Texas

[jajeanpierre]

Adventure Time!
​

So my wife goes to check for eggs today. We have some hens laying in the weeds. When she pulled back the weeds to look for eggs, this is what she found in the nest. I heard a scream and went out to see what it was.



For those of you who do not know; this snake is called a "Sonoran Gopher Snake". It is not venomous. It is a constrictor like the Boa Constrictor. Their main diet are small rodents, but they love eggs. This snake had several eggs in it's belly.





I took the snake several miles away and released it because this snake is very beneficial because it help control the rodent population. Most people would have killed this snake, not because it eating eggs, but because of it's uncanny ability to mimic the exact sound and striking pose of a diamond back rattle snake. Here is a poor quality I made of this behavior several years ago. I made this video for educational purposes so that people would know that this snake acts just like a rattlesnake, but is not venomous and should not be feared.

The Sonoran Gopher Snake has a special membrane under it's skin that it inflates with air to make the rattling sound. Just in case you were wondering.

 

[TexasLisa]

Good afternoon everyone! I went out today to care for the flock (and to finally put my fancy chickadees back into their coop now that is finally dry) when I noticed something strange. It was sunny, but the wind was blowing a pleasantly cool breeze. I was able to do some weeding without a care. And then the thought struck me.


Oh, the shock! The fear!

I'm not prepared at all! I've got to buy hay and mealworms and supplemental feeds and heated waterers and--

Then I remembered. Oh yeah, I live wayyyyy down deep in South Texas. We don't have a winter.

All these people on BYC preparing for the Fall and Winter weather got me pumped for a season of fear and dismay, but I'm all good now. I remembered that I can garden in the winter if I so desired. I can let the chickens out freely. Heck, I could probably hatch chicks in this weather, mwahahaha! So yeah, this is what happens when you read too much on BYC. You prepare for seasons that don't exist where you live.

Uh OH!!!!!! Somebody has been hit with chicken math!!! Quick, get her some chicks!!

Lisa

 

[mandaleigh1981]

Uh OH!!!!!! Somebody has been hit with chicken math!!! Quick, get her some chicks!!

Lisa

It still hasn't set in yet that I will have 25 13 lbs chickens running around in about 9 mos.......I am sure once they outgrow the brooder I will start to understand. Though at least DH has the stuff to build the third run for the JGs. The NNs already have a run built (its a mite smaller than the one we are planning for the Jerseys.)

 

[galanie]

Yes! Only mine is a walk behind. I have that and a tractor. Tractor is diesel so it's not going to be converted lol.

I hate to use one of those tiny camp stove tanks for a mower though. Hmm.

You can use a camp stove tank.  It is not problem.  If you buy a wet line hose you can refill those little camp stove tanks from a larger tank for about 50 cents a bottle.  You can mow a standard residential size lawn about two times on one of those little camp stove bottles.  Oh, and you can run a diesel off of Natural Gas or propane.  I have a 100KW diesel generator that runs off of NG.  A friend of mine has a 2004 Dodge supercab dually diesel he runs off of propane.

But how do you do the diesel? My tractor is a new one. Same way, pretty much? And I need find out about a wet line hose. That was my objection to using a camp stove tank, being able to refill them. I don't currently have butane tank at all, and so it would have to be economically feasible to start doing so since I would have to buy one.

PS. Am not watching a snake video. They just CREEP ME THE F*CK OUT. I can put up with anything. I can keep my cool with a million spiders and a billion bees and wasps but snakes? EEEWWWWWWWWwww

 

[bnjrob]

Good afternoon everyone! I went out today to care for the flock (and to finally put my fancy chickadees back into their coop now that is finally dry) when I noticed something strange. It was sunny, but the wind was blowing a pleasantly cool breeze. I was able to do some weeding without a care. And then the thought struck me.


Oh, the shock! The fear!

I'm not prepared at all! I've got to buy hay and mealworms and supplemental feeds and heated waterers and--

Then I remembered. Oh yeah, I live wayyyyy down deep in South Texas. We don't have a winter.

All these people on BYC preparing for the Fall and Winter weather got me pumped for a season of fear and dismay, but I'm all good now. I remembered that I can garden in the winter if I so desired. I can let the chickens out freely. Heck, I could probably hatch chicks in this weather, mwahahaha! So yeah, this is what happens when you read too much on BYC. You prepare for seasons that don't exist where you live.

 

[bnjrob]

Adventure Time!
​

So my wife goes to check for eggs today. We have some hens laying in the weeds. When she pulled back the weeds to look for eggs, this is what she found in the nest. I heard a scream and went out to see what it was.



For those of you who do not know; this snake is called a "Sonoran Gopher Snake". It is not venomous. It is a constrictor like the Boa Constrictor. Their main diet are small rodents, but they love eggs. This snake had several eggs in it's belly.





I took the snake several miles away and released it because this snake is very beneficial because it help control the rodent population. Most people would have killed this snake, not because it eating eggs, but because of it's uncanny ability to mimic the exact sound and striking pose of a diamond back rattle snake. Here is a poor quality I made of this behavior several years ago. I made this video for educational purposes so that people would know that this snake acts just like a rattlesnake, but is not venomous and should not be feared.

The Sonoran Gopher Snake has a special membrane under it's skin that it inflates with air to make the rattling sound. Just in case you were wondering.

Very cool!

 

[TammyTX]

I think that would have skeerd the be-wallagers out of me!

After mistaking a baby rattlesnake for a baby chicken snake several years ago, I always look for the black/white horizontal stripes at the end of the tail to make sure.

 

[Teri Metcalf]

Uh OH!!!!!! Somebody has been hit with chicken math!!! Quick, get her some chicks!!

Lisa

Yep! That's partly way I love Texas. Yes, we could possibly hatch chicks in December. When I first got a small flock on baby chicks in May, I didn't know that they were supposed to be kept very warm. Nobody told them either. I kept them in a coop for about a week, then let them be free-range like our neighbor girls. They didn't seem to get cold, but they did tend to wander off.

 

[Jungleexplorer]

But how do you do the diesel? My tractor is a new one. Same way, pretty much? And I need find out about a wet line hose. That was my objection to using a camp stove tank, being able to refill them. I don't currently have butane tank at all, and so it would have to be economically feasible to start doing so since I would have to buy one.

PS. Am not watching a snake video. They just CREEP ME THE F*CK OUT. I can put up with anything. I can keep my cool with a million spiders and a billion bees and wasps but snakes? EEEWWWWWWWWwww

there is really no reason to convert a diesel tractor to propane. I am only converting small gasoline engine with bad carburetors.

 

[mandaleigh1981]

I think that would have skeerd the be-wallagers out of me!

After mistaking a baby rattlesnake for a baby chicken snake several years ago, I always look for the black/white horizontal stripes at the end of the tail to make sure.

I am afraid that snake would have been toast in my own yard. I have too many small children to take chances. I do try to make sure I only shoot rattlers; I saved a bullsnake from our dogs awhile back. But it was actually out in the open and I could see its tail and see it wasn't a rattler. I was bit by a coach whip a few years ago, hurt like hell. Those suckers are aggressive.