A "startling" day milling yesterday....

[MotorSeven]

So my neighbor calls and needs 2- 12"x12"x10' creosote posts cut into 6x6x10's. No problem since I already had an old semi dull blade on the saw. We pulled some nails, and ran them both thru without hitting anything(love the smell of creosote and carcinogens in the morning ). I had some more milling to do and decided to make a day out of it. Put a brand new band on, a fresh Poplar log, and on the second pass whacked one of the stops( >:(). Went around to remove the brand new dull blade and before I could open the wheel door the head of a black snake pops out above the blade next to the drive side roller. I am not scared of snakes particuarlly non poisonous ones, but dang it was very startling. I opened the door expecting to see him rather chewed up....but he crawled out and there was not a mark on his 4+' body ???  I don't know how he stayed inside that wheel housing for an hours worth of milling/changing blades without getting diced up into black beanie weeinies.....that snake must have escaped from a Vegas magic act.
I don't get it....one pile of old barn wood an a pile of flitches within 10' and he has to pick my mill as a place to nap. On the other hand, when I bought the mill there was evidence of a mouse house next to the cylinder under the spark plug, so maybe he was hunting a meal.

RD

[zopi]

Snake jerky? :D

[nas]

It is one way to keep the mice out 8)

[LeeB]

Lindy found a little snake in the garage this afternoon. Just a little rat snake about 1 1/2' long. I was supposed to kill it but I just chased it out. He wern't hurtin nothing.

[mad dog]

      I guess I won't complain about finding bees in my mill.

[kelLOGg]

That snake obviously has been well trained in working around sawmills. Maybe snakes have nine lives too. ;D

[spencerhenry]

i once had a pack rat making a nest on the top of the motor, when i took the cover off he hid,... in the fan shroud. i didnt see him go in there, but fiqured it out later. i was milling and saw stuff dripping from the bottom of the radiator, i guess the fan running scared the pith out of him. so naturally i fired the motor up again, when i did he made a break for it. he was not successful, i had to pick pieces of rat out of the fan shroud with a long metal hook.

[Part_Timer]

Katie is very afraid of snakes.  The other day we were out weeding the flower bed.  I waited until she reached into the hosta and yelled "SNAKE"  needless to say I cooked my own dinner that night.  Oh well what's a guy to do. 

[zopi]

Good thing about blacksnakes is they will kill copperheads..we had some folks move into a rather rundown place up the road...it's been so wet
the copperheads moved into the house with them...needless to say they bailed out...

[bck]

Only half of my shop has a ceiling , the other half just paper back insulation between rafters.   2 nights ago I heard the paper tearing and " thump"  a squirrel fell to the floor. So I am thinking I need to set the trap.   about an hour later heard the paper tearing again and another thump. Didnt look right away , figuring another squirrel. Took probably 5 or 10 seconds for me to actually look over and realize the noise was  a 5' black snake. Landed about 10 ' from me.   
By time I grabbed the brush axe he has vanished. Took me an hour to find him again.

[medic]

He was after the squirrel 

[caver]

I had a black rat snake hide in the belt housing of my walk behind brush cutter. I had seen two 4'-6' snakes hanging around the barn and left them alone due to rat/mice problem. I start the thing up and the drive clutch won't engage. I see something and here comes 4' of snake out from under the housing. Snake was unscathed but I don't know how.