Of course we have them!! It's called the North American Racer here according to Google! Holy crap!! I'll freak!! :eek:

Lol Terri...I don't even dare open that link up! Im serious...if a snake came after me when I was on a bike...it wouldn't take me long to get to the next snake free state....there is a reason I was born raised and stayed in Northern Minnesota...I can't even handle angleworms...my neighbors who are young boys LOVE to torment me with them. On a serious note....those of you that have to deal with snakes...do you have to worry about your yorkies? How do "protect" them??? Am I dramatizing the idea of snakes???

Well, I worry about rattlers with both my dogs. I used to walk Shelby in a field and I was always on the look out for snakes.

I've only been in this house for 8 months, but it seems to have it's own eco system in the backyard (moles, chipmunks, squirrels, blue jays, brown thrashers, orioles, cardinals, robins, HAWKS & OWLS). I've seen opossums and coons in the road a mile either direction so I'm sure they are around too. With all that going on, you better believe I'm afraid we might have snakes. Another reason I keep stomping and filling in all the mole holes. The only place I'm really concerned about is under the storage shed/in the storage shed because Shelby is always finding chipmunks under there - am sure snakes would love a chipmunk.

We have very similar stuff here. Yes we have to worry about snakes. I lost my Great Pyrenees because of snakes. He was bitten so many times by the time he got home it was too late. :(. RIP my sweet Shadow. So it is very scary.

Like Terri said, we also have owls, hawks, coyotes, bears, etc. The predators population is either increasing or they are getting very brave. It s very scary!! I have woods beside me and behind me. I am on constant guard when we are outside.

I remember what happened to Shadow. I am so sorry. :(

We live in a woodsy neighborhood and copperheads are always on my mind. I hate cleaning leaves out from under shrubs for fear that I am going to encounter them. Last year, I was picking up twigs and one of the big ones moved. It was a harmless black snake, but he made me jump. The funniest was when I was raking leaves and found my neighbor kid's rubber crocodile toy. I thought it was a snake with a huge mouth, lol.

Honest to God, my heart starts racing and I can almost feel a panic attack just reading your stories about snakes.

So sorry about Shadow. I love the GP breed.

You guys are freaking me out with all this talk of critters that you have to deal with. Thats just crazy!!

Be careful and keep those babies safe . . .

oh I do remember reading about shadow.. what a heart break I am so sorry.

Here I do worry about snakes, toads, hawks and silly as it may seam Gators.

We live in the "burbs" on a lake.. so we still have a lot of toads and now I am seeing snakes. Just this morning I saw several hawks.

My dd thinks we will have more snakes because we just put sod in our yard and because of the grass and watering it will be more attractive to critters. great


Oh.. Rhonda, yes she did try to pick the darn snake by the tail.. she wanted to get it away from her little Ace

Oh.. and growing up in Bristol Va/Tn i heard all the stories about black racers and hoop snakes. I honetly don't know which stories were true or fabels

Oh my goodness. I am so sorry to hear about what happened to your Shadow :( I'm so sorry!!

What's crazy is - we seem to be dealing with all these critters that are similar and I live on Main Street in town. Go figure lol

Thanks everyone. I still miss him so. DH was out of town and I had to deal with his death alone. I still cry about it. I just think what a terrible way for him to end his days. All the more reasons I hate snakes. Sorry, but I kill them if I see them. If they are on the road I run them over. If they are in my yard I get DH or my son to kill them.

Is she nuts??! Haha. I RUN from them! Last time I saw one I grabbed Rosie and took off!! DH was gone so I called my daddy who lives across the street from me.

Yes yes yes! We are in Bella Vista up in the \'Highlands\'. We have all the above. Bobcats too. We have one around here that is way too at home with himself. Walked slowly across my patio, I happened to be on the chair, it didn\'t see me. I must admit, what a beautiful sight!! But a couple days later my neighbor noticed movement out her sliding door and it was just sitting there looking at her. She went right over, banged on the window and it just slowly looked at her, turned around and walked slowly down the slope to the woods!!! No, I never let my dogs out alone. We also had a little pigme rattler by the front porch last year.

Something to think about... When we moved here in Arkansas last year, and looked up Copperheads, I read that they don\'t like the smell of marigolds. Well, I had the prettiest marigolds EVERYWHERE!!! Hope it helps!! We are wooded all around here, and of the edge of a hill have a cleared off area, behind the house, it goes down steep into woods and a creek behind that A run off from the damn. Then there is a golf course below us and a nice little lake there. Well, having this water around us isn\'t so good because it really draws the wildlife. I guess there are water mocs too! Crap!