Copperheads - How to get rid of them?

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Deegie

Deegie

Friend
Neighbor
Joined
Jul 15, 2020
Messages
9
Location
Missouri Ozarks
copperhead in the house 52620.JPG


I have only seen two Copperheads in my entire life until this year. We are having quite a bit of trouble with them. As soon as warmed up this spring, we started seeing them. Waaaayy too close to the house. And yes, hubby keeps everything mowed down within 50 yards of the house. We have killed three in the driveway, two more and nest of babies 2 feet from my raised garden. There was an old blackberry bush we took out to make room for another garden bed. That is where they were nesting. One day last week when hubby wasn't home, I got in our pool. I only had the shallow end uncovered because the cover is too heavy for me. I was standing doing my exercises and felt something against my hip. Yep, you guessed it, a very friendly copperhead swimming in my pool. He scared me half to death. I scared him too. lol - that is the only one I didn't kill because he was too fast for me. By the time hubby got home he was gone. Then there was the one in the photo above. We were sitting up late watching the end of a movie. It was about 1am and hubby got up to go refill a drink. He spotted this guy, in our living room just slithering around less than 4 feet from where we and our 2 chihuahuas were sitting on the sofa. I never thought I would have to catch a poisonous snake... but we did and then he met his maker too. Last night was number 8 not counting the babies. He was 2 feet from our front door at about 11 pm. When we went to let the dogs out before bed, there he was. He is dead too.

So now that you have heard about our struggle against these snakes. Does anyone know an effective method of getting rid of them? We have been cleaning up the trash piles left by the previous owner ever since we got here and now the closest one is about 60 yards from the house. We are still working on cleaning up. We keep the place mowed. We took out a dozen hedge bushes that were near the pool and have tried vinegar and mothballs. Nothing is working. I worry that with so many of them around it is only a matter of time before somebody gets bit. Please give me your ideas.
 
WVDragonlady said:
Kill them! Shoot their butts or take a squared off shovel, make it sharp and then cut their heads off
Kill them!!!
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I'm guessing you don't like them either. ;)
With the minnow trap, once caught, I just submerge the whole trap underwater and they drown. Just lift it by the rope and you never even get close to them. Don't need to blow holes in anything.
 
WVDragonlady said:
Kill them! Shoot their butts or take a squared off shovel, make it sharp and then cut their heads off
Kill them!!!
Click to expand...
A revolver with snake-shot rounds. Shoot every one you see.
The only other thing that would help is to reduce the number of things they can live under.
They have to have a place to bed-down.
Eliminate/secure those, and they will go and multiply elsewhere.
If I threw an old car hood out in the back yard here, there would be at least 5 snakes under it within a week. :oops:
 
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From the size in your photo., looks like you had a bunch born last fall. From the net... a female can give birth up to 18 offspring at a time. You've killed 6 or 7?

I'd try to clean up or destroy where they might hibernate up to 100 yrds. Short of that... kill them. Short of that, remove any food source. If there is nothing to eat around your house they will go else where. Good luck...
 
King snakes are masters and can take care of rattlers and copperheads.
Make sure the bait is gone (mice, voles, rats). What is keeping the snakes interested in staying at your place? Food and shelter.
Look up kingsnake dot com. If I lived out in the country again, I think I would see about getting some king snakes from local handlers.
 
Well... we may try the minnow trap. Looks like a good idea.

We have shot them, killed them with a hoe and shovel. The only one we didn't kill was the one in the pool. I didn't want to shoot a hole in my pool and he would not get out. lol - He finally hid in the skimmer. I thought he was stuck there but he was gone when hubby got home.

We have found several black snakes, which we did not kill. We only kill the poisonous ones.

We regularly treat the house and yard for bugs and we have never seen any signs of a mouse or rat anywhere but the barn and hubby uses traps for them. Hubby is working on making a run down leaky barn into a dry area. We want to pour a concrete floor and make the entire thing pretty much inaccessible to rats or mice. The barn is about 30 yards from the house but we have not found Copperheads in the barn. The house is earth contact, so no snakes under it. Not sure what else to do. Any more suggestions?

We can't really go more than 60 yards or so in two directions from the house because that is where the woods start and we can't really clear out the woods. At least not easily. Fighting back the jungle, as I call it, keeps my husband pretty busy as it is.

Thank you for your ideas. Keep them coming.

Also, what bait would I use in the minnow trap?
 
Deegie said:
Also, what bait would I use in the minnow trap?
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I have water snakes. I put a small piece of bread in the trap then totally submerse the trap in the creek. The minnows go in for the bread and get trapped. The snakes go in for the minnows. Once the snake gets in, it can't get out to get air so it drowns pretty quickly.
 
Before the cold weather gets to you bury a 50 gallon barrel so the bung is nearly level with the ground. open the bung and wait until late winter to put the bung back on. Snakes go in the barrel to hibernate during winter. You can leave it open and contact local handlers to come and get the snakes.
 
We don't have venomous snakes where I live, so I don't have much experience with them. I do work in areas where they are common, though. Copperheads are numerous in north central Missouri and I fear them a lot more than the timber rattlers that are common to that area as well. Copperheads are much more anti-social. Personally, I would not go out without a sidearm if I was you.

There has to be a way to bait them with poison, but I've no idea how to do that.

Maybe you could import a mongoose or two. Those things can kill cobras, so they should be able to handle a copperhead... ;)
 
I live in the heart copperhead country.
I've seen one on the farm forever.
Why? Because I have at least 4 or 5 large black King snakes that have their territory on the farm.
Y'all remember me posting pics of a king snake shed skin in my shop a couple years s ago?
It was 7 1/2 ft long.
They take care of the other snakes , they kill em.

Jim
 
phideaux said:
I live in the heart copperhead country.
I've seen one on the farm forever.
Why? Because I have at least 4 or 5 large black King snakes that have their territory on the farm.
Y'all remember me posting pics of a king snake shed skin in my shop a couple years s ago?
It was 7 1/2 ft long.
They take care of the other snakes , they kill em.

Jim
Click to expand...
IT IS TRUE.
They are kind of scary freaky looking and can be aggressive towards humans, but they are like having a sheriff around. Secret service. FBI.
 
Weedygarden said:
I have heard that they are territorial. They go after anything that comes into their territory.
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I'm beginning to understand why, and they say ssnakes are stupid, no they just want to survive .
We just catch and release ours but we don't have an invasion .My daughter does and her dog got bit a few months ago, and she lives in subdivision on small 1/4 acew lot,back yard is full of them.
 
Frodo said:
WOW WOW UP ..
I want them!!!!!!
anything over 12'' ,I want.
Kill it, skin it, roll it up in salt, freeze it and send it to me
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Now see, this guy has it dialed-in!
Utilize what Mother Nature hands to you.
If life gives you lemons copperheads, make stuff out of them!
He knows that there are people out there that hate venomous snakes so bad, (especially copperheads) that they would gladly pay bigbucks for oh, let's say a belt for a 34" waist;), made out of one of those
satanic bastids.
Trust me, people would notice and comment.
nod.gif

I would.
 
Patchouli said:
IT IS TRUE.
They are kind of scary freaky looking and can be aggressive towards humans, but they are like having a sheriff around. Secret service. FBI.
Click to expand...

My big kings are not really scared by me easily.
And when they stand their ground they can stand up about a foot and look at you.
I love em.

Jim
 
phideaux said:
...I have at least 4 or 5 large black King snakes that have their territory on the farm.
Click to expand...
Whoa, whoa, WHOA!!! There should have been full disclosure of this highly pertinent, need to know, information prior to hosting Phideaux shoots! 😬 I'm jumping around brushing the imaginary snakes off my legs right now. They could have been slithering around under my lawnchair at the campfire while I was napping that one year... :oops:
 
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