# Snake!



## Lilie (Feb 3, 2010)

Last night, while walking up from the barn with Hondo and Lonestar we came across a rat snake. It was at least 40' long and as fat as a tire...at least that is the way it looked to me. In reality it was about 5' long. 

I blew any chance of keeping a cool head and queitly redirecting the dogs...I screamed like a girl and did the best River Dance the world has ever seen...all I could do was make a mad dash towards the safety of the house (after I gained control of my legs again) while screaming for the dogs to come. 

Luckily, the snake didn't react to my River Dance and continued on it's merry little way. The dogs followed my lead and raced to the house. Thier only reaction to the snake was the initial reaction of "ooohh, what's that?" 

After I was able to quiet my heart and change my panties, I started thinking about what I could have done different. What could I have done to use this as training experiance for the dogs? I have no clue and was curious if anybody has any advice? (With regards to training the dogs, my dancing skills are a lost cause.)


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## Franksmom (Oct 13, 2010)

LOL I'm glad someone else does that dance, I steped down in a ditch one time and had one curl around my leg. Just in case that ever happens to you shaking the leg around that the snake is on only causes the snake to get tighter, and the balance is not so good on the one leg your standing on. 
As far as training for the dogs they learned to stand still and waite for mom while she freaks out.


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## Lilie (Feb 3, 2010)

Franksmom said:


> LOL I'm glad someone else does that dance, I steped down in a ditch one time and had one curl around my leg. Just in case that ever happens to you shaking the leg around that the snake is on only causes the snake to get tighter, and the balance is not so good on the one leg your standing on.
> As far as training for the dogs they learned to stand still and waite for mom while she freaks out.


Oh....HEC...NO! No, no, no. Wrap around my leg....OH NO!


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## Anitsisqua (Mar 25, 2012)

...It's just a rat snake. It doesn't even really hurt when they bite. No offense if that's just your particular phobia, but snakes have never really bothered me unless they're venomous.

But good for your dogs! Keeping a cool head and behaving.


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## Good_Karma (Jun 28, 2009)

All I want to say is thank you for not posting a picture!


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## GSDAlphaMom (Jul 20, 2010)

Ah yes I know that dance well. I get them every spring and have yet to not do the 'snake river dance'. I have a privacy fence and I could still be on Wild Kingdom with the critters that get in.

I may have posted this before. I ran in and got an arsenal of tennis balls to pummel the snake into releasing the frog to no avail. That poor frog just sat there and blinked. I couldn't watch, the next day no frog and thankfully no snake!


















As for training the dogs, you could train them to rate your dance skills. Both paws up is a perfect ten (or equal to two thumbs up)!

Oops sorry Good Karma!


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## ksotto333 (Aug 3, 2011)

Thanks for the very descriptive thread. I had a great visual and enjoyed a morning laugh at your expense.(sorry):rofl:


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## Lilie (Feb 3, 2010)

GSDAlphaMom said:


> As for training the dogs, you could train them to rate your dance skills. Both paws up is a perfect ten (or equal to two thumbs up)!
> 
> Oops sorry Good Karma!


The puppy seemed to enjoy my entertaining dance skills, as he jumped and danced with me. Hondo, on the other hand, looked at me as if to say, "I seriously hope the neighbors aren't watching this." 

Or, come to think of it, Hondo may have been confused by the strange squeaky noices coming from somewhere deep inside me. Either way, he didn't enjoy my theatrics as much as Lonestar did.


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## longhairshepmom (Apr 7, 2003)

I rescued this little Beauty from the Barn Cat. Who would have known there are such stunning creatures at our barn, the green was bright emerald green and the belly canary yellow. It was a little stressed from the experience of almost being eaten, but recovered quickly and took off into the woods


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## longhairshepmom (Apr 7, 2003)

as to what you could have done different ? I think you actually didn't do to bad considering your snake phobia.
You should see me when I see a spider or think there is one around or WORSE have one on me, like that brown widow that sat on my shoulder at the barn one day. You probably heard my scream clear across the country and I would have made the olympic distance jumping team without a problem !! I had my horse tied at the time as I was grooming her and she was NOT impressed ! Especially since the brush went flying wide and far...


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## Good_Karma (Jun 28, 2009)

LOL, how did I know there would be snake pics on this thread eventually?

I stepped on a garter snake last week in our lawn. I'll admit, I jumped and screamed like a ten year old girl. Because I was just not expecting it, not because I was scared. Yeah that's why. Right...


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## Scarlettsmom (Jul 12, 2011)

We have a yard FULL of snakes right now. Thankfully, they are all "safe" snakes. We have a black racer about 5 feet long, an Eastern Garter Snake about 3 feet long and a Northern Brown Snake whose about 2 feet long. Scarlett has a distinct bark when she herds one of them into a corner. I have encountered the NBS 5 or 6 times in the past two weeks. He's a real sun worshiper. I found him by nearly stepping on him. I don't mind "safe" snakes, but I am not a huge fan of Cotton Mouth, Copperhead or Timber Rattlers (all of which we have here and have seen)...thankfully NOT in this yard.


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## glinny (Sep 14, 2011)

The last snake I found was only about a foot long so I caught it and let Effie sniff it. She wasn't very interested. She did carry a dead snake around for a couple of days before she lost it. And I am training her to eat the wolf spiders in our house so I don't have to deal with them.


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## Lilie (Feb 3, 2010)

Scarlettsmom said:


> We have a yard FULL of snakes right now. Thankfully, they are all "safe" snakes. We have a black racer about 5 feet long, an Eastern Garter Snake about 3 feet long and a Northern Brown Snake whose about 2 feet long. Scarlett has a distinct bark when she herds one of them into a corner. I have encountered the NBS 5 or 6 times in the past two weeks. He's a real sun worshiper. I found him by nearly stepping on him. I don't mind "safe" snakes, but I am not a huge fan of Cotton Mouth, Copperhead or Timber Rattlers (all of which we have here and have seen)...thankfully NOT in this yard.


I won't kill a safe snake. I have respect for them, seriously. But they still scare the poop out of me when they suprise me. 

We had a Coral snake in the back yard. The dogs went right for it when I turned them out. They were barking at it. I had to do something so I grabbed a shovel and like an Amazon Goddess I hacked it to death. Sadly I was screaming the entire time...couldn't help it...so much for my super powers.


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## jprice103 (Feb 16, 2011)

Ok. I'm really loving where I live right now! The only snakes we see are garter snakes and they are just BARELY bigger than worms!!


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

I seriously needed that laugh today...


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## Scarlettsmom (Jul 12, 2011)

ANYTHING that eats Palmetto Bugs is more than welcome in my yard. I hate cockroaches MORE than I am afraid of snakes. My Northern Brown Snake likes "soft bodied insects" and earthworms. I think a huge 2+ inch Palmetto bug would make a great meal for him. 

In a few weeks, the gianormous Golden Orb Weaver spiders will move into our yard. They build gigantic webs across doors and windows and between plants. Ever walk into one of those HUGE webs? The spider dance plus the face-to-face with a spider so big you can see all of it's eyes is NOT something I ever want to do again in this lifetime! BUT, the spider dance would have been a YouTube sensation if filmed! LOL


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## Lilie (Feb 3, 2010)

Good_Karma said:


> LOL, how did I know there would be snake pics on this thread eventually?
> 
> *I stepped on a garter snake last week in our lawn. I'll admit, I jumped and screamed like a ten year old girl. Because I was just not expecting it, not because I was scared.* Yeah that's why. Right...


Hey! That's my story! 

We found a large black snake in a stall one time. Hubby says, "You watch it and I'll get a rake to pull it out" He wanted to make sure it wasn't poisonous. 

When he came back it was gone. He says, "I asked you to watch it!"

I say, " I did! I watched it slither away" What did he expect me to do? Apparently the snake didn't have mental telepathy.


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## Lilie (Feb 3, 2010)

Scarlettsmom said:


> Ever walk into one of those HUGE webs? The spider dance plus the face-to-face with a spider so big you can see all of it's eyes is NOT something I ever want to do again in this lifetime! BUT, the spider dance would have been a YouTube sensation if filmed! LOL


We have what we call Banana Spiders. They are huge and yellow and black and will build webs across windows..doors...tree to tree etc. 

Years ago, my husband wanted to go to his old lease to check pig traps. He had just purchased a brand new ATV equiped with hunters racks etc. My neighbor let us borrow his ATV so hubby could drag me with. 

Hubby rode the neighbor's ATV and I rode our new one. I wouldn't be outdone by hubby and zoomed around just as fast as hubby. Zooming through the trees, at the very last minute right in front of me was a Banana Spider and it's web, self preservation kicked in and I turned the bike to miss the spider and hit a tree. 

I was unscathed, but the bike had a huge dent in the rack and broke one of the fenders. Hubby jumped off his bike and came running. 

"All you alright? Talk to me! What happened?"

All I could say was......"Spider"


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## jetscarbie (Feb 29, 2008)

I admit..I'm scared of snakes. I never stick around long enough to see if it's the bad type or not.

I'm pretty sure I need to join some -scared of snakes- group.

I grew up I louisiana. Give me gators, Mosquitos, rats or spiders any day of the week. Snakes....all the neighbors are going to hear me.


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## chelle (Feb 1, 2009)

Haha this is hilarious -- I was the screaming scared little girl brought down by a garter snake sighting a couple days ago.  Oh, I so hate snakes. All the dogs were out with me and not even one of them saw the slithering scary snake. They just saw mom totally freak out and found that very interesting.  I'm a snake wimp!


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## sparra (Jun 27, 2011)

My advice......don't move to rural Australia!!!


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