two snakes in the hand is worth???

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

Now, how many of y'all opened this up thinking it was going to be political?   

In the past few days, I have "accidentally" caught two snakes when I was pulling weeds in the garden.  The first one surprised me so much that I dropped him and then lost him.  The second one I caught last night was only about 8-10" long, but I literally didn't see him until he was in my hand.  He didn't appear to be poisonous, but DH wanted to murder him outright.  Instead, I fed him to the guineas.  They were chasing him around and pecking at him.  He was so little he didn't stand a chance.

Think I may start wearing gloves to garden.

[Windpower]

are there poisonous snakes there ?

can't say I like them

even in Wisconsin where there are no poisonous ones

but a 6 foot black rat snake can 'surprise' you and they aren't that timid either

I threw a stick at one and it turned right at me

12 gauge --end of story

[glenn kangiser]

I dug one up while brushing with the Bobcat the uther day- about a 4 foot gopher snake,  They luuk like a rattler but no poison glands - no bumps on the side of their head. Lucky them.

[glenn kangiser]

Blackberry - no glasses equals typos.

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

I thought perhaps you were typing in Lithuanian.   

Yes, there are a lot of poisonous snakes around here...I'm not scared of snakes, but I have gotten much more cautious since my dad was bitten by a copperhead and nearly died because he was first of all allergic to the snakebite and then when they gave him the antivenom, he was even more allergic to that.  He and I have a lot of the same allergies (bees, etc.) and I don't like to take too many chances.  I think these were most likely little baby bull snakes.   The only snake I actually like to have around is a kingsnake.  I think they're so pretty, and I really don't mind them, and they eat a lot of the critters you don't want around.  You don't often see rattlers in this part of the state, though we do have them, but there are lots of copperheads and water moccasins.  With little kids, that's my main concern.  I try to teach them to be careful, and I've told them never to pick up a snake unless I've looked at it first and give them the OK.  However, as soon as I caught the little snake the other day, my oldest came running over and reached right for his head.  I had to give her yet another lecture about it because I am afraid that knowing her, she'd pick up something dangerous.  I am surprised to see them this thick already.  We found  a snake skin down in the barn a few weeks ago, and the skin itself was over six feet long and I am really dreading running into its owner!  Probably just a big bull snake, but never the less, I'd just as soon he takes up residence elsewhere.  DH really hates snakes as he didn't grow up around them, and I'm afraid he would injure himself trying to get away from one if it caught him off guard.

[Dog]

I met 27 snakes a few weeks ago. A friend collects different species as a hobby. He keeps them in his closet in stacked plastic draws. The larger ones are in a tank under a light. I think snakes are beautiful, but isn't that kind of cruel?
I guess I have this thing about captivity. Hate zoos and the circus even worse.

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

Dog, you sound like my mother-in-law about the captivity thing.  We have a pet parakeet who comes and goes from his cage pretty much as he pleases and rides around on our shoulders or heads or sings himself silly on the back of a dining room chair.  My MIL visited last summer and she was watching him fly all over the place and land on my daughter's head and yak at her, and then she told DH that watching him made her feel confined.  She said the same place when we went somewhere where there was a huge aquarium full of native species of fish, and when we took her to the zoo.  I see her point, but without some aquariums and zoos, a lot of animals would have been extinct by now. 

As for me, I think a lot of snakes are pretty, but I am just cautious of them, and if they aren't up near the house, I'd just as soon let them go.