swiming snakes
Here is a link to a story in california involving a man picking up what he thought was a dead snake. He was kayaking and in the water. The snake was a baby rattlesnake and NOT dead. He required airlift and was in critical condition.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_20612025/man-bitten-by-rattlesnake-at-del-valle-regional
If…
you’re going to live out somewhere that you’re likely to encounter snakes in and around your house, it would behoove you to learn how to identify the poisonous ones. The pit vipers are very easy to ID once you know what you’re looking for. I can understand killing a poisonous snake that’s around your house…I’ve killed a couple of copperheads that had taken up residence in a woodpile next the foundation of our house…and then I moved the woodpile. No use attracting them. But if you kill every snake around the house willy nilly, you’re doing a whole lot more harm than good. I LOVE black rat snakes around the house because I know they’ll be killing rodents that would otherwise cause me trouble. I have a couple of harmless water snakes that live in my water garden in the front yard. I’ve had black rat snakes in the garage when I had a mouse problem, and they helped immensely. I’ve also had a variety of other harmless snakes, including milk snakes (beautiful creatures) in the garage and king snakes in the yard. I consider all of them just more instances of the richness of living in a rural area. It’s their land, too.
trees
I’m more leery going under low overhanging branches after a co worker told me how a snake dropped onto her friends kayak while paddling on the Hillsborough River.
snake bites
Reptiles can (and commonly) carry salmonella.
For that reason they should be handled carerefully whether they are venomness or not.