Rattlesnakes

[npalen]

I recall one incident as a teenager out in the pasture at a junkpile taking a headlight off of an old ford so I could mount it on our RD6 Cat to plow at night with a 6-volt battery riding on the tractor fender. I kept hearing a buzzing sound and wrote it off as a locust or something but eventually looked down and saw that I was standing on a rattlesnake. You never saw me move so fast!

Our cats would kill rattlesnakes and then drag them into the barn. This was in the early to mid 50's but years later we saw no rattlesnakes on our farm or nearby. I've always wondered if it was the result of farmers injecting anhydrous ammonia into the fields as a fertilizer.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

Cleaning up the brush and debris and KEEPING YOUR YARD MOWED AND THE PERIMETER OF HOUSE AND OUTBUILDINGS CLEAN AND TRIMMED is what I've found that works well.

As or turkeys, I had a flock of hens in my yard one Summer day, and they were being stalked by a feral cat. When the cat got too close, they attacked the cat with a vengeance...and he took off for tall timber!

 

[Jchonline]

Physical barrier. Put up a wire fence with small enough mesh the bottom 3 feet that a rattler cant get through.

 

[bcp]

Physical barrier. Put up a wire fence with small enough mesh the bottom 3 feet that a rattler cant get through.

The snake will follow the fence to a gate, so you need to snakeproof the gates, too.

Bruce

 

[Hughman]

So, how would you keep rattlesnakes out of the yard?

I prefer to keep them out in the yard. When the come around the house or into the basement, that's when the 22 snake shot comes out.

 

[Alan W.]

Our area was well know for many large diamondbacks. Its rare to see one now. The only thing that has changed is the turkeys and coyotes are in abundance.
My cat was playing with a small rat snake tonight about 1 1/2 foot.

 

[ponytug]

OK. Here's a real poblem.....A friend lives on a property quite a way from us - over on the eastern foothills of the Rockies and situated next to a whole valley of sage and puckerbrush. Lots of small - and large - game of all kinds, and unfortunately lots of snakes too. She likes most critters including all the harmless bullsnakes and similar, but would really like to keep the rattlesnakes away from the house and garden and her small kids. The snakes feel otherwise. They like it there too. Especially tool sheds, or under the porch, or around any brush pile. She and her husband probably removed a dozen just last year. She lost a dog recently to a rattlesnake bite, and I'll admit that it puts a whole new dimension on doing gardening and yard work.

So, how would you keep rattlesnakes out of the yard?

rScotty

Cats!

We like to keep a pair around. They keep the pressure up on rodents and lizards, so there is no incentive for rattlesnakes to come in. We had one cat that loved to hunt rattlesnakes, and then play with them. She was a wonderful Maine Coon cat that would follow us around doing chores to keep an eye on things.

Cleaning up the yard, and generally not having habitat for animals near the house I think is rural home ownership 101. Either seal up the underside of the porch, or open it up so it isn't a good refuge for animals. No brush piles anywhere around an house, and varmit proof tool sheds. Pull any shrubs by the house, and keep the flower beds, if any, open.

Also get SnakeBite911 on their phone; it is quick access to which hospitals stock antivenin. Small kids and venomous snakes are not a good combination and time will be of the essence.

We have both western diamondbacks and mohave rattlesnakes, the latter have both a blood venom like other rattlesnakes, and also a potent neurotoxin.

All the best,

Peter

 

[scootr]

I have some not so common 40 caliber snake shot and some common 20g snake shot

 

[ponytug]

If I am close enough for snake shot, I just use a shovel, so I guess that makes me a lousy shot, or handy with a shovel.

I had a friend who routinely grabbed the rattlesnakes by the tail, and had this way of snapping his wrist to snap the rattlesnake like a whip that always broken its neck. He had painfully slow reflexes, but had no trouble killing rattlesnakes.

It was a skill I never tried to learn for some reason...

 

[orezok]

Here in the Mojave, the Mojave Green is somewhat common. The Mojave Rattlesnake is considered to possess the most potent venom among all the rattlesnake species, making it one of the deadliest snakes in the world.

I kill one every year or so.