Rattlesnakes anyone?

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Plays In The Dirt
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Re: Rattlesnakes anyone?

Post by Plays In The Dirt »

Rattlesnakes - hmmmm. While I know they're out there I've only ran-in to one in my many (and ongoing) forays in to the desert and I just stopped and shot a few photos and then gave it wide berth as I walked around it and let it be. I also payed attention to where it was at so I wouldn't walk back over it while I was exploring around. I look at it this way I'm in their home, and like I wouldn't want anyone invading my space with intentions of killing me, same for them. I highly respect what they are capable of doing to me if bitten so therefor I watch-out for them and pay attention to where I walk and put my hands. I would imagine that as the weather warms-up here in this area that there will be snakes coming-out soon, if they're not already out.
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reptilist
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Re: Rattlesnakes anyone?

Post by reptilist »

Here's a Western Diamondback that I relocated from someones backyard....

Image
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Re: Rattlesnakes anyone?

Post by reptilist »

Don....
MOHAVE DESERT SIDEWINDER Crotalus cerastes cerastes. This subspecies usually has 21 dorsal scale rows and a brown proximal rattle segment (segment nearest tail).
SONORAN SIDEWINDER Crotalus cerastes cercobombus. This subspecies usually has 21 dorsal scale rows and a black proximal rattle segment (segment nearest tail).
COLORADO DESERT SIDEWINDER Crotalus cerastes laterorepens This subspecies usually has 23 dorsal scale rows and a black proximal rattle segment (segment nearest tail).
http://www.reptilesofaz.com/Snakes-Subp ... astes.html

BTW, the package arrived yesterday. Thanks!
Desert Cruiser
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Re: Rattlesnakes anyone?

Post by Desert Cruiser »

Gregg: Good way to keep from getting bit. And the higher altitudes are going to be cooler so the snakes will come out later in the year. It's 104 here today with 83 deg. last night -- so the snakes are loving it.

Terry: Package -- glad you got it ok. It should save you some aggravation. Thanks for the explanation for the sidewinders and for the photo of the Western Diamond back. We have a lot of photos of them but nothing that would work well for an identification --- most shot at night or with them camouflaged in rocks. Years ago when we first came to the desert (not really looking for snakes then) a lot of the old timers called any snake with the black and white stripping on the tail; coon tails. And to the best of my memory they bunched the mohave and western diamond back into the same group. And probably some others too. Nice to know what you run into out there.

Don....
Sandman
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Re: Rattlesnakes anyone?

Post by Sandman »

Snakes......I give em a wide berth. I've never had one chase or approach me in a threatening mannor.

Dogs.....I currently own 3, all rescued as strays or abandoned. I have had several encounters with loose dogs that presented a threat to my safety and well being over the years.

Mountain lions, they are unpredictible but seldom seen.Use common sense and the chances of encountering one are reduced greatly. Same with Grizzly Bears in the lower 48.

The one thing I really watch out for is idiots driving cars on the road!


I like all things natural found in the wild and believe they should be left in their natural state if possible. I'm glad to hear there are trained people out there who know how to capture and remove reptiles for the safety of both th public and the snake. Most rural residents simply break out the shotgun when they find a snake near their house. At my place, I keep my boneyard out back away from my house and take caution when digging around in there. I also have the brush cleared away from my home in a defendable space in case of wildfire. Less ground cover equals less habitat. A rattlesnake that is 100 yards from the house over in the brush poses no threat to me and will slither away if given an opportunity. Chances are, I never knew it was there anyway.

Last week my neighbor had a tortoise go right through their yard. BLM biologists insist they do not come up here this high in the hills but we know different. Somebody needs to tell the tortoise!
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Re: Rattlesnakes anyone?

Post by Sal »

coming home late Fri night last in two cars I was following my wife, she inadvertantly ran over a green just at beginning of our driveway. I saw it next morning as I was out walking and made mental note to point it out to her. A few hours later we went to see it--already gone! ravens must have scooped it up for lunch!
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Re: Rattlesnakes anyone?

Post by Desert Cruiser »

Sandman: Mountain Lions are not as viscous as they make them out to be. Of course they are wild animals and they have different temperaments. Also just to clarify the above, they are killers and do practice their livelihood even when not hungry. More or less to stay in shape. In the last 3 years that we lived in the Western Sierras we saw 7 Lions. Many times we got out of the car and talked to them -- they are curious. We always stayed close to our vehicle for escape purposes. One we saw was over 6 ft long and stood over 36 inches tall and was very old and skinny. Probably didn't last very long as his one fang tooth was missing (part of old age). I think circumstances dictate when an animal will attack.

Sal: Could have been picked up or devoured by buzzards. We saw a Western Diamond back that got hit a couple of weeks ago and later that afternoon the buzzards had eaten everything but the back bone. Something got it!
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Re: Rattlesnakes anyone?

Post by Jerry Feldner »

There never has been a buzzard in the United States. What is making a meal of dead stuff, in CA, is probably the Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura). See>>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkey_Vulture and http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Turkey_Vulture/id .
buzzards are Old World raptors and are not related to our American Vultures. Here is something about true Buzzards, close relatives of many of our Hawks (genus Buteo). Wikipedia does mention that Americans tend to call our vultures by the misnomer Buzzard
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buzzard .The Encyclopeda Brittanica also mentions that we call our vultures "Buzzards."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buzzard
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Plays In The Dirt
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Re: Rattlesnakes anyone?

Post by Plays In The Dirt »

Thanks for posting that info Jerry. Myself, and I'm sure others didn't know that. I thought that they were buzzards too.
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Re: Rattlesnakes anyone?

Post by Iggy1 »

Jerry many people in the U.S. call them Buzzards. See article below.
Every year on March 15 since 1957, the city of Hinckley Ohio has eagerly awaited the return of the buzzards at "Buzzards' Roost" at the Hinckley Reservation, part of the Cleveland Metroparks.
I'm sure the people on here understood what kind of bird Don was mentioning.

The buzzard, a common name for the "turkey vulture," is a large graceful bird with a bald head and red beak. No relation to the black, Old World vulture family, which includes the eagle, hawk, and kite, the buzzard is native to the Americans from southern Canada to the tip of Cape Horn.
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