Mr. Nasty visits

[AmericasBeekeeper]

Another Cottonmouth decided to invade our space today. I left out the picture with his head blown off.
IMG_1038.jpg

[odfrank]

He invaded your space or you invaded his?
How many more mice will there be now to infest your hives?

[Mbeck]

He invaded your space or you invaded his?
How many more mice will there be now to infest your hives?

I prefer to have mice!

If I find an "extra" cotton mouth would you like me to drop him in a priority box and send him to you for rodent control?

I'm joking I would never do that.
Cotton mouths are poisonous and tend to be agressive. I'm sure in no time AmBeekeeper will have a black snake move in keeping other snakes and mice in check.

[gone2seed]

I agree with Ambeek.Non poisonous snakes get a pass here.Poisonous ones are sent to meet their maker.

[Dave Warren]

ODfrank, check the top of the food chain, I don't believe the snakes are at the top!

Unbelievable!

[odfrank]

I am always surprised when beekeepers are so scared of snakes. You are about ten times more likely to be killed by a bee sting than a snake bite.


130 people killed across the U.S. by deer annually
53 people die each year in the U.S. because of an allergic reaction from being stung by bees and wasps.
30-35 people are killed by dogs each year in the U.S. Fido isn't always your best friend.
22 people are killed in the U.S. every year by cows
20 people die each year thanks to horses
6.5 people die in the U.S. every year from spider bites.
5.5 people die from rattlesnake bites each year in the U.S

[giant pumpkin peep]

frank..thats probably becuase there is a lot more people who live in areas with bees than in area with rattlesnakes. So coming in contact with bees is probably 15 times more likely than coming in contact with a rattlesnake. statistics can lie like that.

[AmericasBeekeeper]

Black snakes, king snakes, even rattle snakes and Canebreaks get a pass here. Cottonmouths are water snakes and mice around here do not swim.

[Rader Sidetrack]

Cottonmouths are water snakes and mice around here do not swim.

Hmmm, the photo in your original post clearly shows the snake on dry ground.

[stajerc61]

Would you please send me the pic with his head blown off? Thanks.

[Daniel Y]

I would tend to agree with the leave them to do their thing for most snakes, even venomous ones. But cotton mouths have a mean streak. Where many snakes will tend to slip away attempting to go unnoticed. a cottonmouth does not necessarily. sometimes they are just as likely to come after you.

[beemandan]

I vividly remember, as a youngster, fishing in a blackwater river in Florida with my dad and uncle. Across the river swims a cottonmouth. Not away from us but directly at us. My dad had to kill it with an oar to keep it from climbing into the boat with us. Venomous and aggressive….and I don’t care if we ‘were in his space’….good riddance, I say.

[Michael_C]

I personally have experienced quiet a few snakes try to increase the 5.5 deaths per year statistic -- I have been know to try to reduce the statistic. They can make a bad day out of a perfectly good day in an instant and without warning. Conservation is highly important, but family safety and preservation overrules my decisions.

[BeeGhost]

I hate snakes period. The only snakes that get a pass from me are king and gopher snakes, all rattlers die, period.

And killing one snake or even 10 won't cause the mouse population to go up, because the mice can do that on their own, they will far out breed what a snake can consume, so regardless, mice will always be around.

[beemandan]

Add to this...the number of deaths isn't the only measure. Most people don't die from a bite. I have a friend who was bitten on the arm by a copperhead. He was deathly sick for a week. He didn't die but lost the use of his arm for many months.

[Blackwater Bees]

Here in SC there can be a snake under anything you pick up from March to Dec. I work in a hospital in the number one county for snakebites in SC. I can't tell you the number of people I've seen with bites, and terrible deformities for life from the tissue death associated with them. If you don't believe in killing snakes, that's cool. I'll kill your share.

[Bee Bliss]

Looks to be big too. How long?

[Michael_C]

I tried to measure a "dead" cotton mouth that I had killed and he bowed up tried to bite me when I put the measuring tape beside him. He had not moved in ten minutes. Closest I ever got to being bitten.

[SRBrooks]

When we lived in Arizona, there was a volunteer group you could call to remove rattlers from your property. They would supposedly relocate the snake. Here in the hill country of Texas, I think I might be laughed at if I called someone to remove any kind of snake.
I think it all depends on your circumstances. We have eight dogs and 7 cats. In the last 4 months, we've had two rattlers on our patio. One of our dogs killed one while I was in town. The other rattler crawled into our cat enclosure. So, what choice did I have? I put on my rubber boots and grabbed a pail and shovel.
I had just never worried about it before. We've lived here in Texas for 6 years, and had never had a rattler encounter. Now I've seen two in the last 4 months, and our vet says last year was the worst season for rattlers he's ever seen.
I will kill them in order to protect my dogs and cats.
And why take any kind of risk with snakes if you have children on the property?

I read that rattlers only rattle 50% of the time. And I'm out beekeeping and gardening a lot.

Sondra

[gone2seed]

There are only two kinds of poisonous snakes.Dead ones and the ones I havn't seen yet.