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Old April 17, 2012   #1
cgs
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Default Garden Dangers

Anyone else have to keep their eyes open for life threatening garden creatures? Not your average hornworm!

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Old April 17, 2012   #2
augiedog55
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you can cook that one "taste like chicken". Be careful
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Old April 17, 2012   #3
Worth1
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What kind of snake is that?
It looks like a rattler.
I have a hog nosed snake here at the house with the same markings.
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Old April 17, 2012   #4
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We have copperheads and rattlers out here, the other ones just startle me but the ch and rats are the ones I will run from. Eeeeek!
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Old April 17, 2012   #5
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It would be a medium sized Western Diamondback Rattlesnake. I ignorantly (and somewhat luckily) walked right by him in the dark twice, before it registered that the irrigation system didn't make that noise and it wouldn't be on at that time anyways. I should know better. I retrieved a flashlight and a camera... Very grateful the dogs and I are alright.

Rockporter - I hope your garden survived the storms ok - some wind down there. Copperheads scare me more, because they don't have an audible alarm on them.
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Old April 17, 2012   #6
ScottinAtlanta
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My dad was bitten twice on the hand by a copperhead last summer in our garden. Those things are mean as...well...as a snake. My mom ran out with hoe, struck off the head of the snake, threw the head and the body in a bread bag, drove to the hospital, and dumped the snake on the front desk at the reception. Her purpose was to get correct identification for the antevenom. The hospital staff behaved like a bunch of five year old girls, running around screaming at the dead snake. My dad was treated right quick.

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Old April 25, 2012   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ScottinAtlanta View Post
My dad was bitten twice on the hand by a copperhead last summer in our garden. Those things are mean as...well...as a snake. My mom ran out with hoe, struck off the head of the snake, threw the head and the body in a bread bag, drove to the hospital, and dumped the snake on the front desk at the reception. Her purpose was to get correct identification for the antevenom. The hospital staff behaved like a bunch of five year old girls, running around screaming at the dead snake. My dad was treated right quick.
I may try this with the local hospital. With at least three rattlesnake dens in my area, I come across them almost every year. One local man was bit a few years ago. The hospital had the antevenom, but didn't know how to administer it. He was airlifted to Rhode Island for treatment. Maybe a rattler on the reception desk would be a teaching moment.

Dr. Lve Apple
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Old May 2, 2012   #8
Chrissykin
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ScottinAtlanta View Post
My dad was bitten twice on the hand by a copperhead last summer in our garden. Those things are mean as...well...as a snake. My mom ran out with hoe, struck off the head of the snake, threw the head and the body in a bread bag, drove to the hospital, and dumped the snake on the front desk at the reception. Her purpose was to get correct identification for the antevenom. The hospital staff behaved like a bunch of five year old girls, running around screaming at the dead snake. My dad was treated right quick.
I am sorry but I laughed so hard. Your mom is a very brave woman. I would be running for the hills.
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Old May 3, 2012   #9
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If that is true about it being legal to kill rattlers that would be fine by me. I thought the law had to do with this being the Mojave Desert and not a California law. They protect everything it seems around here. The snakes do seem to want to take over the house. I had some snakes hatch under the house last year. It made sipping on lemon aid on a warm day not so relaxing. I do have 60 guinea hens that are suppose to kill snakes. We will see if it helps. This is there first adult year here.
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Old April 17, 2012   #10
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I've got rattlers within a mile and a half of my house, but they stay in the rocky, hilly reservation and don't come down into the flatlands. All I deal with is skeeters and the occasional bee or wasp.
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Old April 17, 2012   #11
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From habit I look for snakes everywhere I go.
I even jump sometimes while at work in Alaska and they dont have snakes.

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Old April 17, 2012   #12
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Glad to hear you didn't get struck by that nasty snake.

We did ok here, we were on Tornado warning 4 times and a total of about 6 hours ending around 2:00 pm. We started at 3:30 am with tornado watch in Portland just about 18 miles away and I called everyone I knew there and in between, the storm was headed our way at 10 miles per hour. A 4:00 am phone call is not what people expect from me but it got everyone moving and the result was 3 tornados struck Portland and one in Gregory, so much flooding resulted from all the rain. My rain barrels filled up in less than an hour. Wow.

My husband called the boss to tell him he would be waiting out the storm and boss laughed and said, "Yeah, me too" and hubby never did make it to work because the storm was all up and down the highway he takes to work in Corpus. A very tense day for all of us but far from the terrible storms in Oklahoma all the way to Wisconsin. I really feel for those people.

Note: My garden structure at the community garden is still intact and has been through many high winds, I am amazed at how well it stays together.
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Old April 17, 2012   #13
jennifer28
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I covered my beds last year with black landscape fabric after I tilled them under for the season.
A few days ago I was taking the fabric off and there were several garter snakes under there, LOL. They are nothing compared to that snake, but they did startle me. I think non-venomous snakes can be a benefit in the garden since they do eat pesty insects. Even the bigger non-venomous snakes are helpful in my opinion when they eat rodents. But I wouldn't want a big venomous one around.

Hmmm I went and read about garter snakes on wikipedia and I found this
Garters were long thought to be nonvenomous, but recent discoveries have revealed that they do in fact produce a mild neurotoxic venom.[4] Garter snakes cannot kill humans with the small amounts of venom they produce, which is comparatively mild, and they also lack an effective means of delivering it. They do have enlarged teeth in the back of their mouth, but their gums are significantly larger.[5][6] Whereas most venomous snakes have anterior or forward venom glands, the Duvernoy's gland of garters are posterior (to the rear) of the snake's eyes.[7] The mild venom is spread into wounds through a chewing action.

Very interesting, but I still don't think their venom "counts" LOL

Last edited by jennifer28; April 17, 2012 at 11:42 PM.
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Old April 17, 2012   #14
Crandrew
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ScottinAtlanta View Post
My dad was bitten twice on the hand by a copperhead last summer in our garden. Those things are mean as...well...as a snake. My mom ran out with hoe, struck the head of the snake, threw the head and the body in a bread bag, drove to the hospital, and dumped the snake on the front desk at the reception. Her purpose was to get correct identification for the antevenom. The hospital staff behaved like a bunch of five year old girls, running around screaming at the dead snake. My dad was treated right quick.
Love this story!!!
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Old April 17, 2012   #15
cgs
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I like to see the non-venomous ones around. Seems to me they eat the same things and hopefully displace the venomous snakes. They do still make the heart race.

Further south, I've heard of people stocking their property with Indigo snakes. They eat rattlesnakes, but get pretty big. After my initial scare, it is always good to see them.
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