You guys are a riot. I have always told hubby how to commit the perfect crime. Just back me into a corner and tangle a snake in my face. Instant heart attack with no trace of any weapon!!!

Natalie, I am sure you are a dear person but there is no such thing as a nice or friendly snake. It actually makes me sick to even type the word !!! NOT KIDDING

Oh, no! Agatha Christie could have used that scenario, Karen!

Just the thought of looking at one is so repulsive to me. Even an ugly slug (is there any such thing as a handsome slug?) is better than a snake.

Karen, I've always been a bit of a tom boy, so maybe that is why they don't bother me. One of my favorite things to do when I was a kid was to chase my boy cousins around with one. I'll refrain from saying the word, since I don't want to lose you. The cousins haven't forgiven me yet! I'm not one to pick them up these days, but as long as they don't bother me, I don't bother them. They are also good at rodent control. Beats having a coyote in the garden, since they are good at that too.

If you happen to die of a heart attack, I'm sending the police after your hubby! You know, just to make sure that it wasn't his fault!

Cross posted, Arlene. I'd rather see a snake than a slug - most days anyway. Those things gross me out!

They do not rank at all on the handsome scale. Snakes are just too sneaky looking to me.

Oh dear -- I have to admit I'm totally in Natalie's camp on the snake issue; I've always liked them (of course, easy for me to say since we have no poisonous ones here...). I had a pretty good-sized garter snake living in my GH for a couple of years that I named "Slytherin'" (Harry Potter thing) -- never thought to name him after my ex, that would have been an insult to the poor snake! And last year one summer day DH went golfing, came home and parked the car in the garage and later we were sitting on the deck while the dogs ran around the yard -- next thing they were standing in front of the open garage door, barking their heads off ... when we went to see what the problem was, a big (at least 4 feet long) pine snake was coming down from the underneath part of the car, then he went back up into the frame; John backed the car out (slowly) and parked it over by the edge of the woods, and I don't think it took 5 minutes for that snake to come out and go off where he belonged, hunting rodents or whatever! All we can figure is that he came from the golf course, can't imagine he started out here, went 20 miles there, waited 4 hours or so, and came 20 miles back...

Sandy, good for you, not insulting the snake!

We're trying to prepare ourselves for rattlesnake season. They really scare us, because of the dogs. After the two got bit last year, we've been extra cautious about it. Jackson was still a pup at the time, and since then, he barks his head off if he sees a suspicious stick. We've killed a lot of sticks since then. We always yell SNAKE while doing those sticks in, and praise him like crazy. Hopefully this means that he learned not so pick rattlesnakes up with his mouth. He's the dog in my picture, and got bit twice inside his mouth. Silly puppy, thought it was something to play with, or something to eat.

Rattlesnakes (or other poisonous snakes) would definitely worry me, especially because of the pets! When I was very new to the Michigan Upper Peninsula, I looked out the window and saw one of the cats batting at something in a little patch of woods between the road and our semi-circular driveway. When I checked a little closer, I could hear a distinct "rattle" and immediately thought "rattlesnake!!" (Obviously I wasn't thinking very clearly at the moment -- we really do not have them here.) As it turned out, pine snakes are called "false rattlers" because they have similar markings and shake their tail like a rattler, and when they shake it in the dry leaves in the woods -- well, it sounds like a rattler! Whew!!

Scary, Sandy! I would have freaked out!

We're very protective of our dogs, and if something can kill them, it isn't welcome in the fenced in yard. If it is on the rest of the property, and isn't bothering anyone, it can stay. Not long after we moved in, there were two wolves on our property. That is when we put up the fence. No way could the dogs fight off a wolf, and I didn't want to run into one of them either. Luckily, we haven't seen them since. There are coyote everywhere, and they stand on the other side of the fence every night, and make that awful noise. As long as they don't jump the fence, they are free to make as much noise as they want. Rattlesnakes are killed as soon as we see them in the yard. We have poisonous toads here too, and they aren't allowed to stay, either. My husband relocates them, but we've been told that they are an invasive species, and need to be dealt with. So, we'll rethink that in the future. There was a mountain lion killed less than a mile from our house last year, but not by us. It was stalking the neighbors sheep. So, we're pretty much at the bottom of the food chain around here! Had a moose walk through our property a month or so ago, and that was pretty cool! We get to watch wild turkeys all day long, and we have lots of Bald Eagles here too. There are more deer than we can count, and we love seeing them. So, I guess things are balanced out. Still, if the deer or turkeys turn into dog killers, they are on our menu.

Natalie, it sounds like we have very similar wildlife ! Wolves, coyotes, black bear, cougar (denied by the DNR for many years despite many people claiming to have seen them, finally verified with all the trail cams now -- and we saw a mom and her baby once while driving across the UP quite a few years back, coming back home from downstate), bald eagles, turkey, deer... but no rattlers, and moose only in the northern UP. It always amazes me to think of the large wild animals that we so rarely see... On New Year's Day in 2014 we had 3 bobcats out on the driveway... that was kind of a first for us!

Please don't let there be any bear here! Those things scare me half to death! I was just reading in the paper that there was one in a small town around here last week, and it is not an area that I'd think bears would be. It's all farmland around that area, like here, so I guess we could get them too. Haven't heard of any bobcats here yet, but I'm sure they are around. I really love all of the wild life, but I'm also thankful that the yard is fenced! Our trail cam has only picked up deer and turkey so far!

Wolves are something that the DNR and everyone else denies are here, at least in my area. We had the Sheriff come out to verify our VIN numbers when we moved here, so that we could register the vehicles, and he asked if we had seen any wolves. It was only the week before that we saw them. He said that he hears about them all the time, but none of the officials will confirm it. Maybe because too many people would be hunting them. I think we have the non-native Canadian wolves here, but I'm not sure. All I know is that it was very exciting to see them, but also very scary having them so close to the house. They were HUGE.

Natalie said:
I'm almost considering using a tough brush killer on them, even though I HATE using any kind of chemicals. We had to use some on the wild blackberries along one side of the property last year, because they were starting to take over. Huge areas of land here are totally covered in them, and we didn't want that to happen to us. So, it was chemical warfare, and it worked. I hope it doesn't come to that for the raspberries, but I'll do it if needed. This isn't an area that will ever have food planted in it again, so that makes the decision easier.

One thing you can do to limit the collateral damage caused by herbicides: Find the biggest, toughest plastic garbage bags you can, like "contractor bags". Pick out berry vine branches that are as far as possible from plants you want to keep.

Tuck the leading tips of some of those "isolated" black raspberry branches into it, then push them the rest of way in until you have stuffed the bag more than half-full. THEN spray some harsh but non-persistent herbicide into the bag, so NONE sprays around outside. Let the leaves absorb the herbicide. Leave them in the bag until any remaining herbicide dries out.

Then remove the bag and remember that toxin may still wash off the berries and onto other plants.

You might even leave them in the bags for days, until they've absorbed as much as they ever will, and have started to die back to the roots. Then cut them off from the rest of the plant while still in the bag, and throw them away.

If you know that all the herbicides in the mix have short lives, you might be able to try composting the dieing branches, but my guess is that blackberries can root even in their afterlife!

Rick's method worked for me when I needed to kill Hummingbird vines. Thanks, Rick.

I agree about the blackberries and think they get reincarnated as more blackberries.

I prefer to use a tall cardboard box, with both ends open, and placed so that the bad plants or weeds are inside. Works like a charm! Besides, none of these are tall enough to shove into a bag. I think the tallest was maybe 8 inches, because I had cut them all to the ground a couple of months ago.

The raspberries have been sprayed. I couldn't take the digging any longer. My mind said yes, but my back said no. My back won. They look like they are hurting.

I don't blame you for spraying the raspberries, Natalie. Just buy more, when you're ready, and plant them where they'll be safe from the always hungry deer.

I transplanted some into 5 gallon buckets first, and they are doing good. I figure if they don't survive, I'll try again.

Good job, Natalie. You were up against a brick wall yet managed to save some. They'll spread fast enough when you give them a permanent spot. In the meantime you've saved not only the daylilies but your sanity. I hate having to do jobs like that!

I think I will keep them in the buckets, even when I move them to a new area later. Or, I'll buy a stock tank and sink it in the ground. I never want to have to deal with this again, but I love raspberries!

I have the exact same issue: we love the raspberries but their roots travel too far.