Photos below all are related to snakes. If such bother you, skip this blog.
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It began the afternoon of April 7th. I went to the door to tell Ranch Boss, who was working in the vacation trailer, preparing it for the visit from my brother, that he'd had a call. When he walked back toward the house, he had news for me. On the front porch was a diamondback.
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We have been lucky here with king and gopher snakes but have only seen a rattler at the back of the property. I have worried about them despite having a fenced yard for the cats. They consider snakes playthings with no idea, from our part of Oregon, that they can be dangerous.
So, what to do? After spraying it with water, the snake curled up under a big rock. Ranch Boss said let it be and figured it'd go away. I worried with my brother coming and he'd use the trailer out front. So while Ranch Boss wasn't concerned, I called a snake removal company. They would come within half an hour but were a bit costly.
Again, Ranch Boss said it'd be okay. It seemed pretty subdued after the water spray. I said, I want to do it even at $150. They remove them and put them in better places. So the guy is on the way and Ranch Boss sat out front keeping an eye on the rattler to make sure it stays where it is. The guy would have found it if it had left but better it stayed put.
Such a relaxing day until... I only hoped the guy would get here before snake left. It seemed satisfied to have the warmth and big rock for shelter. When the guy arrived, he came well equipped with snake tongs and a long stick that I guess is called as snake hook, tall boots, and a bucket with a locking top. He went right for it and captured it using the tongs and the hook to put it in the bucket within moments.
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He said it was what we had thought, more officially a western diamondback rattlesnake. He said males are out right now looking for females. The females will be out later looking for food. Because Ranch Boss had kept an eye on it, it was an easy capture, he reduced the cost to a regular customer. I hope we won't be one but was relieved this snake has been safely taken elsewhere (where it is legal for them to be moved as there are restrictions). I'd have been stressed if we hadn't done this; so definitely worth it to me for it to be taken away alive for hopefully a new life. He mentioned they have a one mile range... That might mean we will see it again *s*
The day after, we saw the other snake that looks like a diamondback, only is not. He's a gopher snake. You can tell by the head shape and no rattles. They are good snakes to have around although they do not kill rattlers. They do though compete for food, which might help to reduce the number of rattlers. We used to call them bull snakes but turns out they don't live in our part of Arizona. They look pretty much the same; so not sure how they are differentiated other than geographically.
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Since then, we've seen no snakes but they are for sure here.
2 comments:
As an official old person I can say, "Back in my day" In 1956 when I was 16, Bob, a friend of mine asked me to join him on a hunt for rattlesnakes. We lived in Manhattan Beach, which was not prime snake country. But the Palos Verde Peninsula was and it was only 30 minutes away. We parked on the side of the road overlooking Marine Land of The Pacific. we grabbed our home made snake handling poles and a sturdy bag and walked up the rocky hill. It only took us a few minutes to find our first one. Common sense told me to let Bob take care of it. Another 100 feet of more and Bob had another one. In half an hour the bag held 4 angry snakes so we went back to the car where he placed the buzzing bag on the back seat. What was he going to do with 4 rattler? He took them to downtown Los Angeles where he sold them to a company that made anti-venom. He was paid $2.50 per snake. He would do that once or twice a month for spending money. Me? I put my snake handling pole away...forever!
Interesting story and it seems to be a good thing to have done as maybe it's the only way they got antivenom but they really are needed in the environment. Glad you didn't do it again. I think my husband was interested in something like that in the younger years. We do get smarter lol Maybe.
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