Watch where you step!

[Broke Down Ranch]

DH was caulking some leaky window panes on my greenhouse when he found this. It was just a baby.....

 

[Greensage45]

What a cutie, I hope you moved him away from the house a ways.

It is funny how cute something so deadly can be! I have been around rattlers all my life and many of them here will strike then rattle! LOL

The most beautiful Rattlesnake we have is the Rock Rattler, it lives in the high peaks of our mountains and will turn green in the rainy season, just like stained with algea.

Rudi got to greet several of them on our last hike!

I bet a baby one like yours didn't even make a sound with the rattle, but is as deadly as momma, if not more so!

Be careful...you know Chickens will let you know if there is a snake nearby! Some roosters will flog a snake to death!

There is also this video on Youtube, of a cotton tail bunny attacking a rattlesnake to the point where the snake climbed a tree to get away!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ez5QPW-ku4&feature=fvst

Well, I guess it wasn't a rattlesnake, but it was pretty big!

Ron

 

[journey11]

Eeek! Glad your husband found it before it found him!

 

[injunjoe]

DH was caulking some leaky window panes on my greenhouse when he found this. It was just a baby.....[/url]

Well Ron it don't look like a happy ending for the snake!

Glad no one got bit.

Rattlers are in a huge decline. I know most people don't like them and kill them when they see one.

Please take the effort to relocate them away from people.

Joe

 

[Broke Down Ranch]

I don't relocate because I don't want it to inadvertently be my fault if someone or something else gets hurt and with 4 kids that do not watch where they are going or what they are doing, I don't want to take a chance with them either. About the only critter I consider relocating are the ones that can't hurt my kids or that do not carry disease. As a matter of fact, there are some animals that is illegal to relocate in TX because of the chance of rabies.....

 

[injunjoe]

I fully understand your point.
Did we at least get a nice hat band out of er?
Joe

 

[Ridgerunner]

I agree. A poisonous snake does not need to be around my house or anyone else's. In Arkansas, it is illegal to kill a snake. Even with that knowledge, the few poisonous snakes I find here tend not to reproduce. The nonpoisonous ones do however get a chance to become grandparents.

The most attractive rattlesnake I ever found was on a Boy Scout hike and campout in Mississippi, a timber rattler. I could not find a photo that did it justice, but imagine this snake with a bright yellow base color. Grandma was truly a knockout.

http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/03/3703-004-B533951A.jpg

 

[Broke Down Ranch]

Did we at least get a nice hat band out of er?
Joe

You know, I did not even consider that! Usually what I do is hang them belly up over a tree branch for rain (old wives tale tho my mom swore it had indian origin). Anyway, we have had SO much rain that when Roger asked if I wanted to hang it on a tree branch - I am always blessed with this task since he thinks my trace amount of indian blood brings better results - I said "HELL NO! Throw it in the burn barrel!!"

I wonder if it's too late to skin it? The trash hasn't been burned.....

 

[Greensage45]

Here are somel thoughts.

The Range of a tiny baby rattler is quite limited 5 or so miles; it could stretch since the range would not encompass Territorialism.

A momma rattler does not have just one baby, and she bears them live! She can only reproduce once every two years of her life.

She will become active with a male (her choice and time) in the Fall, and then by Spring she will begin to gestate the young for 90 days. Given this, your little rattler was probably born in March or April. He might not have gotten out and about too much until May!

So, given this fact, you can be certain that he was born nearby and that his siblings are nearby.


Please do not take this the wrong way. The reason I am saying this is because I think that this is the time when the kids need to be exposed and taught the whole truth about a Rattlesnake. Did they get to see it alive?

You see, a Rattler is such a specialized Predator that it knows what you are; and what you are is not anything it wants to eat, kill, or come after! It is quite the opposite effect really. We smell (or to a snake, Taste) like soaps, chemicals, and other such nasty things. A Rattler can differentiate you from the rest of its world of animals.

So, with enough understanding, you can gain a deeper appreciation for this incredible creature! Seriously though, the cases of 'Plague' are on the rise, and the CDC has gone public that squirrels, mice and other rodents, and such are Carriers. Several cases in New Mexico, California, Arizona, and now an entire Prairie Dog colony in Colorado is off-limits to people visiting.

As well as the Bubonic Plague, mice are also carrying the Hanta-Virus which can kill you just by breathing in the dust from the mice droppings.

It is easy to change our own Parameters..our own Paradigms. The snake is just a snake and doing that wonderful thing that snakes do...eat small furry pests! We change our thoughts about them and then they can coexist with us. We become aware of them once we realize they have always been aware of us!

They are Nature's Defense!

Huggs, Ron

Here is what you should do in my opinion, since I have seen your property and it does appear to be the perfect setting for snakes.

Around the perimeter of the kids area and the living area of gardening and such, you should take a post hole digger and place a single hole with a flag at strategic points. I would say 20 feet or more apart. Flag them so no one walks into a hole. Then every few weeks when you are working in the yard walk the perimeter and look in the holes. These would be about the size of a standard post hole.

Snakes will naturally go into a hole space to check it out, and once in the hole (make it several ft deep) they sit comfortably there until something drops in on them! Most times they can get out of the hole, but during those cooler early mornings they just sit and rest until they warm up. So morning checks are better.

You will need an extension pole with a hook to manipulate them. Place them into a pillow case or burlap bag and then transport them to a new location. I bet the kids would love the whole 'Operation Snake Patrol' LOL They might even find some other fun things too!

Wishing everyone Well and make this a great learning tool!

Here is a nice website from the San Diego Zoo
http://www.sandiegozoo.org/animalbytes/t-rattlesnake.html

 

[blue skys]

There is a copper head that has been living in our garage all summer. The first time I saw him I almost stepped on him with flip flops on. I have saved him from the machete a couple of times . He's not agressive, so he gets to stay. Our mouse poplutaion is out of control , that's the main reason I let him stay - I would re-think it if there were no rodents to eat.