[TraceyCCM]

No, that's not the new, terrible sequel to Snakes on a Plane; I wish it were.

About a month ago my husband found a dead snake near our pool equipment. It was nearly split in half and we assumed a bird might have dropped it when flying over our yard. We got rid of it and didn't think much of it.

The snake was little, about 12-15 inches long. It was pretty slender and for coloring it had what I would describe as horizontal red and black (possibly orange and gray, or something like that) bands.

Today I was looking at the bottom of the pool and I saw something round on the bottom. My husband and I both thought it looked like one of those plastic snap bracelets little kids have, but when he fished it out we discovered it was another dead red and black striped snake. Again, we didn't think a whole lot about it. We told ourselves a bird must have dropped that one too.

Then tonight we were sitting in the jacuzzi and looked over to discover another one of these snakes swimming around in the pool. Holy crap! My husband fished it out with the skimmer and lobbed it into the vacant lot below us.

So, first of all, does anyone know what the heck these snakes are? Are they something to be concerned about? Are they potentially dangerous to us or our 3 Greyhounds?

Next question is, where the heck are they coming from all of a sudden? And how the hell do we get rid of them? Should we ask our exterminators to see if they can do something about this? Even if they're not dangerous we're both freaked out and don't want to use the pool until this is resolved. Creepy as hell.

Just as an aside, we bought a house here last July and we spent the two years before that in Palm Springs. We never saw a fraction of the stuff we've seen here just in the past few days. Even with the exterminator there was a centipede in the bathroom and a 3" cockroach in the family room. Plus there was a sickly pigeon that attacked my husband in our courtyard, a dove that my husband had to fish out of the pool (we think it lived) and then the two snakes. Is this all a coincidence or is the extreme change in temperature to blame for all the freaky animal activity in and around our house?

[MSchu]

next time take plenty of pictures

[clutchcargo777]

Which one?

southern nevada snakes - Bing Images

[ScoopLV]

I was told about snakes in the Mojave: Unless it has a rattle at one end, it's probably not poisonous.

Check out this link. It ends with "For those of you who delight in desert hiking with your dog, there is a rattlesnake vaccine available for dogs. Contact your veterinarian for further information regarding this."

Animal Control - snakes

Unless it had a rattle at one end, I'd say you likely encountered a fairly common gopher snake. Little harmless snakes like these are the reason we're not experiencing problems with roof rats, and other areas of the valley are. Snakes (even the poisonous kind) really are our friends -- they keep the truly nasty pests at bay. (And they can't get rabies.)

[clutchcargo777]

Errm... Snakes are venomous, plants are poisonous.

Sorry, but you bring this on yourself.

[JoanD'Arc]

Originally Posted by TraceyCCM

No, that's not the new, terrible sequel to Snakes on a Plane; I wish it were.

About a month ago my husband found a dead snake near our pool equipment. It was nearly split in half and we assumed a bird might have dropped it when flying over our yard. We got rid of it and didn't think much of it.

The snake was little, about 12-15 inches long. It was pretty slender and for coloring it had what I would describe as horizontal red and black (possibly orange and gray, or something like that) bands.

Today I was looking at the bottom of the pool and I saw something round on the bottom. My husband and I both thought it looked like one of those plastic snap bracelets little kids have, but when he fished it out we discovered it was another dead red and black striped snake. Again, we didn't think a whole lot about it. We told ourselves a bird must have dropped that one too.

Then tonight we were sitting in the jacuzzi and looked over to discover another one of these snakes swimming around in the pool. Holy crap! My husband fished it out with the skimmer and lobbed it into the vacant lot below us.

So, first of all, does anyone know what the heck these snakes are? Are they something to be concerned about? Are they potentially dangerous to us or our 3 Greyhounds?

Next question is, where the heck are they coming from all of a sudden? And how the hell do we get rid of them? Should we ask our exterminators to see if they can do something about this? Even if they're not dangerous we're both freaked out and don't want to use the pool until this is resolved. Creepy as hell.

Just as an aside, we bought a house here last July and we spent the two years before that in Palm Springs. We never saw a fraction of the stuff we've seen here just in the past few days. Even with the exterminator there was a centipede in the bathroom and a 3" cockroach in the family room. Plus there was a sickly pigeon that attacked my husband in our courtyard, a dove that my husband had to fish out of the pool (we think it lived) and then the two snakes. Is this all a coincidence or is the extreme change in temperature to blame for all the freaky animal activity in and around our house?

I have had a couple of inground pools and learned to deal with the wildlife who are looking for a source of water. If you are having a drought, they are just passing by to seek water.

Yes, you should find out what they are in order to protect yourself and your pets if needed. Don't panic, it's just nature. Make some noise when you prepare to step out of your doorway so they can run away.

If you don't want them in your pool one solution is to toss a few mothballs around the perimeter of your property. I was shown this trick by the guy we hired to catch some rattlesnakes hiding out in one of the gardens at our front door. Toss a mothball every 6 feet or so, or sprinkle some moth flakes instead. Animals don't like the odor and if it's far enough away from your living area you won't even know it is there. Replace/refresh it after it rains or enough time passes that they dissipate.

Then work out an escape plan for the snakes, bunnies, moles and frogs that come around and get caught in the water to drown. Try stringing a rope across the surface of the water for them to use as a ladder, or prop up a small board (wood or whatever) for them to climb out. Use your escape system when you aren't using the pool and move it out of the way to swim.

Then, whenever you want to use the pool, search the area to see if there are any critters that need to be shooed away. BTW they get caught in the skimmer, so dead or alive, you'll have to dump them out as well.

Those steps worked just fine for me, and when I once missed a baby snake swimming by while I was in the spa, all I had to do is get the net, fish him out and toss him in the bushes. Remember, they don't really want anything to do with people anyway.

Also, I don't think killing them, if that comes up, just to get rid of them is a good idea. Snakes are part of the ecosystem and they eat mice and insects that you don't want around, either.

[TraceyCCM]

Originally Posted by clutchcargo777

Which one?

southern nevada snakes - Bing Images

Thanks for the link. They have looked most like little versions of the top left. I guess some sort of Ground Snake?

Thanks for all the responses. I'm not necessarily interested in killing them, just two in the pool in one day, PARTICULARLY THE LIVE ONE THAT WAS IN THE POOL WITH US, is freaking us the hell out. It seems a little less like a coincidence than an infestation. So the occasional one I can handle, but being overrun with them I cannot.

[ScoopLV]

Since snakes are predators, you'd only have an infestation of them if there was enough of their food supply to support them -- in thei case, rodents.

All animals are drawn to water. And our area of Las Vegas is definitely more "wild" than most other areas. We've seen fox, owls, rabbits and we've been affected by coyotes (although we've never actually seen them). I'd much rather have snakes than rats. Just like I'd rather have spiders than roaches and crickets.

[Buzz123]

It sounds like you might live in a new development near the mountains or foothills. If the snake in question is a coral snake it is highly venomous. In fact I believe more so than a rattlesnake. But you probably wouldn't run into coral snakes around here, except maybe in the Valley of Fire. There are plenty in Arizona though. It's probably a harmless king snake. They have similar coloring, but there is a way to tell them apart. Here's the rule: Look at the stripes - red and black friend of Jack; red and yellow, kill a fellow.

Coral snake - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[clutchcargo777]

Just to clarify Buzz's rule of thumb, it refers to colors touching. Red borders black, its a harmless king snake. If red borders yellow it's likely a coral snake. I believe there is one exception but its a pretty good rule.