Black snakes are a good thing! It must be Spring as our Black Snake is back. Black snakes will keep your property clean of rodents as well as Starlings (bird) that nest around the roof area of your home. They, at least ours, is not aggressive at all. This year our buddy made his grand entry in our house, that we are remodeling. He/she was hanging by his/her tail over the back door, doing twists and turns like an acrobat.
Our Jack Russell Terrier discovered it first and started barking. Knowing it was the Black snake back, we just let it do it's thing and be on it's way. Later we saw it crawling around the gutters on our shed. Personally, I know a Black snake when I see one but I can certainly appreciate some people wouldn't have a clue what a Black snake looks like compared to a venomous snake, which brings me to my question.
Is it true that Black snakes are the only type snake that will crawl around house rafters or other high places in your house? I was told that venomous snakes are considered earth snakes that may crawl high on a mountain top but not in a home. If that is true, it may save many Black snakes lives if people knew that.
Please don't kill Black snakes as they are gentle and do a good job keeping unwanted rats, mice and yes those pesty birds called Starlings.
By Susan Wolfe from Clinton, TN.
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I have seen several types of snakes in trees, including water moccacins (cotton mouth).
When I was little I was playing with a Barbie doll near a creek. I left the doll on a large rock and went off to explore the area.
Please note correction: The subject should be RE: Black snakes around ROOF AREA'S of homes and/or other structures.
Knowing that all snakes can climb, I understand that they crawl up in tree's as that is their turf. What I question is, will all snakes crawl up into the rafters or ROOF AREA, inside or outside of a house? Has anyone ever seen, as a fact, any other snake, other than a black snake, in their rafters or around the ROOF AREA of a home? I also understand that all snakes will head for higher ground for survival purposes like when there is a flood. There may be many reasons why other snakes, other than black snakes, will not climb to heights of a manmade type turf. Maybe they're afraid of human's or pet's. Maybe they don't like "very high-up" manmade structures, although you might find them on a porch or padio area.
Although I really enjoy hearing snake feedback, my question is only regarding which snakes will climb into or on the ROOF AREA of manmade structures. If you are absolutely sure that you have seen a snake other than a black snake, and have positively identified the type snake, around the ROOF AREA of a structure, please let me know. The person that told me that, swears only black snakes will attempt crawling to the ROOF AREA of a house. I would like to know if that statement is fact or fiction? Like many, I question that is a fact! Thanx! Please, let me hear your snake stories, as I find them interesting. When you think about it, isn't it neat that snakes can climb without any hands or legs to help? Personally, I find that amazing.
I know of a python that was found in a attic in Colorado.
There was an old barn on a farm that we rented. We loved to explore while dad was working in the fields. That old barn had rattlesnake sheds hanging from the rafters...lots of them!
I had a huge cornsnake in the roof of my garage. It got rid of all the squirrils and then went under my house and cleared the crawlspace of all the mice.
A black snake will also turn on you. We had one in our garage and my husband kept taking it to the woods and it kept coming back. The last time he tried to move it to the woods, it turned on him. Just be aware.
We have a large black snake in our yard that has taken up resident's and has turned on me a few times as I try to speed it along so it doesn't get run over in the driveway
I have heard that pouring a two inch wide line of "diatomaceous earth" will keep snakes from crossing it, once you clear the area you want clear.
I'd rather rely on a cat to clear the area of mice than a snake of any color, and I like some snakes, but
not outside of a cage or aquarium. God bless and help you. Be careful! : )
Diotomaceous earth is relatively inexpensive. You can purchase a 40 lb. Bag at Tractor Supply for about 20 dollars. I can't attest to wether or not it will keep snakes away.
Be careful with Diatomaceous earth it can cause silicosis, which could lead COPD!
We have black rat snake around our house and trees. They are harmless, just eat mice and keeps the trees free of nesting birds. I just untangled a 3-4 ft one from some garden netting. I have a friend who had black snakes in his attic-- he had to get a herpetologist to remove them. Which was very difficult (there were very small baby snake in there as well). Funny thing is that the herpe. came back to him a few months later and asked if she could try to get some more, apparently she wanted to put some in her attic!
The point is that this woman has a phobia of snakes and her husband is insitive to that. I find that appalling. It doesn't matter if the snake is harmless or not. Some people are afraid of mice or spiders. Her husband needs to get some sinsitivity training, it is cruel and abusive to subject someone to something they fear. She needs to have someone he respects explain this to him.
Snakes can certainly climb trees. That's how they eat squirrels. I have seen one drop from the tree in my front yard. I don't walk under that tree anymore.
Most likely, if you're in Tennessee, it's a black snake. But if you were in Florida, etc. it could be a black snake, a water snake, or a moccasin.
I have been catching snakes since I was a kid. If possible, I catch and release, or if possible leave the snake where it is at if it is not a danger to anyone. If I walk up on a snake and it is about to bite me then that is a different story. I also have a snake phobia but I tried to learn as much as I could about snakes to over come the phobia. I have been bit once and almost bit another time by small snakes. When I was a kid my girlfriends dad was a snake handler and bite number 201 got him the man he worked for got bit over 2,000 times before he died.
We live in eastern North Carolina (zone 7a). This year we had two big black snakes in a hickory tree next to our deck, up about 40 feet. The larger of the two, which I assumed was the male, climbed the hickory to an abandoned squirrel nest. As he went over the rim of the neck, the second snake stuck her head up. He continued into the nest, and then the two of them came back out, twining around each other. The male eventually fell from the squirrel nest, luckily landing across a branch where he lay for almost a minute (catching his breath?) and then proceeded to climb back up to the female. Another day the same snake (more than 5 feet long!) climbed the same tree, checked out the squirrel nest (no one home!) and then crawled out on a branch and waited there for a few hours. I kept checking on him, and after about 4 hours, he'd gone on his way.
It's easy to tell that this is a non-venomous snake, because the venomous ones have vertical pupils and their heads are more wedge-shaped and heavy. A lot of non-venomous snakes have heads that are barely wider than their bodies and not wedge-shaped.
Indigo Snake
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