Rattlesnake Anyone?

[ckroll 101]

that is one very pissed snake, now i have a question arent juviniles not only more aggressive but isnt the venom more potent aswell? also ive seen snakes heads continue to strike even after it being lopped off by a shovel, now me being my fathers son id have made tiny snake bits of it with my 12ga.

Venom is the same strength. In point of fact, juveniles are not more aggressive, but lack experience, so they will react more quickly to insult. They are also more difficult to identify and given their small size, people often don't take them seriously. Crotalids are 'upland vipers' preferring dry rocky areas as far from human habitation as possible. Snakes will avoid humans whenever possible. Snake/human interaction is invariably the result of a snake being cornered and threatened.

Let us go back to the story. It started with a glue trap. There were mice. The snake was in the garage because there were mice in the garage. Snakes go after dinner, not people. If you've got rodents, sooner or later, you'll have snakes. They are the best mouse trap on earth. They are silent, re-setting mobile mouse removers that turn mice into tiny biodegradable pellets and never have to be emptied. Mice can smell a snake in the house and won't nest there. If you keep chickens, a rat snake is your best friend.

What people fail to recognize is how important snakes are for rodent control. Especially in the Northeast, without snakes and their unique ability to get into the smallest of places, rodent populations would explode. Lyme disease represents a much larger threat for disability than snake bites. While I've never handled rattlesnakes, as they are protected in New York, I can tell you copperheads are gentle, docile creatures. The only time I've been bitten was by a juvenile when I screwed up while relocating the little guy.. It hurts, you get over it.

[MoFire390 118]

as much as i hate and i mean hate snakes i do watch alot of shows about them. according to a local expert on snakes he stated to me that the younger snakes give all their venom in a single bite weather u sept on them or if u are messing with them. adult rattlesnakes give something called a "dry bite" which is puncture only no venom. if provoked the snake will deliver a almost lethal amount of venom. like i said i hate snakes to me the only good snake is a dead snake. sorry just my personal oppion.

[x635 4,066]

ckroll, next time I will overnight the snake to you. I'm sure since there's a couple of more foundations to be built, I'm sure it will stir up a rattlesnake den, which in wintertime, can contain 100+ rattlesnakes in some situations.

The natural enviroment for a snake is outside. That's not an issue. When it enters the home of person who has a 16 month old daughter, then there is an issue. There are no evidence of rodents, and the sticky pads are designed for them but I use them to trap venumous spiders. My thought initally was to get the snake off of the sticky pad with my neighbor, but it probaly would have destroyed the snake's scales and skins. The snake was placed in a bucket and taped, and into the garbage, which is also loaded into the garbage truck. I'm sorry it had to suffer on the sticky pad, but I'm not taking any chances.

I'm an animal lover too. If I see an animal in distress, I usually can't handle it and it can bring me to tears. I can't kill a living creature, and I honestly thought it was dead already and wasn't going near it until I could find out more.

Also, did you know the antivenom and treatment medicines cost abot $30,000. Despite that, many people still have major injuries such as tissue necrosis or limb amputation? And get your facts straight about venemous snake bites in Texas, not just the deaths. I've hear several documented cases and they aren't that pretty.

The reason I posted it was for awareness and discussion. The snake was already on the pad, so, always having a camera in hand, I took a photo.

And please, quit insulting your fellow members of this board. Having a different perspective and information, or having someone disagree with you, does not constitute reading comprehension.

[16fire5 693]

Try a mongoose.

Since I really can't stand snakes I have found out that you can't import the mongoose. They basically kill all the small native species. But if you live in India they can be domesticated and are immune to cobra venom. Who could forget Rikki-Tikki-Tavi

[ckroll 101]

Ah, getting snakes off sticky traps... flour and dental floss. Powder the sticky trap, slide the dental floss between the snake and board and 'saw' gently using a little vegetable oil. Start at the head and go with the direction of the scales. My mother taught me that.

You are correct, holding a different opinion is no crime. Some posters were equating my belief that an animal should not have to suffer with letting it roam free in house and yard which was not at all what I had said. A good discussion has as its foundation, accuracy.

My numbers came from Texas Parks and Wildlife. If you have better ones, please share them.

My reading of your initial post was that you thought the animal harmless and left it there for several days before giving it to a neighbor. My comments were based on that. If that was not the case, then my comments were misplaced.

As for awareness, your post has has done that. And please, do not send me 100 rattlesnakes in winter. I cannot place them all.

[x635 4,066]

I just wanted to make it clear that I hate seeing animals suffer. The sticky traps even have their own section o PETA's site. They are primarily to catch bugs and spiders.Ask my wife about the the rat that I removed from the sticky pad that was still alive, held him overnight to make sure he was OK, and released him into a grassy field.

Basically, I procrastinated ID'ing the snake due to work and other obligations. I was kinda shocked when I saw him in my garage. So it sat there for a few days, with me assuming it was ded.I also felt really bad because it looked like a baby and I had technically killed it.

I was told by several people familiar with snake habits that I was very lucky that I caught it as it entered into the garage, before it could hide somewhere.

I wouldn't send any snakes to you, because if I like it or not, it's not their natural habitat. Part of the problem is people (not you) dump all kinds of snakes that they had as pets when they no longer want them.

[BFD2553 75]

Seth looks like a Western Diamondback Rattlesnake, Crotalus atrox, VERY nasty indeed. Not endangered at all, these are the ones they go out and get for the round ups.

Gamewell45 , if that Timber was 6' that would be a NYS record

Actually looks like a Mojave Rattlesnake- far more toxic venom. Seth do you have any creosote brush shrubs near your home? These snakes are particularly attracted to it and are often found in close proximity to them.

[FFBlaser 24]

Let me put it this way, I hate snakes, I would have found the nearest set of irons and gone to town on that thing. I get scared of the mice that get caught on sticky traps in the barn....

Seth, see this as a learning experience.