Not a good day for the shop.

[Josh Bowman]

I was on my way out to my shop this morning and above the door was a little surprise!

[Russell Eaton]

At one point I had 3 visitors in the shop yesterday, but mine were all WELCOME. Hope you motivated that one down the road.

[Nathan Hawkes]

Have to agree with Russell--they keep the mice away!! As long as they aren't poisonous, I think they're good luck.

[Joe Herrmann]

What kind was it??

[Steve Schlumpf]

WOW! A new shop security system! Where do I get one?

[John Keeton]

Josh, that is what we would call a cow snake in these parts - good to have around, actually. Great mouse snake! I would prefer it announce its presence in a little less alarming fashion, though!

[Lee Koepke]

We've had those on our front porch before, I suspect it was after a birds nest .... it got my attention, too ...

[Greg Just]

I hate snakes! :eek:

[Dick Wilson]

Josh, I suspect it was waiting around for you to show up so it could take some turning lessons from you. Either that or you have mice in your shop, in which case maybe this would be a good time to do a major shop cleaning. I think John K might concur.

[Gary Max]

He's just looking for some place dry to "Hang Out"
Yup
It's still raining here also.

[Josh Bowman]

Steve,
Watch what you ask for.........better check the post mark of any boxes!:eek::eek::eek::eek:
Just kidding of course, snakes and the far north doesn't work well.
I'm fairly sure it's a black snake btw. Don't care if they are poisonous or not, I hate all snakes. But agree with the rat problems they solve, so this one got a new perch in a bush.

[David DeCristoforo]

Just don't come back and tell us that it's really a wooden snake that you turned and carved and pyro'ed!

[Josh Bowman]

He's just looking for some place dry to "Hang Out"
Yup
It's still raining here also.
Gary....it may have been blown here from all the tornados the other day! We had them all around within a couple of miles of the house. My home town of Ringgold Ga. was pretty much distroyed! What a mess.

[David E Keller]

Yikes! I do not like snakes!

This looks like something my wife might do to keep me from heading out to the shop. I keep thinking of that thing dropping on my neck and shoulders when exiting the shop.:eek: You would hear me scream from your respective shops...

[Bernie Weishapl]

I agree with John about being a cow snake. Up here we call them bull snakes. Great mousers and keep rodents away.

[Scott Hackler]

Yeah that looks like a black snake (at least thats what we call them here). Not poisonous and very benificial to the mice/rat problem. But kinda freaky to see on your way to the shop!!! We used to have monster black snakes in the hay barn (6' long and big around as your wrist). Dad would just reach down and grab them and throw them out into the field beside the barn! Looked superhuman to a little boy!

[Mike Cruz]

While I would have jumped higher then Michael Jordan with surprise, I'm OK with snakes. They are beneficial. It is those big (BUTT) spiders I can't stand. No good use for those if you asked me!

I also concur with whoever said that if he is around your shop it is because you have mice. They go by smell. You never have a snake problem without a mouse problem. They have no need to hang around if there isn't something to eat. I have a 6 foot one under my shop right now... He and I are doing all we can to get rid of the mice. :)

[Tim Thiebaut]

I absolutly hate snakes, it may be an irrational fear but oh well, hate'em, cant stand'em! That picture made my skin crawl.

[Donny Lawson]

Man,I love snakes. I would of had a ball with that thing. It gives me a rush to catch those,but I usually play with them for a while and let them go. I've got alot of them around here. Mostly King snakes.

[Ron Stadler]

I grew up around snakes, my dad and older sisters liked to bring them home all the time. But I will have to say that I have never seen the one you have posted here, but definitely not a black snake, I would have to go with the cow snake that others have posted here. By looking at the top of the head in the pics it doesn't appear to be poisonous, although some people can still have and allergic reaction to any kind of bite, bacterial infections can cause a lot of swell and infection. But left alone, I'm sure he's just afraid of us as we may be afraid of him and they can be beneficial to have around, some species of king snakes and other non poisonous snake actually kill the poisonous ones. But still all and all that would of kinda freaked me out having one hanging over my head opening the door to my shop, jeesh.

[Roger Wilson]

As a kid I had a pet King Snake, about six foot long, but I'd still be disturbed by one hanging out on the door.

[Reed Gray]

Well, a rat snake of some sort. I started picking up snakes shortly after I learned to walk. Low maintenance pets.

robo hippy

[John Keeton]

Kentucky has 32 species of snakes - only four of which are poisonous. The cow snake is abundant. The markings on this snake are very similar to those below - all cow snakes.

Scott, when we were kids, my cousin and I got in real trouble for killing my PaPaw's barn snake - a black snake well over 6' long. The best rat snake he ever had! And, the biggest black snake my cousin and I ever killed!!:D

Sometimes, when riled up, a black snake will sometimes show markings somewhat similar, but very muted. Not at all like Josh's pet shop snake.;)

http://www.pingleton.com/field/2006/KY06/05212742.JPG



http://somerset-kentucky.com/archive/x1448890879/g258000000000000000b54e7eb98ee82cb570d0b1a9daaec63 c26ca6698.jpg

[Dan Forman]

I'm in the love snakes camp, so long as they aren't equipped with rattles. Even then, I would never kill one, just move it to someplace safe. All creatures have their place.

Wonder how your's got up there. Might have been seeking heat too, since they are cold blooded. I had a garter snake crawl up my pant leg once when I was a kid, was playing with it on a cold day when I was out fishing in the spring. The little guy just wanted to get warm.

Dan

[Charles Goodnight]

We used to call them black rat snakes. Basically you have a choice. You can have the black rat snakes hanging around, or you can have the rats hanging around. You WILL have one or the other. The snake didn't choose to live there and get that big without something good to eat.

I have a friend who lived down river from a small city. Their yard was filled with black rat snakes, so, like a good son, he removed all of the snakes for his mother and took them somewhere else and released them. Two weeks later they were over run with rats that floated down on flotsam from the city. My friend had to go back out to the field, trap some of the snakes and bring them back.

[Jim Burr]

Oh heck no!! I'd be outa there faster than greased owl poop...no way, no how!!! That's why I love my shotgun!!!!

[Steve Vaughan]

I love snakes. Hate it when folks kill 'em, cause they're just so dang cool. Wrap that dude up and send him to me...with a piece of wood of course!

[Bruce Wheeler]

Hi,
I have a colony at my workshop and they are friendly and take care of the mice. You can handle them . They are almost pets. My biggest guy is named Gus . Its short for disgusting; named by my wife but he's a regular and has been for 10 years.
No Fear they are good company......

[Josh Bowman]

I've lived here over 20 years and these guys have always been here. I guess they breed around here. I try not to kill them. Some have gotten really big and sun themselves in my driveway, but if you try to get them to move, so you can drive out they get kind of hateful. I've only killed one in my history here, ( very deep in the Bowman genes is a desire to rid the earth of snakes), I was in my barn one day and picked up a board.......my mind went blank and all I can say is when I came too again, I was carrying a dead snake out of the barn. I actually regretted it though, I've convinced myself they they will keep the copper heads out of here. So with that false security, I coexist now. I find it creepy, but am interested how he got up there. They must have more traction than a 4x4 truck!!!

[Steve Schlumpf]

The top photo made me wonder if there was such a thing as a curly snake because when I see a tree with that kind of bent form - I just know I found some great wood!

[Jake Helmboldt]

I'm in the love snakes camp, so long as they aren't equipped with rattles. Even then, I would never kill one, just move it to someplace safe. All creatures have their place.

Wonder how your's got up there. Might have been seeking heat too, since they are cold blooded. I had a garter snake crawl up my pant leg once when I was a kid, was playing with it on a cold day when I was out fishing in the spring. The little guy just wanted to get warm.

Dan

Dan, sounds like he was taking the "garter" name a little too literally.

I'd like to have more snakes around. Anyone that doesn't like snakes might change their mind when they have mice or rats chew the cords on their power tools. :mad: We've had a bunch of mice this spring but I haven't seen evidence of my snake buddies.

But I will admit that I'd have jumped seeing that fella hanging out over the door. Something motivated him to get up there. Maybe it was just to give you a fright.

[Jamie Donaldson]

At least it wasn't one of those nasty rattleheadedcoppermoccasins!!!!

[Baxter Smith]

Pretty good security system for the shop Josh. I think they are neat to have around.

[Curt Fuller]

I love having critters like that hanging around. Makes my day to go out into the yard and see a gopher snake or deer or something. If that snake lived at my house my wife would have it named by now.

[Kathy Marshall]

Kind of a reminder for me, need to start shifting the logs in the woodpile with a big stick before I pick any up. With the warm weather here now the rattlers will start making an appearance. I find several around the property each year, and while I really don't like to kill anything, rattlers pose a threat to my dogs so they aren't welcome here. If circumstances allow, I catch them and then release them in the desert a few miles from home otherwise, does anyone need a diamondback hat band?

[Jeff Nicol]

My BIL just bought a new house and as it warmed up they had many dozens of garder snakes come hang out on the warm side of the house, but when his wife found one in the basement she said it was time to move them to a new environment! Their 17yr old daughter caught 50 of them the first week and took them across the highway to a different local. If they try to come back they will have to fight the traffic, so maybe that will keep them at bay! I think your snake was looking for something to eat or else it was looking for a warm spot to "Hang" out for a while! We get some big pine snakes up here in WI that sometimes are mistaken for rattle snakes, but they eat a lot of rodents and at 7' long and thick as your wrist it can catch you off gaurd when they just show up!!

Jeff

[John Hart]

I love snakes too. Spent my entire childhood fascinated with them. I teach my kids to catch them and study them. I'd be in heaven to have a guard snake over my door!!!

[Ron Jones near Indy]

Given my choice of mice, snakes or rats, I would pick a snake in a heart beat.

[Keith E Byrd]

I hate snakes! I don't like mice but I hate snakes. I would probably have chills everytime I walked through that door!:)

[Kirk Miller]

I used to think snakes were pretty cool. I had a friend get bit by a rattler once and have hated all snakes. It took a bit for him to recover from that. I just add that to the list of reasons I live in Alaska.....LOL

[David Warkentin]

A friend told me he doesn't like three kinds of snakes. Live ones, dead ones, and sticks that look like snakes....