Wow, Bluey - could it have made it’s way in through the dog door?
StG
We do have rattlers here in the midwest but very rarely are they ever seen.
Yes, a friend was telling me his neighbor found one in the house that just came thru the dog door!
He killed one this morning at feed time in his horse pens right under the feed bunk.
Was glad it didn’t bite a horse or him, never did rattle, just saw it moving along.
We had dog doors for a good 40+ years and never had one come in, just a few mice.
House dogs and cats let us know.
We have a little airlock, a sun room under the porch, with one dog door into there, another into the house itself.
Just be very careful, the one last night didn’t ratttle that I could hear and others keep saying the ones they find are also rarely rattling.
Someone mentioned when feral hogs move in, like they have here, they eat all the rattlers that rattle and what is left is those that don’t rattle much.
Everyone, watch your step!
My “encounter” was in Walnut Creek, CA - the San Francisco Bay Area! But near Mt. Diablo State Park, so…
Was at the barn. BO’s home, garage, hay barn, and covered arena frame a smallish parking lot. I usually park truck nose in in front of the hay barn. Arrived one day, saddled up and rode, fed, go to leave. As I get into my old truck, I hear a funny noise. This truck was figuratively held together by baling wire and twine at this point - close to 250,000 miles (it died a few months later). I got out, looked under truck, start to get back in. Same funny noise…a…rattle? You betcha!! Closed the truck door and glanced toward the hay barn - and just to the left of my left front tire was a HUMONGOUS rattler, coiled. Erk!!! I backed away, went into the BO house and told him, “Uh, there’s a rattler in front of the hay barn you might want to relocate or, uh…kill?!?” Yeah, he went out and disposed of it. It was about 3’ long. I’ve never seen one on the property before or since. I have seen them when riding in the park, but usually smallish ones that are out sunning and only too happy to slither off the trails, or are easily enough avoided, but this was a BIG one and he wasn’t moving.
I have a long handled flat nose shove that I use to take their heads off.
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Glad nobody was bitten ---- 2’ is a baby for a Timber Rattler. Get a load of this 6-1/2’ footer a guy in Cheatham County, TN killed not long ago. He did call the TN Wildlife Resources to get permission to kill it as they are on the endangered list.
i have seen smaller Timber Rattlers and we had Massassauga Swamp Rattlers where I grew up that weren’t very big. I’m not sure I could put one foot in front of the other if I saw one as big as this guy saw, lol.
http://www.wkrn.com/news/huge-rattlesnake-found-in-backyard-of-cheatham-county-home/1183709841
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I saw that! That’s two counties over.
StG
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In nearly 50 years in Alabama I’ve seen one rattler and two moccasins. All were impressive and we left them alone
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… and another, bigger one just now, coiled right by the door, as I came from feeding the horses.
One that also didn’t rattle.
Ugh!
They always travel in pairs. Plus — the likelihood of babies being around — is — really good:(
you may have to start destroying them, even if you don’t want to.
do you have barn cats? They are great snake deterrents, just by their presence. We also have Owls and Red Tail Hawks, which keep the snakes away because they hunt the rodents out.
if you have Black Snakes or Rat Snakes, let them live. They are good neighbors. They can out hunt viper snakes because they move faster, thus the viper snakes go somewhere else looking for food.
He is a handsome fella:). Are those your wind turbines, or am I seeing things, like the blue or gold dress a few years back, lollol.
We have wind turbines all around in our region, sprouted like mushrooms in the summers when it rains.
We are one of the windiest places in the US, I think only 4 hours in a whole year that no wind is detected.
Our wind farms are some of the most productive ones anywhere in the world.
Our steady winds are always blowing in the best range for wind turbines to do their thing and at the most consistent rate.
I don’t think there is anything wrong with your eyes, they are fine.
My friend found another, bigger rattler under his horse’s feed bunk again this morning.
Everyone here is getting twitchy about snakes.
We seem to have a larger than normal spring run of those, scary that.
Didn’t mean to hijack the thread, but the OP seems to not have had any more encounters of the slithery kind to talk about lately.
I am sure she is glad of that.
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That’s really interesting about the wind turbines — great information:)
and its its scary about the rattlers settling in so close to human population. As vast and empty as your area appears, you would think they have plenty to hunt without coming so close to buildings.
I also hope the OP hasn’t had any more sightings but keeping the thread active when someone else does spot one might be a good idea to keep the issue at the forefront and keep people staying alert:)
OP, here. Sorry to abandon the thread. No more sightings. A Texan friend who was bitten on the leg by a rattlesnake when she was entering her barn is after me to get gaiters. But I know me - I probably won’t wear them - too hot. I usually see about 1 rattlesnake per year, so I’m tempted to just figure I’ve had my quota.
Bluey, I would have a hard time living there - between your snake stories and your rat stories, it sounds awful! I know - Texans are glad to keep their state to themselves.
StG
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As an addendum to the snake story. Yesterday my neighbors’ Great Pyrenees was bitten on the face by a rattlesnake, possible the same one I saw - it was heading East from my pasture into their front field. It looks like the dog will make it, although it was touch and go. She’s calling me at 8:30 at night asking what to do. I told her to take the dog tot he emergency vet, but start him on benedryl first, so her airway hopefully wouldn’t close up. She said, “yeah, she’s having trouble breathing”. YOU DON"T CALL YOUR NEIGHBOR WHEN YOUR DOG IS STRUGGLING TO BREATHE!!!
StG
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Yes, vet ASAP!
My little dog almost died when she was bitten.
Not sure Benadryl will do much for snake bite?
Better not give anything, call and ask and rush the dog in for treatment.
With a horse bitten in the nose, you can cut a foot long piece of hose and stick it up it’s nose, so the airway stay open.
My horse was bitten on a front leg last summer.
Vet lives 15 minutes away and was here right away to stabilize him.
We hauled him to the clinic and by the time we got there, the leg was so swollen he could not hardly move it.
We had to add a rope around the ankle to help him move that leg to walk.
The leg was back down in a couple days, thanks to the antivenom.
He only has a little of a fat ankle to show for that now.
Glad the dog made it.
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When we were still in Colorado, I put my foot down RIGHT next to one. It was just barely dusk and I was putting the horses away. Came through the gate to go back to the barn and one was warming himself on the concrete the gate post was in. My foot was inches away. He slithered off.
Scared the CRAP out of me. Still does! Holy cow, what could have happened…
(4)Diphenhydramine (Benadryl) can be used in evenomation patients. It pre-treats against allergic reactions from the use of antivenin and seems to calm the patients. A large dog (50 lbs) receives 25 mg, and a small dog receives 10 mg, which is given IV or SQ.
StG
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Good to know that.
Our vets never said anything about that, with horses or dogs/cats.
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yeah, I wasn’t sure about rattlesnakes, but benadryl is job #1 here in copperhead territory. But then copperhead bites are very survivable, so there is that.
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