First of the season

[sammons]

When i bought and moved in my Trailer house in '82, it had sat empty for 2yrs previous. Full of mice, they kept evading the trap triggers. Borrowed my brothers female (Siamese mix), in 2 days she had it cleared out. She had her fill of eats, and left a big pile of dead ones.

[sixball]

Taste like chicken my ass! Maybe chicken that has been eating frogs and sardines. If it lives on land and has no legs I'm not eating it.

We had barn cats in Texas but we also had very few quail or cottontails. We had a Manx here as our first cat and she drug home jackrabbits bigger than her. There were no rodents in the house though. The next one was good too but she went out one day and never came home. The cat we have now was never a good mouser. She is old now and doesn't even pay much attention to them. I think she is a Democat! 

[62131]

Rattlesnake chili? I'll just stick to ground beef in mine. I'm down the Jersey shore for the summer running my miniature golf and ice cream shop. I found one problem down here....mice. I'm not big on killing any animal unless they get in my way, and these mice are in my way. I set 4 traps with peanut butter and they picked them clean! I reset them. Picked them clean again! I'll try a different bait that they have to tug on........at least I don't have rattlesnakes, that's one good thing about the city I guess.

Get yourself a black snake he will make you a nice effective mouse trap

[chopper526]

No snakes or cats, just a good old snap trap, I'm just baiting it wrong. I thought about glue traps, but that's a little too cruel.

[62131]

No snakes or cats, just a good old snap trap, I'm just baiting it wrong. I thought about glue traps, but that's a little too cruel.

Been there with the glue traps  they squeal a lot

[sixball]

#5 This evening. On my way to the Poultry Palace to put the chickens to bed I saw this one before it saw me. My rattlesnake mode is kicking in.  It was up on the rim of the plastic tank I made to soak the frame about a foot off the ground right in the edge of the machine shed. Stretched out straight just a little shy of 3'. I wonder if the glue traps would work for the snakes, I don't care how loud they scream. 

//

[chopper526]

If they taste like chicken, maybe he was on his way to the palace to hang out with them

[EDNY]

If they taste like chicken, maybe he was on his way to the palace to hang out with them

Good idea...chicken wings up here in NY are going for at least $1 each!

[sixball]

Rattlesnakes would be a real pain in the ass if they had wings. 

[62131]

I'm sure he was looking for something to eat

[sixball]

Mean buzzing' even half dozen! #6 this morning in the chicken pen to greet me this morning.
Another 3 footer amazing how they are all the same size. I cleaned the chicken house yesterday and displaced several mice. This snake has 6 recognisable mice in her all lined up head first. You can tell it is a female because her body thins down in the tail section. That's where th boys pack their stuff.

After I got inside and was calming down with a cup of coffee the dogs started in with their "Dad come and check this out panic mode barking". Thinking it was another snake I grabbed the pistol and headed out to dispatch it. It turned out to be what I would estimate to be a 500-600 pound bear about 20 yards from the house. It trotted over the hill to the springs on the other side.  It took the dogs a while to calm down. I imagine they were nose to nose with it. They've been sticking close to the porch the rest of the morning with an occasional bark to let the bear know they are not following it.  . No bear pictures, sorry.

[sammons]

You've kinda got a homestead invaision going on, Rattlers and Bears🤯 Too bad they are not just a mess of Bullsnakes. I had a 7 footer hang around here for years, pretty mellow fella. Use to pick him up  and move him if i were going to mow. My buddy Tom was scared of him, I swear he use to pop out just to scare Tom😁

Lastnight i took Rowdy out to pee before i went to bed. We came back and just as we stepped off the sidewalk to grass, a frog jumped up and hit him in the lower chest. Lol... he jumped and had know idea what hit him. Two steps later he stepped on a Garter snake,(probably after the frog). He jumped straight up like a bucking bronc😁 Yanked me to the backdoor, pulled me in. Took me several minutes to get the leash off him under the table😆

[sixball]

Dogs are as good as it gets! When I went down to see what the barking was about the younger boxer/pointer just headed for the porch. The border collie/pit bull came with me to show me what was bothering her. She was a bit cautious but I knew right off it wasn't how she acts with snakes. By then the bear had crossed the road and was in the brush heading up the hill. She was barking but not chasing. I was thinking mountain lion then I saw the bear. I didn't want to chase it either. 

We have Gopher snakes here. They mimic rattlesnakes as a defense. They can flatten and widen their heads, do a hissing and tail shaking in dry weeds that sounds like a rattler, coil and actually strike. I have been bitten by them many times while catching them. Sadly that trait has led to many newcomers to think they are facing a rattler and kill it. Then they tell their newcomer friends they just killed a rattle snake without rattles. Another suburban myth is born. I did kill a rattlesnake with no rattles several years ago. I don't know what the story is there. I bring every gopher, king, & garter snake I find home. I brought a 6 footer home a couple of weeks ago. Sometimes its tough carving an empire out of the wilderness. 

[62131]

When my wife and I first got married we lived in an old farm house along with a 6 1/2 ft black snake he was a great mouse trap

[sixball]

#7 this morning. I heard it last night when I went out to put the chickens to bed but couldn't see it. Then it went quiet so I left. It was cool last night from a little rain so I thought it might be sunning it's self this morning. It was out but too fast for me and got back into the barn. I could hear it so I started moving stuff. Finally located under a pallet with some windows on it. All I could see was the necks I stuck the gun in almost touching it. She lost a few inches on the head end and only measures 32". A fat girl full of mice like the last one. I called Leroy and told him to hold off on the chili because I had another donation. I finished my window trim.