I've had 3 snakes in my house. We live in the woods, so it is not all that unexpected. I took care of the most recent one (but only because my husband wasn't home). It was an earthworm-sized ringneck snake that my daughter found in her laundry basket. The first one was the scariest. I had recently ripped up the carpet from my laundry room and put down ceramic tile (because really, who wants a carpeted laundry room?). My daughters (14 and 11 at the time) were having hysterics because the cat had caught a mouse, but hadn't killed it. I told them I was going to take it outside and put it out of its misery. Younger child begged me not to kill it, claiming "He's one of God's creatures!" I pointed out the puncture wounds to the abdomen, saying that dying of infection was a horrible way to go, and she told me I could cure it with antibiotic cream. Yeah, no dice kid. Outside the mouse goes.
10 minutes later, the hunter-cat is stalking something in the laundry room. I figured hunter-cat had dispatched Micky, and was after Minnie this time. I reached down to move a toolbox, figuring that Minnie was hiding behind it. It wasn't Minnie. Rather, it was a coiled copperhead. That my hand had been within 6" of just moments before. I screamed like a little girl, "Snake! SNAKE!! SNAKE!!!!!!!!!" Both girls started screaming for me to "Kill it Mama! KILL IT!!!" Husband came to the rescue, grabbing a length of 2"X4" and a hammer. He pinned the snake down just behind the head, then hit it in the head with the hammer. Remember, I had just put down ceramic tile. My hero-man managed to kill the snake WITHOUT cracking the tile. When I asked my daughters why they didn't consider snakes to be God's creatures, they had no logical answer for that one.
I remember listening to a podcast about a similar situation. Apparently when snakes select their den, that's their place for life and it's nearly impossible to get rid of them. The house from this podcast had HUNDREDS of snakes in the walls and along the foundation.
::shudder::
LALALALALA - we have quite a few snakes around our home and had 3 in our basement last year.
ETA: Our neighbor had a 5+ feet snake skin in their gutter a few weeks ago.
I remember listening to a podcast about a similar situation. Apparently when snakes select their den, that's their place for life and it's nearly impossible to get rid of them. The house from this podcast had HUNDREDS of snakes in the walls and along the foundation.
::shudder::
I can attest to this. Thank goodness we just have king snakes living around our property, which borders wetlands, so I know they're keeping the worst snakes at bay. My parents have had issues with rattle snakes and those guys will not go away either despite destroying their hideout.
I've had 3 snakes in my house. We live in the woods, so it is not all that unexpected. I took care of the most recent one (but only because my husband wasn't home). It was an earthworm-sized ringneck snake that my daughter found in her laundry basket. The first one was the scariest. I had recently ripped up the carpet from my laundry room and put down ceramic tile (because really, who wants a carpeted laundry room?). My daughters (14 and 11 at the time) were having hysterics because the cat had caught a mouse, but hadn't killed it. I told them I was going to take it outside and put it out of its misery. Younger child begged me not to kill it, claiming "He's one of God's creatures!" I pointed out the puncture wounds to the abdomen, saying that dying of infection was a horrible way to go, and she told me I could cure it with antibiotic cream. Yeah, no dice kid. Outside the mouse goes.
10 minutes later, the hunter-cat is stalking something in the laundry room. I figured hunter-cat had dispatched Micky, and was after Minnie this time. I reached down to move a toolbox, figuring that Minnie was hiding behind it. It wasn't Minnie. Rather, it was a coiled copperhead. That my hand had been within 6" of just moments before. I screamed like a little girl, "Snake! SNAKE!! SNAKE!!!!!!!!!" Both girls started screaming for me to "Kill it Mama! KILL IT!!!" Husband came to the rescue, grabbing a length of 2"X4" and a hammer. He pinned the snake down just behind the head, then hit it in the head with the hammer. Remember, I had just put down ceramic tile. My hero-man managed to kill the snake WITHOUT cracking the tile. When I asked my daughters why they didn't consider snakes to be God's creatures, they had no logical answer for that one.
#1 how are you so calm about a half-dead mouse?
#2 how did you raise children that would want you to put antibiotic creme on a half-dead mouse
#3 I'm LOL-ing at the mouse getting the AW treatment from your kids, but the snake getting, "Kill it!!! Kill it!!!"
I live a few miles from this house. There was a snake on my porch yesterday. I flipped out.
Yeah.,.. I'd be cutting out some drywall and checking out the insulation if it were me. LOL
Would a home inspection not have caught this? We are *hopefully* getting ready to start house hunting. This or a spider infestation is the stuff of my nightmares...
No, worries, I've had my house inspected for snakes. Seriously. Regularly, actually. I have a snake "guy". I'm that scared of them. Even have traps set up around my foundation. I'm nuts. I know.
I can't wait to get the full story from my snake guy. I'm sure he was out at that house.
Water + woods = seven foot black snakes. It's my worst nightmare. Several of my neighbors have them that big in their yard.
I remember listening to a podcast about a similar situation. Apparently when snakes select their den, that's their place for life and it's nearly impossible to get rid of them. The house from this podcast had HUNDREDS of snakes in the walls and along the foundation.
::shudder::
NO GODDAMMIT
No, but see, it's their place for life. The simple solution is to kill them. With fire.
Rat snakes eat rats - so WTF are these snakes eating???
Good news - not poisonous. I know this because I found a 3' 1.5" diameter rat snake in my yard last week!
That's what I was wondering, too! It must have had a terrible rat infestation at one point, but I would think that's taken care of now. So... how are the snakes not starving?!
Well, I guess I can take a moment and be thankful I don't have the money to finish my basement.
Nothing stopping them from making nests in the upstairs walls. The basement is just the obvious choice.
(I'm a terrible person. I'm sorry. I just can't seem to stop.)
But really, this is very unlikely to happen. There are always black snakes along the little creeks and shit all through this area, and the guy who owns the pest company that came out to see this house was still all, "I have NEVER seen anything like this." (way more details in the link to the local paper I linked previously) It's not typical. At all. Indian burial ground seems not unlikely.
So just hire people to stand guard all night for weeks catching the snakes as they leave to hunt! Easy!
I'm thinking voodoo curse is another reasonable explanation. Mass infestations of any kind are just about every homeowner's worst nightmare. Well, that and those stories about banks messing up and coming after your house, when they meant to take the house of someone who lives two blocks away. Or the person who found that their home had been torn down by the city, when they were supposed to tear down a completely different house.