My tractor found a snake !

[ning]

i added "look in front of the engine under the hood" to my pre-flight checklist a number of years ago (five? five plus idk) when i hopped on the tractor, fired it up, heard a SQUAWK
turned it off, found a chicken with its foot trapped by the fan belt
ended up cutting the fan belt off; the hen is still with us and gets around pretty well though she's missing most of her right foot

 

[Shawn T. W.]

When my kittens were little ... I'd find kitty tracks on top of my engine of my pickup!

Now they are too big, but they also catch a lot of rodents! They also "play" with any snake the find!

 

[tacticalturnip]

Its a massey Ferguson 3165, it has maybe 12 wires to chew on

Well, that makes it easier to diagnose and repair. Mice are...

 

[masseyrider]

Time to replace the tractor.

 

[Jstpssng]

Can’t say they’re cute, but….

Benefits Of Opossums: Are Possums Good To Have Around

America's only marsupial tends to have a bad reputation. But are opossums actually good to have around? Click here to learn the benefits of opossums sticking around.

www.gardeningknowhow.com

The benefits of possums and ticks has found to be vastly overrated. For me, that leaves the rest of this article suspect.

 

[caver]

Danger Noodle

 

[RayIN]

Opened my pole barn/garage and spotted this little guy. i caught it with a quart canning jar, by holding onto the bottom of the jar and slowly moving toward the little snake, when it struck at my hand it went inside the jar and i quickly slapped on the lid. I relocated the blue racer outside the garage where I'd spotted a large(blue racer) one. I suspect they were near the garage hunting mice.
A little-known fact about blue racers; they will (rarely) shake their tail in the grass/leaves to mimic a rattlesnake.

 

[Shawn T. W.]

Quite a lot of non-rattlers will shake there tail ... I'm not convinced that it's to mimic a rattlesnake, but maybe it's a distraction to the other end to protect its head? Just a guess on my part ...

Barney wasn't fooled though, he could strike faster than this rat snake could, he seemed to think this was a fun new game!

I'm not sure if they actually kill this size, or just play with them ... ?

When I bought this place a bit over four years ago, the basement was over run with mice, and snakes ... I wasn't home a lot, and although I'd trap 8-12 mice every time home, and the snakes obviously couldn't keep up, even with me helping ... Only about half of my house has a basement, the other part has a crawlspace, which has concrete walls, and direct opening to the basement, this little two footer was happy down there ...

I continued to seal up cracks and holes in the basement, one day I went downstairs and found this one ...

It was quite a fight to get it pulled out of the pipes, it didn't want to, but I eventually prevailed, they are extremely strong!

Turned out to be a 5'+ rat snake ... You can see how's it's faking the "triangle head"! I decided then, no more snakes in my house! Ended up evicting 7 snakes, 3 big ones like this!

I got the 4 kittens to not only protect my tractor from mice in the barn (found a nest on top of my battery that was hooked to a tender) but hopefully they would patrol around the house too ... And they do!

Found this one out at the edge of my lawn ...

Once the kittens matured, no more mice, or snakes!

Dug up this nest of copperheads, they didn't like being disturbed! Too bad, they met Mr. Shovel!

 

[MossRoad]

Cats with ears forward and one paw up is soon followed by WHACK WHACK WHACK!



The only rattlesnake I ever saw in the wild was introduced to Mr. Shovel by Mister Chambers, our neighbor. It was not a long lasting acquaintance. In fact, only one handshake. Then they parted ways.

 

[jonsstihl]

Damn, give my -40 degree and 3 feet of snow any time before meeting up with one of those wrapped around your neck as you move around the basement. Holy crap. Thats what I like about the cold, it gets rid of all that rif raf that can kill you. you just have to dress for it.

 

[Suburban Plowboy]

I don't bother nonvenomous snakes. I even saved one from the pool because I couldn't stand to watch it drown.

Poisonous snakes will be killed on sight. We have unbelievably stupid laws now, making it a crime to kill them. But...poisonous snakes will be killed on sight. You can't catch me, so pass all the laws you want.

On my property, grey squirrels also have no right to live, along with coyotes and coons. Being spotted by me is a capital offense.

Now that I have a little son, I understand why some parents teach their kids to run from all snakes. You can't expect a toddler to know the difference between a diamondback and a garter snake.

 

[big bubba]

In regards to snakes, please correct me, 80% or more of bites occur at ankle or slightly above height. i just wear high boots.
to do away with a non venomous one on sight is irrational fear & conditioning simply b/c they are a serpent.

I once read a news story here in the state where a couple found a large rat snake close to house, immediately killing it uttering "stand back thy Satan". OMG ignorance knows no limits...

overall, since i moved to my place within the Ozark Nat Forest 49 yrs ago, i'm saddened to see a large decrease in snakes, amphibians, and multiple wildlife such as bats, martins, whip or wlls, quail, lightning bugs, and much more (even dung beetles) think it's related to a rapid decline in insect population given our extreme climate conditions.

while i knowledge the inherent fear some may have of snakes in general, i do not sympathize with the irrational compulsion to kill them simply b/c one has a pre conditioned fear of them not based on fact. let the sob's live (unless venomous ones pose a danger in your compound) ... they have an important role in nature...

 

[garry1p]

Poisonous snakes will be killed on sight.
On my property, grey squirrels also have no right to live, along with coyotes and coons. Being spotted by me is a capital offense.

Same here

 

[Shawn T. W.]

All snakes can swim, but probably don't like chlorine?

I'm not scared of snakes, but they don't belong, or are welcome in my house, or within 50'! Venomous ones are not welcome anywhere in my 16 acres!

I've moved many of them out of my way before ...

In Arizona I've come across many Rattlesnakes, and ate most of them!

 

[GrandpaSmurf825]

Possums don't eat ticks at all. Just a myth.

Debunking the Myth: Opossums Don’t Eat Ticks

<p>Researchers have debunked a popular meme about Virginia opossums eating ticks. Careful analysis of opossum stomach contents (yes, the work of some researchers!) revealed many items, including worms, a French fry, broken glass and a shrew…but no ticks.</p>

outdoor.wildlifeillinois.org

 

[Shawn T. W.]

Opossum seem to only eat ticks when they are grooming themselves ...

 

[big bubba]

Possums don't eat ticks at all. Just a myth.

Debunking the Myth: Opossums Don’t Eat Ticks

<p>Researchers have debunked a popular meme about Virginia opossums eating ticks. Careful analysis of opossum stomach contents (yes, the work of some researchers!) revealed many items, including worms, a French fry, broken glass and a shrew…but no ticks.</p>

outdoor.wildlifeillinois.org

guinea hens are the most effective natural control of ticks aside from chemical warfare

 

[Suburban Plowboy]

All snakes can swim, but probably don't like chlorine?

I think the main thing this one didn't like was not being able to climb out of the pool.

 

[rontaki]

Possums don't eat ticks at all. Just a myth.

Debunking the Myth: Opossums Don’t Eat Ticks

<p>Researchers have debunked a popular meme about Virginia opossums eating ticks. Careful analysis of opossum stomach contents (yes, the work of some researchers!) revealed many items, including worms, a French fry, broken glass and a shrew…but no ticks.</p>

outdoor.wildlifeillinois.org

Chickens eat ticks.

 

[bcp]

Bruce