Welcome! Here are the website rules, as well as some tips for using this forum.
Need to contact us? Visit https://heatinghelp.com/contact-us/.
Click here to Find a Contractor in your area.

Occupational Hazard

Dan Foley
Dan Foley Member Posts: 1,258
Brian was working on an AC unit at Lake Anna today when this came slithering out. Good thing I was not there. You would have never seen me move so fast.

Comments

  • pecmsg
    pecmsg Member Posts: 4,776
    That could be a Deadly Occupational Hazzard
  • Larry Weingarten
    Larry Weingarten Member Posts: 3,273
    Hi, I have nothing like that on the West coast, but looked this guy up and it might be a black rat snake. Seems they are basically nonvenemous, but are constrictors. This "model" grows to eight feet long. Sounds exciting! :#

    Yours, Larry
    kcoppSuperTech
  • Dan Foley
    Dan Foley Member Posts: 1,258
    Yes, it is s black snake. It’s harmless. They keep the rodents away. They also keep the copperheads away. Where you see black snakes, you won’t see copperheads.
    JacquesD23
  • And I guess we won't see you either : )
    8.33 lbs./gal. x 60 min./hr. x 20°ΔT = 10,000 BTU's/hour

    Two btu per sq ft for degree difference for a slab
    rick in AlaskaDan FoleyErin Holohan HaskellRomanGK_26986764589
  • Steamhead
    Steamhead Member Posts: 16,796
    We have them up here too. Reminds me of a story:

    Some years ago, we were working a job and decided to get lunch at the local Chinese carryout. I went in and placed the order, then sat down to wait. There were several other people in the place, including some girls maybe 18-19 years old.

    A few minutes went by, and the girls started screaming. I went to see what the fuss was about, and it turns out a large blacksnake had approached the door. They were screaming "Kill it!".

    I said "No way" then explained to them that this type of snake was not poisonous, and that it was looking for mice and rats to eat. You could see the fear in their faces. The snake decided to move on, went around the corner and disappeared into some bushes. Only then did they calm down. Our order came up and I left.

    The Lovely Naoko had a good laugh when I told her about this experience.
    All Steamed Up, Inc.
    Towson, MD, USA
    Steam, Vapor & Hot-Water Heating Specialists
    Oil & Gas Burner Service
    Consulting
    Dan Foleykcopp
  • HVACNUT
    HVACNUT Member Posts: 5,804
    Maybe non venomous, but that thing looks like it can take care of itself. If I was a Copperhead, I'd cross the street when I saw that coming. Cool scales.

    I would have jumped out of my boots. I only see little Garter snakes once in a while.
  • JacquesD23
    JacquesD23 Member Posts: 11
    edited May 2020
    Yeah I live in New England, and I amazed how people in the South or Mid West go into people's crawlspaces everyday and routinely stumble upon Rattlesnakes that are hidden behind and under the units they are servicing. These people are unrecognized heroes for this.
  • DavidinKenai
    DavidinKenai Member Posts: 10
    No snakes in Alaska (other than a garter snake in the very southernmost part of the State), but it's not infrequent to almost bump into a moose in the yard or driveway. The ones in town are pretty habituated and there's a way to move (minding your own business, ignoring them) that usually keeps them calm.

    When I'm doing site walks, I try to include them in any photos of the house/yard.
  • ratio
    ratio Member Posts: 3,616
    I remember seeing a moose at the side of the Glenn Highway one day & thinking that the Cadillac STS I was driving would tickle his belly hairs if I drove under him. Them're big animals.
  • Johnt
    Johnt Member Posts: 4
    Working in a mechanical room in a college in the City University of New York system. Climbed an eight foot ladder to read the nameplate of a motor near the top of an air handler. As I got to the top of the air handler, maybe 8 - 10 feet off the floor, I looked to my side and was eye-to-eye with a huge raccoon, less than 2 feet away. Luckily I think he was also surprised and he moved away and I didn't....stayed on the ladder to laugh it off.
  • Solid_Fuel_Man
    Solid_Fuel_Man Member Posts: 2,646
    Here in the far northeast, we only have grass snakes. Lots of moose, and a bunch of these little guys! I've seen so many dead mice above ceilings.

    These two (look carefully) must have liked the warm hum of this air handler contactor. 480V too.
    Serving Northern Maine HVAC & Controls. I burn wood, it smells good!
  • RapidRoy
    RapidRoy Member Posts: 5
    Years ago when I was new to the profession, I was servicing an oil warm air with the tank outside. The filter was outside and it's a wooded area in NEPA. Homeowner comes out and warns me because she has a better view behind me that there's a bear behind in the bushes. Found it real hard to focus on the filter while looking over my shoulders.
  • unclejohn
    unclejohn Member Posts: 1,833
    Snakes were a dime a dozen in the 70's when all compressors had CCH. Mostly for me it.s bees. Had my 32' ladder all the way out and got to bottom of I guess what was a fore runner to mini splits. On the inside hung a evap with a blower and on the outside way up there was a condenser. little 9K or so compressor and fan. I took the cover off and must have been two wasp nest there who didn't like it. That cover hit the ground and the bees thank goodness went up and I got off that ladder quick.
  • MarkMurf
    MarkMurf Member Posts: 31
    Bayonne (N.J.) Plumbing Supply , one block down from the family business , C.J. Murphy Fuel . Both customers of each other for too many years to count . BPS had an old Keewanee oil fired locomotive style steam boiler . It had an ACME oil burner on it . 1725 rpm soot machine in an out building dark as hell . Building , boiler , burner encased in soot . No maintenance contract . Just on a repair as needed basis . I was the lucky one this day to get that ill-maintained , antiquated , candidate for The Smithsonian back on-line . As I bent over the burner , seemed like the whole floor , buried in years of soot started to wriggle and move ! Startled , I straightened up and whacked my head good on the boiler tube overhang . Turning a flashlite on the writhing floor under the blast tube , I found a brood of puppies the yard dog had had . Two weren't lucky enough to have made it in that harsh environ . But I grabbed the biggest , healthiest boy pup out of the litter and took him home . After a good degreasing and bath , he turned out to be a beautiful German Sheppard ! Huge ! We named him Keewanee ! A good , smart , lovable guy . Born under a sooty , boiler-burner unit from the turn of the last century ! ! What more fitting a pet for an old oil burner man from Bayonne , N.J. ?
    ratioErin Holohan HaskellRomanGK_26986764589
  • psb75
    psb75 Member Posts: 828
    Plumbing and "snakes"--go together. Unavoidable.
  • rick in Alaska
    rick in Alaska Member Posts: 1,457
    psb75 said:

    Plumbing and "snakes"--go together. Unavoidable.

    Not in Alaska! :)
    Rick
    ratio