Guest guest Posted January 11, 2008 Report Share Posted January 11, 2008 We have copperheads here, and I have seen them out in the woods, but fortunately, never any kind of poisonous snakes on our property. There are rat snakes and corn snakes around the barn where our horse is, and the people who own the property have a snake phobia. All attempt to educate them fall on deaf ears and the rats prevail. On the other hand, we have seen several moccasins on and around the pasture ponds, and because people are seldom there, they are not nearly so likely to be exterminated at the poor, useful, corn and rat snakes. I find copperheads pretty, but any poisonous snake, I would prefer to live well away from me. Moccasins, on the other hand, creep me out. They look malevolent to me. I know there are also rattlesnakes here, but in all my years on the trail and in the woods, I have never seen one in the wild, which is fine with me. W Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 12, 2008 Report Share Posted January 12, 2008 We have the same issue with the racoons and one opossum who come at night to eat with the feral cats. One old raccoon 's coat has faded until his only black is around the eyes and he has no tail. He has to soak his food in the water bowl, much as I have heard that raccoons generally do, but have never seen the other raccoons do this, so I surmise he may have chewing issues. Wish I could get them vaccinated, particularly for rabies, but it is not a really big issue in this area at this time. I am told it is a huge problem in parts of North Carolina and many other places. W Re: Keeping copperheads away I am so glad the only poison snakes we have here are rattlers. The kids love playing with the other snakes and I encourage responsible treatment of them. We have few mice, although when we first moved here we had a lot of trouble with them in the winter, they all wanted to move into the house. On the other hand we have recurring issues with the raccoons and opossums who keep thinking they deserve our cat food! lol Jane In a message dated 1/11/2008 4:07:47 P.M. Pacific Standard Time, DreamOn145aol writes: In a message dated 1/11/2008 5:24:35 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, labtrek1941bellsouth (DOT) net writes: We have copperheads here, and I have seen them out in the woods, but fortunately, never any kind of poisonous snakes on our propertyM , The back half of my property is woods and I have a running battle with the copperheads because we have a creek behind my land. I fenced the back yard and put in a doggie door two years ago then last year I had an area behind the fence thinned and a lot of the small trees and brush taken out. this year I will clean it back a little further and do some work to prevent the regrowth. (great workout - just a problem finding the time!) My main concern is the dogs - particularly Truffles who only weighs 10.5 lbs. I killed one last year right by the back fence that was about 3' long and another little one when I moved a rock. I hope they retreat to the woods and get out of our subdivision! Unfortunately I live at the back of the subdivision and up against the woods and creek! Janet Start the year off right. Easy ways to stay in shape in the new year. Start the year off right. Easy ways to stay in shape in the new year. No virus found in this incoming message.Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.19.1/1219 - Release Date: 1/11/2008 10:19 AM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 13, 2008 Report Share Posted January 13, 2008 One old raccoon 's coat has faded until his only black is around the eyes and he has no tail , Oh that is so cute about the old racoon. It's touching to watch the animals go through all their geriatric issues. Nigel is SUCH a pain in the butt at times. He goes through spells where he spits out his pills and then glares at me like I am trying to poison him no matter what I hide them in, then for days will swallow the little balls of liverwurst with the pills like nothing ever happened. He does not come to greet me like the other dogs when I get home from work, I have to go to one of his "hidey holes" and shout at him to tell him I'm home because his hearing is going. He only has one eye (oh yes he CAN win a fight with a 70 lb dog over a bone! Just ask him! - he weighs 17 lbs) so we have to watch out for his blind side. And there are nights when he needs to go out in the night and I now have puppy pads in one bathroom because I got sick of waiting for him to come back in! But still, he is ours and we love his grumpy old self and he will be here until he dies. Nothing makes me more furious than seeing dogs advertised at shelters saying their owners turned them in because they were too old. I always think, I hope you took your kids with you when you did that. And I hope when you get old they drop your butt off at a nursing home and never visit you, because you just taught them that the elderly are disposable! JanetStart the year off right. Easy ways to stay in shape in the new year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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