Well, not my friend. Here’s what happened:
I have a TON of laundry to do today, not a fun way to spend the day. I’m in the laundry room, I see something move out of the corner of my eye. Now, we’ve had large spiders in the basement, and I’ve gotten used to it. I know they’re not poisonous or going to bite me, no matter how big and hairy they are.
But this thing didn’t move like a spider, and it was dark black. It was a SNAKE!
What I should have done
Stayed calm
What I actually did
Stood still in complete shock and then started having an anxiety attack
What I should have done
Found a way to scoop it up and put it out the back door into the garden
What I actually did
Grabbed the first thing I could find–stain remover–and sprayed it at the snake, which then went into a tiny hole in the wall.
What I should have done
No idea
What I actually did
Ran to the computer to look up the snake–a black ring snake about 6 inches long, not poisonous–and then herded all the children up to the top floor of the house to play. “Hooray! Let’s build a tent up here. So fun!”
Now I’m trying to decide between closing up the hole and just avoiding the laundry room forever. What do you think?
I would consider moving!
I am in favor of avoiding the laundry room forever. In an apartment we used to live in I refused to go in the laundry room for several months because I saw a mouse there. My husband started the laundry, switched it to the dryer, and then brought it to me in another (mouse-free) area of the house to fold.
Ewwwwwwwwwwww! I’m all for option #2!
I like Elizabeth’s idea! )
Ha, Ha. We had a ball of snakes (mama and babies) living under our shed in the backyard. They were non-poisonous. We (my husband and snake wranglers) couldn’t get them out. We moved and rented out the house. Seriously. Snakes are nasty.
How about using that can of foam that gets hard to block the whole in the wall….snakes are better that scorpions!
I don’t think I would be as freaked out if it was a mouse, not that I want that challenge. I went back down there with gardening gloves and rain boots on, wielding a big plastic container to try to capture it, but chickened out. If my son was here he probably would have walked right in and picked it up, but he’s off camping.
Yikes!!
I vote for live and let live. He’s hunting your pests for you, and he’s a beneficial creature. See if you can find a way to let him be.
I would not close up the hole. Then the snake might try to find another opening (upstairs?) to get out of the wall, YIKES. Also, another reason not to close up the hole is if it happens to die in your wall, it would probably smell. We had a mouse once in a wall (we could tell by the scratching that we heard) who could not find a way out (and we had no idea how it got in there so we could not help it out). It eventually died in the wall and it smelled in that corner for a while. We never had another mouse again, so I have no idea how it happened. That was 2 houses ago, though
Get a new friend, a cat, and your problem is over. Or, borrow a neighbor’s cat; have the cat roam the basement to leave its sense to hopefully repeal the snake. Another option would be to call an exterminator…or call one for an at-home remedy…
I would have done the EXACT same thing! Ick. I have such a fear of snakes. I agree with Maria- get a cat. I thought the giant prehistoric looking crickets in our basement were bad. Yick! So glad it isn’t poisonous!