Methuselah the rat snake

Found this behind the recycle bin at work today. Using the cinder blocks to gauge it's size, it was right around 7 ft, 4 and a half cinder blocks. Yes, it's still on rat patrol.

Dang nice one

Had one about 4ft on my front porch yesterday

This is the time of year that we start seeing them. I like seeing them around the ranch house. Even better seeing king snakes!

I usually find them in a nesting box this time of year.

Is there a way to attract snakes? I had a rat induced plumbing emergency Friday evening when I showed up at my property. Had to run to Palestine and get a coupling. Finished the repair in the dark. If they don't get me in the house, they get me in the shed chewing wires.

NIce!!!

I had one that size only bigger around drop off a windmill tower, just barely miss the bill of my cap, and land at my feet. While I'm not afraid of snakes that was NOT cool!!!

Great things to have around….much better than rats and mice chewing up wiring and doing other destructive things

Tell me about it. My Zero Turn burned to the ground a few weeks ago (just sitting there). It is thought that mice must have chewed on the wiring and caused a direct short which resulted in the fire.

Before:




After:

Wish we had them around our house.

Big'un

I live on a small farm/ranch and love having them around to help control rodents.

Right about now every year, the Purple Martins are in full nesting/egg laying and I'm swarmed with rat snakes.
They go right up a pole like nothing and into the gourds and live there, going from gourd to gourd until they clean the entire rack out.



After fighting with them for almost 45 years, I cut some 3" thinwall pvc drain pipe into 5' pieces, then split it so I could put it on the poles.
Before I installed them on the poles, I drilled and attached multiple strands of aluminum electric fence wire length ways with UV zipties.
I cut a slit in some 3/4" PVC 5' long to fit over the winch cables and attached two wires from top to bottom with UV zipties.
I use a small solar fence charger to heat up the wires and don't have snake problems anymore on my poles.
Wrapping bird netting around pole will stop most of them but getting them out of the netting alive is painful and stinky situation.

I went on vacation for 5 days last season and returned to this..


Me and my Purple Martins are happy with the fence charger solution and as a bonus, the coons can't climb the poles anymore!

Wise choice. I will take purple martins over rat snakes. I love watching them swooping and scooping, they can definitely get rid of mosquitos.

Rat snakes are excellent climbers and take a LOT of birds and squirrels each year. It also happens to be the beginning of their mating season right now, so not unusual to see them more on the move (and dead ones on rural roads).

I’m duplicating this. I want birds not snakes. I know how to take care of rats and mice myself.

good for you

Git yourelf some laying hens and you'll have all the ratsnakes you ever wanted!