Rattlesnake, not one but two

[pfields]

My pop door didn't open as soon as it should have this morning so I went through the gate in and out to hit the button for it to open and then back to the house to get my cup of coffee. We always sit outside in the morning watching the chickens while having coffee. They all came running to the fence so I went back to the gate to throw them some scratch and sunflower seeds. After that I finished my coffee and then went inside the gate again to check on their feeders before cleaning the coop. Right behind the 2nd feeder beside the tree was a rattlesnake, about 3 feet from me, it was all curled up and sound asleep. I hollered at my husband to get a bucket because his doctor just authored a book on rattlesnakes and ask us to get him one the next time we saw one. My husband went through the gate with the bucket, we caught that one and as he was going out of the gate he looked down and hollered there's another one. Sure enough right where I had walked not once, twice, or three times but 6 times through the gate was another one all curled up and asleep. We caught it and put it in the bucket with the other one.

Thank goodness it was cooler this morning than usual and the ground was really damp, too. They don't react as fast when it's cooler. I'm so grateful to God it didn't bite me or my husband.

 

[LeafBlade12345]

Why does a doctor want them? They are beautiful snakes, but very dangerous!

 

[pfields]

He just authored a book about rattlesnakes. I guess he wants them for the venom, for research. Beautiful and very dangerous.

 

[LeafBlade12345]

Oh I see. Could you ask him and post why to be sure? I'm interested in what they would be used for and if the ones we see around here should maybe be donated to studies...I just don't want anything to be in humane or harmful to the snakes, I love them! My pet snake is so tiny compared to rattlers!

 

[pfields]

He's an expert in snakebite treatment. He wanted them alive not dead.

I hate to disappoint you but we've had pets bitten by rattlesnakes and they're quite painful some pets just die instantly, so we don't have much care for them. It's not fun picking produce from our garden and having to watch out for rattlesnakes. They grow quite large here and a person could die or lose their limbs to a bite.

Look up the cost of CroFab.

 

[LeafBlade12345]

Oh I'm not disappointed, they are very dangerous and they should not be kept as pets. It's good that they are going to research. You sure don't want to get bitten!

 

[kerusnak]

Yuck....reminds me we found a dead black snake in the yard last weekend. I saw my dog in that area we found it earlier that day and he gave a little bark (he is not much of a barker) but when I saw him he was just sniffing the ground so I didn't think anything of it. Not sure what happened to the snake as he was covered in ants but I don't imagine my dog did it.

 

[pfields]

Oh I'm not disappointed, they are very dangerous and they should not be kept as pets. It's good that they are going to research. You sure don't want to get bitten!

My cousin was bit couple years ago and it took 50 vials of antivenom for him to recover. He had on snake boots but 1 fang got him above the boot. It was a very large snake.
Yes, you're right, do not keep them as pets.

 

[Jesusfreak101]

Those things get shot here. I have a two year old and there is no shortage of rattlers and cotton mouth on the property. Our 1.5 year old dog got biten by one of the two he survived but most of his thigh rotted off. They great for the environment but i am not going to try and catch one. One of the largest rattlers was found on this property so yeah no thanks. I love gardening i look out for snakes but they rarely come to the house i only seen two rattlers both babies. One i killed the other my cat killed. The chickens like eating small plains snakes and good snakes i like i scared to see what would happen when they see a baby rattler or a large one. Come spring we might have babies agian not to thrilled about that but not much to do beside pray they dont come up to the house.

 

[LeafBlade12345]

We trap and release as they rarely come back. Glue traps work very well if you check them daily. Glue traps also work for tarantulas, so they are very helpful!