Don't worry Sanreinu  I would not give Midol  I give benedryl and a huge dose of VIT C  and didnt do the Antibiotic this time..she is ok
 

BUT HAVE A  NEWS FLASH!

jUST GOT OFF THE PHONE WITH MELLODEE  owner of Germelhaus GSD and she sold a pup up in North Texas and got a call today...her pup is 7 mos old and got bit by a snake and in 5 mins passed out and in 40 was DEAD. The owner rushed it to vet and then to on the way to another source of antivenum the dog died in car.  Pup weighted about 65 lbs. Do not know what kind of snake yet...Owner took upset to talk . Another member of family called MelloDee..

SO see folks , this is  SERIOUS business.  And TWO MOONS: how in the world would i have time to move a stick over the ground at 12 midnight..one or two of the dogs go ahead of me or are out running here and there. but they are the same color as ground and so far I have been lucky carrying a big flash light and look down all the time...and see them move..... I carry a shovel and it is lit up all over my path  but leaves and snakes are hard to see when every twig off my oaks look like a copperhead...my place is pretty clean..except to new wood piles and some pipes and tin up front but I will have it all moved inside barn in a week or so...pics below show how clean it is getting at my place!!! I have been using moth balls and sulfur and DE for two years so I know..I keep dogs up for a day or so after I put down  I use panti hose to encase the moth balls and I also use upside down milk cartons to attach some poison into so cannot be just grabbed and eaten by dogs.

I am worn out thinking..I thought this was RETIREMENT   not   Consentration camp for SNAKES>>>lol  Wonder how much they charge people to train for SNAKE AVOIDANCE> 
 Iower kennels backof property BarjFront towards street in front of barn
  Some building materials and two stacks of new wood with a trailer of scrap iron ready for the sale barn.  Wood piles are a good place to hide but I have no where else to put wood that I need for emergency use. I plan on picking all this metal and roll of heavy wire and put into barn , next week.

Hi Rose,
The walking stick was for you, I don't have an answer for the dogs.
Mine bark at snakes but that wouldn't keep one from being bitten on the fly.

My guess is you have more than one breeding in your area and for some length of time, the young span out looking for new territory.
The actual nest sites could be anywhere and not necessarily close.
The males track the females over great distances to breed.

I'd feel the same way if I were in your shoes.   It's hard on the nerves.

A family here moved away from their home for the same reason only they had Timber Rattlers and not Copperheads.
This is a protected species in the National Forest and they are making a come back here.   Hard on horsemen riding the trails. 
I kept one for several years before finding this out.  

If no other solution can be found, build a run for the dogs that has a solid barrier, steel used for pole barns would be my first choice.   Tall enough that they cannot get over it and buried deep enough to keep things from digging under, slick, it offers no hold for climbing over.    As high as the longest snake you've seen.  It would require minimal framing and a special gate setup.  Doesn't have to be large or expensive.

At least you would have this place to let the dogs out at night.

Moons.

I guess it comes down to  no let out after dark...

I have all this land and it is so nice to let them run and me too.  Yes the nest is not on my place...my son eradicated any place and I have looked under the barn..nothing but sand , sand and more sand..the things along the edge of the barn are metal panels and pipes and  doors and lots of metal up front next to the loading dock...they can hide under all just temporarily but i have sulfur all over the ground and  I am weeding and mowing all around house , barn and nursery every other day on purpose..I still have three fences with grass to weed as I am slow...my back and the heat and MY AGE now hinder me from carrying a weedeater more than an hour...all I can muster....tonight I plan on last fence row and ROUND UP is in my sprayer waiting.

I have lived here for 12 years and I am not building a play pen for grown dogs.   Yes they travel and I think that is what they are doing here...I have four outdoor night night lites and have found the DEVIL under these lights or near  and I am sure they are lurking for little frogs and cacadids and grasshoppers etc. or bugs of the night under these lights...


Being I am the only human out here,, I will just have to  put up with it and make appropriate measures , like ride the mower or my truck at  night.

I am waiting for sundown to go weed and spread my  remedies around but I walk in high step and with my glasses on and my flash light ready with machetti and sharp shovel in hand.

I have not gotten near the creek as it is grown up  but nothing  I can do about it..it is fenced off and their is a huge pond 4 blocks west of my property.  A man lives on this side of it and I hear his gunshots every week..His grandson says he is killing water moccasins!   If I ever walk up on one of them I am leaving. I will be on the first truck out of DODGE>>>!!!!!!!!

My fig trees are in the emu pen, no emus, but I call it that and it is at the south of my property right near the woods so I panic if a leaf moves.        
I have no time for boredom in Texas and anyone who is bored and wants a vacation of peace and search and snake rescue, come on down..

Have wheelchair can roll.

YR                                                 trying to be funny!

The land owner behind me clear cut his property two years ago and I  am almost possitive that is where they came into my propety and hid until my son uprooted all their hiding places last year..

He burned three huge stacks of wood cut before I moved on this property as I have no fireplace..IT is for emergency heat with just a wood burner or outdoor cooking in a pit...

Four months ago my Power Co.  did a clearing of the power lines behind in all that wood area and thru my creek.   They left behind mounds of limbs in the right a way and in my creek area...so  Thanks  Cherokee Co op...I ask for them to come back and they did but didnt get near what they should have, up off my property near the creek and behind my fence,,since it is not mine, they do not care.

A friend down the road has a cleaning lady and she came down and told me to soak rags in sulfur and pour a little diesel and light them in a hole out in several places around where we are feeding and working and that wards off them..

Her hubby puts hard rope around his campfire to fish at night and not have a snake cross it to get to him in his sleeping bag.. I guess there are lots of HOME REMEDIES for everything in our life..

YR

When I die , be sure to bury me with my rope , my rags and my shovel and sulfur and moth balls...lol

Just a safe place to let them do their business at night was my thought.

Perhaps the night lights do attract them in search of food, they are nocturnal this time of year, and I suspect looking to breed as well.

I hope I don't end up with a similar problem, both snakes I have found were young ones about the same size, no way could I locate where they came from.

Hope you have better luck with the dogs.

The lore is a horse hair rope..lol

Sorry to hear of all the troubles with the snakes, YR....

It's easy to say that it's not too hard to pick up and remove the poisonous snakes that you come across, but that would be for an adult, who is not afraid of snakes.  For children, dogs, or those who are afraid of snakes, no can do.  I'd be far more afraid for my children and dogs regarding snakes than myself...You say they won't bother you if you don't bother them, but what constitutes "bothering" them?  Walking past, too close to it?  Stepping on it, because you didn't see it?  Dogs playing with each other and running over it?  Lifting up a sheet of roofing metal that is lying on the ground, as you are preparing to put it on your roof?

I'd have to agree with Tuff...If I find one on my property, it's a goner, because there's no sense in taking chances.  It's true that there aren't that many kids and pets killed by snakebites every year, compared to other ways people and dogs can get themselves killed, but why take the chance?  Leaving a poisonous snake alive, or on your property, and hoping your kids, dogs, or guests don't tangle with it is asking for trouble, in my opinion.

I was born and raised just outside of Phoenix, AZ, and though my brother and I were never bitten by poisonous snakes, there were several times where we came close, but were unharmed because they were detected and killed before trouble could strike.  This is one of the many reasons I am glad to live up here in North Idaho...No poisonous snakes, except for the occasional rattler that hitches a ride with someone moving north, or on a train from the South...They don't generally survive their first winter here, and that does not hurt my feelings.  It's nice to know that I can go out at night, in the dark, and not be in danger of encountering dangerous snakes.  My dogs are safe, my kids are safe, no worries about reptiles at all.

Crys

I was just wondering/?     Could I sell these snakes for their skins to make hat bands or something worthwhile?

Might give me an incentive to crank up sons' wheelchair and go do a night search.

YR

Shoot I was thinkin you could skin em and cook the meat for a good ole Texas barbecue?