Snakes are the fodder of ancient tales and the foundation of the fall of mankind. Most of all they are really scary. They will silently slither their way into your home and shed skins and make babies without you knowing it until one day a five foot rattle snake is lying next to the pool sunbathing.
Here at Nuisance Wildlife Removal Inc. when we go out to a snake removal call people always ask how did that snake get into my home. The homeowner always goes and looks around his home for gaps and breaches but they only seem to look at ground level. There has been many times I have been in an attic and seen snake skins.
The Slithering Facts Do Not Lie -Watch The Video
Snakes Can Stick To Brick
So the video shows just how some snakes get into your home though gaps higher than you might think the can access. This just goes to prove that snakes can climb walls..
Nuisance Wildlife Removal Inc. can seal your home from these slithering species.
BRADENTON – There is certainly no shortage of snakes in Florida, as the state is home to more snakes than any other in the Southeast. This year, they seem to have come out of hiding earlier than normal, as some experts say the mild weather is to blame.
For the past nine years, one wildlife educator has been working closely with many types of animals. “One of my main jobs is to go out and capture injured animals, and rehabilitate them and release them back to the wild,” says Damen Hurd, who works at the Wildlife, Inc. Education and Rehabilitation Center.
Includes All Types Of Snakes
Hurd said that includes the slithering reptile that many hope to never find in their homes.
“I have a ton of experience with snakes especially,” Hurd said.
And although the snakes Hurd works with look to be under control, they actually can be pretty dangerous if you interact with the wrong ones. “We definitely have quite a few venomous snakes in the state of Florida,” Hurd said. “We also have exotic snakes like pythons and things like that here in the state. I never recommend anybody who’s not professional or doesn’t have any sort of training and ever touching any snakes in the wild or anything like that.”
Especially with reports of snake sightings up already this year.
“This year we have had a 70% increase of calls compared to last summer,” said Christy Norris, vice president of Nuisance Wildlife Removal.
Norris said it is something experts attribute to the warmer winter, early spring, and recent rains. “We’ve had an abundant call of snake removals,” Norris said. “With all the rains and stuff they’re looking for dry, high lands.”
Snake Bites Are On The Rise
So far this year, 235 snake bites have been reported in Florida as of May, up from the average for the last four years at 220. “What’s happening is people are thinking that it’s not a poisonous snake, and it actually is and they don’t realize that,” Norris said.
So the next time you see this creature chilling in your yard or house, it’s best to let them be. “Your best bet is to call you know a wildlife trapper that will come out, remove it, and take it to a safe habitat,” Norris said.
It’s important to remember that snakes would rather flight than fight. They usually will give you an ample warning before choosing to bite, which is their defense mechanism.
Copyright 2012 Southern Broadcast Corp of Sarasota All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
I was dispatched the other day to a house in the Sarasota / Bradenton area. I was called out to pick up a snake in a bag. I assumed they just needed someone to come by and pick up the bag with the already caught snake. Well, that was definitely not the case.
Easy Money?
Upon arrival the home owner greeted me and informed me the bag and snake was on the back porch. So I headed to the porch and came to find out the snake was in a bag of potting soil. I figure no big deal.
Open bag.
Grab snake.
Collect money.
Not quite that easy.
The snake was covered in soil so there was no way of identifying the snake. Reaching in to grab an unidentified snake unprotected is definitely not a good idea. I could tell it was black and had some markings but I couldn’t really see enough to let me know if it was a venomous snake or not.
The Expert Knows What To Do
The only snake tool I had on the truck was a snake hook. So I finally get the snake out of the potting soil bag and into a mesh bag and off we go. I get it back to the office and wash it off letting me see that it was a juvenile black racer.
It’s interesting how a little dirt turned this capture into a little harder judgement call.
If you have a snake problem calls the PROS at Nuisance Wildlife Trapper before things get out of hand.
Today’s list of jobs included a somewhat rare treat, the eastern coral snake. A customer in Orlando had one of these beautiful, yet dangerous snakes lying by his pool. As I’ve said in other posts, the majority of snake calls we get are for non-venomous snakes. Most of our snake calls seem to be for black snakes, king snakes, and rat snakes. We do occasionally go out to remove a cottonmouth or rattlesnake. Much less frequently, we run into the coral snake, North America’s most venomous native snake.
Coral Snake Facts
Astoundingly, as dangerous as the coral snake’s venom is, less than one percent of all venomous snakebites in the United States come from a coral snake. This is due to their very illusive nature and the ineffectiveness of their bite. Coral snakes don’t strike like a rattlesnake or water moccasin does. They kind of latch on and actually have to grind their small teeth down into their prey to inject their venom, making them easy to shake off quickly and prevent the venom from getting into the prey’s system. This, along with their skittish nature, is why there are so few snake bite cases involving coral snakes.
In fact, only one person has died since 1967, when the coral snake anti-venom was first produced, from a coral snake bite. This infrequency of bites by coral snakes has even led to yearly talks of doing away with the supply of anti-venom. The current stock of antivenin was set to expire in October 31 of 2008. The FDA has so far extended the expiration date each year as tests have shown that the stock is still good. No company currently produces FDA approved antivenin for coral snake bites so when it finally does expire, it’s possible that it will not be replaced.
Always Call A Professional To Remove Snakes
Coral snake or not, do not take chances of being bitten by a poisonous snake. Call the Nuisance Wildlife Trapper for this and any type of wild animal control job.
Sometimes snakes can be a pain to find. A lot of times they will make their way under a slab of cement, shed, or other obstacle. Sometimes, like today, they’re just really well hidden. I was called out to a house in Orlando. The customer had been seeing what he was pretty sure was just a common black snake. He didn’t really mind snakes but wasn’t a fan either and decided it was time for it to go. I got there and started looking for the snake around the back pool cage where he had been seeing it. I looked and looked and looked for an hour or so and couldn’t find it. I sat and watched for a little while as I’ve noticed sometimes they’ll pop out of wherever they’re hiding if left alone. Still no snake. I started looking again through all the bushes and trees as I occasionally find them there. Sure enough, I spotted a little bit of black movement in the middle of a bush. I watched it as the snake slowly moved upward towards the top of the bush and popped its head out. Finally, I had found it.
Black Racer In Bush In OrlandoBlack Snake In Bush Orlando RemovalBlack Snake Removed From Orlando Shrub
A customer called today about a snake with stripes hanging out around their pool today. They were very worried that it was venomous because of the stripes. I got to the house as quickly as possible and asked the customer what the snake looked like and where they last saw it. I like to have an idea of what I’m dealing with. They said it was a yellow or orange snake with dark stripes running down its back from head to tail, an immediate sign that it was not venomous. Anytime stripes are running vertically down the snake instead of across the width of the snake, it’s nonvenomous. Knowing what I was dealing with, it was time to find the snake.
It had been twenty or thirty minutes since the customer initially called and nobody had been outside so there was a good chance the snake was still very close, probably somewhere in the pool enclosure. I looked under planters, in the pool filter, and several other areas I typically find them with no luck. I noticed the customer had a built in stainless steel corner grill and sink with cabinets underneath. I opened one of the cabinets and looked around and didn’t see anything so I crawled in a little so I could get my head around the corner to see the area where there are no cabinets and voila, there was the snake. It was a little too far for me to grab it with my hand and too tight an area to get my snake tongs in to reach it. So I crawled out, grabbed my snake tongs and banged on the end the snake was under to scare it my way. Once it came around the corner I swung the tongs around and nabbed it. It was exactly how the customer described it, a harmless rat snake.
Snake Facts To Ponder
A lot of snakes look very menacing and dangerous if you don’t know what to look for. Most people, whether they’re scared of them or not, know that a black snake is nonvenomous and essentially harmless. Most people also could also spot a rattle snake because of its distinctive rattle and know that it is a very dangerous, venomous snake. Beyond these two snakes, a lot of people don’t have the ability to tell whether a snake is venomous or nonvenomous. A bright or multicolored snake, a snake with stripes, or a snake with rings or patterns down its back can very easily be mistaken for a venomous snake when it’s not.
A lot of people are terrified of snakes. To some customers a harmless black snake, king snake, rat snake, or other non-venomous snake is a slithering terror waiting to attack. I had one such run in a couple days ago.
A Harmless Black Snake Can Seem Dangerous To Some
The customer called in to the office in hysterics. She had just seen a huge snake moving across her patio when she was leaving for work. No longer was she going to work, or outside the house for that matter. Not with certain death waiting just outside her door. I pulled up to the house not sure what kind of snake it would be. It was huge, that’s all I knew. I walked around the house and found the massive, extremely deadly predator! It turned out to be a completely harmless black snake. I snapped a couple pictures and put the snake in my snake bag. I then went in to talk to the customer. She was extremely relieved to know I had caught it. I eventually was able to convince her that it was harmless after showing her pictures of the snakes that are venomous and a picture of a black snake. After some more coaxing, she even consented to letting me show her the snake while still in the bag. After being around it for a few minutes and being educated on the harmlessness of this particular snake and most others, while still uncomfortable, she wanted a closer look. I took it out of the bag and continued talking about how they are a fundamental part of the ecosystem, just as every other animal has its purpose. After answering all her questions and putting most of her fears to rest, I left with her once deadly menace.
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