Columbia County Current

Hi, I’m Kelly and I’m new to these parts. A Citiot Comes to Columbia County is my ongoing post about making the switch from life in the city to country living.

These Snakes Need to Get Back On their Plane

It all started when my dog found a snake in the house. A real life, on-the-loose snake that I figured had come in the front door without knocking first. I grabbed a broom, nudged it out, congratulated myself on not freaking out, and considered the matter done.  However, over the next few days I started seeing snakes outside the house near the foundation of the walls around the kitchen. Could the fact that these outdoor snakes were seemingly sliding in and out of cracks in the foundation mean that they were alsoindoor snakes? Had my first snake gone and told tales of luxurious indoor living, and now they were all coming to take a look?

Suddenly I remembered that my dog had made a new game out of barking at the fridge incessantly over the past few days.  Given that she’s most certainly certifiable, I hadn’t given it much thought at the time. But now, it all started to make sense. Indoor snakes!

At that point, I summoned up all my courage. And asked a friend to come help me. Shortly thereafter, we were peering at a couple of snakes behind the fridge.  Using the old broom and cardboard box trick, the first of several snakes were transported back out into the garden but more kept appearing. And so began a few days of charming snakes out from behind and under the warm confines of the fridge and oven. With the house having been empty for a few years, it seems that several species of snakes had taken up residence to stay warm in the winter, have babies, and shed a lot of skin. I would imagine they were pretty unhappy about being dislodged and sent on their way.

A few minutes of googling and facebooking assured us that we probably not dealing with anything poisonous, but a few were a bit too large and aggressive for my liking. After this, I virtually encapsulated my whole house with that expanding foam stuff and left for a week-long trip. I’ve been back for a while now, and so far no snakes inside the house. That I’ve seen.