The tigers are about

[Wayne Lomman]

Some of you may remember that we lost a dog to tiger snake bite last summer. Well, today I was down at the same pump on our dam. I went to put the fuel drum down when a slight movement caught my eye. Less than a metre away from my hand was said tiger snake. I didn't move. Fortunately, the snake moved off a little way. I thumped my feet a bit but it didn't move any further. So I slowly refuelled the pump and started it. Snake didn't like the vibration but to my horror it headed towards me and the pump only to disappear into a hole in the ground half a metre from the pump! All this time I have been working that close to a tiger snake. Round 2 goes to the snake as well... Cheers

[John K Jordan]

Some of you may remember that we lost a dog to tiger snake bite last summer. Well, today I was down at the same pump on our dam. I went to put the fuel drum down when a slight movement caught my eye. Less than a metre away from my hand was said tiger snake. I didn't move. Fortunately, the snake moved off a little way. I thumped my feet a bit but it didn't move any further. So I slowly refuelled the pump and started it. Snake didn't like the vibration but to my horror it headed towards me and the pump only to disappear into a hole in the ground half a metre from the pump! All this time I have been working that close to a tiger snake. Round 2 goes to the snake as well... Cheers

Yikes. We don't have tiger snakes here but I read about them. I think I'd be investigating that hole, perhaps finding or devising a snake trap.

I tend to leave snakes alone unless they are a hazard to people or my animals.
I once moved a concrete block by my little pond behind the barn only to uncover a venomous copperhead snake which instantly coiled for striking less than 1/2 meter from me. Since I had the concrete block in my hands I smashed it down on the snake but miscalculated; the edge struck the ground in front of it and the snake escaped into the pond. I didn't know how long copperheads can stay under water so I ran to get a projectile weapon from the barn, back in less than a minute. I waited next to the pond for 1/2 hour and never saw it so I suspect it had left during that minute.

I once almost lost a dog to a copperhead strike on his leg, fortunately he recovered.

JKJ

[Pat Barry]

May need to carry a shotgun for protection.

[Frederick Skelly]

Yikes! Be careful down there Wayne.
You sure don't want him to win Round 3.

Fred

[Frederick Skelly]

May need to carry a shotgun for protection.

Really good idea. I've seen guys carry a 2 foot long version of a double-barrelled 410 shotgun that somebody makes.

[michael langman]

Buy a 38 special or even a 22 caliber pistol. Something that is small and easy to carry. Load it with rat shot or what we used to call splatter shot, and practice shooting a soda can o the ground. Training yourself and safety is important.

[Jim Koepke]

Load it with rat shot or what we used to call splatter shot

A friend of mine who worked for the county animal control used to call them snake loads. Likely that was the main use for them so that is likely how they got the name from her job.

jtk

[Mark Bolton]

Yikes. We don't have tiger snakes here but I read about them. I think I'd be investigating that hole, perhaps finding or devising a snake trap.

I tend to leave snakes alone unless they are a hazard to people or my animals.

Anytime I try to edit a typo on my phone post is delete... round 2..

Same here, we have copperheads and some say rattlesnakes though I have never seen one in 18 years. I leave them all be because the stuff they eat (bugs, rats, mice, and other small animals) are far more annoying to me than any snake (even a venomous one) and they are far more scared of me than I am of them. We suffer here with the Eastern Wood Rat. A vile creature. Will destroy your homes and outbuildings. Eats the jackets off romex, extension cords, and so on. Will eat your rubber boots down to the sole in a night if you dont put them up. We have had them chew through garden hoses, all sorts of stuff. Anything that will eat those little sons o guns is more than welcome on my property. When I find black snakes out and about on the property I pack them back to the house hoping they wills stay around. If a pesky copperhead pops up I will just toss a piece of PVC pipe down and they nearly always slide right in. Put a cap on each end, and take them out into the woods or to another field.

Around the farm you have to be careful, pieces of tin laying on the ground, hooking up the bush hog thats been sitting for a while, lumber piles, and so on. Its never been a big deal to me to rattle the tin a few times and pick up the last piece cautiously. 9 times out of ten there will be a big ol' black snake under there and we will check each other out for a bit. I will chat with it for a while til' it heads back off to do its job and we both leave happy.

The norm here is often to kill every snake one see's. People have had dog and cats bit, especially breeds like jack russells who will seek out a snake and pester it rather than leaving it alone. When my pets come back laid up from a tussle with some animal or blind as a bat because they werent smart enough to stay out of a skunks butt I just laugh. You mess with the bull....

[Jacques Gagnon]

... as a famous character in a popular movie said: " I hate snakes!" - the fact that these species are protected somewhat complicates Wayne's options.

[Frederick Skelly]

- the fact that these species are protected somewhat complicates Wayne's options.

Yes, it does. But I can't see any game warden or police officer I've ever met arguing that the land owner can't shoot an extremely venomous snake that is 3 feet away from him. :D :D :D

[John K Jordan]

Around the farm you have to be careful, pieces of tin laying on the ground, hooking up the bush hog thats been sitting for a while, lumber piles, and so on. Its never been a big deal to me to rattle the tin a few times and pick up the last piece cautiously. 9 times out of ten there will be a big ol' black snake under there and we will check each other out for a bit. I will chat with it for a while til' it heads back off to do its job and we both leave happy.

The norm here is often to kill every snake one see's. People have had dog and cats bit, especially breeds like jack russells who will seek out a snake and pester it rather than leaving it alone. When my pets come back laid up from a tussle with some animal or blind as a bat because they werent smart enough to stay out of a skunks butt I just laugh. You mess with the bull....

Llamas are especially vulnerable since they are so curious. I've seen them standing in a tight circle watching a black snake. They are vulnerable to small rabid animals for the same reason.

I love (non-venomous) snakes around the place but I move them now. I don't mind if they eat a few chicken eggs but last year I found them in a peacock nest box twice. Two peahens had been incubating over 30 eggs and the snakes but the snakes scared them off and the eggs died. My new peacock house will be as snake proof as I can make it. For now I catch all the black snakes I find and transport to a friends place a few miles away.

I've found copperheads under tin roofing on the ground. A good rule I heard once is never, ever put your hands where you cannot see. This works for picking up logs and rocks, climbing, etc.

374104

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For some reason the neighbors call me every time they see a snake, usually in a panic, from frail older women to burly guys.

JKJ

[Malcolm Schweizer]

No thanks- I will take our centipedes that won't kill you, but will make you WISH you were dead any day over a tiger snake. We have no deadly snakes. In fact, we have only two snakes- garters and pygmy tree boas. The early European settlers brought the mongoose to the island to take care of the rat problem. Mongeese prefer snakes to rats, so they ate the snakes that were eating the rats, and then there were even more rats and fewer snakes.

Down island in St. Lucia they have the feur de lance. It's one of the most deadly snakes in the world. The story goes that back in the sailing days the slave owners released them into the woods and let their slaves see them do it so that the slaves would be afraid to run away. Humans are not the brightest species sometimes. Now St. Lucia has them all over.

[Mark Bolton]

Humans are not the brightest species sometimes.

Sometimes? Lol

[Wayne Lomman]

Mark, catching a snake with a piece of pipe is a new one to me. I'll pass on trying it out though. Our snakes are way too aggressive.

Thanks for all the suggestions for weapons to use. The slight catch is that most of them would probably be illegal here. Cheers

[Frederick Skelly]

You mean shotguns are illegal in Tasmania?

[Jacques Gagnon]

... particularly if the game warden and the owner are... the same person!!!:D

[Stewie Simpson]

You mean shotguns are illegal in Tasmania?

Fred; the catalyst for gun ownership reform in Australia was on April 28/29th 1996 at Port Arthur in Tasmania.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBBpRMvxMuM

[Frederick Skelly]

Oh Lord.
Well, my utter ignorance was showing wasn't it? My apologies folks. I had no idea.

Fred

[michael langman]

My apologies for being so dumb, about the history of Australia.
I watched the video, Stewie. Thanks for posting it.
If only my country could be so brave, as to do the right thing in times of tragedy. If it is allowed, maybe a small can of mace would help with the snake problem, but then people can be bitten before they realize it is too late, and a defensive action is useless.
Michael

[Perry Hilbert Jr]

That snake would have had a diesel shower had I been present. Heard of a guy doing that when a rattler was next to a fuel pump. apparently the rattler could not see or smell after being splashed with a bit of diesel fuel.

We have copper heads and an occasional rattler around here. The rattlers announce their presence. Copper heads don't. We have some kind of very aggressive water snake. Not poisonous but an extreme biter. Only been snake bit once, by a tiny little garter snake. Nasty mean tempered little buggers. Laid my finger wide open with them tiny razor teeth. When my daughter was 5, she caught a red racer. about 16 inches long. That snake was about the calmest snake I have ever been around. Never struck and seemed to like being held and handled. She kept that snake for a few months before we convinced her that it should be free. Even after she let it go, she would go out and find him (or another) and play with it for awhile.

[Wayne Lomman]

I didn't really know how to explain about gun reform in Australia. Stewie, posting Stan Grant's report was better than anything I could have said.

Tiger snake was sighted from a distance again yesterday so the standoff continues... Cheers

[Larry Edgerton]

I caught a large Copperhead that was striking at me when I was young. Caught it behind the head, and when I pulled it up to take a look at it with both hands it flipped its tail around the rear hand and pulled my hands together. I was a young man and very strong, so it amazed me how strong it was.

So here I am, working alone, holding a large Copperhead by the head and it has both my hands tied up. Tried drowning it in the Guadalupe, no dice, and my hand holding the head was starting to cramp. Finally figured out how to get my boot on its head on a rock ledge and kill it.

The worst thing of that experience was the smell. It was a week before I could stand the smell of my hands, even after bleaching them multiple time. Oh, and the guy became my new hat band.:D

[Perry Hilbert Jr]

slightly off topis, back around 1970, my Father was a Game Warden and was away on vacation. I answered the phone and a funeral/burial was being delayed in the next town because a snake had curled up on the brick porch of a funeral home in front of the only doors wide enough to carry the casket out. I explained that I had just got home from college and had no way to get there, but would remove the snake if some one could pick me up. (I lived 2 miles away) The funeral home director gets the town police officer to come and get me. We go back to the funeral home and I use a stick to hold the snake down and grab it just at the back of the head. Well the snake started wriggling and writhing as I jump back in the police car and tell the officer he can take me back home. He made me roll down the window and hold the snake out side as we traveled the two miles home. It was quite a spectacle for other motorists seeing a wriggling snake outside the police car window. When we got back to the street where I lived, the officer asked what I intended to do with the snake. Told him, I was going to let it go in the field at the end of the street. So he drove there, and suggested that we kill it. When we got to the side of the road, I jumped out and threw the snake as far as I could into the tall grass. The officer asked what kind of snake it was. I told him I could never remember the difference between a copperhead and a milk snake, but it was one of the two.

[John K Jordan]

slightly off topis, ...When we got to the side of the road, I jumped out and threw the snake as far as I could into the tall grass. The officer asked what kind of snake it was. I told him I could never remember the difference between a copperhead and a milk snake, but it was one of the two.

Great story!

[lowell holmes]

It sounds like garden hoe time.

[Wayne Lomman]

Perry, great story! You would fit right in around where I live! Cheers