Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Snakes

Okay, well, not necessarily everything, but perhaps just enough.

Recently we have had customers make mention of seeing snakes, not having been bitten by or such occurring to their children or pets, but simply having seen them.

The floods of October moved many snakes to other places and caused others to seek new homes.

I typically am not too worried about snakes during our cut back and clean up projects as we usually begin from a well exposed area and work our way back. Most animals, including snakes, will want to vacate the area because of the disruption being caused as we move forward. Snakes, particularly, have no desire to attack (more in a moment) something near the size of an adult human. The strong majority of snakes have no desire to consume prey they cannot swallow whole as they do not hoard or store their victims.

One customer did mention seeing young or baby snakes and I said, "Oh, I see them occasionally." The response was, "Well, the parents must be nearby." Actually, except for a few rare and large snakes you probably wouldn't miss in the first place, snakes aren't too hip on the parenting thing after conception and laying eggs. In fact, even in a few rare cases, snakes don't care for their eggs (not all lay eggs) and attention beyond that is nearly nil. The young are ready to roll (slither) upon hatching and they are off on their own.

Short of a natural weather or climate phenomena, this may be why I usually (rarely) only see small or young snakes. They don't possess the maturity and muscles to avoid me quickly enough. Other than snakes being big loners, this may be why one rarely sees huge populations of snakes - the young are easy prey for birds, animals and other reptiles.

Semantically, snakes rarely attack humans. We are a task they wish not to and cannot undertake. They are usually simply wishing to defend themselves if startled or stepped upon, not attacking us.

However; I am concerned with snakes when we perform a walk-thru of a customer's home where I have to go into a very shaded area, particularly with a lot of ground cover, decomposed plant matter, dead wood, etc. I usually have a garden rake or our Critter Probe, which is pretty much an eight-foot telescoping metal pole.

So, I am no expert on snakes and most of the following comes from reading resources and my own experience.

• These are the known venomous snakes in South Carolina: Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake, Timber Rattlesnake (Also known as Canebrake Rattlesnake), Pygmy Rattlesnake, Copperhead, Cottonmouth (Often referred to as Water Moccasin) - Venomous snakes typically have a diamond shaped head and eyes and a depression between the eyes.
• Seeing a baby or young snake doesn't necessarily mean their larger adult parents are nearby.
• There are only a few snakes which nest, but not in this area.
• Deaths by snake (even venomous) bites are rare in this area.
• Do not try to handle a snake or kill it. Give (allow) it a path to vacate (escape) the area. There are services in the area to remove unwanted animals or call your local animal control agency.
• Rattlesnakes do not always rattle when neared or threatened for age and certain muscular reasons which can occur. You may not receive the Hollywood warning.
• If you are bitten by a snake, do your best to take or have someone else take a picture of the snake if possible or do your best to write down its color(s), marking(s), eye and head shape, etc. and seek medical attention.

Also, please remember that if you have one or two non-venomous snakes in your yard, they may be helping you control the rodent population. Personally, I'd rather be bitten by a snake than a rat.