Do we have rat snakes in Northeast Ohio?

Mitch Booth · Wed May 27, 2015 1:55 pm

Just curious if we have rat snakes here in Ohio? I know of 25-30 colonies in the area and none have netting up. All the poles in this area use the 24 inch 8 inch diameter stove pipe that wobbles.

Thanks,

Mitch

Anthony Neira · Wed May 27, 2015 2:49 pm

Hey Mitch you all do have Black Rat Snakes up there !

Don't know how aggressive they are ? Let's see what the Northern PM Land Lords have to say

Mitch Booth · Wed May 27, 2015 3:36 pm

Yes I see that they are widespread throughout all 88 counties in Ohio. I don't seem to hear much about them going up gourd racks up here. Not that they don't or can't but it doesn't seem that ANY of the colonies I visit up here use the netting.

It will be interesting to hear what other Northern landlords say.

Mitch

birdbrat · Wed May 27, 2015 3:59 pm

Yes Mitch there are black rat snakes here in Ohio. As far as snake guards go, I guess it depends on how much one cares to gamble. My poles are in a fenced dog yard. I had trained one of my older dogs to keep snakes out of the dog yard, but we lost her to cancer this past winter. I am in the process of training another dog and she is doing great. I took her out into my field and showed her a couple garden snakes. She picked up real fast as to what I needed her to do. I can hide them and she sniffs them out and attacks. Time will tell if she will do as well as the other dog, but so far she is showing a lot of promise. I have to say though that I did go out and get some netting and will probably put it on the poles, there is a limit to how much I gamble.

jmrepko66 · Wed May 27, 2015 4:05 pm

I would also be very interested in what other nothern ohio landlords have to say. I know that I have only ever seen one in my lifetime while walking along a river in NW ohio. It was huge. It was all coiled up in some tall grass as I almost stepped on it. Scared the sh_ _ out of me!

Anthony Neira · Wed May 27, 2015 4:37 pm

Hey BirdBrat, Sorry to hear about your dog . Glad you have given another one your home. I'm not sure about up north , but in Texas there's A LOT of interests to train dogs NOT to approach Snakes, because of The Loud Rattler, & the quiet Copper Heads, Water Moccasins, & the " Red and Yellow, Kill a Fellow " Coral Snakes . I've seen too many Dogs here and in Mexico with, how can I say this without being too gross,..Parts Missing !! But If you all up there don't have as many venomous Snakes as we do, I can see why it's good to train your Dog to get rid of them !

birdbrat · Wed May 27, 2015 5:48 pm

Anthony, We do have two venomous snakes in this part of Ohio. The copperhead and the timber rattler. However they are more prone to be in the wooded and watershed areas. I can remember as a child seeing one of my dad's coon hunting dogs after being bit by a copperhead. The swelling was really bad, but fortunately he lived and continued to hunt for years. If we had the more venomous snakes like you have, I would most certainly never train a dog for snake hunting. Plus I keep her confined to back yard hunting.

Anthony Neira · Wed May 27, 2015 5:59 pm

Hey BirdBrat, that's good to know ! We MIGHT have more Snakes down here, But ANY Rattler with the word " TIMBER" in front if it Sounds BAD Enough to MORE Than Make Up for the #s !

eyeamtheman · Thu May 28, 2015 6:07 am

Timber Rattler is another name for the Canebrake Rattlesnake, which is the only rattlesnake found in this area. Just FYI. One might see a rare Pygmy Rattlesnake, but they are not common.

Louise Chambers · Thu May 28, 2015 6:39 am

When I lived in NW Pennsylvania, just over the line from NE Ohio, my old house in the country was known through the area for having lots of snakes - big black rat snakes lived in or moved through the two attics, the basement, the walls, etc. I figured that was good chipmunk/red squirrel and mouse control, since we had all of those too. A friend nearby was working in attic of his old house - had a lot of bats in it. As he hammered away, he saw a black rat snake catching and eating bats not that far from him - and he used to see them stretched out on beams of his barn, too.

I used stovepipe baffles and PVC baffles, no netting, and never lost a bird to snakes as long as I used baffles. Early on, lost a box full of wrens to a snake - box mounted on T-post and no baffle. Rat snake got nest of phoebes on porch column too - came out of tiny crevice from house to porch. These were handsome snakes 4-6 ft long - I loved finding their shed skins in attic and basement. Found one had climbed a tree once using the rough bark for purchase, to check out an empty gourd hung in the tree.

So NE Ohio is excellent rat snake country too, but I doubt anyone will find them in cities or suburbs - rural areas with woods, fields, etc are their kind of place.