Snakes in Ireland ~ where's St Patrick when you need him?

So has St Patrick left us forever then?
Warning that stray snakes can leave some people rattledFiona Gartland
22/07/2006
The Dublin Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (DSPCA) is seeking new homes for 10 stray pets of the slithering kind.
Some 1,500 years after snakes were supposed to have been banished from Ireland, the society is experiencing an upsurge in the number of stray reptiles turning up in unwelcome places.
In part due to the warm weather, the snakes are escaping from their owners and wandering into other people's homes and gardens.
In recent weeks the society rescued 10 snakes in the Dublin area, varying in size from 12cm (5in) to 2m (6.6ft). The reptiles are being kept at the society's shelter in Rathfarnham, Dublin, and include bull, rat, corn, garter and grass snakes. These varieties are not poisonous, but some can be aggressive.
The snakes are imported into Ireland mainly from the US and sold through pet shops for between €80 and €300. Young snakes are cheapest, with larger, older snakes fetching bigger sums. There are also some breeders in Ireland.
The society has asked owners to ensure their pets are kept in a secure enclosure with an escape-proof top, particularly during warm weather when snakes are more active.
Orla Aungier, education officer with the DSPCA, said they answered a call this week from a woman in Tallaght who was greeted by a 1.83m (6ft) bull snake when she opened her kitchen press.
"The bull snake is aggressive and has an incredibly loud hiss and it can also bite. The woman closed her kitchen door and called us for help."
She advised that anyone who finds a snake should not disturb it because if startled they escape and become hard to find. She suggested that if possible a basin could be put over the reptile and weighted down to prevent its escape. Otherwise, if it is in a room the door should be shut.
The society also appealed for new homes for the snakes in their possession.
"Owners are often afraid to tell their neighbours they've lost their snakes and so they are often not claimed," Ms Aungier said. "We are looking for new homes for them, or indeed if anyone is missing a snake please call us, we may have it."
The DSPCA can be contacted at 4935502.
Meanwhile, in Ketchum, Idaho, USA, veterinary surgeons operated on a 3.7m (12ft) Burmese python which swallowed a electric blanket, complete with flex and switch. After a 12-hour operation, the vets said the prognosis for Houdini the python was great.

© The Irish Times

I kept pet snakes, years ago. They do get out ~ lots of times. They are really hard to find. It's generally better not to tell the neighbours, I found. I never did find the big carpet snake ~ I wonder if she's still there somewhere, keeping somebody's roof cavity free of vermin? :eek: :D

Growing up in the country and experiencing close shaves with deadly snakes I can't say I'm a great fan of slippery pets. I think I must have had too many close encounters when I was a kid because snakes are the one animal I'm terrified of.:eek: Spiders, mice, rats, cockroaches no problems but snakes scare the crap out of me.

We used to consider them to be sporting equipment. Did you know that tiger snakes can bark? If a group of bored kids gets together and stirs one up until it's angry enough, it will lunge at them with little barks ~ we loved it. We could while away half a summer afternoon that way, before all scattering at once, leaving the snake alone and utterly confused. Sometimes the snake would bite its own shadow for a while after that. Brown snakes aren't nearly such good sport, and red bellied blacks are just plain lazy.

And then there are the adults. There's nothing an adult won't do to repel a snake near their children. My mother poured a whole two gallon kettle of boiling water into the hole in the cherry tree where she saw the snake vanish. The adults would disassemble an entire six feet high woodheap searching for a snake ~ and they'd do it in a hurry too. We caught so many lizards that way. One minute an old bluetongue would be lazing away at home in the woodheap, the next it'd be on its back in the open, surrounded by delighted kids arguing about who saw it first.

If you were really lucky, you'd find some snake's eggs when you were exploring under logs and in leaf mulch, and you could take them home, with some leaf mulch to cover them, and watch them hatch. Baby snakes come out running, and hide fast. The eggs are soft, like leather. Endless fascination. After they'd all hatched our father would take them up into the bush and let them go, to our disappointment. Once we saw two snakes twined together, dancing down by the river. Years later I learned that this is their mating ritual. We spent hours watching a kookaburra unsuccessfully trying to drag a heavy snake through the entrance to its nest.

Snakes are fun.

I've got a neighbor that's a really good axe thrower :eek: when she sees snakes around the house.

Haven't seen any at my place 'yet' but i know they are there and they won't last long if i find them.
We get alot sunbaking on the dirt roads in summer.Mainly brown snakes.

Rose, you have given me goosebumps and possible nightmares with that post. Kids playing with snakes:eek: :eek: :eek: The brown snake is one of the most venomous snakes in the world. I once heard a snake handler say if you milked a brown snakes venom and dipped the tip of a ball point pen in the venom there would be enough poison on the tip of the pen to kill 10 adult humans.:eek: :eek: :eek: Whilst I don't totally agree with Dooshka's neighbour's attitude toward snakes, I am a great fan of leaving them well alone. I've had a tigerr snake standing on it's tail ready to strike me from about 2 metres, something I never want to go through again. That day I learnt I could jump much further than I ever thought I could.:D

I've had a tigerr snake standing on it's tail ready to strike me from about 2 metres, something I never want to go through again. That day I learnt I could jump much further than I ever thought I could.:DSee that's what I mean ~ tiger snakes are great sport when they're riled up. You must have leaped away from yours in about January/February. That's when tigers mate, and they can get very aggressive then. Lively little sods when they're in a bit of a snit, aren't they? :eek: :D :D :D You have to spend a while with them to get them to have a blue with their own shadows though ~ we were a bunch of barefoot kids with no concept of our own mortality ~ we just fell about laughing at those antics. :D :rolleyes: :eek: :D

You have to spend a while with them to get them to have a blue with their own shadows though ~

I'd rather not.:eek: I'll just take your word for it. I've encountered enough tiger snakes in my days fishing on the Murray river. They love the water and seem to appear out of nowhere, occaisionally right out of the river in front of you.:eek: That's about the time I used to forget about fishing and head for the esky!!!:D :D

I've encountered enough tiger snakes in my days fishing on the Murray river. They love the water and seem to appear out of nowhere, occaisionally right out of the river in front of you.:eek:

I've seen a few tigers and browns when i've been in a tinny looking for that illusive fishing spot also on the Murray.
It's amazing how good a swimmer they are.

They are able to stay under water for long periods. We've watched them in clear mountain creeks, where you can see right to the bottom. They can see you as well, so they go to the bottom and just lie there, waiting for you to leave. For literally 20 minutes or so. If you move away for a few seconds, they disappear. They must have some way of conserving their oxygen supply. I've seen them swimming in saltwater pools too, on the rocks south of Sydney. They're everywhere Punter...:eek: :D