Kiara is no match for a cottonmouth!

[toomanypaws]

We live on a small lake, but w/ all the commotion and activity in our yard, snakes rarely venture under the fence. We've had alot of rain and wind due to the tropical storm that passed to the west of us. My three were getting cabin fever and ready to play. The aussie had already run the yard so I didn't think anything of letting Kiara, Abbey & Hannah out to play w/ my dd. Within minutes dd came in screaming and I thought one of the dogs was hurt. She said she saw a big snake and he wasn't a black racer (a non-venomous common snake around here). I immediately called everyone in. Kiara came out from the brush and spotted the snake. I yelled to her "NO, YOU COME HERE!" She looked again at the snake and ran to me. I went over to check him out thinking he was a water snake (also non-venomous) but stepped back when I didn't see a round head but more of an arrow head. He was a cottonmouth, at least 3 ft long and very thick! He slithered back under the thick brush. The cairns won't be in that part of the backyard until the land is cleared, which will be next week. I will be able to put up a temporary fence in a grassy section of the yard for now.

I'm just so proud of Kiara. Usually if she spots a lizard, snake or frog, she's off to hunt it down. This is definitely one reason why our cairns need to listen to our commands. Being obedient this time might have saved her life.

[Scully'sMom]

Oh geez, thank God everybody was alright! My concrete yard right now is looking good to me.

Snakes = Goosebumps

[Guest Guest]

Oh, gosh! I'm glad she listened to you too!!!!!!!!!!

[kayharley]

Oh my...a poisonous cottonmouth? And a large one at that.

We get the little garter snakes from time to time and that's enough for me. I am dreading the day Elliott or Maddy, my hunters come home with one in their mouth. I'll faint for sure.

You are one brave woman.... I'm so glad no one got bit.

Isn't it funny how they can pick up the terror/panic in our voices when a dangerous situation is happening?

[bubba]

S-N-A-K-E!!!!!!! I think I'd have been packed up and moved by now! This side of the mountains, there are no poisonous snakes, but to me a garter snake is just as bad.....yuck yuck yuck!!!!

Here is my funny story about snakes, but it was before we had the dogs. We were up at the lake and I walked down to the bathroom. I would always check it out for critters, as quite often there would be the little green tree frogs in there. Well, this one day I had to 'go right now!' (I can't believe I am telling you this...) and I had my shorts halfway down as I went in the stall, doing my check for the aforementioned critters. There, lurking in the back corner behind the toilet I was about to sit my rear on, was the biggest garter snake (in my head, it look about six feet long!) I had ever seen! I went screaming out of there and ran down the road to our place yelling for my grandson (so what if he was only six...he's a boy!!). Well, he decided when he heard it was just a garter snake that he wanted nothing to do with it! GRRRRRR........I then picked up the two way radio and all my poor husband heard was 'eoiueouiof!!!! dfisdfuesioru!!!! snake!!!! kjfsakldjfe!!! dkjkldsjfkd!!! bathroom!!!' He calmly said 'I'll be right there' and he came and got that hateful thing and held it out his truck window and took it to the other end of the lake for me! I'm happy to report I now have my own facilities and no longer have to frequent that building!

A few months back we were up there and Cooper came close to getting a snake that was sunning itself.....I had him on the leash - I don't know who would have run faster, me from him, or him trying to catch up to deliver his present!!!!

Hoping you don't see this snake or any other again,

pat.

[Guest Guest]

Yuck,Yuck,Yuck! I have an abnormal fear of snakes. I lived in Florida with my grandparents for a brief time and would run back and forth thru the orange grove to my great-aunts house-until I saw a rattle snake in my path. I loved Florida so much, but I just couldnt handle the snakes. We have cottonmouths in Indiana too, probably at the lake we boat at, but I try to pretend they aren't there. I cant even watch snakes on tv without cringing.

[Brigette]

Sorry, the above post was me, my husband changed my computer around and I wasnt logged in. Toomanypaws, I am very impressed with your snake identifying skills and your ability to remain calm-I would have been screaming my lungs out!

[bradl]

I'm still standing on my chair. Aiyeeee!

[Kathryn]

I got the shivers just reading about that snake! I don't think I would be able to go back into the yard for weeks after sighting something like that.

Here in Minneapolis, I worry more about the little tree frogs, which Allie has eaten occasionally. She foams at the mouth when she eats one; they must have some kind of nasty protection naturally.

We did have a small garter snake in our vegie garden (fenced off from the dogs, due to our last dog Annie, who liked to "snack" out there) a few years ago. It liked the mice in the composter I think. But it decided to sun itself on the concrete in the alley one day, and we found it flattened by some sort of vehicle.

Snakes! Yuk! I think I'd move to the tundra.

[Anna_525]

I wish to God I won't see a snake ever....I will definitely trip and fall while running away and the snake will catch up on me....my luck is just that bad...you've got great presence of mind!

[Marmielin]

I will not even go into my yard if I know a snake has been there until someone has killed it. Fortunately, I have lived in my current house 6-years without seeing a snake. I love to garden, and a snake would ruin my gardening for the summer if I saw one. There have probably been snakes out there sometime, but I haven't seen one, and neither has Tink. When I lived in Connecticut we used to have them in our yard frequently, one summer we had seven. That year I was pretty much confined to the house Another summer I called my husband to come home because a snake was curled up next to my car - I could see it from the house. I refused to go to the car until the snake was killed, and it wouldn't move. Well, he called the teenager next year who came over and found it was a shiny black frisby - not a snake . I've never lived that down with any of them.

Lindab

[Toto times 2]

I'm not especially afraid of snakes, I just don't like to be surprised by them. However I do respect them. We were camping at Killbear Provincial Park (quite a bit to the north of us) with Ghillie. At the next campsite was a german shepard. They had been on one of the trails with their dogs off the leash and it got bitten by a rattler! They were able to get some antidote from the park rangers and the dog recovered but my little dog would have died. Needless to say they boys are on a short lead when we hike.

On a lighter note the parks has notices all over the park roads to "brake for snakes" since they are an endangered species. My friend who is petrified of snakes says she intends to brake ON snakes if at all possible.

[toomanypaws]

I'm not really afraid of snakes either. I've learned alot about them through my dh while he was taking some herpetology courses. While we do have a couple bearded dragons and geckos, I am glad dh doesn't want a snake for a pet. I really don't mind seeing a black racer as I know they mean no harm. Last summer I saw a snake in the front of our house so I squatted down by some bags of mulch to get a better look under the shrubs to see what kind it was. What's funny (now) the snake had moved and was behind the mulch. I didn't see him until I squatted down and then saw something out of the corner of my eye. Thank goodness it was only a black racer being he was curled up and only about 2 ft from me.

Our land should be cleared today. I have the temporary fence up by the house which still gives the cairns a small grassy area about 50' X 50', plenty for them to get some excercise, run and jump in their pool and run thru the sprinkler. Of course, it's Kiara the hunter who stands looking over at the area she loves to hunt. The lizards seem to be doing happy dances jumping from tree to tree knowing she can't get them, at least for now.