I gave a half hour snake safety talk to over twenty attractive young women today....They were a great audience!
They all took one of my flyers...(I don't believe I've ever given my phone number out to so many women in one day before!)
They got to see 4 live rattlesnakes; WDB, Mohave, Black Tailed, and Arizona Black.
I provided a short discourse on snake bite first aid and keeping their yards picked up.
The leader of the meeting printed each of them a copy of the Tucson Herp Society's brochure...
http://www.tucsonherpsociety.org/LWVR.pdf
Fun stuff!
Snake safety talk....
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Iggy1
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Re: Snake safety talk....
Good going Rep. I'm sure you had fun. I printed out the flyer, very interesting info.
Thanks for sharing.
Going to be hard not feeding the birds, since our 3 indoor cats love watching them. They were nice enough to let us know that there was a Sidewinder in our backyard. All 3 we're staring out the window.
Thanks for sharing.
Going to be hard not feeding the birds, since our 3 indoor cats love watching them. They were nice enough to let us know that there was a Sidewinder in our backyard. All 3 we're staring out the window.
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Goldseeker
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Re: Snake safety talk....
[quote="reptilist"]I gave a half hour snake safety talk to over twenty attractive young women today....They were a great audience!
They all took one of my flyers...(I don't believe I've ever given my phone number out to so many women in one day before!)
They got to see 4 live rattlesnakes; WDB, Mohave, Black Tailed, and Arizona Black.
I provided a short discourse on snake bite first aid and keeping their yards picked up.
The leader of the meeting printed each of them a copy of the Tucson Herp Society's brochure...
http://www.tucsonherpsociety.org/LWVR.pdf
Read it. Disagree on 1 thing, that rattlesnakes will not chase you. Mojahve greens do, I speak from personal experience, and others have said the same thing. They are aggressive. The one came after us 30 ft, before I said enough, and killed it. With a large rock, in the Old Dale mining district. That species is very aggressive and dangerous. Simply the truth. Goldseeker, not snakeseeker. Hope I never see another one
They all took one of my flyers...(I don't believe I've ever given my phone number out to so many women in one day before!)
They got to see 4 live rattlesnakes; WDB, Mohave, Black Tailed, and Arizona Black.
I provided a short discourse on snake bite first aid and keeping their yards picked up.
The leader of the meeting printed each of them a copy of the Tucson Herp Society's brochure...
http://www.tucsonherpsociety.org/LWVR.pdf
Read it. Disagree on 1 thing, that rattlesnakes will not chase you. Mojahve greens do, I speak from personal experience, and others have said the same thing. They are aggressive. The one came after us 30 ft, before I said enough, and killed it. With a large rock, in the Old Dale mining district. That species is very aggressive and dangerous. Simply the truth. Goldseeker, not snakeseeker. Hope I never see another one
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Desert Cruiser
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Re: Snake safety talk....
Terry, very interesting, we've never yet seen a Gila Monster, but am looking forward to it, and hopefully some photos too! Iggy printed it and I just finished reading it. Thanks....
Goldseeker: I've had a lot of experience with rattlers; seem to run into them a lot of different places. Here's what I found:
One Mohave Green that stood his ground and didn't want move and just seemed to dare me to get closer. Seemed to have a bad disposition? More later on that.
Of all the Sidewinders (maybe upward of 60) only had one one night that seemed to come after me and he was moving faster than I thought they could go (faster than I could go) and caught me really off guard, because I didn't realize they could move that fast. However he went right by me. I had snakes chaps on.
Climbed out of our Suzuki Samuari a couple of years ago to photograph a rattler that didn't look familiar and the darned thing came right after me. It was early in the spring and I was surprised to even see a snake. Got back up on the back of the Suzuki and he started on his way again, but as soon as I got down he came back after me. Now I think they can sense ground vibrations. He was definitely in a bad mood. I think it was a Black-tailed rattlesnake. Couldn't even get a good photo of him.
So my conclusion is --- they all have different temperaments; just like people. Also you can catch them at a bad time; just like people. And to them your a big dangerous monster and they are wary of you. So give them some room -- even the mild mannered ones can get grouchy.
Reptilist certainly has more experience and could add something to this.
Don....
Goldseeker: I've had a lot of experience with rattlers; seem to run into them a lot of different places. Here's what I found:
One Mohave Green that stood his ground and didn't want move and just seemed to dare me to get closer. Seemed to have a bad disposition? More later on that.
Of all the Sidewinders (maybe upward of 60) only had one one night that seemed to come after me and he was moving faster than I thought they could go (faster than I could go) and caught me really off guard, because I didn't realize they could move that fast. However he went right by me. I had snakes chaps on.
Climbed out of our Suzuki Samuari a couple of years ago to photograph a rattler that didn't look familiar and the darned thing came right after me. It was early in the spring and I was surprised to even see a snake. Got back up on the back of the Suzuki and he started on his way again, but as soon as I got down he came back after me. Now I think they can sense ground vibrations. He was definitely in a bad mood. I think it was a Black-tailed rattlesnake. Couldn't even get a good photo of him.
So my conclusion is --- they all have different temperaments; just like people. Also you can catch them at a bad time; just like people. And to them your a big dangerous monster and they are wary of you. So give them some room -- even the mild mannered ones can get grouchy.
Reptilist certainly has more experience and could add something to this.
Don....
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reptilist
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Re: Snake safety talk....
Desert Cruiser summed it up well....I'd add that temperments also vary between populations and species...Arizona Black rattlesnakes are known universally for their calm demeanor, whereas Mohaves have a fearsome reputation, but I can tell you that in my region mohaves are very calm.
Besides that, other issues that normally escape our human attention might serve to provoke a snake ...Perhaps you are blocking it's escape route? Perhaps there is a female snake nearby and the male feels the need to defend her...Given just those 2 variables and the potential for many more behavior influences, a blanket statement doesn't work too well except to say, that the vast majority of rattlesnakes are far more likely to avoid a confrontation than to develop one.
Besides that, other issues that normally escape our human attention might serve to provoke a snake ...Perhaps you are blocking it's escape route? Perhaps there is a female snake nearby and the male feels the need to defend her...Given just those 2 variables and the potential for many more behavior influences, a blanket statement doesn't work too well except to say, that the vast majority of rattlesnakes are far more likely to avoid a confrontation than to develop one.
Re: Snake safety talk....
"the vast majority of rattlesnakes are far more likely to avoid a confrontation than to develop one."
This has certainly been my experience. In every instance where I have come upon a rattlesnake, the snake has made every effort to get away. My latest encounter could have ended badly for the snake, but fortunately it didn't.
I was out riding dirt bikes with my friends in Twentynine Palms. Two of my friends had stopped on the road ahead to talk, so I rolled up behind them. I shut off the bike, put the kickstand down, and put my left foot on the ground. I then looked over to my right, only to see a small (maybe 1 foot long) sidewinder going sideways away from me, little rattle buzzing away! I could barely hear the rattle with my helmet on. The snake did not appear to be harmed, and it headed for cover in a bush. If I had rolled up any sooner or been any farther over to the right, I would have run the poor thing over. I am glad this did not happen! For all I know, the snake did strike at me, but its little fangs were no match for the heavy motorcycle boots.
The moral of the story? Snakes can be very hard to see, especially when they are the same color and pattern as the surrounding ground. You and the snake can be equally surprised. Be careful out there.
Lee
This has certainly been my experience. In every instance where I have come upon a rattlesnake, the snake has made every effort to get away. My latest encounter could have ended badly for the snake, but fortunately it didn't.
I was out riding dirt bikes with my friends in Twentynine Palms. Two of my friends had stopped on the road ahead to talk, so I rolled up behind them. I shut off the bike, put the kickstand down, and put my left foot on the ground. I then looked over to my right, only to see a small (maybe 1 foot long) sidewinder going sideways away from me, little rattle buzzing away! I could barely hear the rattle with my helmet on. The snake did not appear to be harmed, and it headed for cover in a bush. If I had rolled up any sooner or been any farther over to the right, I would have run the poor thing over. I am glad this did not happen! For all I know, the snake did strike at me, but its little fangs were no match for the heavy motorcycle boots.
The moral of the story? Snakes can be very hard to see, especially when they are the same color and pattern as the surrounding ground. You and the snake can be equally surprised. Be careful out there.
Lee