Had to kill another rattler in the yard tonight.

OMG keep the kitty in the house! I'd be terrified it would end up as snake food.

i want to see photo of Killer Kitty! i'm not sure, but i wouldn't let pusskin get bit by a poisonous snake no matter how invincible she may think she is.

KD

You know the expression "God takes care of fools and children"? Well I qualify on both counts: I was still my parents' child even though I was in my mid-forties, and I was definitely a fool.

I was creating a new dead flower bed (they are the only kind I can seem to grow here in Florida) when I noticed a circular hump at the other end of the weed block I had put down the day before. I peeled back the weed block and there was a baby snake--cute little gray thing. It stuck out its tongue and it wiggled its tail but it didn't squiggle away. I had a beautiful black Lab at the time and I didn't want her to hurt the baby snake so I wrapped paper towels around the ends of my long-handled bar-b-q tongs (I didn't want to hurt the baby snake either), gently picked up the cute little snake that was still wiggling its tale at me, and carried it over to the woods across from our house.

The next day I found another one of these cute little things; went through the whole bar-b-q tongs-walk to the woods thing again. Carefully checked the dead flower bed which now had a few quickly withering plants in it to see if there were any more baby snakes (how many siblings hatch at one time??) and then went on with planting some soon to be dead plants.

Next day I'm working in that pathetic garden when I see my neighbor whacking something on his lawn with a heavy shovel. "Hey Wade", I called out, "What's the matter?" He said "I just found a pygmy rattler and I want to make sure its dead." "Oh, I've never seen a pygmy rattler before, Wade. Let me come over and take a look at it so I'll recognize it in case one ever gets in my yard", I said. So over I went. And there on the ground was my cute little baby gray snake!

After that I bought a book on the indigenous snakes of Florida and a pair of longer-handled bar-b-q tongs!


Keep Kitty safe. Don't bring Kitty to Florida.

Lady B

ROFL ladybeabea, desertdweller!

I always wonder what our cat would do when faced with a snake...the dogs too for that matter. I'm beginning to think I don't need to worry about the younger dog - given her jumpiness at "weird" things I think she'd not get too close. By weird I mean things like a new couch. Or one of her toys in a place she didn't remember leaving it. Or one of us standing a little funny (as defined by her). I'd think a snake would rank right up there on her list. I'm afraid the cat would be a different story and would pounce right on any snake it happened upon. Or maybe just fearless because he doesn't have to actually face snakes.

Hope your fearless feline is doing ok!

Jamie - they have a rattlesnake venom vaccine out for dogs at least. I don't know about cats, though. We live too near the edge of town for me to take a chance...

Hi Ronda, I know about the vaccine, both of my dogs had the shots this year, one in May and the follow up booster just a week or two ago. Red Rock Laboratories came out with it but it only works against the western diamondbacks....Still those are what we have the most of.
Last week it was a tarantula that Pita decided to take on





She got bit by the spider but that didn't really slow her down too much.
This is her and the rattler from last night








She was killing that poor dead snake for two hours afterwards. She will surely get bit if she happens to come in contact with a live rattler and I'm not around, her curiosity gets the best of her. We also have these HUGE toads that live in our yard, she doesn't mess with them because they are as big as she is.

Looks like a headless western diamondback. Must be a common snake, all the ones that I've ever seen were headless. ;D

I wish the headless ones were more common than the others. My dog was bitten in the face last october, the anti venon for her was 567.00 per vile, it was a costly deal not to mention very painful for my poor dog. I think she has some kind of perminent nerve damage because her face looks so different than it used too. She has droopy lips now and she didn't before she got bit.

Here's a cat that must think he's WAAAAAAY bigger than he really is.... ;D