Arizona Rattlesnakes out early this year??

[jbarker52]

I ran into two Diamondbacks Thursday, one under a rock on the Morgan City Wash near Lake Pleasant while I was Metal Detecting and
a second one on a street behind McDonalds in Wickenburg around 9 pm. Local Rancher thinks we will be overrun with them this year due to weather and lots of small critters for them to feed on.

 

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[goldenIrishman]

Oh boy!!! Sounds like I should be eating good out at the claims this summer. Just everyone be careful out in the field and remember to only kill them as a last resort.

 

[Clay Diggins]

This is the usual time of year we see them around here John. If you really want to see a lot of them in one place try up around the old Dragon Mine around Monarch Wash. About every 50 foot there's another one sounding off.

The ones you are seeing are yearlings. They are cranky, hungry and blind this time of year. They will buzz at anything that comes near. The ones that don't get eaten soon by the coyotes and hawks will learn to keep quiet, hide and stay away from humans. For now they are easy to spot.

I've seen more Sonoran Goper Snakes this year than usual. That's a good thing because they are hunting the prairie dogs that tear up my yard. They help keep the rattlers away too.

Heavy Pans

 

[NeoTokyo]

I have not seen any up here yet but I know they are coming out. Its getting warmer and there are things for them to eat.

 

[jbarker52]

There are a lot of guys on either side of the argument concerning the killing of Rattlers. Yesterday in Wickenburg I met a Rancher who witnessed a seven year old girl die from a rattler bite in southern Arizona when He was young, He was also on a trail ride years later when a friend riding a horse was bitten on the leg and died before they could get Him to a Hospital. He said He kills lots of Rattlers every year and hates them with a passion. I have run into a lot of guys over the years who kill every one they see. There are also lots of Prospectors who will not kill them and seem to have respect for them so I am undecided on whether to kill them or not. It seems to me some people consider them as animals and only to be killed as necessary or reptiles with no greater value that a rat or bug.

 

[Clay Diggins]

If you love rats then kill snakes. If you prefer to avoid dying from bubonic plague or hantavirus then leave the snakes be. Such simple choices.

The vast majority of people who are bitten by rattlesnakes are bit on the hand or the nose. That's probably because the vast majority of people who are bitten by rattlesnakes have been drinking. The vast majority of people bitten are males between ages 17 and 27 who were drunk at the time. Most rattlesnake bites happen when someone says "Hold my beer and watch this!". Don't get drunk and try to catch rattlesnakes and your chances of being bitten are almost 0.

Rattlesnakes don't have any reason to bite large animals unless they are threatened. I've accidentally stepped on rattlesnakes and had them run away just after I took my foot off them. In 25% of human rattlesnake bites there is no venom injected, only one in 50 million people will die from snakebite. You are about 9 times more likely to be killed by lightning. See your odds just got better!

Average deaths from rattlesnake bites per decade are about 30, that's out of about 8,000 bites. In that same 10 years about 500 people in the U.S. are killed by bees. Of course you couldn't kill all the bees you see anymore than you could kill all the rattlesnakes.

Rattlesnake bites can be very physically damaging. I avoid rattlesnakes when I can. If I find a rattlesnake around my home, livestock or camp I kill it no questions asked no apologies given. Gopher, Bull and Corn snakes are welcome in those same places - they kill rattlesnakes and rats.

Heavy Pans

 

[kazcoro]

Clay gives out some good advice and opinion. My thinking is that if the rattler is in an area that I frequent, I kill it. I won't go out of my way to kill one, but I have never had one on my property(live in the city). For instance, I mine one certain claim all the time, I will kill any rattlers found there. On the other hand, if it isn't safe to do so, like there are possibly people over that little anthill in front of me, or around the bend in the wash, I won't pull leather. Basically, I ask myself if I have a moral right to kill it. I know that all of the desert is its territory, but I have rights too. It really is too bad we have these pesky rattlers, as they are the only thing I have to look out for around here. Everything else I have to worry about drives pickup trucks.

 

[Au-N-Rod]

Today is the last day of the annual Rattlesnake Roundup near here at Sweetwater Texas. This is the worlds largest. Not sure how many thousands of pound of snake they will have this year. They always have over 30,000 people visit a town of 11,000. Snakes are a major industry there.

For sure it is an experience there. When I was a Jaycee there years back, they brought in over 15,000 pounds of snakes in three days.

Rodney

 

[kazcoro]

I heard all about that. I just installed some roofing at the Georgia Pacific drywall plant east of town a mile. The maint director walked into one of the water pump buildings, which is a one story building, and looked around at the floor, then at chest height on the walls, then up at the ceiling. I asked him what he was looking for. His response, rattlers. In the ceiling. That is how many they have in the wind energy capitol of north america.