Catching a Wild Snake?

[momakat]

I just got in and my boss's father asked me about a snake. He said it is black with yellow rings. They live outside of town (Tucson, AZ) and I know there used to be a king living under my boss's home. Anyway, he seemed a bit nervous about finding it in his Arizona room, so told him that if he saw/found it I would catch it for him. gulp! So . . . any advice, help . . . anything . . . to ID the critter and safely catch and release it. I do realize this is far different from picking up one of my boys. hehe

TIA

[eddie]

Print some pictures of local possibilities and let him look and ID it from there.
Unless it's a ven, I would try to convince him to let it remain, as it is a force of good in cutting down the rodent/other critter population in his immediate vicinity.

	Venomous Reptile A term commonly used to refer to a venomous reptile. Most commonly used in reference to venomous snakes.

[momakat]

Since we know it isn't a rattler species and it isn't a coral we are pretty sure it is not a ven. He's not too bothered about it but more worried about his min. chihuaha (sp). I told him he probably did not have to worry and the snake would only strike if the little dog bothered it and it could not get away. He does't mind it living around the outside of his home . . . or underneath it . . . just not inside of it.

	Venomous Reptile A term commonly used to refer to a venomous reptile. Most commonly used in reference to venomous snakes.

[hisba]

ok... go to this site (I am yahoo-ing all over the place today!)
http://www.sloanmonster.com/index.ph...ndentification
could be a king or a long-nosed snake maybe?

[Crotalus Ruber Keith]

Tell him to call you if he ever sees it in his house. I think he should just leaves the snake alone and it will leave him and his Chihuauhuahua (hyper little dog) alone. Its more trouble than what its worth looking for a harmless snake under some dude's house.

Or, just go drink some beer, come back in an hour, and tell him you got it in a bag, and you're going to release it. Then send him a bill for your beer consumption. He'll never know the difference.

[momakat]

Definitely a king! But just to clarify - Wayne is not hunting the snake or making the attempt to locate it. He is cool with it - just not inside his home, and he is sure now that his little dog will not bother it but will rather announce it's presence if it comes out. Neither he or my boss minds that they have king snakes living around or under their homes - good for rodent and other snake control. And he knows to call me if he sees it and would like it removed from inside his home to outside his home. I'm just looking for advice to safely catch it to release outside the house.

[eddie]

Catch, pick up, open door, walk out, bend over, let go.

[louise]

Originally Posted by eddie

Catch, pick up, open door, walk out, bend over, let go.

sounds like good advice to me

[momakat]

Hmmm . . . it's wild . . . I touch/catch . . . it turns on me . . . 'ouch' outcome for me? It's about 3.5-4' long - and it will let me just walk up to it and pick it up? It won't get upset? Right . . . gues I'm just iggorint abooot wil' snaks . . . I've NEVER done this before with anything over 12" in the wild or had any experience with 'wild' snakes so I am ignorant about how to handle a snake of this size that is not accustomed to being picked up by a human. *sigh* Smart aleck!

[louise]

use a snakehook if you got one. brett sells great ones and has free shipping. they are a great thing to have around. just click my top banner and it will take you to his site.
while you are looking join the site i would love to see you there.