[TCTAAmembers] Might be Useful

[Sam McGowan]

This doesn't have anything to do with the military, but it might be useful information, especially to folks along the Gulf Coast and up into the Mid-Atlantic States.

This past Tuesday we found the remains of a coral snake in our back yard. It had been sliced in two so I assume I ran over it with the lawnmower when I was mowing the lawn the previous afternoon. (Thank God I didn't step on it and double-Thank God the dogs didn't see it and get bit!)  Although I knew we have them around where we live, this was the first one I've ever seen in "the wild" (if you can call my backyard "wild. It does look like it sometimes!) For the past month or so we have had a snake hanging around the front of the house and even though I knew it isn't poisonous, I would prefer it move off somewhere. After finding the coral snake, I decided to call our local version of Charlie Heckman out to take a look at our property (www.texassnakes.com) for an evaluation. What I'm about to tell you cost me a bit but I'll pass it along for free.

The first thing I learned is that we have more coral snakes where I live than we do copperheads. That did not make me happy since the coral snake is in the same family with the Cobra, Habu and Mambas, except that they are not aggressive and will try to hide rather than biting. There were some things I already knew I needed to do, such as getting rid of some old tomato stakes and weedeating instead of mulching. The thing I hadn't thought about was replacing the rocks that darn near everybody around here puts in their flower beds for edging. Clint told me to dig a trench and partially bury the stones on end rather than letting them lay flat because the coral snakes will get under them in the summertime. 

He also advised me that the way snakes get into a house is to come in through the dryer vent and than crawl along the top of the duct and into the insulation. Fortunately, the builders routed our exhaust duct up over the top of the garage and out about ten feet off of the ground, which is too high for a snake to get into. He said we didn't have any openings for snakes to get in through. He did tell me to get some GREAT STUFF and seal the openings around the air conditioner lines (which I did.)

Earlier in the week I had put down some cedar mulch in the flower beds around the front porch to discourage our new pet, which is apparently in the racer family. I thought it was a Texas Brown Snake but it is a bit too long. Besides, it reminded me of the black and blue racers we have in Tennessee. Clint says to use cedar mulch rather than pine or hardwood because it is less likely to attract the little brown snakes that coral snakes feed on, along with lizards, frogs and other reptiles. He says the commercial snake repellents sold in garden stores are basically worthless, but he does recommend products made with cedar. 

Sam McGowan
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