Beware the snakes are out and about
For those of you in or coming to the southwest a cautionary reminder about our rattlesnake population. Spring has sprung as we are on our second straight week of mid to high 80 degree temps. The sna...
Forum Discussion
I like snakes. Never heard of a snake eating a farmer's corn stored in a silo or spreading diseases like the rodents they keep in check. However the vipers and coral snakes need to be given their space by most folks. In high school, in southern Oklahoma, catching rattle snakes live provided a big part of my spending money during part of the year. A group of us guys, 5 or 6 of us, had a contract with a snake buyer that would pay us $.50 a pound for live rattle snakes. We built a pen to hold them until he would come around every couple of weeks to weigh and take them with him. Not sure what he did with them and didn't care for a big snake would bring $4 or $5 which was big money back in the late 50s. Don't remember my parents ever objecting either, but they had a few spares, besides me.
I never found rattle snakes to be as aggressive as are copper heads in that part of the world. Those snakes have a serious attitude problem. We have lots of snakes in this part of Florida, most of them are non-poisonous such as the Everglades racers. This past summer we had one come into the house, how we don't know but our tom cat nailed him real quick, before the beagle had a chance. Where we now live, there used to be pigmy rattle snakes but in the 10 years we have been here I have never seen one. No way I have figured out how to break my dog and cat from going after snakes. My wife hates snakes so I get to catch all the ones in the yard and relocate them elsewhere. We have lots of rat snakes which have the reverse color scheme of a coral snake. I have taught my young grandsons the old rhyme of "red next to yellow will kill a fellow, red next to black is a friend of Jacks" Coral snakes have red next to yellow, rat snakes/corn snakes have red next to black.
I never found rattle snakes to be as aggressive as are copper heads in that part of the world. Those snakes have a serious attitude problem. We have lots of snakes in this part of Florida, most of them are non-poisonous such as the Everglades racers. This past summer we had one come into the house, how we don't know but our tom cat nailed him real quick, before the beagle had a chance. Where we now live, there used to be pigmy rattle snakes but in the 10 years we have been here I have never seen one. No way I have figured out how to break my dog and cat from going after snakes. My wife hates snakes so I get to catch all the ones in the yard and relocate them elsewhere. We have lots of rat snakes which have the reverse color scheme of a coral snake. I have taught my young grandsons the old rhyme of "red next to yellow will kill a fellow, red next to black is a friend of Jacks" Coral snakes have red next to yellow, rat snakes/corn snakes have red next to black.
