I opened the utility room door to go out and bring in the mail and a freakin' snake dropped down from the top of the door and landed right at my feet!
How it got above the door I have no idea, but it sure surprised the heck out of me. I mean, how often do you have something land 3" in front of your feet when you open a door? That it was a snake made it just that more interesting.
I have no idea what kind of a snake it was, but I've never seen one that looked like it.
It was 15"-18" long and a light tan color, almost the color of a night crawler.
Maybe he was up there eating some tree frogs...
He couldn't have actually been on top of the door itself because it's way too small of an opening.
The house is stucco, so that must have given it some traction to climb.
Whatever kind of snake it is, it's now 'was.'
Utah Blindsnake
After it dropped down, I kicked out onto the front porch, then onto a plant.
A few minutes later I got a shovel and terminated the event.
He was crawling into and under some rocks at the time, so this is only the part of it I pulled out a few minutes ago.
It looks like the Utah Blind Snake Thumper noted.
Please don't tell PETA or the animal rights idjuts!
LOL!
Besides, Reno is not a Sanctuary City.
Oh, great. Now I'll spend the rest of my life in a federal correctional institution!
Dog had to step on it before it finally struck. The owner said that his other dog gets bit once or twice a year, lays around for a couple of days and recovers.
This was a big yellow dog, gentle as a lamb, and cried like a baby.
We have 'rattlesnake avoidance' training for dogs here in Reno.
We've taken our Golden Retriever to it twice, and after the first part of the very first session, she wanted nothing to do with them!
When we took her the second time, as soon as she realized where she was and why, she just wanted to get back in the SUV and go home!
Check out similar training in your area.
The dog you save might be your own.
Where I grew up I killed every poisonous snake I found. From dogs to horses to people.... lots of things bit by them. Got a diamond back once that was well over 6 feet, as thick as your forearm. With a tire iron. Get him to strike and then beat him with the iron while he was stretched out. He was in the middle of the road at about 1am..... tried to run over him with the car but it didn't do much. Was told later you have to lock up the brakes as you run over em. I'll know next time.....
There are a lot of rattlers on that mountain and when I saw one, I'd either kill them with rocks or whap 'em with whatever stick I could find.