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Garden Gate:  Snakes in the garden.  |
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Mumof3
True Blue Farmgirl
3890 Posts
Karin
Ellenwood
GA
USA
3890 Posts |
 Posted - Jun 24 2009 : 09:06:19 AM
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I know, I know- I should be happy about this, but five snakes do not a happy me make. Yikes! We started digging up a few potatoes for dinner and found a small king snake. Okay, away you go. Next a small brown snake with a pointy head. Dead. Another two baby King snakes, one of which slithered away to the neighbor's house (they are just moving in. Welcome to the neighborhood!) and another larger brown snake. Really? We dug up all the potatoes and I will be planting them in peach baskets next year! Apparently both snakes love to eat earthworms, of which I have an abundance. That, and the lovely damp, coo straw to lay about in and they were in heaven! Now, they really are. Bwahahahaha.
Bad me.
Karin
Farmgirl Sister
# 18 :)
www.perfectlittlemiracle.blogspot.com
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peapicker
True Blue Farmgirl
716 Posts
texas
USA
716 Posts |
Posted - Jun 24 2009 : 09:32:08 AM
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| Oh my, I hope we don't find snakes when we dig up our potatoes in a few days. I have had enough snake problems lately. I just might do baskets next year too. My husbands motto is "a good snake is a dead snake". |
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1badmamawolf
True Blue Farmgirl
2199 Posts
Teresa
"Bent Fence Farms"
Ca
USA
2199 Posts |
Posted - Jun 24 2009 : 1:21:32 PM
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Please do not kill non-venomous snakes, especially king snakes, the only natural enemy a rattlesnake has is a king snake, also, when you kill off all the snakes you WILL BE over run with rodents. I know alot of people have major fear of snakes, but they really are an importent part of the eco-system.
"Treat the earth well, it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children" |
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1badmamawolf
True Blue Farmgirl
2199 Posts
Teresa
"Bent Fence Farms"
Ca
USA
2199 Posts |
Posted - Jun 24 2009 : 1:24:40 PM
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P.S., Karin, a tip, plant your potatoes in washmachine tubs, I pick them up at the recycling center, and I pick-up peoples broken machines and pull the tubs, then recycle the rest.
"Treat the earth well, it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children" |
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peapicker
True Blue Farmgirl
716 Posts
texas
USA
716 Posts |
Posted - Jun 24 2009 : 1:32:59 PM
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| I didn't know kingsnakes fought off rattlers. Thanks Teresa. I have to admit we have killed some chicken snakes that kept eating our eggs. The grass snakes we let go. I know chicken snakes eat rats too , but how do you keep out of the nesting boxes. Washingmachine tubs? ok, I keep that in mind too. Do you use hay or just dirt in the tubs? |
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1badmamawolf
True Blue Farmgirl
2199 Posts
Teresa
"Bent Fence Farms"
Ca
USA
2199 Posts |
Posted - Jun 24 2009 : 1:41:07 PM
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I use compost layered with straw, put in compost layer, then eyes, then straw, as plants grows, repeat, compost layer, then straw, repeat, ........
Kingsnakes actually will attack and kill rattlers, i don't know what a chicken snake is, we have gopher snakes that will eat the eggs. As far as keeping them out of the nest boxes, Guiena hens, (sp?) will also kill snakes, and won't let them anywhere near the nests
"Treat the earth well, it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children" |
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miss wilma
True Blue Farmgirl
3410 Posts
Wilma
Knob Lick
Ky
USA
3410 Posts |
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FebruaryViolet
True Blue Farmgirl
4810 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4810 Posts |
Posted - Jun 25 2009 : 07:52:25 AM
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ugh. That makes me not want to even EAT potatoes!!! I have so many to dig up, though...wondering about the raised bed system I have. Guess they'll go anywhere, but to be honest, the only guy's I've seen are two little garter snakes hiding under the tarp over the dirt pile. They THINK they're mighty! Our 6 foot black snake that has been a reoccuring summer visitor has, thankfully, found another place to vacation!
Musings from our family in the Bluegrass http://sweetvioletmae.blogspot.com/ |
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Mumof3
True Blue Farmgirl
3890 Posts
Karin
Ellenwood
GA
USA
3890 Posts |
Posted - Jun 25 2009 : 08:12:26 AM
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Jonni- That's funny you said that about eating the potatoes because I made potato salad last night from the potatoes we dug up and I could not eat it. Every bite came with the thought that a snake had twined about each potato. I ended up throwing away what I had left in my bowl and I'm giving the rest to my parents, without telling them why. Yep, I'm a wimp.
Thanks for the tip on the washtubs, Theresa. Oh, and we do have a large King snake that lives in our wood pile. He is fat and happy and as long as he stays out of my sight, I am quite content to leave him there. :)
Karin
Farmgirl Sister
# 18 :)
www.perfectlittlemiracle.blogspot.com
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FebruaryViolet
True Blue Farmgirl
4810 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4810 Posts |
Posted - Jun 25 2009 : 08:45:58 AM
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Karin, I would do exactly the same thing. This organic thing is SO great for losing weight :)...the salad greens I decided on this year attracted the UGLIEST slugs I've ever seen, and no matter how much I tried, I could not stop equating the "slick" of the lettuce after washing with the "slick" feel of the slugs...I pulled it all up!
Musings from our family in the Bluegrass http://sweetvioletmae.blogspot.com/ |
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miss wilma
True Blue Farmgirl
3410 Posts
Wilma
Knob Lick
Ky
USA
3410 Posts |
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Aunt Jenny
True Blue Farmgirl
11381 Posts
Jenny
middle of
Utah
USA
11381 Posts |
Posted - Jun 25 2009 : 9:25:51 PM
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I sprinkle ground up dried egg shells and that helps with slugs and snails too. I dont' have them nearly as badly here as I did in Calif. It was much damper where I lived there.
I think if I found ONE snake in my garden I would not be back out there for weeks. I am not scared of much of anything...except snakes!
Jenny in Utah
Proud Farmgirl sister #24
Inside me there is a skinny woman crying to get out...but I can usually shut her up with cookies
http://www.auntjennysworld.blogspot.com/ visit my little online shop at www.auntjenny.etsy.com |
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4forMe
True Blue Farmgirl
166 Posts
Dawn
Easton
MD
166 Posts |
Posted - Jun 26 2009 : 09:26:49 AM
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We have at least 2 snakes that I know of living in my garden and I see them as friend not foe. They keep the mice and other rodents down. I am not understanding why, if they aren't poisonous, would you kill them? I would much rather share my garden with a snake than a mouse, or rat or voles/moles.
I agree with the previous poster, the world would be over run with rodents if the snake population were to drop.
Sewing, knitting, gardening mom of 4. |
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chaddsgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
843 Posts
Sarah
Farmgirl Sisterhood #639
MO
USA
843 Posts |
Posted - Jun 26 2009 : 11:29:49 AM
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I needed to put up a shade over some of my tomatoe plants that were getting too much sun, so I was going to pull a piece of metal from an old mineral feeder that is collapsed next to my garden. When I grabbed a hold of the edge of the metal and lifted it up there was a HUGE snake lying underneath it. I, of course screamed and was immediately surrounded by all 6 of my dogs wondering why I was screaming and offering kindly to help me feel better by licking me and wagging their tails. I couldn't even move!!!! I did NOT kill him but I must have stood there for 10 minutes making sure he was going to stay where he was and not get any closer to me. I don't even know what kind of a snake he was but it scared the living daylights out of me. Fortunately DH wasn't there, that snake would have been dead as a door nail in about 5 seconds flat. The snake has not resurfaced, but it has made me very leary of going down to the garden. I watch for him everytime, but I haven't seen him since that incident.
The chief source of failure and unhapiness is trading what you want the most for what you want at the moment. |
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1badmamawolf
True Blue Farmgirl
2199 Posts
Teresa
"Bent Fence Farms"
Ca
USA
2199 Posts |
Posted - Jun 26 2009 : 11:50:12 AM
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Sarah, FYI, I grow mammoth sunflowers on the west side of my gardens, 2 rows staggered, they make great shade for the maters. Also, i am originaly from Missouri, most of my family is still there, ( Carthage area), if the snake was black, it was a harmless rat snake, and he was close to your garden, cause he was mopping up them garden destroying rodents, and there are several, non-venemous snakes native to Missouri.
"Treat the earth well, it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children" |
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chaddsgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
843 Posts
Sarah
Farmgirl Sisterhood #639
MO
USA
843 Posts |
Posted - Jun 26 2009 : 1:05:42 PM
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Hey Teresa!
I generally keep the black snakes around to ward off the copper heads and eat whatever mice and rats they will kill, even though they give me a heart attack when they are in the well house. We've got tons of regular garden snakes all over the yard too, but they don't really bother me because they are small. I don't know if it was my heart stopping panic, but this one looked like a weird shade of green/brown. He was a big, long, fat guy. I thought he might have been a Bull snake but did not stick around to investigate. He didn't have any markings on him. What do you think?
Great idea about the sunflowers. I was planning on growing some next year anyway. I didn't get my garden mapped out very well this year because I didn't know how much space I was going to have and there was a possibility that we might not be living there. Usually I grow the corn where it can shade the rest of the garden. Just bad planning on my part.
Carthage is like a 25 minute drive from my house! Small world. :)
The chief source of failure and unhapiness is trading what you want the most for what you want at the moment. |
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kristin sherrill
True Blue Farmgirl
11303 Posts
kristin
chickamauga
ga
USA
11303 Posts |
Posted - Jun 26 2009 : 1:15:22 PM
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Oh Karin, I know what you mean. I hate snakes. We have already seen 2 and 1 of them is dead. If I was a better aim the other one would be dead, too. A good snake is a dead snake!
Kris
Happiness is simple. |
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Garden Gate: Snakes in the garden. |
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Snakes in the garden.
