Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've posted here before about the baby wild easterns that find their way into my basement each fall. Well, I think I caught one of the parents. I walked into my bathroom and in full view on top of the heater was a 3-foot Eastern Milk Snake. It dived under the heat coils to where the heat pipe comes in near the foundation wall. I waited and then grabbed it when it came out again. She or he is every bit of 3-feet (see picture). We live in the country in central Massachusetts and occasionally get mice in the house so I guess it should not be a surprise that a snake of this size would find its way in. I know the Easterns and garter snakes overwinter in the garage foundation so there must be a crack or hole somewhere that allows them access to the rest of my house. I have forced hot water heat and there is usually a small gap in the floor where the pipe comes through. I must have crawled through there? Weatherwise, it's been a typically early spring here: Close to 45 or 50 during the day and dipping below freezing at night. Yesterday was warm with highs in the mid 60s and it rained overnight so maybe that was enough to wake this one up.

I'll release her or him this afternoon in the woods in back of my house.

How lucky you are. The only thing that comes into my house are ants. Of course, it is 75 degrees here today, so I guess there are always trade-offs.
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Mark

Least You Have Snakes In Your Country/State, Me living North Scotland limits me to house spiders, not even anything deadly. And Im not even going to go into the temperatures.

Great find, I'd love to have the option of fieldherping etc.

Scott

Very nice... I went to college in Worcester, sounds like spring still arrives in the old Commonwealth a few weeks before Maine thaws out. I took a drive out to one of my favorite herping spots yesterday, a pond in a cemetery that's usually full of turtles and frogs, and was very disappointed to see that it was still quite frozen. Ah, well. Guess I'll probably see you tomorrow, didn't get a table this time but I'll be at the show to stock up on supplies and check out the animals... invertebrates, amphibians, reptiles, and of course, humans!

Nate:

The show is next weekend, April 11, not tomorrow. I'll be there and I have a table (will have Hondos on it). Stop by and say hi.

Rob

Huh, not sure how I got it in my head that the show was this weekend... duuuuuuuuuh. Gonna have to go with the excuse that I would have kept closer track of the date if I actually had a table for this one. Well, thanks for saving me a trip to Manchester!

Nate

Think of the gas money you save finding snakes in your basement
I have to drive an hour to find those
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“Spring is nature's way of saying, "Let's party!"”
Robin Williams

Doug L

Rob, let me just say I am so jelous. I spent my entire childhood looking for those in western NY. You have them crawling to you.

Nice looking eastern too.

Dave
DNS Reptiles

i live in olean ny about an hour south of buff. ive found a handfull of easterns but they are by far the least found snake around my area
adam jeffery
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" a.k.a. farfrumugen "
When I die, I want to go peacefully like my Grandfather did, in his sleep -- not screaming, like the passengers in his car.

Hey Adam,

I grew up in Amherst...a suburb of Buffalo. They are hard to find, aren't they? Garters and Dekay's were always all over the place.

Dave

garters are everywhere dekays on occasion but red bellies at the right times. but yes the milks are scarce around here...well not scarce but hard to find unless the conditions are just right.
amherst isnt far ive been through quite a few times.
its nice to see others that at least came from the same area as me.
adam jeffery
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" a.k.a. farfrumugen "
When I die, I want to go peacefully like my Grandfather did, in his sleep -- not screaming, like the passengers in his car.

Dave:

It's funny. When I was a kid in central Mass., I would always go snake hunting in the woods and hardly ever found anything other garters and ribbon snakes, although I did once find a ringneck and an eastern hognose.

Now, I find Eastern Milks pretty frequently outside my home and when my wife and I go hiking in the local hills - especially near rocky outcroppings. They are all very clean looking.

When I lived in Georgia and Florida I never found a rattlesnake, and the place where I was was pretty rural. I did find plenty of black racers, coral snakes, grey rats and yellow rats (really big ones), but you would think I would have run across a rattler. Oh well.

Rob