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Post by bluemingidiot on Dec 21, 2018 2:35:00 GMT
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Post by LauraD on Dec 21, 2018 14:34:11 GMT
I can see the snakes congregating there. A nice sheltered place that was probably warmer than more natural options. I don't think I would have relocated them, though. Can you say "rattlesnake chili"?
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Post by bluemingidiot on Dec 21, 2018 15:11:52 GMT
How do they all find the same cabin? I can't be there is enough prey in that proximity to support all those snakes.
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Post by stickinthemud on Dec 21, 2018 17:26:41 GMT
About 1965 Dad's friend showed us home movies of a rattlesnake roundup in Pennsylvania. He told us about how the snakes would gather in dens--that was how the roundup could catch so many. I was scared but fascinated. The most amazing/horrifying thing was rattlesnake meat twitching in the frying pan. Fast forward fifty years. DH & I stopped at Laws Railroad Museum in Laws CA. www.lawsmuseum.org/ It was July, hot, sunny. I was wandering down the tracks looking at the old equipment and heard a buzzing sound. I knew instantly what it was and jumped way back, then froze and looked for the source of the sound. I never did see it. But this is the sound: www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRPafnjumPkAbout dens: www.nationalforests.org/blog/rattlesnake-densI looked up "rattlesnake roundup PA" and found at least two still happen: www.morrisfire.org/rattlesnake.htmwww.noxenpa.com/snakes.htmlTimes have changed--the Noxen roundup promises the snakes will be "promptly returned safely to the location in which they were originally found." |
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Post by bluemingidiot on Dec 22, 2018 5:43:45 GMT
There are just too many poisonous snakes (and alligators). I do not buy that we need them to keep other populations in check. If poisonous snakes (and alligators) were limited to government lands other nonpoisonous snakes and other predators would increase. Also ground nesting bird populations such as turkey and quail would increase. Ducks would increase. (What harmful populations do water moccasins keep in check? Or coral snakes?) Cotton tails would increase.
As cities expand, do-gooding people want to relocate rattlesnakes to the country. The country is already full of rattlesnakes. All they are doing is creating rattlesnake turf wars and ultimately pushing snake populations into encroaching people populations.
We have confined, protected and sustained native Americans on reservations. If that is good enough for native Americans, it is good enough for rattlesnakes and alligators.
We can't have former wildlife densities and a constantly increasing human population.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 22, 2018 17:26:37 GMT
I found a rattlesnake under an old house once as a kid, unexpectedly. We don't have them here, normally. This one came in a load of hay from Christmas Valley to the dairy next door. Lucky for me it was winter and he was slow, never will forget that rattle. Never seen another, even in my travels over east of the mountains....James
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Post by dodgesmammaw on Dec 22, 2018 23:03:59 GMT
Can't believe he relocated those snakes!
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Post by paquebot on Dec 23, 2018 1:29:45 GMT
If it weren't for rattlesnaes, Calfornia and Texas would be overrun with packl rats. Arizona and New Mexico would overrun with mice and Navajo flu (hantavirus).
I think that I was the last to bounty a rattler in our home township in 1968. That one showed up under the front porch. It was $1 per sname and 50ยข per egg or young. Shortly after that, they became protected. Longtime den was later closed in a woods clearing project and I'm probably one of few who knows where they hibernate now.
Farners all tolerated even though one of the cattle may show up with a swollen face from a bite. Cousin shot a nice buck and there was a sweeling on a hind leg. Asked if I wanted it and I thought that I recognized it. When skinned, just a little discolored meat and two little holes in the skin.
Martin
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Post by dodgesmammaw on Dec 23, 2018 2:47:32 GMT
paquebot, So glad they do serve a purpose. But to be honest they just scare the snot out of me! I will be a good Texan and if they stay away from me I will for sure stay away from them.
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Post by bluemingidiot on Dec 23, 2018 4:46:16 GMT
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Post by paquebot on Dec 24, 2018 7:07:34 GMT
Any time there is a large snake population it means that there is something else to support them. If they are native species, it means something small enough for them to eat. Consider the options, snakes or what they eat. Personally I would opt for a big bull or king snake watching my garden instead of a sharing it with a horde of voles. Years ago, when threshing, wasn't uncommon to see someone carrying one of them to the edge of the field after finding it under a shock. That was to make certain that it wasn't run over by a wagon.
Martin
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Post by bluemingidiot on Dec 24, 2018 17:07:54 GMT
Don't have a problem with a black or king snake in the garden. Do have a problem with a rattlesnake in the garden.
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