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It's A Desert Out There

Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2018 7:31 am
by Jim Beckley
Wifey got one this AM, in the driveway. She got one in the spring, next to the house.
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Re: It's A Desert Out There

Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2018 10:41 am
by xpilot
Look out !! there is a shovel coming...........

Re: It's A Desert Out There

Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2018 10:56 am
by DavidABQ
Hey, they got a purpose in life. Just call animal control and let them pick it up and release it. I have seen a couple at our gun Club shooting range. Don't step on them and probably won't bite you.

Re: It's A Desert Out There

Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2018 11:18 am
by BrentD
bummer

Re: It's A Desert Out There

Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2018 12:34 pm
by atomicbrh
They do not eat often enough to put a minor dent in the rodent population compared to how fast rodents can multiply.
Really worthless as far as pest control.

Re: It's A Desert Out There

Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2018 3:08 pm
by Jerry G
They are real good to eat. :-bd

Re: It's A Desert Out There

Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2018 7:20 pm
by BrentD
atomicbrh wrote: Fri Sep 28, 2018 12:34 pm They do not eat often enough to put a minor dent in the rodent population compared to how fast rodents can multiply.
Really worthless as far as pest control.
Debatable. Highly debatable and probably wrong.

Re: It's A Desert Out There

Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2018 11:54 am
by atomicbrh
From the San Diego zoo:
"Rattlesnakes only look for food when they're hungry. An adult rattler goes about two weeks between meals, on average, depending on how large its last meal was. Younger rattlesnakes eat more often, about once a week."
https://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/rattlesnake

From the natural mapping program:
"Rattlesnakes swallow their prey whole, then digest as the food passes though the body. On average, rattlesnakes in the wild eat only once every 2 to 3 weeks."
http://naturemappingfoundation.org/natm ... e_712.html

From the Discover magazine:
"A female rat can mate as many as 500 times with various males during a six-hour period of receptivity—a state she experiences about 15 times per year. Thus a pair of brown rats can produce as many as 2,000 descendants in a year if left to breed unchecked. (A rat matures sexually at age three to four months.)"
http://discovermagazine.com/2006/dec/20-things-rats

Then you have Winter in many areas when the snakes are not active.
So, for my area a big snake is only going to eat an average of 10 rats during the 7 or 8 month active season.
Most will eat some song birds if available so that also knocks down the number of rats eaten.
Snakes seem to really act crazy after they eat a song bird. Its like they have a hard time moving it down the digestive system.
There was quite a discussion about this on another forum recently.
Our son's tennis partner is the snake biologist at Eglin AFB. 464,000 acres of snakes, mosquitos, wild hogs and heat.

Re: It's A Desert Out There

Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2018 2:30 pm
by Jim Beckley
Ran into this one a couple of weeks ago in Southern Az
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Re: It's A Desert Out There

Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2018 2:36 pm
by Jim Beckley
This is the one that was next to the house. Notice the difference in color of the two. This one is a typical Western Diamondback. The top one is a Mojave, very nasty snake. According to AZ Game and Fish, the Mojave would be one of the most deadliest snakes, but they don't produce enough venom.
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Re: It's A Desert Out There

Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2018 5:26 pm
by Another Dang 9
Snakes seem to really act crazy after they eat a song bird. Its like they have a hard time moving it down the digestive system.
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Maybe the feathers tickle...? :-??