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From: Anza54
Date: 05-09-2007, 12:06 PM (1 of 17)
I was outside doing some weed wacking and low and behold I spotted my first Rattler for the season. Oh man, scared the crap out of me. I followed him into my garage. He is probably going to help get rid of the damn rats in there. So I left him be. He was a big boy . I guess I better start wearing my high boots from now on when I am weed wacking. It is kind of early here for them. I guess this dry hot weather is not helping. So much for weed wacking today. 
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User: Anza54
Member since: 03-13-2007 Total posts: 63 |
From: lendube
Date: 05-09-2007, 01:35 PM (2 of 17)
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I've been seeing them already too, Barbara. Not up close but dead by the side of the road. Maybe they'll get rid of some of the gazillion gophers all around. Be careful! Lennie |
User: lendube
Member since: 08-06-2006 Total posts: 1548 |
From: plrlegal
Date: 05-09-2007, 04:15 PM (3 of 17)
Dang!! Maybe dh and I need to get a few rattlesnakes and turn them loose in our yard in the spring and fall. The gophers relandscape our yard every spring and fall!!!  Patsy Patsy
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User: plrlegal
Member since: 05-19-2001 Total posts: 318 |
From: Pudge99
Date: 05-09-2007, 04:29 PM (4 of 17)
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Oh man, scared the crap out of me. I followed him into my garage. ...... So I left him be. I am going to assume that your garage is not attached to your house? When I pictured this, I was seeing an attached garage and how we always leave the door connecting to the house open. Rattlesnake loose in the house.  Don't you worry that you will go into the garage to get something and you will startle it? Although I live in Texas I have no Rattlesnake experience but I would think that the danger of having them around would outweigh any extermination benefits. Gina
Pictures of my successes and failures Pfaff 2040 Janome Mylock 134D Singer Futura CE-100 w/ Autopunch Husqvarna Viking 3D Sketch |
User: Pudge99
Member since: 10-30-2001 Total posts: 1375 |
From: daff55odil
Date: 05-09-2007, 04:39 PM (5 of 17)
| I can only be thankful that here in the UK we don`t have poisonous snakes over here, though i`m sure that they can give a nasty bite if they feel threatened. |
User: daff55odil
Member since: 05-15-2006 Total posts: 18 |
From: lendube
Date: 05-09-2007, 04:49 PM (6 of 17)
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Well, they are everywhere around here as well as black widow spiders and brown recluse spiders, scorpions, and mtn lions, coyotes, etc. I know Barbara's got the same. Luckily rattlesnakes tend to shy away from people. They don't want trouble but if you happen to surprise one.... My biggest fear is that one of my dogs gets bitten by a rattler. It happens fairly often but hasn't happened to us (knock on wood.) Not too long ago a friend's Boston Terrier got bitten. That little dog needed two anti-venom shots at $500.00 a crack, intraveneous fluids and an overnight stay at the vet's. I can't imagine what the cost would be with my big bruisers... Oh, I did find a dead, skinned, partially eaten gopher on my welcome mat this morning but it was only a gift from my cat. Isn't that sweet??? Lennie |
User: lendube
Member since: 08-06-2006 Total posts: 1548 |
From: Pudge99
Date: 05-09-2007, 05:12 PM (7 of 17)
Lennie my vet has something called a Rattlesnake Vaccine. Supposedly it allows you more time to get to the vet before it is too late. Good for hunters and the like that tend to take their dog out into the middle of nowhere. Luckily (knock on wood) I have not encountered a rattlesnake nor have any of my animals. Thought my outdoor cat did once as he had two puncture wounds that looked a bit suspicious. Turned out to be tooth marks from the neighbor cat.
Gina
Pictures of my successes and failures Pfaff 2040 Janome Mylock 134D Singer Futura CE-100 w/ Autopunch Husqvarna Viking 3D Sketch |
User: Pudge99
Member since: 10-30-2001 Total posts: 1375 |
From: Anza54
Date: 05-09-2007, 05:52 PM (8 of 17)
 No Pudge my garage is on the lower pad of my property. Not near the house. I would probably of killed the snake if he were near the house. Even though I prefer not to kill them, I am more afraid to catch them I agree Lennie, I do fear my cat or the neighbors dogs getting bit. I am more afraid of black widows and brown recluses then Rattlers. I will just keep my eyes open wide and wear my boots outside when I am clearing brush. Got to get it done. The grass and brush are drying out fast in this heat.
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User: Anza54
Member since: 03-13-2007 Total posts: 63 |
From: lendube
Date: 05-09-2007, 07:20 PM (9 of 17)
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Gina, I have heard of that vaccine and I asked my vet about it. They don't believe it works well enough to recommend it. I can only believe them because they would make money on it I'm sure. Hopefully in the future something better will come about. They have classes for dogs to learn "snake aversion" but it's not something that dog's will remember from year to year. All I can do is not walk the dogs early in the morning or in the evening and hope the rascals stay out of my yard. I'm with you Barbara, I wouldn't want to hurt one either. My dh came up with a "snake stick" that he uses on fire dept. calls. It's a long pvc pipe with a small rope through it with a loop at the end. You get the snake's head in the loop and it's pulled up tight against the end of the pipe. You can then carry the snake and dispose of it in the nasty neighbor's yard...........  You could make one of those easily, Barbara. Lennie |
User: lendube
Member since: 08-06-2006 Total posts: 1548 |
From: AndreaSews
Date: 05-09-2007, 07:52 PM (10 of 17)
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Oh, man, I have the willies now.
Andrea
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User: AndreaSews
Member since: 02-18-2005 Total posts: 1007 
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From: vickki
Date: 05-09-2007, 08:04 PM (11 of 17)
| Thank goodness I'm in the cold...We don't have any of those creatures here...Bet I'll have nightmares tonight. |
User: vickki
Member since: 08-21-2005 Total posts: 374 |
From: HeyJudee
Date: 05-09-2007, 08:46 PM (12 of 17)
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I'm glad there are no rattlers in my neck of the woods. The only snakes I come across are the two legged kind!
TTFN from
Judy |
User: HeyJudee
Member since: 01-25-2005 Total posts: 1366 
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From: lendube
Date: 05-09-2007, 09:45 PM (13 of 17)
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Oh Judy, we have those too! Lennie |
User: lendube
Member since: 08-06-2006 Total posts: 1548 |
From: Bama
Date: 05-09-2007, 10:22 PM (14 of 17)
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I would be more afraid of the snake in my garage than rats. We have rattlers here too, but we see a lot more copperheads and cottonmouths. My FIL found a copperhead in our workshop once when he heard our dog barking at it. He stepped on it's head and crushed it. I was glad he found it wearing his boots than having one of my kids find it wearing flip flops. My sister was bitten by a copperhead when she was 3 years old and nearly died. The chicken snakes and black racers around here don't bother me (remember the black racer I caught a few years ago?) but I'm terrified of the poisonous snakes. Be careful working in those yards!!!! I know I look a lot closer this time of year when I go for my walks. |
User: Bama
Member since: 03-21-2000 Total posts: 2116 
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From: PaulineG
Date: 05-09-2007, 10:35 PM (15 of 17)
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In Australia if you're out in the bush for a walk where there might be snakes a lot of people will carry a long heavy stick and pound it on the ground with each step. Snakes are deaf but can feel vibrations and this will scare them off (hopefully). We have quite a few of the poisonous ones but by and large they're quite shy and so you don't see many of them. I've never seen any in the suburbs but with the drought I'm sure they're moving closer in than they normally would. Certainly all the other wildlife is. Pauline
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User: PaulineG
Member since: 09-08-2006 Total posts: 901 |
From: MotherInLaw
Date: 05-09-2007, 10:56 PM (16 of 17)
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We have copperheads and moccasins here too. Also some gray looking snakes and black ones. the man next door came over here one day last year when my granddaughter was walking across the yard that hadn't been mowed good yet and she saw a snake and yelled for her Daddy. The man next door picked up the snake it was a big big one about 8 feet long and was the prettiest yellow and orange and he said it was corn snake. I looked it up on the computer and it looks just like a copperhead in color so be careful what you pick up thinking it's not poisonous it might fool you. I can take the spiders and the rats just not the snakes and lizards. We also have armadillos, rabbits, fox, squirrels, wild boar, deer, coons, coyotes, woodpeckers, blue jays, cardinals, sparrows, and dove, and some other birds I haven't identified yet. It's back to nature. Oh and also possums. I have to fill up my bird feeders almost every two days. The birds are beautiful and I have hummingbird feeders and last year there were so many of them it sounded like helicopters landing on my porch. they are coming back I had two of them out there today sucking up the nectar I put out. I'm regressing back into my youth, I just have to figure out how I'm going to convience my body to come along with me.
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User: MotherInLaw
Member since: 06-25-2005 Total posts: 1118 
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From: Longblades
Date: 05-11-2007, 11:35 AM (17 of 17)
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We have the Massassauga Rattlesnake in parts of Ontario. They are an endangered species and it is illegal to harm them in any way. Their venom is not as powerful as some others and they practically have to chew on you before it gets through to your skin due to the method of delivery, which is down grooves on the back, outside of their fangs. More dangerouse snakes have their venom delivered right through the fangs, like a needle would. With our rattlers, wearing long, heavy weight pants is a good defense as any venom tends to get caught on the outside of your pants, thick socks and leather boots, which is what one should wear in rattlesnake country, here anyway. Our snakes are shy and sluggish and nearly always try to retreat when found, just don't step on the poor things and give them no choice. But I worry about the dog too so do not canoe or hike with her in rattlesnake areas. P.S. No, they don't really chew. |
User: Longblades
Member since: 07-14-2005 Total posts: 182 |
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