Text Box: Text Box: Home Rise of the Black Rat SnakeText Box: Yesterday, within hours of each other, I performed two snake rescues. The first, was a 10 inch baby black rat snake from my girlfriends garage. The second was much more dramatic, the rescue of the black rat snake from my nephews house. It had become stuck to a ‘glue trap’ that my BIL had put in his garage to catch spiders. If you use those things, please put them someplace where these guys can’t get in them. It was pitiful. Text Box: After using sand to coat the sticky glue pad, and a scraper to get his body free, he was covered with a thick, sticky glue. I spent hours on this guy, between rescue and trying to get the glue off. In the end, good old hand soap and water worked best. I managed to get off most of the thick goop, but once dried he still had a sticky film over parts of his body. I am hoping these will be quickly covered by the dirt he crawls through the earth. Text Box: We did our best, and we got off a lot of the thick goop that was on his skin, but once dried he still had a little bit of stick to him. Soon, it was time to release him. Before that, we had our cousins’ here for a visit and they got a real hands on opportunity! What a great way to teach kids about snakes. Black rat snakes are about the nicest snakes around Text Box: Black rat snakes are native to Virginia. They are very gentle snakes. Like this one, they will come into your garage, especially this time of year. Usually, they are seeking prey, or the warmth given off by your house. If you see a snake in your garage you can just shoo it out with a broom. They do not want to be with you any more than you want to be with them. If you have a problem where they are coming and staying inside your house, you have provided them with a good food source...probably mice. Chances are good if you put out mouse traps and remove the food source the snake will leave also. People have limited success with snake repellent methods like mothballs. Text Box: Here is some more info on Black Rat Snakes: FONZ from the National Zoo More on Black Snakes in Minnesota...pay attention Beth Snakes of VA Va Black Rat Snake Text Box: In other news...While Audrey was left babysitting on Thursday, she found, (and collected) a garter snake in the garden! She is proud to say it MAY be the one Auntie Ru saw at the pond the day before. She is a beauty! Text Box: We read that garter snakes emit a foul odor to ward off predators—but, in spite of our handling, we detected no foul odor! They say black rat snakes do the same thing! So, PLEASE don’t kill snakes! Oval: Return to main page