The photo is of my daughter Linda holding a Mojave Green rattle snake which she killed in her yard a couple of days ago.
Linda's cat was looking out the window of her home and was acting very disturbed. Linda looked out to see what had her cat's attention and there it was...a very large rattle snake just off the edge of her front porch and about three feet from the side of her house, all coiled up and waiting for something!
She grabbed a shovel, her weapon of choice, ( not mine though), and went outside to dispatch the snake to rattle snake Heaven which she quickly did . It was a good size snake with 6 rattles and a button.
This is desert country and rattlers are a part of the wild life out here. My son and daughter and I have all killed rattlers that were in our yards and close enough to be a threat to us. Lest anyone think we enjoy eleminating the snakes, I assure you we do not. I hate it when I have to put a rattler down and I know my children feel the same way.
BUT, we are a long way from medical help and it takes a medical helicopter an average of one hour to reach us, a fact that was observed once again last week when a neighbor with an injured leg waited for the emergency helicopter.
The venom of the Mojave Green is particularly dangerous and is life threatening if help isn't immediate. So, it's us or them!
With the activity of three dogs running here and there on my place I am seeing fewer and fewer snakes but Linda's place is much more serene than mine .
Lucky is the smallest of my three dogs and she is the rattle snake watcher. She is always on the lookout for rattlers. When she spots a Mojave Green she doesn't attack , she just sounds the alarm and we hop to.
Till next time.
Marion Springer
1 comment:
Hi Marion,
this is kelly, uh did I mention whe I knew you that I am a former rattlesnake roundup competitor in the okeene, OK rattlesnake roundups when I was a kid?
Hmm its relatively easy to make a heavy snake hook. And a wheeled plastic trash can with a lid will hold them for a short 5-10 minute trip up the road :)(DONT use a cloth bag like the experts do as a snake WILL bite right through the side)
MY Dad used to only kill them when we lived in little rock Arkansas, thats why I decided to learn to safely handle them. But I understand COMPLETELY why people who dont know how to handle poisonous snakes kill them instead when kids and pets are around , the risks are simply too great.
Its just the hook and the plastic trash can do make catching and releasing rattlers a LOT safer for people who have a need to relocate rattlesnakes.
warm regards
kelly
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