# black rat snake relocating... tips?



## pwilson5 (May 28, 2010)

friend has a black rat snake in his garage... and ive volunteered to go catch/relocate as opposed to it being killed...

any tips?
i have a wood carving glove that ill be wearing (its a woven material to prevent cuts)


thanks!
please let me know asap... im going over tomorrow... haha


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## RoachGirlRen (May 28, 2010)

A glove, a snakehook or sturdy stick, and a pillowcase (plus a way to secure it) should be quite sufficient IMO. They're often very mellow and good natured snakes, so I don't imagine you'll have a tremendous ammount of difficulty. I think more importantly, you want to find a good release site. Are there any wilderness areas near you with "perimeter habitats" - an interface between forests and open areas? Black rat snakes tend to like areas like this.


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## Tim Benzedrine (May 29, 2010)

They are a piece of cake to capture. I don't use anything to catch and free-handle them. I just move very slowly and pick them up mid-body and just carry them to where I want them to be. Haven't been bit by one for a long time, not since I learned to take it slow and easy. Of course, they still may strike if nervous, so my method may not be way to go for you. They are sometimes a little more aggressive if they are holed up somewhere, which may be the case with the one you are going after.
  I've caught and moved two so far this spring, with neither one so much as offering to strike. On the other hand, I did have one take a shot at my face last year when I got a little careless, but I was prepared for it and jerked back before he tagged me. 
I agree with Ren on the type of area to release them.


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## pitbulllady (May 29, 2010)

I'll just reiterate what Tim B. has already said.  I never use anything to catch Rat Snakes other than my bare hand, unless the snake is up too high in a tree or something and I have to use a snake hook or tongs to reach it(I'm only 5' 2", after all, and I SO don't do the climbing thing anymore).  Most Rat Snakes just tend to "freeze" when approach, with their bodies in that odd characteristic "kinked-up" posture, so it's easy to just reach down and lift them up from underneath.  If you grab and forcibly restrain the snake, which is how a predator would act, you are more likely to be bitten, or worse...musked!  I'd rather take a bite, actually, than be sprayed with musk!  If the snake starts to "run" after being picked up, just keep moving your hands underneath it to control its movement until it realizes that you aren't going to eat it and calms down, and avoid letting it near your face, since mouth and eye movements could panic the snake and make it become defensive.  Most Rat Snakes calm down quickly and many never attempt to bite and act like they've always been someone's pet.  Handling with heavy gloves impedes your ability to judge how much force or pressure you're exerting, and can cause you to injure the snake, actually, plus a bite is no big deal, really, and gloves won't help you at all if the snake lets loose with a barage of "chemical weaponry" in the form of musk.

pitbulllady


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## Tim Benzedrine (May 29, 2010)

pitbulllady said:


> If you grab and forcibly restrain the snake, which is how a predator would act, you are more likely to be bitten, or worse...musked!


Yep, that's the only way I've been bitten or musked, back when I was a kid and inexperienced with catching them. back then I'd make a quick grab for the head and hope for the best. It was a guaranteed musking, and often as not, the snake would contort and tag my hand.



> If the snake starts to "run" after being picked up, just keep moving your hands underneath it to control its movement until it realizes that you aren't going to eat it and calms down, and avoid letting it near your face, since mouth and eye movements could panic the snake and make it become defensive.


Exactly! And I've found that it is best to keep them kind of elevated, a lot of the ones I've caught  kind of go frantic when they get near the ground. Only for a bit though. After the initial calming period, they don't go as crazy to get away, in my experience.
And she is right, watch getting them near the face, especially during the calming period. That was how I almost got tagged. I was keeping a freshly caught one at a safe arms length, and then I turned my attention away to speak to someone, while unconsciously drawing my arm a bit closer to my head. I noticed him tensing for the strike, but just had time to jerk my head back. It made me think of a 3-D movie where they launch something at the screen! He may not have had the reach even if I had not reacted, but getting tagged on the nose would not have been pleasant. Or worse, perhaps in the eye.




> plus a bite is no big deal, really,


I usually compare it to getting scratched by a blackberry vine, right down to having to brush thorns from the wounds, but in the case of a bite, teeth instead of thorns.


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