snakes

https://lenharris.blogspot.com/2018/06/grayblack-rat-snake.html

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Hi Len. Have you ever ran across any timber rattlesnakes in your journeys? I believe they’re pretty rare as well, but are around.

Great.
Something more to think about while hanging a tree stand

Around Red Wing, the timber rattler is few and far between on the MN side of the river although a couple are spotted on Barn Bluff most years when doing the clean up day. “Most” calls to the sheriff end up being bull or fox snakes.

On the WI side, the locals say they don’t cross State 35 to the river (however I never say never). In the bluffs on the North or East side of 35 there’s one road called rattlesnake alley and infrequently there will be one run over (and it’s rattle removed).

The good thing is that they “most times” let you know they are there.

The bad thing is that the anti venom expires in 2 weeks so it’s not stocked in the Red Wing area. I was told once the closest place was in the metro area an hour away.

I’m not a snake expert, don’t play one on tv or the net…’ell, I didn’t even stay at a Holiday Inn last night.

After reading Len’s blog, all I can think about is Bill Dance when the snake fell out of the tree and into his boat!

Thanks Len!!

shady5 wrote:

Hi Len. Have you ever ran across any timber rattlesnakes in your journeys? I believe they’re pretty rare as well, but are around.

http://lenharris.blogspot.com/2018/06/snakes.html

Oh they’re in this area yet.
This one was hit by a hay mower and chopped his head off in 2017.
Farmer saw it lift it’s head about the time the mower got to it…big mistake.
Was near Lake City.

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Len,
I do volunteer work with the Mn.DNR,monitoring bullsnake populations,aka:gophersnakes. From your photos,it appears that the middle three snakes are bullsnakes. Can’t tell from your photos,what the 1st and last snake are.Have you identified them?The last one looks like it might be a milk snake but again,can’t tell from the pics.Cool pics and and if you have anyone of these snakes around your property,consider it a friend.They eat rodents…lot’s of them.

Brian Klawitter wrote:

After reading Len’s blog, all I can think about is Bill Dance when the snake fell out of the tree and into his boat!

Thanks Len!!

I remembered that but still had to YouTube it again, hilarious!!
O’l bill dance has a few good bloopers!!

Bullsnakes can give a guy a rush. I was picking our strawberries one day and moved a couple leaves only to find one’s head underneath those leaves. This guy was about 5 feet long and absolutely was camo’d to the max in the strawberry bed. I made my exit over a 4 foot woven wire fence about 8 feet behind where the snake was and to this day cannot remember either the backing up or the crossing of the fence. Snakes and I generally are ok as long as there is a substantial distance betwixt me and the critter.

I saw a rattlesnake on a sandbar near Wabasha maybe 45 years ago that was identified as a “river” rattler or Mississauga [sp?] Rattlesnake. 3 feet long, very thick and stocky. Zero sense of humor. One of those was enough. I have come across two timber rattlesnakes while driving and one actually in the hills near Houston, MN. All had rattles and all rattled when approached. None were bothered beyond chasing them off the road.

While I don’t care for snakes I won’t kill them.

I’ve handled a lot of snakes,I’ve been bitten by garter snakes,fox snakes,milk snakes and bullsnakes,garter snakes hurt the worst.All of these snakes were being captured and resorted to their only means of defense,biting. Bullsnakes will put on an absolutely frighteningly,aggressive looking display if they feel they are threatened but,will rarely bite unless cornered.The curious thing about them is,once captured,they will usually settle down and actually make good pets.Sale to the pet trade,is one of many reasons they are a species of special concern,in Minnesota…maybe Sconnie too

I’ve seen bull snakes coil up like a rattle snake in a defensive posture and shake their tail like the rattlers do. Honestly all of the rattlesnakes I have encountered and rattled did so with adequate room to not get bitten. I assume that they just want to let whatever know that they are there and want to be left alone. The two I saw on roads I tried to get to “move along”, which they did eventually.

I’ve heard that the bite of the common garter snake is bad simply due to the amount of bacteria in the snake’s saliva or oral mucus. I saw some pictures once of garter snake bites that had caused some serious infections that were less than appetizing to look at.

Years ago,when my boys were younger,we kept a bullsnake for a pet,couldn’t feed it enough mice.They like a bigger meal,they’re a pocket gopher’s nightmare.

We have a good sized puff adder at our cabin this year. I need to snap a photo of it next time. They do an awesome cobra imitation.

watch out for the cottonmouths too! Been talking to a few guys that live in the wabasha/lake city area and I guess it is pretty common to find them hitching a ride on the barges from down south. the barge crews will throw them into the river if they stumble upon them.

eyeguy507 wrote:

watch out for the cottonmouths too! Been talking to a few guys that live in the wabasha/lake city area and I guess it is pretty common to find them hitching a ride on the barges from down south. the barge crews will throw them into the river if they stumble upon them.

I would bet that the snakes that they’re seeing in Lake city/Wabasha are Northern Watersnakes. They’re often confused with cottonmouths and quite common on the big river and they’re very aggressive too.

I haven’t looked lately but we’re to contact the WI DNR if we see a bullsnake. They want to study their habitat AND they are protected.

Troutman….

I’m working on my fear of snakes. I actually touched a cornsnake at Carpenters Nature Center.

Thanks Brian,Happy to hear that and I hope your interest in learning about snakes is contagious.The more familiar you become with them,the less you’ll fear them.I try to educate folks on the benefits of these critters,truly one of the most misunderstood and maligned creatures on earth.About a year ago,while discussing snakes with a neighbor,she said to me,”I had my husband kill a great big bullsnake near our house,it was just too close to the grandkids”.I just shook my head and told her that her grandkids are in absolute 0 danger from the species of snakes that we have around here.The irony here is,these folks have a terrible pocket gopher problem too. I’ve since been able to convince them of the benefit of having snakes around.When I was a kid,my grandparents had a cabin on the Willow river in Burkhardt,Wi. Over the years there,my grandpa killed several big snakes,simply out of fear and ignorance.It’s no wonder they had a mouse problem in the cabin!

TROUTMAN wrote:

I would bet that the snakes that they’re seeing in Lake city/Wabasha are Northern Watersnakes. They’re often confused with cottonmouths and quite common on the big river and they’re very aggressive too.

Those water snakes are boat friendly until they get in the boat with you then they shift demeanors in a heart beat. Getting one OUT of the boat can be a real experience, trust me….been there and done that.

Water snakes are one snake that I don’t ever mess with.They have a very nasty disposition.I saw one swimming across North Lake,one day and decided to interfere with his business and started teasing it with the oar of my boat,not letting it proceed to wherever it was going.Soon,he had enough of my teasing and decided he was going to crawl right up the oar and see just how much I wanted to mess with him.I shook him off the oar, threw the oar in the boat and got out of there as fast as I could.