Can you spot the problem? ;)

[True_Texan]

Today turned out to be a bit more interesting then normal. I had a service call scheduled for a guy saying his dryer won't start. He said he heard a THUNK and then the motor hummed.

I get out there, do my stuff and realize what the problem is. I have plenty of experience with this sorta thing happening so I just laughed to myself and asked the guy for a plastic trash bag.

See if you can spot the problem:


















"Yup, that's what I thought" I told him, "you got a snake in the blower wheel and he jammed it up good."

Got the rest of the blower housing off to get him out of there:











After getting a good look at the things eyes, I determined it wasn't poisonous. Reached in there, grabbed him by the tail and yanked him out on to the floor.





Put the trash bag into a trashcan and using a shovel, scooped him up and dumped him in there. Tied the bag up and the homeowner took him outside and smashed the bag against the ground. He didn't seem to want me to shoot the thing. 

Just another reason I carry a gun with me at work!

Should mention it was still quite alive. When I had him on the floor, he was striking at me and anything near him. He was just a little slower then normal. The homeowner was rather excited by the whole deal as well.

[Texas_Bryan]

Sounds like fun.  Thankfully our blower vent is ten or twelve feet of the ground.  Should charge extra for the snake handling fee.

[Hazcat]

You damn sure he wasn't poisonous?

Looks like a wide triangle head to me!

[Jackel]

hurmm?

never seen that before  

then again, i live in MT, not many snakes up here. did it just climb in through the water main?

[Rob10ring]

I'm pretty good at spotting rattlesnakes (our only poisonous snakes locally), but what do the eyes have to do with spotting them?

[Sponsor]

[True_Texan]

hurmm?

never seen that before 

then again, i live in MT, not many snakes up here. did it just climb in through the water main?

They come in through the exhaust vent. If you don't have a good vent cover on the outside of your house, the sneak in there looking for warmth, a place to sit around and/or food (i.e. Mice).

Most vent covers have a flapper door or louvers on them but after a build up of lint, the flapper won't fall closed again.

I'm pretty good at spotting rattlesnakes (our only poisonous snakes locally), but what do the eyes have to do with spotting them?

I've been told if you can get a look at the pupil of the eye it will generally tell you if they are poisonous or not. If they are round and like a humans eye, they are generally not poisonous. If they are shaped like a cat's eye they are most likely poisonous

[Jackel]

wow, i had a buddy that was camping in arizona that had some sort of spider crawl into his jacket pocket while he was asleep. he looked in his pockets in the morning for a knife and found a 4" spider. glad its too cold up here for critters, i hate them 

[fightingquaker13]

Tex
I have often disagreed with you and we have exchanged some hard words. Such is the the nature of these boards. However, you, like me understand the rules and have never crossed the line to the point we can't chalk it up to its all in good fun and exchange gun advice, or if we lived locally, shared a pitcher afterwards. Here however, I will cross that line, but only for your own good. YOU DUMB ASS THATS A FREAKING RATTLE SNAKE!!!!!!!! Note the the triangular head, the diamiond back markings and, oh yeah, the venemous fangs. Look it in the eye? That's like like W looking "Puty Pute" in the eye and seeing his "soul". Maybe its a GOP thing. Point is hoss, that thing could have killed you and you ain't being payed enough for that. Rule number one, if it has a triangular head, it it is a viper, hence poisonous. If you read this before you go to sleep, give your wife some lovin' and tuck you kids in to bed. Then, light up a cigar and have a drink cause you got lucky.
FQ13

[True_Texan]

LMFAO FQ. I guess that picture is a little misleading. I have seen and killed more then my fair share of rattle snakes and that thing, as sure as the day is long, ain't one. That is at best a young bull snake but more than likely a rat snake.

For one, it was well over 2.5 ft long and it didn't have a single rattle on him. Two, no fangs... he was striking away at me and my shovel. His head wasn't much bigger then my thumb. Third, a lot of snakes imitate the markings of other more dangerous snakes for protection purposes.

Also I might add, I ABSOLUTELY detest snakes. I kept my distance from the thing, poison or not, but at the same time did what was required to get stuff done. Might have channeled Steve Erwin a little there. HAHAHAHA!

I'll leave the impersonation to Phil. I'm sure he's a ton better at it.

[tombogan03884]

I don't know about RATTLESNAKE, tail doesn't look right in the last picture. But other wise FQ is dead right, FLAT, (OK that part might be from the dryer motor slamming to a stop on his gourd ) TRIANGULAR head.
You are lucky to not be in the Hospital at best.

You posted while I was typing. I'm glad you knew what type you were dealing with, but I still would not put any faith in judging by the eyes, even if it IS an accurate way to tell you need to be WAY to close to find out. the shape of the head works from a greater DISTANCE. flat triangular head BAD, more oval shaped head still a snake but not poisonous so LESS BAD. also remember, snakes don't brush after meals (why don't they get cavities ?) so even non poisonous snake bites can easily cause dangerous infections.
As for non poisonous one imitating the markings of deadly ones, the Puff Adder and Coral snakes are the classic example, Both have Red, Yellow, and Black bands. There are only 2 differences, the order of the bands and the Puff Adder doesn't have a neuro toxin that kills in minutes or less.