working and I had to come get it right away. I went over there and they said there was "something terrible smelling" in my Explorer. I got in and immediately knew it was dead reptile someplace, and I was guessing 'the clutch'. I took it home, jacked it up and climbed under to have a look. A 3 foot black rat snake had gone into the clutch housing and got wrapped up in the clutch, either on purpose or when the truck started. What a mess, especially having festered for a few days. Took me hours to get it all out using the hose to blow through, spin it a half turn or so and using forceps to grab chunks as they became visible through the inspection port. Worst under the vehicle maintenance job ever...
 

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