The "This Might Be A Stupid Question, But...." Thread

[mmswm]

I will try the heating pad under the box thing first.  I can't figure out a way to rig a snake handler's tool, though I'll keep searching through the tools in the garage and see if I can't find something.  My parents live on the edge of the Everglades, so I'm quite thankful this is a harmless little critter instead of any number of other things that aren't so harmless that could have found their way inside.  I really don't want to have to call out a professional, but I don't want to hurt it either.  Though, if I didn't mind if it got hurt and wouldn't mind the mess, I'd lock a cat or three in there and let nature take its course.

[Dazi]

Re: snake.  Double and triple check variety before attempting.

You can take a broom handle, wiggle it in front on their face, near the ground and when you have their attention, grab their tail end, pick them gently off the ground and put broom handle about the halfway point of their body.  Walk out, lower snake.

I just pick them up thumb behind the head, index finger under the jaw and use my other hand to gently pick up their bottom half.  Then again, I'm not snake squeamish in the least.

If I were closer, I 'd happily come over for snake relocation.   

[2littlemonkeys]

Re: snake.  Double and triple check variety before attempting.

You can take a broom handle, wiggle it in front on their face, near the ground and when you have their attention, grab their tail end, pick them gently off the ground and put broom handle about the halfway point of their body.  Walk out, lower snake.

I just pick them up thumb behind the head, index finger under the jaw and use my other hand to gently pick up their bottom half.  Then again, I'm not snake squeamish in the least.

If I were closer, I 'd happily come over for snake relocation.   

That's what I would do if it were a non-venomous snake.  We had to catch the snakes in our garden and relocate them for my mom when we were kids and that's pretty much how we did it.

[GreenEyedHawk]

Re-The Snake

Take a plastic soda bottle and rinse it out thoroughly.  Cut the top part off, like you're making a funnel, then turn it around and re-tape it onto the bottle so that the end where the cap would go is now inside.  Knowing what kind of snake it is, toss in something it likes to eat (perhaps a frozen/thawed pinky mouse, or some freeze-dried crickets.)  (the term "garden snake" is pretty all-encompassing so I'm not sure specifically what kind of snake you mean)

Set the bottle trap around where you saw the snake last, you'll probably have better luck around the outside edges of the room.  Then just leave it alone.  Check it once or twice a day and change out the bait regularly.

I've been keeping corn snakes for years as pets and they are very Houdini-like in their ability to escape.  A bottle trap is usually the first method anyone suggests for catching an escapee.  They get in, eat the bait, then either can't figure their way out again or are too full and lazy to try.

[mmswm]

Well, I've tried the heating pad and box thing.  The snake got into the box, but there's a reason these little boogers are called "little black racers".  Those suckers are fast.  It will cost $200 to get a pest removal company out here, and they would have to destroy the snake if they come out.  One of the companies advised a different method, which will kill it, but at this point, it's probably going to die anyway, since I'm having no luck capturing it on my own.

[perpetua]

In the UK in this situation you would call the RSPCA and they would come out and humanely trap the snake then take it somewhere to release. Do you not have anything like that in the US? (assuming this is where you are)

[violinp]

In the UK in this situation you would call the RSPCA and they would come out and humanely trap the snake then take it somewhere to release. Do you not have anything like that in the US? (assuming this is where you are)

As far as I know, the ASPCA will capture and release wild animals. Perhaps you could call them, mmswm.

[Shoo]

You need Billy the Exterminator! 

[mmswm]

In the UK in this situation you would call the RSPCA and they would come out and humanely trap the snake then take it somewhere to release. Do you not have anything like that in the US? (assuming this is where you are)

As far as I know, the ASPCA will capture and release wild animals. Perhaps you could call them, mmswm.

I've called every number I can find that deals with wildlife.  The cost to bring any of them out is prohibitive.  Apparently, there's some sort of county law regarding nuisance wildlife that requires them to be destroyed anyway.  Trust me, I've tried to trap this little sucker humanely, but he's resisting with all his might.

[Ms_Cellany]

Heating pad under the soda-bottle trap?

[mmswm]

I did the heating pad under a small box.  The snake got in it, but when I tried to move towards it to put something over it and remove it from the house it shot out and hid behind a bunch of books.

[Moray]

The idea behind the bottle is that they'll find it more difficult to exit. It seems like a good idea, depending on whether or not you've got a few crickets or feeder mice hanging out in your freezer

[RingTailedLemur]

But how would you get the snake out of the bottle once you got it outside?

[Dazi]

But how would you get the snake out of the bottle once you got it outside?

You just remove the tape and pop off the end.

[hobish]

A recent survey determined that 97% of US drivers felt that they were "above average" drivers.     And why should who feels they are an "above average" driver lay out $$$$ for lessons for their kid?

Oh, please please do you have the source for that? Not that i doubt you; i definitely don't. Gish always says he is a better driver than most people on the road, and i always say Everyone thinks that. I would love to have actual numbers from a qualified source.

...I will Google, as well.