sj1
Marksman
I don't care what anybody says, there really are good snakes. Every time I've had to kill a copperhead, or the one rattlesnake I've killed, I hadn't seen a black racer or oak snake for weeks beforehand. When I see lots of black racers, or one big oak snake, I never see poisonous snakes. I let the bug and mice eaters have their way, to a point of course. I'll sure as heck move a 5 foot racer out from under my front step before Mrs. sj1 gets home. Straight out under the shed, where he'll do some good.
Even if the bigger non poisonous snakes don't actually eat the venomous species, they compete for food and territory. If a skinny little racer eats every baby rat it finds, there won't be any grown up rats for the rattlers to hunt for, for example.
I do have to kill a copperhead or two every year. They find their way into the yard, and that's where my grandbabies play.
Just my $.02
sj1
Even if the bigger non poisonous snakes don't actually eat the venomous species, they compete for food and territory. If a skinny little racer eats every baby rat it finds, there won't be any grown up rats for the rattlers to hunt for, for example.
I do have to kill a copperhead or two every year. They find their way into the yard, and that's where my grandbabies play.
Just my $.02
sj1