Homestead mailing list

["Barb Troje" <btroje AT gmail.com>]

I lived in Alabama for 4 years.A hotbed of reptilian diversity. Plenty of
rattlesnakes,copperheads and watermocassins. I lived on the water.

I saw more nonpoisonous king snakes. Big and scary if you dont know what
they are but the eat other snakes.All that said I saw one copperhead that
had probably been living by the house for years and saw one timber
rattler.Iused to pick up rocks in the woods too.
They will lay on hot surfaces after the sun is gone, avoid the heat of day
and probably dont start moving until its about 70 degrees.My guess and must
be pretty good because I used that in the back of my mind.

The timber rattler I saw could still strike about 5 feet even after being
run over by a car.

I now live in southern Utah. On my hands and knees working on the fishpond
pump I noticed a snake about 4 inches from my hand. It was curled up
partially under a rock. Head tucked back.No rattling. I went somewhere else
checking back every once in a while hoping he would do likewise.He didnt,
but as it got warmer he relxed and we could see it was infact a rattler.,It
never struck at us and only rattled when we picked it up.We moved it away
from our property.

I have seen a lot of shed snakeskins but rarely snakes.

Snakes do seem to have territory, especially rattlers.Timber rattlers can be
real aggressive.They like anything are looking for the easiest way to get a
meal and to be comfortable. Dont attraCT Rodents , keep your shoes on, keep
your eyes open and dont stick your hands under rocks. If you pick up
something they might be under assume they are.They serve a place in the web
of life.They wont come after you unless you make some bad choices.Read up on
the species in the area and learn their behaviors and you will be ahead of
the game


On 8/16/06, Clint L. Novak <CNovak AT cns.com> wrote:
> I'm hoping the collective knowledge of the folks on the list can
> enlighten me on the subject of snakes(mostly the poisonous ones).
> Some questions I have are:
> Are they nocturnal?
> When do they stop coming out(temperature)?
> Do they live underground?
> Do they hibernate?
> Can you be tested to see how severe a reaction a person might have to a
> bite?
> Can you really put a rope around your campsite to prevent snakes from
> entering?
>
> Currently we live in Minnesota, but we're looking in the Ozarks and
> every time we take a canoe trip I see a snake or two, sometimes the
> poisonous variety.  Some of you folks were talking a bit about them a
> while back and I know Gene has been bitten by one.  Being from
> Minnesota, all the time I spent in the country I never gave much thought
> to snakes.  There are simply no poisonous snakes to speak of where I
> grew up or where I currently frequent.  Sounds like many of you deal
> with snakes on a regular basis, I'd value you thoughts, tales, web
> sites, and any other info you would be interested in passing on.
>
> Clint
> _______________________________________________
> Homestead list and subscription:
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/homestead
> Change your homestead list member options:
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/options/homestead/btroje%40gmail.com
> View the archives at:
> https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/arc/homestead


--
Barbara Troje
Nizhoni ALpacas
Kanab, UT
soon to be Las Vegas New Mexico
btroje AT gmail.com