Came to work this morning and found this in my inbox from a coworker.  It freaked him out so bad, he threw gasoline on the snake, then cut down the tree the next day!  My heart bleeds for both the snake and the tree.

It looks like a harmless boa.

 

That is a ratsnake. Those of us who have purple martins know these characters well. On the other hand,they help to keep the fig peckers population somewhat under control,so they aren't entirely bad.

What are purple Martin's

Rat snakes are black with white under bellies.
At least here in South Carolina.

Purple martins are insect eating birds.
Great birds to have around, I plan on building a Martin house
with 15-20 nesting boxes.
They fly together almost in formation eating skeeters n such.

Doug

There are different varieties of rat snakes.I believe the type you have are called black rat snakes. The variety we have is the one in the photo.

 Purple martins are great birds,and they need our help,as they are entirely dependent on man to provide housing for them,at least east of the Rockies. They are beautiful to watch,and best of all,they don't eat figs.

It's too bad some people are so terrified of snakes. Why did he cut down the Fig tree, that's the part I don't get? When I worked in a factory, they used to page me when they found a snake. They were just gopher/bull snakes that I would just move to the field.

He said he didn't want to give the snake a reason to come back.  Said he couldn't sleep that night.

OMG!!!  Really?  The poor thing was outside!  What does he think lives out side (other then squirrels)? LOL

Unfortunately I had  rats and rat snakes in my ATTIC CRAWL SPACE 2 years ago!!!  Now THAT would keep me up at night! I called Critter Control to com e check out the scratching I heard in the ceiling.  The guy went up, the guy came down with egg shells in his hand!  He told me they were rat snakes!  Really? In my attic crawl space?  He said yes - they are eating the rats!!   GET THEM OUT OF THERE!!!!

A small fortune later, all snakes and rats were vaccuumed out with new insulation added - much better:)

That's a shame. Snakes are seriously misunderstood. Most times they can't get away from people fast enough! I used to have many snakes as pets for many years and never got bit once.

Big difference between a hand tamed harmless snake, and the wild ones where who knows if it's deadly
or not. Some people simply do not like snakes, period.
I am one of them. I let all garder snakes roam free and do not hunt them down.
If I find or see a dangerous snake, I will hunt it down until I do find it and eradicate it.
A black rat snake that was in my chicken egg box was over 5 feet long and did strike to bite me
quite a few times before I shortened him up a bit with the shovel.
Not going to let my wife get bit just trying to collect eggs.
It is all personal choice what you want to live around, snakes have plenty where else to live other than on my property.
If I let them feel safe on my property, Im only inviting more trouble.

Doug

Purple Martins arebirds you WANT around if you have a mosquito problem.

I have been bit several times by garter snakes, I would certainly not kill them for it. Snakes are welcome here.

 Snakes are fascinating creatures until you see one slithering down the birdhouse pole and it has six lumps representing the baby birds it has just swallowed. It's the same with mockingbirds and cardinals. It's difficult to appreciate thieir beautiful singing when you are looking at the fruit they have just pecked. I'm with SCFigFanatic on this one! I have snake traps on the birdhouse poles,and have been known to put golfballs in chicken  boxes. It may seem cruel,but there comes a time when you have to put your foot down,or you won't have anything for all your efforts.

agrarian.....exactly right

SCfigFanatic

 Thanks! So are you,including your note about concealed carry.

I appreciate that.
It is our right (for now.....) to protect our families and self.
I live near a little country town where lil gangster
thugs shot our city councilman in the head.
Nothing you would expect out in the country.
I've carried long before that, but as the world changes we must adapt
to keep our rights and safety. Me an my lil 357mag snubbiie been close
friends for years.
)

Have fun and be safe.

Doug

Snakes don't eat my figs, so I got no prob with them, BUT I do have a a prob with possums.  KoolAid is my friend.  well, spiked.

Poor snakey and figgy. :(   If something this innocent and natural is able to send that bloke into such a panic, maybe he should be living in a high rise apartment in the city. That's also what I tell my hubby (he's from St Louis) when he sees a spider or garter snake in the yard and gives it a wide berth. Growing up my mum and I once found about a metre long snake skin behind the oven where a snake had gotten inside (we lived in the walkout basement at the time, whilst the rest of the house overhead was being built) and shed its skin. We never did find that snake, but neither did we have any loss of sleep over it, and just assumed it found its way back outside.  Incidents like that are just one of those things we rather expect when one chooses to live in the countryside.    

The snake in that picture is clearly non-venomous. Education is the key!

Desert Dance

 You have struck a nerve by bringing up possums,and you might as well bring raccoons into this too. This time of year they are relentless. I have trapped at least one each night for the past three weeks,and they keep coming as if there is an endless supply of them. The vultures spend so much time in my pasture where I toss the carcasses that they have started to put up mail boxes,and the possums still keep coming.

I'm getting tired of all the people promoting the killing of harmless snakes.  Near the house I do the things that discourage them because I'd rather not step on them.  If I put up a bird house I make sure that the snakes can't get in.  When I had chickens I never had an issue with them.  Sometime my chickens made a meal of the small snakes.  Honestly we always had so many egg a few lost to the snakes was not a big deal and I'm sure they ate more rats than eggs.  I've been bitten by snakes a few times and it is no big deal.  I've had worse injuries pruning my roses or re-potting a cactus.  Rat snakes will strike and bite.  The one that hangs out in our backyard doesn't strike but rather uses her tail to sound like a rattlesnake.  A few months ago our backyard was a mess of vole tunnels.  Now there are only a few left without traps or poison. I can live with a few.

No reason to get upset because 1 snake was killed by one man who got scared. Obviously there are many people who would give the snake the pass and the snake is not an endangered species. There are more where it came from. If he wants to kill it, so be it. Maybe it's easier to kill the thing than hear his wife screaming in the yard, maybe not. Just a snake, not a bald eagle.

I don't have to warn my friends and family to watch out for a big black snake that bites.
Or watch your step a copper head likes that spot.
It sounds a lot safer to walk my property than yours.
All I will say.


Doug

I have one of those rat snakes living in my yard somewhere. I see it at least twice a year and no more cotton mouth snake sightings since.
How do I know, that it's a rat snake? I called 911 once, the trouper came and saw it lying on my lawn and we decided to let it do what it does best.
When I see a snake, I usually walk away, unless it's a cotton mouth that is too close for comfort. In general, the only kind of snake that scares me is the one that goes after me.
Haven't heard any stories about those ones in the US yet.