Snake Removal Free Quote: 423-502-8148
Snakes In or Around Your Home
Identifying poisonous snakes can be tricky. Watch to learn how to identify a poisonous snake.
In comparison to the mammalian species, snakes do little damage to building structures or food stores; but, for many, snakes illicit an uncontrollable and unexplainable fear response. This problem is compounded by the fact that snakes can pass through very small holes and pop up at unexpected times. This can become a more serious problem if the snake reproduces on the property. Some snake species can have over 100 babies at one time though most of our local species have less. The mother snake does not care for the young and, once born, disperse relatively quickly.
Some snakes are livebearers and others lay eggs. Copperheads and Rattlesnakes are livebearers (young are born live not hatched from an egg). They have their young in late summer to fall and can give birth up to 20 snakes at a time. The young can bite and deliver venom from birth. Our local poisonous species are Copperheads, Timber Rattlesnakes, and less commonly Pigmy Rattlesnakes. Cottonmouth snakes are also native to both Tennessee and Virginia; but range in the opposite end of each state and are not found locally. All these species are pit vipers and have a venom that is cytotoxic. This means that their venom attacks tissue and blood cells instead of the nervous system. Tissue damage can be severe. The toxin in these species creates a reaction very quickly. With the bite comes tingling, swelling, nausea, a blue/black discoloration, hypotension, and affects affect to the heart. Most bites from these species are not fatal; but they are very serious and require immediate medical attention. When dealing with this species, be aware that the “snake biting after its head was cut off” is not an old wive’s tale. The heat sensing pit on these snakes continues to function even after the snake is dead and the head has been cut off. Passing the hand in front of a dead snake can cause the snake to bite.
Most issues in the Bristol, Johnson City, Kingsport area that I run into are related to nonpoisonous species. Black snakes are our most common snake related call. These retiles lay about 20 eggs which hatch in late August to early October. Black snakes grow up to 6 feet in length and usually attempt to flee when approached but will strike when cornered or handled.
These snakes can make regular visits to a home, sometimes without the homeowner knowing what is happening. This can go on for many years if it is unchecked. I saw an excellent example of this earlier this year when I visited a home in Johnson City where an insulation company was removing the insulation from a home with a large suction machine. Two workers were doing the removal and one worker had collected 15 snake skins and the other had collected about 19 skins. They had encountered a nest that in their words had “exploded” with snakes when they put the suction hose near it. I came to comfort the workers and try to locate and remove as many snakes as possible. While there I personally collected about 20 more skins. Juvenile snakes shed more than adults; and reports range from one shed per year to four for adult snakes. There were plenty more skins still mixed into the insulation. This was an older home and this had obviously been a long running problem. The crawlspace of this home had numerous entrances and a partially decomposed snake sticky trap. This home needed to be sealed up long ago.
