living with rattlesnakes

[Minimor]

Just thought of something that was quite funny at the time--several years after we left western North Dakota a group of us went back to the badlands near Medora for a few days of trail riding. The one gal had never been there before and was totally unfamiliar with rattlesnakes. After a few hours of riding we stopped & got off the horses, and this gal promtly collapsed on top of a thick clump of brush & declared that she was so stiff and sore and tired she was never going to be able to get back up on that horse. My mom piped up & told her that she better hope there isn't a snake in that clump of brush...well! That gal was up off of that bush & back on top her horse faster than you could blink your eyes!

Nothing like "incentive" to forget ones aches & pains and tiredness!

 

[Fred]

My sister-in-law was a missonary in africa for over 20 years and yes black mambs are the most feared snake where she was. But then again I wouldn't want to live where I would come home and find a spitting cobra in my living room which she did several times! They had a snake man on campus and even he got the shakes when a mamba was sighted. Linda

 

[wildoak]

We keep everything around the house & barn pretty well mowed down, and keep cats in the barn. I know we are in a snake area but - knocking on wood - we haven't had a problem. I do step carefully though when I'm outside, and I don't reach in where I can't see until I"ve done some serious banging around! We have 2 Jack Russells who will go after them too, the older one was bitten last year and just survived out of JR meanness LOL.

I've also had that heart stopping experience of riding up on top of a rattlesnake........

No injuries, no one got bitten but it sure got us moving in a hurry everytime.

Jan