Not the way to start the week...Warning, snakes involved

[rgG]

Why am I always having issues with snakes?
Today, my husband says, "Can you come upstairs and bring something you can swat with?" I said, "Not coming up until you tell me what I might be swatting at." Then, he says, "Not sure if it is a toy or not, but it looks like a snake on the floor." After a few, WTH comments, I go up and look. Sure enough, it is a snake, not a toy. Damn.

So, I tell hubby to keep an eye on the snake, while I go looking for a big, deep bucket. Thank goodness I keep a few of those honking 40 lb. kitty litter buckets in the garage. Then, the problem is, what to get to pick snake up with. I am not going to actually touch the snake, no f'ing way. I remember that I have one of those long metal tong like things, that you press a plunger on the top and the prongs come out on the bottom. I have used it to fish things out of the drain and the fish tank. Luckily, I was able to find it.

I go back upstairs, bucket and tong thing in hand, and snake is still there, but has reversed directions. Is he planning to make a run for it, who knows. The carpet should slow him down at least. I extend the tongs, looks like something that came popping out of Sigourney Weaver in Alien, and I grab at snake, towards his/her head. Got it on the first try, which was good, since my hands were kind of shaky and I was trying to stay as far away from the reptile as possible.

Snake is not a happy camper. I drop it in the bucket, looks like it is deep enough to contain him, and head downstairs. I take some not great shots, with my phone, as I am too flustered to get my camera and I want this out of my house! I think it might be a copperhead, but am not sure. The color was a little darker than a copperhead, but it has that damned triangular shaped head of a viper, and it has those sort of hourglass markings. I have looked online, but can't find an exact match. If anyone else wants to chime in, working from the not great pic, please do.

Now, where to relocate our "guest." We decide to walk him down to the pond area and dump and run. I gently, or as gently as you can from a kitty litter bucket, toss him/her over the fence, toward the pond, and beat a quick retreat. He/she did not pursue, thankfully.

Below is one of the pics.

I need a drink. I told my husband he was damn lucky I wasn't one of those prissy, "Oh, my, what shall we do," women. He agreed.

[jdc]

Why didnt HE do it? =)

[Lizabeth]

How do you think it got in the house??? I'd be more worried about fixing that problem...

Doesn't look like a copperhead - just looked it up: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agkistrodon_contortrix

And it doesn't really look like a garter snake either: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garter_snake

[blooz]

I'm trying to imagine what would happen if I'd asked my ex wife to take care of a snake in the attic…

Not a happy vision.

[Acer]

I think it is a baby Black Rat Snake. If he's young, the head might not be a good indicator/might be out of proportion. And I don't it is really as triangular as it might look in the pic...the lighter color on the sides of the neck is blending into the background. They lose the bold markings as they age, turning mostly black (from a distance.)

Not poisonous, very beneficial, but they do have a penchant for the foundations of old houses, and go exploring from there.

[spoiler=Pic of a young black rat snake]

[/spoiler]

[OWC Jamie]

looks like a corn snake from here
(hard to tell if there are red splotches on it or not )



watched one slither under the front door once here too
chased it out with a broom
( I have two front doors / vestibule/porch, the inner one closes on the carpet and opens/closes out rather than in )

[rgG]

As to why I was the designated snake removal officer, well let's just say my husband would not have been good at it, and it was easier for me to do it than to deal with the consequences of him doing it.

We all have our talents, and things like this are not on his resumé.

I am not sure what type of snake it was. I think it might have been some sort of milk snake, but the head is throwing me off.

[rgG]

Acer, I think you have it. That looks closer than anything else I have seen, and we do have a lot of black snakes around.

Thanks!

[Shakes]

I'm with Acer

[rgG]

Yep, I think it was definitely a young black rat snake.
Thank goodness.
While I would not welcome seeing another one, as long as it isn't poisonous, then I am a lot less concerned.
I still am not telling my mother about this, since she will refuse to set foot upstairs, and the guest room is upstairs.