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I have a den of copperheads under my house
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by Tresha on July 23, 2005
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I am not sure if you can help me, but the long and the just is my mom got bit by a copperhead and she is terrified of them now. Does any one know anything to help these guys find other home. At one time there was 26 of them that came out (we turned the water on at night and they came many at a time from under the house. Now there is more again) I know this may sound stupid but I have to do something or she (and I) are probably going to have heart attacks. Any help or advice you could give would be greatly appreciated. (we live in Texas) If that helps any.
Thank you Tresha
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RE: I have a den of copperheads under my house
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by ALA_herp31 on July 24, 2005
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This is truly the most amazing thing I have ever heard. I don’t mean that in a bad way, but I have never heard of that many (A. contortrix) Copperheads setting up home under a house. It is really fascinating how Snakes will Adapt to Living in such a strange Environment. Tresha, I hope you can find a way to Relocate the Snakes without harming them. Good luck and watch being out in the yard at night, remember most Pit Vipers become Nocturnal during the Summer Months..............Be safe ya’ll, happy herping Wally
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RE: I have a den of copperheads under my house
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by AquaHerp on July 24, 2005
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Funny, I have never heard of 26 copperheads being in one central location this time of year anywhere, especially that subspecies.
My advice, seek professional help; Either through a nuisance wildlife removal operator, or professional help via other means if you know what I mean.
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RE: I have a den of copperheads under my house
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by AquaHerp on July 24, 2005
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Okay, my apologies before I get jumped on. There was no time frame when the poster said there were 26 snakes under the home, so I jumped to conclusions. For all I know it could have been dead of winter. That would still be a hefty copperhead haul for Texas, westerns maybe, but copperheads, pretty thick.
I would still seek the guidance of a local, or semi-local professional wildlife control operator who does snake exclusion and work with them on getting the problem rectified. The Ft. Worth area has a number of them, now… the ones that will do snake exclusion (?) I don't know. Keep in mind that they can only keep them from under your home and not from around the home. Snakes will always be in the area as long as it's semi-wild. There are things you can do to keep the populations and stray snakes down, like keeping grass cut short, keep items picked up in the yard that a snake could hide under or behind, keep your dogs and cats fed indoors and store animal food inside to keep the rodent population down and so on. These are simple housekeeping techniques that will help in making your area a little less desirable to snakes n the long run. Good luck.
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RE: I have a den of copperheads under my house
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by Dadee on July 24, 2005
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Tresha,
I'm not sure if anyone has even attempted this yet...but my instincts tell me that if given a better locale to "den up", the snakes might abandon their den under your house.
Doug, can you say whether this has been attempted before or not?
Anyhow, my thoughts on wild animals, is that if you remove their "habitat" but provide an alternative...being that you're flushing the underside of your house *I'd be careful on doing this...the foundation could shift*...you're making their den a non-hospitable place, so if you provided them a alternative, a large pipe perhaps, they might flee to it. I'm thinking that if there was another "cool spot", they would flock to it by matter of exploration". Of course this could be something that, after they entered, they couldn't retreat from. This way, it could be relocated a safe distance from your home.
Your location is by far invitable to this species, not to mention the time of year. I know that others on here will be more forth coming with ideas, but this one sounds more humane, along with giving another way to relocate them. Another idea, would be to block off their entrance to the underside of the house. Hardware cloth (thick grade chicken wire mesh...found at most hardware stores) could be employeed by digging a small thin trench that you could slide the hardware cloth down into, and tack it to the bottom of your house...filling the trench back in onto the hardware cloth, creating a mesh barrier. I would also probably put out some "green candy"...rat poison, prior to closing up the area with the hardware cloth. Just in case a rabbit or ground hog should burrow under the barrier. Removing the prey items will make the snakes look elsewhere for food.
Good luck,
Matt
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RE: I have a den of copperheads under my house
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by AquaHerp on July 24, 2005
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Alternative "dens" may indeed be an idea. I have frequently used alternative roosting sites, or "bat boxes" for colonies of bats that I have successfully excluded in the past. The rate of usage has varied as with most bat roosting boxes or artificial roosting sites (not that a Church steeple isn't an artificial site as such LOL). But is an option.
Hardware cloth, expandable foam (Great Stuff TM), mortar, and a good eye are all part of successful snake exclusion for homes and other structures. It also takes some brainwork too, as with any animal exclusion job. Think about why these animals are making use of this structure to begin with and work backwards from there. Put yourself on their level and work from that angle, that's the key to long-term animal exclusion.
If needed, I can point to some folks in that area who do this type of thing and have solid professional reputations and credentials.
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RE: I have a den of copperheads under my house
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by Tresha on July 24, 2005
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I can't thank all of you enough, I did find a man thru here that is coming today to try to retrieve all of them he can find. For the ones who asked we live south of Fort Worth in the country near a sand pit. The only thing we could gather is that when they stir it up they travel to our place. I hope this man snakebite22 has good luck catching and relocating these guys. But thank you again for all of your input I had no idea ya'll would be as helpful as ya'll were and this site has educated me to say the least and I have found a understanding now about copperheads. You may hear from me again if this doesn't work. (Wildlife or nuisance wildlife removal had not much advice nor did they want them)
I'll let ya'll know how this goes
Tresha
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