No, the copperheads and rattlesnakes are fast to strike. If you make a mistake you’ll get bit. I have dealt with a number of snakes, one baby rattlesnake that was next to the house got away before I could get the hoe to smash it.
A neighbor who lived 3 houses down sold his house in September. Found out the reason why was that he was tired of dealing with all the mice and rattlesnakes getting into the house. He was a hoarder and apparently a lot of trash etc, there was a smell coming from that home.The buyer had to have people come in and tear out the Sheetrock in order to capture the rattlesnakes that had been living in breeding in the walls. 😩 I have wondered how many of those snakes got away and how many were in the overgrown landscaping he let go around his house.
I have taught the boy not to pick up things around the yard without using a hoe or something to turn them over and not to stick his hand into anything like a patch of weeds, to use a hoe or rake to make sure there are no snakes. Same with piles of leaves when cleaning them up. I raked up a couple of striped garter snakes a few years ago that were nesting in the leaves so there’s a possibility of venomous snakes. Only found one snakeskin this summer and saw no live ones. Used to see a lot of striped snakes but none lately. Think it’s due to some feral cats that are this area. A couple of the really large males seem to be hunters.
