OK, here is the deal. I have about a 6 foot long black snake apparently living in the attic. I have found his shed skin etc. Since it is winter I imagine he is hibernating since it is pretty chilly up there. He has lots of places to hide amongst all the crap up there. When it warms up, what is going to be the best way to find him and relocate him somewhere else?

BTW, no mice or evidence of mice that I can see I think he is eating spiders. The attic is on top of 2 floors of a house. I think he crawled up the outside of the chimmney.

I'd leave him be

Mike

MOVE!

Well, the first thing most people will say is that he crawled back out again...I personally think that is wishful thinking. I would be concerned with getting the place plugged where he got in. How do you know it's a Blacksnake?

If it were me I'd burn down the house.

if there are no mice than either he came in to find a quiet place to shed or he is there to hibernate......if there is no food for him he'll leave on his own.....

Saw his shed skins, we got blacksnakes all over the place up here they show up in the garage, gas grill etc. I doubt he has crawled back out and notreal sure how he got in yet.

Mike, I have considered leaving him alone but I do not want baby black snakes in my attic.

He's not eating spiders.

If he's in hibernation (or at least brumation) he's not eating anything. And won't.

He'll leave come warmer weather of spring. Just forget about him. Best mouser you could ever ask for and he's totally harmless. He'll live outside most of the year and probably find a different place to hole up next winter. If not, still no harm done.

We crossed posts.

Won't be any babies, either.

They're egg layers. Eggs are lain in summer/fall and hatch before winter sets in. It won't be ready for breeding until spring. Food, water and breeding will be the reasons it leaves in the spring. Not necessarily in that order

Yah---forget about him until you feel him crawling into your bed in the middle of the night.

"Blacksnakes all over the place" tells me you have either lots of mice or lots of something else for them to eat. Do you leave dog food out for mice to eat? Are there bats in your attic? Don't make the mistake of shooting the attic snake with ratshot. It will bounce off the rafters/floor joists and put out an eye--yours, not the snake's.

That was my first thought also!

Live trap him, put him in one of those UPS Express Mail boxes and send him next day mail to Les.

He will really appreciate the thought that you think enough to send him a Birthday gift.

I'd bomb them out... I'd get a dozen roach/insect canister bombs and I'd start on one side of the attic and go to the other setting them off in series, get out - close up the attic and let it sit for several hours.

Then, I'd put out glue traps (12 of them) http://www.amazon.com/Baited-Mouse-Insect-Snake-Boards/dp/B001O7AYO0

I'd leave them over night and go back up and check.

I'd replace the ones that have caught stuff.

Once I thought I had the majority of critters caught I'd look to find what they were eating on and I'd remove it completely.

I'd got back and put mouse bait in the attic to kill the remaining snake food sources...

I couldn't live in that house until the SNAKES were gone.

Knowing me, I'd put 30 canister insect bombs up there. I'd fog them into wanting fresh air and leaving the attic.

Again, I'd MOVE!!!!!!!!! Far away from Asheville.

It's just a black snake.......

OK, burning down the house is not an option. Ratshot in the attic, figured that was not a good idea either.

I am beginning to think I may have become the local denning area. Dog food is outside in the dog lot with 3 Brittanys. Have an outside cat as well.

I'd use a freakin' bazooka!!

Like some of the other folks said, if there's no food then eventually the snake will leave.

If you do want to go to war with him there are anti-snake products available. Caveat: I've never tried any of these myself, but here are some suggestions:

Snake Repellents

Snake Trap

Yep, they are great snakes. Generally easy to handle too.

For those folks that know me, they sincerely realize that I would stop at nothing short of using my 10 Ga. with Nitro Turkey loads to rid my house of "A" snake or "MULTIPLE" snakes... Holes in roof, ceiling, floor I wouldn't give a second thought to it. BOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If it were me I would welcome him. Great mouser and cool to watch.

Try pouring a couple boxes of moth balls ( yeah I know all the jokes ) out in your attic. The naphtha in them does help repel snakes. Helps open your sinuses too.

I found a large nest of Cobras living under our house.
I also received advise to, "Just leave them be."

It wasn't long after, that all my dogs and cats disapeared.

Now my wife is missing ... And I'm afraid I may be next.

i live in the country, and as soon as it gets cold mice come calling. i put lots of poison packets in my attic and find dead mice all the time. i wish i had a couple of black snakes in the attic. they are harmless snakes that constrict their prey, and excellent mousers. i see em' all the time in the warm months, along with the cottonmouths. don't concern yourself with the black snake(s). they help!

It's my understanding that black snakes kill and eat small rattle snakes. Your choice is simple, black snakes or rattle snakes. I know what my choice would be. kwg

Now, let's keep this politically correct - is it a BLACK snake or an African-American snake and is someone doing some prejudicial profiling here? Many of the responses/suggestions are very enlightening and helpful (will not breed/hatch there, will leave in Spring, will catch mice, etc.) but those observations are off the critical point - which is - what is the PC way to address the appearance and assumed ethnicity of this snake.

Its an Obama snake. Black on top and white on bottom.

I sort of dug the bazooka approach. If taken, then by all means please You Tube it.!!

Be sure to tuck in your blankets at night.

Throw a mongoose up there.

Spread some mothballs around, they don't like them.

Snakes can't stand ammonia. get a spray bottle or garden sprayer and mix up a strong ammonia spray and go around where you think he may be and spray. If he's there he will try to get away from the ammonia and you just have to snatch him up and get he out of there.

Tarheel

Leave it alone,more benefit than harm.

No damn Obama snake here or AA snake this is a big azz Black snake. His sheds are easily 6 feet long. Never seen a rattlesnake or copper head around the house. No signs of any mice around although they are around in the woods.

Lets hope he moves on in the spring or I may try a few traps but I do not want to kill him I actually like snake but he needs to stop [bleep] in the attic. His sheds dropping on me when I pull the ladder down do not help much either.

Will high temps in the summer in the attic drive him out? It get hot as Hades up there in July and August. One died in the garage a few years back and fell on the windsheild of the car when I drove in, thought I was being attacked by flying snakes.

Do black snakes eat squirrels? I could have used a squirrel eating snake in my attic last year.

- Tom

But then what do you use to get rid of the mongoose?

A six foot long black snake ain't eating spiders, but rats and squirrels would be about the right size.

Leave it be, it'll move on.

Probably a nice 20 Ga SxS would work.

Or leave it be. You'll have no rodents and few bugs up there while the snake is in residence. However,I'm sure your wife can find it this spring if you send her up there.

She is not too upset by it. But, you should have seen what happened when a big old wolf spider went in the sink. She HATES spiders.

Can't help, now if it was a shark, then one of the lawyers here would now what to do.

This might be one of the ones that voted Obama in.

If your sure its a black snake, more than likely one of those community organizer species. First appears to be harmless, but next thing you know will move its whole family into the white house and take over the county. Contrary to popular belief the rattlesnakes and copperheads will nest with it in Washington. Its all downhill from their. GW

MOVE!!!!!!!!!!!

BYC Found its easier to just turn one of them Alaskan female mongoose loose in Washington. GW

Buy a mongoose.

Put on goggles and start firing the snake shot. I hate snakes.

BTW how high is your house? I might need to get my azzz up to the attic to see what's just waiting to eat me.

How's your dog's nose?

That'd be my first step.

Dude, dont go up there, you might find a colony of Kosovans!!! Link To Story

Hmmmmm---what if there's more than just a black? Then you have to haul a dog and a snake out and I know how much you love snakes!!

Build a plywood box about 18" square and put a small heating pad in it. Drill about a dozen 1/2" holes in the top and staple screen over em. Hinge a small door that swings up from the bottom on one side. Prop the door with a pencil or something and turn on the pad before you go to bed. When you get up in the morning, check on it. You probably got a snake in the box. Knock the prop away from the door. Pick up the box and take it to a local school.

Much as I love the bowser - the snake goes, whatever it takes!

Here I go again!

Another snake thread, it's like a train wreck, I just can't not look.

Get a mongoose. Get a cage with a live mouse in it, the snake will get in and eat the mouse and he will be to fat to get out. LOL works with phythons who eat pigs in Asia.

I'd hate to see what some of these guys would do if it was a rattler.
Leave him alone, he doing ya a favor.