Huge Rattlesnake!!!!

[Tonopah Pati]

This is pretty gross! I pulled the snake apart and to the left side you can see the rodents eye and the feet and tail. YUCK!

 

[ksct]

i am terribly sorry about your chick! how awful! Now i'm not saying that I wouldn't kill the snake (and that is a HUGE one!) but makes me feel bad for them too. That last picture is HUGE!
I would just continue to fill the holes with concrete I guess. Therefore making the area for them to get into run much larger and harder for anything to get in. Thats just my opinion. I wish you well.

 

[Tonopah Pati]

I have had a battle with the rodents digging in any place they want. They will come up through the water hole in a plant pot and eat your plants from the root up to the top.

ure I have wire all around the pen 1' down.

The snakes like to take over their holes, you never know what will come out of a rodent hole.

 

[chickenrunnin]

I suppose I need some help with my issues with snakes, but they gave me the chills and body shakes even looking at dead ones. I pray that the rest of your chickens remain safe.

 

[Raisinghens]

Skeeter I am sorry you lost a chick to the snake and Tonopah I am very glad that mouse was there to satisfy the snake's hunger or it might have been a very sad story like Skeeters.You have very smart hens.I know very little about snakes but I thought rattlers lived in the desert among the rocks. It is freaky to know they share your domains

How did you kill them ? The only thing nice I can say about the snake is that it has incredibly beautiful markings !!

 

[rufus]

Don't mess around with rattle snakes. They are ova viviporous. They carry their eggs within their bodies. After you kill one, it is still possible to find yourself with a few little just hatched rattlers.

We used to throw the dead snakes into a fire. That avoided the problem.

When you have a snake hiding in a wood pile or under something, squirt the co2 fire extinguisher in there. That brings them out pronto. They are cold blooded and they can't take it. Beware, they will not be in a good mood when the come out.

To get snakes out of ground squirrel holes, just squirt some gasoline in there. Again, they will be out quickly, so be prepared.

I suggest you plug the ground squirrel holes with steel wool. But they will just dig another hole. Try the Maccabee Gopher trap.

Again, don't mess around with the ground squirrels. They have fleas that carry the bubonic plague. Take them out of the trap and dispose of them promptly. Don't let the dogs have the dead body.

Good luck,

Rufus

 

[Tonopah Pati]

I just use a flat blade shovel and chop the head off. If I can't get close I leave them alone until it moves off. The different rattle snakes live in different types of things, under rocks in and under wood piles. You can find them in flower pots. You have to watch for them all the time at this time of year. During the night and early in the morning they are the most active. You don't see them so much in the heat of the day. they are holed up some place but will come out at night to feed. My dogs know, when I let them out I say LOOK SEE SNAKE! and they go on guard. My Basset was bit 2 years ago, and she knows. When she finds one she sure lets all of us know. Come to think of it she kept laying in the door way of the pen this morning, I had to make her move out of the way twice so the chickens could get in the pen. She guards her chickens. It was only about 5min. later when the girls came flying out of the pen. She may have known that it was in there.

I threw the big one in my burn barrel. I didn't want my dogs to get it.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

He was at least 12 years old (missing some of his rattles

You cannot tell the age of a snake by counting rattles.

It's more likely it was less than 5 years old

http://www.google.com/search?comple...-8859-1&q=aging+rattlesnakes+counting+rattles​

 

[Luna_Chick66]

this whole thread is making my hair stand on end.

:shudder:

 

[mikesbigroo]

rattle snake is good to eat, that way ya kinda get even,,,lol