05/30/2024
"They are aggressive!"
"They chase you!"
How many have heard, or even said, these and other similar things about venomous snakes?
Part of what I try to add into every removal is a chance to ask questions and learn facts! I love when folks are open to learning about these amazing animals, and I hope to diminish fear and hatred through education.
Tonight's removal call is a PERFECT example of how much effort you really have to invest to get a rattlesnake to strike. I can tell you, this is the FIRST time I have had it happen on a call!
Let me set the scene...
- Your dog has been barking at a huge tarp, and then you hear it... the rattling. So you call me!
- I arrive and have you slowly pull up the tarp from a safe distance. I spot the juvenile snake, who immediately retreats further under the tarp. I have you pull it some more, and again the snake retreats. We might repeat this again? I lost count.
- Once I can see most of the snake, I use my large hook to pull the tarp away from the direction the snake is moving. Now the snake is isolated in the open and he curls into a defensive position.
- I set my big ol 5g white bucket in front of him, which he strikes at but does not make contact with. This is the first snake to ever strike at my bucket! Meanwhile, I am standing *right there* and he couldn't care less about *me* because I wasn't getting in his face. His only concern was the giant gaping white maw that appeared before him, probably looking like a mouth come to swallow him whole. Which, it technically did because....
- I gently scoop him into the bucket with my snake hook, where he promptly goes back to rattling.
So, let's summarize - first you have to have a dog barking at the snake, causing them to become concerned enough to rattle. Rattling is them saying, "Hey, I am here! Don't trod on me or try to eat me!" Then you have to yank off their cover MULTIPLE times as they try to flee, and get them isolated in the open. Then you have to drop something RIGHT in front of their faces. And you just MIGHT get a strike out of all that. Sounds like a lot of work, right? It is SO much simpler for you and the snake to give them space when possible, and call me when not! This little dude just really did not want to get hurt by the numerous giant predators that wouldn't leave him alone ๐