Snakes in the storage unit

[rocketraider]

OK folks- we've discussed keeping mice out of cars in storage many times.

Here's a different slant.

Friend rents a big storage unit to keep two cars, spare parts and other assorted household junk in. It's steel truss construction with metal siding, roll-up door and an entry door. Insulated and pretty much weathertight.

He goes out there last week looking for a spare starter and finds a large snakeskin wrapped around a set of wheels. He's now worried that the owner of that skin is wintering in one of the cars.

He's killed some mice out there, and says he no longer sees any sign of them, so he thinks Mr. Serpent has taken care of the mice.

I figure if there's no food, the snake will leave on its own, but any ideas how to drive a snake out of a car and storage unit? I've heard mothballs will run them off, and spreading a line of powdered sulfur has long been a way to keep them out of the yard as they won't cross it.

I can fully understand not wanting to take the old car out when it gets warmer, and having a big-ass blacksnake fall out from under the dash.

Ideas?

[Guest abh3usn]

Glenn, I would call animal control and talk to them about it. What I read on sulfur and lime says that they don't work and are more harmful to humans and animals than the snake. Most of the repelents I saw online only work before the animal gets to where you don't want it. Animal control can tell what kind of snake it is from the skin (If you don't already know) and help with extraction. Also winter is hibernating time for snakes. We had baby skunks under a shed and they were very helpful and we were able to get them out of there w/o any problems. Hope this helps.

[R Walling]

Rocketraider:

Put in a call for St Patrick, he drove the snakes out of Ireland! (Probably right into your garage ;-) )

[Guest rbl2]

I seriously doubt it is a poisonous snake as they hibernate this time of year. Any other snake would be good to have around to keep rodents away.

[imported_Badger Guy]

I bought a 72 Olds 98 at a auction that had been sitting for some years. I noticed the snake skins in the back seat, but hadn't seen any crawling around since I had brought it home, so I figured they had moved on. I was removeing the radio for a guy that wanted it and while I had my fat a** stuck between the seat and dash a bull snake started crawling across my arms. They bite (I found out) but there not poisonous. (obviously since I'm still here!) Once it bit me it crawled away. I didn't see my life flashing before my eyes, so I finished removeing the radio. I did go to the doctor. I got a tetanus shot and he told me if I lost some weight, I could move faster next time and I won't get bit! Also told me to quit drinking so much beer! So I got a different doctor. (One who drinks)

As far as chaseing rodents and other varments out, a friend of mine lights off a bug bomb in a car thats been sitting awhile, But he's burned a few up that way to. So not a way to go on a finished car.

Got a car with a family of Raccons living in the trunk once, but thats a whole different story. My wife still can't open a car trunk without breaking into a cold sweat!

Tom

[keiser31]

You could always get a pet mongoose.....they don't catch fire.

[oldohioan]

Yes, mongeese(sic) dont catch fire but they do catch snakes.

Our Farmers Co-op carries some "snake away" stuff. But then snakes wont eat the upholstery like rodents do.

Come spring, you might try several bug bombs in the building - not in the cars. Four should do an area like you describe.

[MarkV]

I had a rat or two living in my '41 when I found it! That was quite a thing!

[1937hd45]

Sounds like future belt material, maybe a pair of boots if it's a big one.

[Shop Rat]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: 1948Lincoln</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I had a rat or two living in my '41 when I found it! That was quite a thing! </div></div>

HEY!!!! Watch it!! We have to live somewhere you know.

[Dave@Moon]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> Ideas?</div></div>

All snakes hibernate in winter, and grow very little if at all. That skin was probably left behind just prior to finding a good warm spot to spend the winter, like in or under a weathertight building.

The first thought I have is that if you have snakes of any size you likely have mice that their feeding on. Just because none have been recently seen doesn't mean they're gone, and the presence of the snake likely means there are plenty still around. I'd be more concerned about the cars being damaged by the mice than anything else.

The snake, if it is in the building or car, will likely do no harm. They don't eat or drink as they hibernate, so they're not likely to deficate or urinate where they are. You're also not likely to make a sleeping snake go anywhere on it's own, since their metabolism is slowed down to almost nothing and they can't react to much of anything. You could open the doors on a very cold day and freeze the snake where it is, killing it. However this would only make it rot in place and really cause a problem.

I think you'd do best to let sleeping snakes lie for now, so to speak. Just in case you should check around the engines before starting them to avoid an ugly mess. I think it's very unlikely that a snake would or could crawl into a car's interior, but checking inside and under the seats and trunk might be a good idea as well.

However there should definitely be a redoubling of anti-rodent efforts, as this is a very good sign that they're present.

[Guest rbl2]

I got a cat to get rid of the meeses. Then I got a pitbull to get rid of the cat. The cat promptly showed the pit who was boss and they've been getting along fine ever since.

My pit is an embarrasment to pitbulls worldwide. If you're not careful it'll lick you to death and beat you with its tail. It did kill a possum one night but only because it thought it was a toy and it didn't put up a fight.

Now, please don't turn this into a pitbulls are dangerous thread. Let's stick with snakes. I'm quite fond of them.

[Guest windjamer]

Badger if I was in a car and a bull snake crawled across my arms you would have a worse mess to get rid of than the snake. Fumagate wont do it.

[R W Burgess]

Dick, my Mom feels the same way about snakes. She's like that woman on the comic strip, BC, she beats them to death with shovels, racks, or any metal object she can get her hands on.

She found one in her basement last year, and I thought Dad was going to have to sell the home place, because she doesn't sleep in the same building as a snake.

She also knows that snakes travel in pairs, so that made her fears twice as strong.

Wayne

[Ivan Saxton]

I have used fumigation, and there are a number of possibilities. I once saw a copperhead disappear under the bench in the garage, and it was not welcome because my autistic son was young at the time. So I tossed half a cup of petrol in, knowing that noone was going to light a match before the fumes dispersed. The snake immediately succumbed to a spinal fracture. You could probably achieve similar result to the petrol with trays of creosote or ammonia on the floor of an enclosed space, or a Permethrin fumigation bomb (used for eradicating lictus wood beetles should work. I doubt carbon dioxide from blocks of dry ice would be effective, but might rather encourage snake to hibernate longer.

Snakes are opportunists around humans, and like fresh hen's eggs. Some of the old-timers used to make a snake trap of wire netting of suitable mesh so the snake will pass, but an egg will not. Snake with egg-lump and nasty end inside wire trap is easy to deal with.

Snakes also prefer peace and quiet, and though they rely on sensing smell and perhaps body heat in hunting, but it might be worth playing rock music as loudly as possible in the affected area. But the neighbours might not understand.

Ivan

[Guest rbl2]

Snakes do not have ears. They cannot hear. they rely on vibration and heat to detect predators and prey.

[Dave@Moon]

Should it ever be necessary to tempt the snake out, the best thing to attract it would be heat. A gently warmed area near the car, like a cinder block wrapped in a heating pad or electric blanket set to <span style="text-decoration: underline">LOW HEAT</span> and placed near/under the car, would draw the snake out sooner than any food or other diversion.