What's the temperature where you are???

[EmmaDonovan]

2:45 PM
89F
5% humidity
sunny

Snakes have emerged from hibernation. There's been a lot of rain, which means a lot of plant growth, which means an explosion in the population of things that eat plants, which means an explosion in the population of things that eat the things that eat plants... like rattlesnakes. Very active, very scary rattlesnakes.

This is a Western diamondback, very common in southern Arizona. They can be up to 7 feet long and live virtually anywhere and everywhere.

They have a nasty venom and rarely use their rattles so you don't know they're there until they strike. Their venom can be deadly to humans. As the saying goes, if their venom doesn't kill you it will make you wish you were dead.

Keeping chickens means keeping an outdoor buffet for rattlesnakes so we have to be really careful.

 

[Jenbirdee]

7:30 pm

 

[McChooky]

I have plastic tacked up on the sides of my run but leave ventilation near the top so when my chickens started raising Cain earlier today I ran out and covered above the vents up top too.(I haven't heard a peep out of them since!) Temp 40 F with winds 10 mph here (15 mph earlier)

 

[McChooky]

2:45 PM
89F
5% humidity
sunny

Snakes have emerged from hibernation. There's been a lot of rain, which means a lot of plant growth, which means an explosion in the population of things that eat plants, which means an explosion in the population of things that eat the things that eat plants... like rattlesnakes. Very active, very scary rattlesnakes.

This is a Western diamondback, very common in southern Arizona. They can be up to 7 feet long and live virtually anywhere and everywhere.

They have a nasty venom and rarely use their rattles so you don't know they're there until they strike. Their venom can be deadly to humans. As the saying goes, if their venom doesn't kill you it will make you wish you were dead.

Keeping chickens means keeping an outdoor buffet for rattlesnakes so we have to be really careful.

View attachment 3791690

Rattlesnakes stay in the mountains here or near wooded areas with water nearby. I avoid any areas that rattlesnakes like and never ran across one fortunately. I don't think I could handle seeing one of those in my yard!

 

[EmmaDonovan]

Rattlesnakes stay in the mountains here or near wooded areas with water nearby. I avoid any areas that rattlesnakes like and never ran across one fortunately. I don't think I could handle seeing one of those in my yard!

We used to be able to call the county and someone would come and relocate them but they stopped doing that years ago.

I've killed two in the yard, roommate has killed one. I haven't seen any yet this year but they've only just emerged.

Ground squirrels and rats dig tunnels into the coop/run to get to the grain, then snakes use their tunnels to get at the eggs and hens.

Snakes are one of several reasons we have to encase our entire coop and run in hardware cloth on all six sides.

 

[Brooks_]

I haven't heard a peep out of them since!

Did you suffocate them?

 

[Nym]

2:45 PM
89F
5% humidity
sunny

Snakes have emerged from hibernation. There's been a lot of rain, which means a lot of plant growth, which means an explosion in the population of things that eat plants, which means an explosion in the population of things that eat the things that eat plants... like rattlesnakes. Very active, very scary rattlesnakes.

This is a Western diamondback, very common in southern Arizona. They can be up to 7 feet long and live virtually anywhere and everywhere.

They have a nasty venom and rarely use their rattles so you don't know they're there until they strike. Their venom can be deadly to humans. As the saying goes, if their venom doesn't kill you it will make you wish you were dead.

Keeping chickens means keeping an outdoor buffet for rattlesnakes so we have to be really careful.

View attachment 3791690

My friend in Queensland used to get carpet pythons all the time at her place. They would hide under her outdoor lounge setting. A few times a bird actually alerted her to the python snoozing beneath her seat lol. They are harmless but unnerving all the same:

 

[Brooks_]

carpet pythons

Yeah, not touching that.

 

[Nomadicus]

58° and clear

 

[McChooky]

Did you suffocate them?

The wind blowing and hail beating on the roof freaked them out. Blocking the wind helped dramatically to calm them down thanks