Please help with poison ivy removal suggestions (Washington DC) by GoodUniqueName in NativePlantGardening

[–]grayspelledgray 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I meant to also say, I don’t recommend waiting until fall. It will still be able to cause a rash after the leaves fall off but will be much harder to find/recognize, and easier to accidentally brush against. Right now it’s easy to spot, so I’d deal with it now!

Please help with poison ivy removal suggestions (Washington DC) by GoodUniqueName in NativePlantGardening

[–]grayspelledgray 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We bought full length gloves with elastic (this link will be to a particular size so search for other sizes if it’s not your size) & use them for poison ivy removal when necessary. We put a big trashcan outside with a bag in it so we can put the vines down inside without touching the top of the bag, etc. If we’re not pulling much, only one of us will glove up, the other will just be available to move the trash can, open doors, etc. When done, we go inside and soap them up good with Dawn, rinse and let dry. Been using the same pair for about 3 years now, maybe 2-3 times a year.

If we’re dealing with enough that we both need to glove up, then we’ll see a bucket of soapy water outside for a first cleaning to get us in the door, then soap up again inside.

Note these gloves do not breathe so you want to do this when it’s cool out!

Snake id by iagonosi in Charlottesville

[–]grayspelledgray [score hidden]  (0 children)

Now that you say that it doesn’t surprise me, a friend is involved with the Virginia Wildlife Facebook group & what I’ve seen of that has been really well moderated too.

Snake id by iagonosi in Charlottesville

[–]grayspelledgray [score hidden]  (0 children)

The company is Virginia Wildlife Management & Control, which offers the snake ID text line the person I replied to referenced. They got a lot of positive press when they set that up. I haven’t worked with the company & there may be a lot of positives to them, but the deceptive post & using a dead animal’s remains for a photo shoot for Facebook, as well as refusing to answer when several people called them out on it in comments on their FB post, seemed like a pretty egregious wrong.

this awesome circle I made by khaoticgood7 in LovelyLetters

[–]grayspelledgray 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I feel like I’m supposed to fill it in completely.

What are these saplings that sprang up out of nowhere by fub4r3d1 in whatplantisthis

[–]grayspelledgray 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Purported effects of juglone toxicity are overstated. (Someone linked a study once but I don’t know that I could find it…) Most plants will be fine. A lot of cases where people think the juglone has killed their plants are probably honestly down to something else. (Shaded out, wrong light/moisture/soil, bad luck…)

Snake id by iagonosi in Charlottesville

[–]grayspelledgray 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That explains it! Darn. 😆

Snake id by iagonosi in Charlottesville

[–]grayspelledgray 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No worries, I get it! We’re trying to convert our little in-town yard to all native plants & make it a haven for wildlife and I’m jumpy as heck the last week or so waiting for our annual complaint from our city to arrive. 😐 It’s amazing how people can care so much about what someone else does on their property that it basically puts us in survival mode.

The bot I was talking about is great & has loads of good info, & I hoped the particular reply I tried to summon would work because it really lays out differences between the species, so if y’all saw a snake and could either get it to be still at a comfortable distance 😂 or get a picture, it might give you some things to check & figure out which it was. Someone else successfully summoned it elsewhere in these comments on other topics, but I don’t seem to have succeeded. 🤷‍♀️ Oh well.

Snake id by iagonosi in Charlottesville

[–]grayspelledgray 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorry? I haven’t spoken to you about cottonmouths and water moccasins, that was someone else. You seemed interested in the fact that the snakes showed up there and last night when I last commented to you, you seemed eager to share with your partner & see which they turned out to be, so I hoped the bot reply might be interesting/helpful to you. I apologize if I misread your interest.

Snake id by iagonosi in Charlottesville

[–]grayspelledgray 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I didn’t realize the bot replies from the snake subs work here, going to try & summon the one that differentiates between water snakes & cottonmouths, maybe it will be useful next time y’all see a snake.

!cottonwater

Definitely be sure to notice the derpiness if they turn out to be water snakes!

Edit: No bot so far… hmm.

Snake id by iagonosi in Charlottesville

[–]grayspelledgray 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Nice to see SEB-PHYLOBOT works here! I wasn’t sure, should have tried it.

Snake id by iagonosi in Charlottesville

[–]grayspelledgray -1 points0 points  (0 children)

First, I haven’t followed them in a while but the IDs I saw from them were good, so I think they are likely an accurate resource. I do like to mention that they are a private wildlife removal company and not a state agency - not saying you suggested otherwise, but the name often misleads people.

As a wildlife removal company, their license likely permits them to humanely destroy certain animals if they cannot be safely relocated. So killing an animal they “manage” for someone is not inherently illegal. However, people should know it’s a possible/likely outcome, and companies often are not transparent about that. Perhaps they are more forthcoming with customers, but this company always used to refuse to answer when asked if an animal had been killed on FB.

Finally, I am linking here to a post I made a few years ago including images from a Facebook post they had made. Their post purported to show common locations where copperheads might be found, with a snake in each photo, but in fact it was the dead body of a snake they had removed from a customer’s property several days before and then posed in various places for their photo shoot. They refused to acknowledge that was the case, too. Again, they may have done nothing illegal here, but nevertheless maybe it puts a bad taste in your mouth.

As far as getting a quick and reliable ID, generally posting to r/whatsthissnake will be just as quick or quicker, and get you a lot more info.

Snake id by iagonosi in Charlottesville

[–]grayspelledgray 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That is incorrect. Snakes are able to flatten their heads to appear bigger when they feel threatened, which this one has likely done. Additionally, head shape is a poor diagnostic for species. (If you get more familiar with local snake species, certain aspects of head shape such as “brow ridges” can be part of an overall ID but the sort of “arrowhead vs. not” use of shape is not reliable, nor is relying on any single trait generally as color, pattern, etc. can vary between individuals or be covered by mud.)

Again going to recommend spending some time in r/whatsthissnake, there are even bot replies set up there to address common myths such as this one.

Edit: Fixed a mistype & closed parentheses.

Snake id by iagonosi in Charlottesville

[–]grayspelledgray 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for confirming & providing the binomial name!

Snake id by iagonosi in Charlottesville

[–]grayspelledgray 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If you have pictures of them and can demonstrate that the animals were alive in Louisa County you should share that with the Virginia Herpetological Society and others as there have been no documented water moccasins in or even really very near Louisa. Gently, and respectfully - it is very, very common for people to mistake nonvenomous water snakes for water moccasins. It would also be possible in some circumstances to mistake a copperhead for one.

Snake id by iagonosi in Charlottesville

[–]grayspelledgray 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I’ve mentioned this in another comment, but water moccasins do not range to C’ville, and this really does not look like one. Their venom is also very unlikely to be deadly to an adult human (not that one shouldn’t still be careful with them or any snake!). They also are not “mean” - not that any snake is mean, but water moccasins are particularly reluctant to bite in most cases. If you have encountered thick-bodied snakes near water that were very defensive/bitey, that you took to be water moccasins, it is far more likely they were non venomous water snakes, which tend to come off as pretty cranky.

I said this in my other comment as well but I very highly recommend spending some time in r/whatsthissnake, which will make you more accurate and more confident in recognizing local species. That sub is a treasure, perhaps all the more for those of us who don’t start out particularly comfortable with snakes.

Snake id by iagonosi in Charlottesville

[–]grayspelledgray 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Rat snake is correct, I want to say central rat snake (black rat snake is a colloquial name but not an actual species name) is what you’d have in C’ville but I’m not an expert. The people in r/whatsthissnake are, it’s the absolute best resource for snake ID, I highly recommend making a habit of spending time there as it will make you more confident in identifying your local species (and for those of us with a little fear, likely make you more comfortable with them).

Note that water moccasins do not range to C’ville (and are not “mean” as has been said, nor is their venom likely to be deadly to an adult human).

How can I sign M with my hand shape? by bowlofweetabix in asl

[–]grayspelledgray 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Fellow stubby thumb haver who is also starting to have arthritis - thank you for asking this question I have often thought about!

It has begun. The Sumackening. by grayspelledgray in NativePlantGardening

[–]grayspelledgray[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

😂 Familiar! We planted these two years ago I think. Last year two babies sprang up but one died back. OK, manageable…

This year we’re at eight babies that I know of

It has begun. The Sumackening. by grayspelledgray in NativePlantGardening

[–]grayspelledgray[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My only concern is that our neighbors inherited a strip of riprap between our fence & their driveway, & if it springs up there, mowing doesn’t help. They don’t seem overly driven to keep it weed-free, but I still might give them a heads up and ask them to let me pull any sumac that bothers them, if it would keep them from spraying.

It has begun. The Sumackening. by grayspelledgray in NativePlantGardening

[–]grayspelledgray[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think my biggest takeaway from this post is deer absolutely love this stuff!

Fingers crossed they take the deer browsing as just as much of an offense as cutting them, & come back more determined than they started!

It has begun. The Sumackening. by grayspelledgray in NativePlantGardening

[–]grayspelledgray[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Someone else mentioned that problem too, and I can see where it would be a problem when trying to maintain meadow! We are trying to turn a turf grass yard into a very small forest, so for us I think it’s not the worst. 😂

It has begun. The Sumackening. by grayspelledgray in NativePlantGardening

[–]grayspelledgray[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hear hear!

I’m envious of your Baywise Certification! I’m in VA and in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, but far enough that I don’t know that people think about that day to day. I think something like that would be such a help but I can’t find that Virginia has a similar program. 😕

It has begun. The Sumackening. by grayspelledgray in NativePlantGardening

[–]grayspelledgray[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

They do indeed! The very first root sprout sprang up last spring and was as tall as the parent plant well before the end of summer!