Bill, it sounds like you may live in the same kind of environment I do -
wooded hills with lots of limestone outcrops for the copperheads to use
for overwintering.
Previous owners sold this place because the copperheads were so
abundant. They were apparently leaving their eggs in sawdust these
folks had used for insulation in an added outside wall that contained
plumbing. 5 is the most I've killed in the yard in a year & like you, I
don't bother the ones in the woods, just the ones in the yard.
Fortunately, I rarely see them here in the yard other than spring and
fall as they disperse from their hibernacula(e?) in the woods and as
they return. Snake highway here <g>
Last I heard, copperheads are the most abundant snake in Tennessee,
venomous or otherwise. Thank goodness they are so lethargic. While
pulling ragweed in fall, I have put my bare hand withing 2 inches of a
coiled one ready to strike, nearly sat on one coiled on top of a hay
bale in the barn. In both instances, I discovered I have the ability to
levitate. <g>
So don't worry, I will definitely be alert! & may try to figure out
something to do with these piles before breeding season. Do you have
any idea how thick a layer of mulch would have to be in order to attract
them? I may just pile more in the rows. Or on top of my dead irises -
turn the whole place into a parking lot :-(
> Sure enough, I raked a copperhead out of that pile when shoveling
> it into the wheelbarrow!
>
> Copperheads are the most prevalent poisonous snake in my area. I
> generally dispatch about two per year around my place, though I remember
> killing six one year. ... I don't go searching them out,
> but if they intrude upon my space...
>
> Bill Wells (surrounded by mush and brown trees in southern MO)
--
Linda Mann east Tennessee USA zone 7/8
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