What if This Happened On Your Boat?

[JPA Cate]

G'day, guys. Just read this and had to ask myself, what if this happened on our boat? Most snakes are good swimmers and anchor chain is like an escalator for them.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-04-...seat/102199822

[NaClyDog]

Time to burn the boat...

[sailingunity]

We found a snake curled up on our deck in Vero Beach. It was a little chilly and my guess is he wanted some warmth. It wasn't poisonous, but we didn't want it to find a way into the boat when we weren't looking, so I tossed it in the water. It kept coming back to the boat! Finally, I took him in the dinghy and dropped him off maybe 30 yards from the boat, which did the trick. He probably went up someone else's boat.

[JPA Cate]

Yeah, it's different if it is not poisonous, but the cape cobras are among the most venomous of the African cobras. At least to me, having it be poisonous or aggressive makes a huge difference in my scared level.

Ann

[SY Harmony]

You folks didn’t know your boat hook is a multi-tasker?

[boatman61]

Where you are I'd be more worried about the spiders..
They drift in on the wind.

[rslifkin]

Originally Posted by SY Harmony

You folks didn’t know your boat hook is a multi-tasker?

That's what I'm thinking. Boat hook. If necessary with a knife taped to the end.

[Matt Johnson]

Had a water snake - don't know what it was but I think all are okay here - swim to our boat and up our anchor chain in the Bahamas. We were on deck because a resort had a fireworks display otherwise we never would have known.

[kayakerChuck]

We'd either have to nuke it from orbit, or catch/contain it.

I've had to evict a few rattlesnakes from dirt dwellings. It's not too hard to find a box or a bucket & coax them into it. I've never had to harm one, and never had one angry with me. (so far, knock on wood, etc, etc.)

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by sailingunity

We found a snake curled up on our deck in Vero Beach. It was a little chilly and my guess is he wanted some warmth. It wasn't poisonous, but we didn't want it to find a way into the boat when we weren't looking, so I tossed it in the water. It kept coming back to the boat! Finally, I took him in the dinghy and dropped him off maybe 30 yards from the boat, which did the trick. He probably went up someone else's boat.

In Florida I had a similar experience but it was a giant iguana. The thing was changing to the different colors on the boat and kept coming up the anchor chain.

[wholybee]

It really depends on how/where I find it. Mostly on a boat I will have more room to move and more room to give the snake. That is a whole lot different from being strapped to a seat, unable to move elsewhere, with it between my legs.

I imagine that like most animals, it isn't very dangerous unless it feels threatened, so being unable to move quickly to get out of the way might have actually made it safer than poking it with a big stick. Snakes are fast and have a large striking distance. I'm not sure I would be using a boat hook.

[skipperpete]

We were anchored in Bundaberg on the town reach and the cane farm on the bank did a burn causing all the critters to head away from the flames and into the water. 2 snakes boarded us and there was no way that was going to end well if they got below... finally got em back in the water after an hour of anxious snake herding. The a few years later at Rinca island we had a small Komodo dragon in the tinny attempting to get aboard... unsuccessfully. In Langkawi a large python entered a boat and grabbed the ships cat but was beaten back outside by the owner, it was a very big python!!

[donradcliffe]

I successfully used a baitcasting rod to remove a water snake from the rear cabin. Tied a bowline around the top ferrule and teased a 12 in loop out. Got the snake to crawl thru the loop and cranked down the line tight. Snake was pissed off, but the business end was at the top of the rod. Took it up on deck and released the line tension over the side. The snake did come straight back at the boat, but this time he didn't climb aboard.

[Don C L]

I'd sure rather be in a boat than a plane!
I think I'd just close up the companionway, launch the dinghy and ride in that behind the boat, with a very long painter.
If my daughter is on the boat though, she'll have fun catching it. She's a little weird that way.

[Celestialsailor]

I've always been afraid of spiders since a wee lad. This was once again brought home 7 years ago when, Ringo, was bitten by what the Vet described as a "Desert Recluse", cousin to the Brown Recluse.

One early evening, while the sun was still out, he came up to me and rubbed on me, showing his small bump on the side of his head. I figures it was the usual yellow jacket sting that they get every so often. The next morning was the first photo. We called the Vet and a sample of liquid under the skin was described as flesh eating and off to surgery (picture2) we went where I paid the equivalent of another horse. It took over a year to heal and his immune system took another 6 months to restore after that. Poor guy! The third picture is post op.

I bombed the barn every 10 days for a month. We all thought it must of come in from some hay we bought from a hay broker. We only buy local now.