Snakes For Varmint Control!

[897tgigvib]

Pacific Gopher Snake

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Gopher_Snake

The Pacific subspecies is quite nicely colored too, just not in bold stripes.

Oh if I can get a snake in my garden those Gophers are DOOMED...

...insert mad scientist cackles here...

now then, how do I keep a snake in my garden? How do I care for it? How does that alter my present web of Lizards, frogs, spiders, and bats? hmmm...

thinking about it!

 

[Nyboy]

I'm not going to put professionally trained gophergitter Clevland outside for gopher duty. He's become an indoor cat.

But I am looking up about these King Snakes and Gopher Snakes! Both seem good so far, but the King Snake has a couple bonuses going for it. I can let the campers know that my King Snake(s) kill and eat Rattlers, and, they are beautiful!

But I don't know. Maybe the Gopher Snake would stick around better or do a better job of it.

I think...I would probably have to contain the snake or snakes in the garden, and need to find if it is doable.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_kingsnake

Why not try both snakes and see which works better for you?

 

[journey11]

I have a nest of baby black snakes in my barn. Would you like me to mail you some?

 

[catjac1975]

KEEP YOUR SNAKES!!!!!

Yes I really hate snakes. After battling gophers for 30 years I finally gave in to the poison.Gophers are smart and hard to trap. Our fence is buried 18 inches down which is merely a deterrent. They currently have tunneled into the middle of the corn and are happily shucking and eating to their hearts delight. I have poisoned boroughs outside of the garden.

 

[bobm]

Pacific Gopher Snake

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Gopher_Snake

The Pacific subspecies is quite nicely colored too, just not in bold stripes.

Oh if I can get a snake in my garden those Gophers are DOOMED...

...insert mad scientist cackles here...

now then, how do I keep a snake in my garden? How do I care for it? How does that alter my present web of Lizards, frogs, spiders, and bats? hmmm...

thinking about it!

These snakes can grow quite long, however they as well as their mouth are very narrow . This allows them to swallow only mice and very young of other mammals, while a mature gopher, mole, or vole would be quite difficult for them to swallow. Many small types of Lizards, small frogs, tadpoles, etc. would be on their main menu.

 

[897tgigvib]

According to what I've read...

The Pacific gopher snake is carnivorous. Their diet consists of small mammals, notably pocket gophers; birds and their eggs; the occasional lizard and insect,[3] and even bats.[2]

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The reason I don't think I'd put both a King and a Gopher Snake in my garden is that the King Snake would eat the Gopher Snake.

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Right now I am leaning toward a Kingsnake. It would be much easier to convince the campers to accept one in my garden because KINGSNAKES EAT RATTLESNAKES. Also, it may be possible to get one of them that was bred to be extra beautiful. I would want my campers to be able to admire it when they see it in my garden, and not be confused with a Gopher Snake in there looking kindasorta like a Rattle Snake. Don't want to frighten any of the boatbabes outa their bikinis!

 

[bj taylor]

marshall, I think your kingsnake would need to wear a bandana around it's "neck" so your campers wouldn't de-head it when they see it crawling around. there are lots of folks who live by the premise "the only good snake is a dead snake". I can see it now 'oh, there's marshall's snake, isn't he cute?"

 

[897tgigvib]

Yea BJ, I think you're right about that. There are also the Lizard catching kids who might want to venture into my garden to catch the Kingsnake. Things I must consider...

 

[canesisters]

Sooo... you're considering getting a pet snake to free-range in your garden? That's a cool idea. What would happen in the winter? Maybe you could paint a stripe down it's back or something so folks could tell it from wild snakes.

 

[897tgigvib]

Cane

The Kingsnakes come standard issue with stripes!

Go ahead and google kingsnake. Then click "image". You'd be surprised how colorful they are. Most have stripes that go around their body. They can be in just 2 colors, but being the designer snakes they are, they can come in 4 or 5 contrasting colors, reds, yellows, whites, blacks, browns. Most of them have those colors like rings around them, but turns out...

The different Kingsnake species are actually all the same species, each with its own color variations, so, folks came along and crossed them. They seem to cross as easily as a foghorn leghorn with a silky bantam. Even though stripes that go from head to tail are not normal, breeders have made Kingsnakes have them that way too now.

Oh boy, these Kingsnakes are a RAINBOW snake! Add to that, there does not seem to be anything wrong or weak with any of the new breeds. I saw a photo of one that has the head half of it striped red with yellow, and the tail half of its body was striped black with white! They have some with blue stripes too.

Give the breeders a few more years and they'll have Kingsnakes in any design you can ask them to make.

Next up? They'll probably be breeding up Kingsnakes with advertisement words on their back!!!

Step aside Geico Gecko!

Here comes the Samsung Kingsnake! (She'll have to have a California Valleygirl accent)

...in bright colors, hatched like that, the word, "samsung", up and down her back. Maybe even with GS5 added! in bright blues greens yellows and reds!

next thing ya know geico gecko and valleygirl kingsnake are talking about insurance on their new iphones...

...forgive me for i have had too much excellent coffee this morning...