How Do Snakes Get In My House

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.

 

CALL 866-263-WILD (9453)

 

Snakes Out In Numbers

image of a snake head
Snake Removal Bradenton

Reported by: Meredith Garofalo
Email: mgarofalo@mysuncoast.com

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.

 

 

The Invisible Snake

black cnake in a bag of potting soil
Black snake hidden in a bag of potting soil

Snake Is In The Bag

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.

 

CALL 866-263-WILD (9453)

Orlando Eastern Coral Snake

Eastern Coral Snake Capture

A Coral Snake
Eastern Coral Snake

Orlando Coral Snake
Orlando Coral Snake

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.

 

CALL 866-263-WILD (9453)