Homestead mailing list

[Mjkoaktreecottag AT aol.com]

I haven't had experience with this remedy personally, but  my grandpa  Powell 
leased land [free--in exchange for "keeping" their fences] in the Shawnee  
National Forest, which was adjacent to their farm in So. Ill., back in the 
20s  
and 30s, from the US Forest Service.  Their farm was mostly cleared  for 
planting corn, etc. so he welcomed having the use of the wooded land and  
turned 
his pigs out there every summer to fatten them on the "mast" [fallen  acorns 
from the many native oaks].  Their farm had a copperhead  problem and there 
were 
supposed to be water moccasins in the nearby creek which  flowed through his 
patch of woods and the leased land, but Grandpa said he never  saw any (the 
map 
in my snake book shows the line as just south of there) and  there were 
timber rattlers in the woods.  Grandpa said that if a pig did  get bit, they 
usually survived because a.) their skin was so tough the fangs  probably 
wouldn't 
penetrate b.) if they did, the pig's circulation was so slow  that the venom 
was 
not very effective by the time it reached their heart.   Don't know if either 
is true and don't plan to test it!!   However,  because of rhe pigs rooting 
habit, they cleared out the normal 
groundcover and a lot of the ubderstory shrubs, so that the snakes no  longer 
frequented the woods as much and those who did could be seen  easier.  
Grandpa often took mama with him when he was mending fence and was  more 
worried 
about the pigs than the snakes so usuall walked the fence on the  other side 
from 
them or in cold weather--after butchering, when he also had more  time.   So 
the point of this story is, if it would work in your  situation, get a pig[s] 
and let them out!!!  My hubby who raised pigs in 1  of his many careers says 
they are healthier than today's confinement--feed lot  raised pork anyway....



************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com.