Gray rat snake infestation

[WebSlave]

Saturday Connie comes into the den to tell me that there is a gray rat snake at one of the hummingbird feeders. She's all worried that he's going to snag one of the hummingbirds that we now have as dependents. So I go on out there, and sure enough, there he sits, looking hopeful that one of the little birds won't notice him hanging down looking like a twig. He didn't move much the whole time I was taking photos of him, probably thinking "Man, GO AWAY! I'm trying to get some lunch here!"

He apparently thought my hand was prey as he tagged me when I reached up to grab him, but as soon as I had him in my hands, he acted like nothing was wrong. He squirmed a little bit but didn't get very excitable about being handled. Didn't even musk me. So I walked him down to a section of our land near some bamboo where there was a pile of bush Connie and I had been clearing, and released him there.

So this morning I'm looking out the side door of the house at the same hummingbird feeder and I noticed what looked like a twig laying on the feeder. At first I thought a storm had just knocked a twig there, and I was thinking it was probably scaring off the hummingbirds thinking it was a snake. Hey, wait a minute! It WAS a snake. He was coiled up in the center depression of the feeder, and as best I can tell, it's the same one I caught and released two days ago.

How in the heck he figured out how to get back to the same exact spot is pretty baffling. It's not like it was a straight path to where I released him, and it's not even close, nor direct line of sight.

Anyway, one of the hummingbirds actually buzzed him, so I'm glad he didn't wind up a meal for the gray rat snake. But I rushed on out there before his luck would change and I'd have Connie screaming bloody murder.

So I grabbed him up again. He didn't even try to bite this time, so I guess he's gotten used to the routine pretty quickly. Took him back and released him but a little further away this time. He seemed to enjoy being carried, so I can see where this is going....

I expect he'll be back. We had another larger one a couple of years ago at one of the other feeders that I had to catch and release 5 or 6 times. I finally had to bag him up and drive him out into the forest to release him so he would stay gone for good.

And then when I was walking from the old reptile building to the house, I spotted ANOTHER gray rat snake laying around a wagon under the carport. This one is different looking, so it's not the pest having made his way back already. He was a little bit larger, too, and a but paler colored. He went and climbed up into another wagon with some of Connie's pineapple plants on it, so I left him be. No sense slicing my arms to ribbons trying to get him out of that stuff. I'm sure he'll turn up somewhere else soon enough.

So apparently we have a few gray rat snakes prowling around here. These two are approximately the same size, so I guess they are probably siblings. Too bad we don't have the mouse colony any longer or I'd toss them a meal for their troubles before sending them on their way.

But I do hope they don't snag one of "our" birds at the feeders. Connie would be REAL upset to find one with a big lump in him sitting in one of the feeders one morning.

 

[Mooing Tricycle]

Clever little things colubrids are! They are always my favorite.

 

[WebSlave]

Well, the gray rat snake found his way back and was hanging at the feeder again this morning. So Connie found an old snake bag over in the other building and we caught him and bagged him up. He didn't even flinch when I grabbed him, so apparently he's getting used to this routine. We then took a drive out to the edge of the national forest and sent him on his way. Hopefully he won't find his way back from there too. That's about three-quarters of a mile he'll have to traverse to find us again.

 

[Shadera]

I give him three days, tops.

Neat story though, and I'm sure your hummers appreciate the help.

 

[WebSlave]

Yeah, just what we need. A gray rat snake named "Lassie".

 

[WebSlave]

Saw another one, somewhat larger, on the other side of the house this morning. Near the other bird feeders we have over there that we can see from the bedroom window. He got underneath the porch before I could get out there to grab him. So got to keep an eye out for him as well. Not sure if this is the same one I saw under the carport several days ago, but he looked about the same size.

 

[hhmoore]

You could restart the mouse colony, and feed them so they won't bother the hummingbirds. This is the age of equal treatment and no losers, after all - you can't feed one group, while allowing another to be hungry.

 

[WebSlave]

Yeah, I hear that.... At least they are a nice politically neutral color.........

 

[Celtic Constrictors]

That's really funny. I live on the outskirts of a large city and seldom see herps in the wild other than the occasional skink or two. When I was younger I would catch horned lizards, garter snakes, collared lizards, and so many other animals just in my back yard.

I can't wait to move back to the country. Your "problem" is one I wouldn't mind having. Rather deal with snakes and birds than people, if you catch my drift.

 

[WebSlave]

Yeah, but when you live out among the wildlife, you find yourself compelled to have a hand in events, no matter how much you would rather not. Obviously I like snakes, but it's just something heartbreaking about seeing parent birds fluttering around all distressed and finding a snake coiled up in their nest with it's belly filled with the eggs or babies. Yeah, I KNOW it's just nature, but dang it, when the birds start building nests HERE around our house, it feels like they are OUR birds. We're not feeding the birds just to fatten them up for something to eat. The snakes can go eat someone else's birds.

Matter of fact Connie found a baby racer hanging out by the garage. Right near where "her" baby fence lizards are hanging out. So I've got another snake in a bag to run on out to the forest. We can't allow him to eat OUR lizards, now can we?

 

[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.

 

[mxracer4life]

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.

 

[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.

 

[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.

 

[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.

 

[LauraB]

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.

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.

 

[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.

 

[Nathan Tow-Arnett]

You should think about making your grey rat snake story a children's book . A rat snake named Lassie

 

[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...