Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?

Can't believe it. January 4th and I have already seen my first rattlesnake. I saw a 1.5 foot Southern Pacific this morning at 8am. It was basking in the sun mid trial on a ridge. I gotta admit that it felt snakey this morning but this is early in the season. In the 80's and 90's it was early March around here. Over the past 5 years it's been February. Now January? I wouldn't be so passionate about it except I get out nearly every day to exercise me and the dog. I don't know what it is like in your neck of the woods, but I'm thinking rattlesnake avoidance training for the dog already.

Sheesh! Even the ground felt somewhat warm this morning. Global warming? Might be an anomaly as I saw NO snake tracks on trail. And yes, I pay attention to snake tracks. One time I saw tracks that looked like 2 snakes had done the tango for about 30 min. Could have been a mating thing...or a king snake getting a rattlesnake. In May, June, and July I see all sorts of snake tracks. The reds (rattlesnake) are the easiest to spot. Very "curly" where they reach forward with their heads and grab a piece of earth and pull themselves forward. Racers just go straight and leave a 1" line on the path. The Reds are the fattest and can get over 3" in width. Anybody else see any difference in patterns lately?

The snakes are still hibernating here in SE AZ. We don't normally start seeing them until about the end of March though a warm spring can have them out earlier.

I highly recommend giving any outdoor dog rattlesnake aversion training. My last, late, Malamute and my present Golden Retriever were both snake trained and both avoided/avoid rattlers like they were the plague. The alternative is a potential vet bill of about $3500 for antivenin treatments. At least that is what it cost my neighbor when his Rottweiler was bitten.

We have been experiencing superb weather the last couple of weeks. I have always said that we get our very best weather in the winter during the intervals between storms. This episode is unusually long. I guess snakes are the negative side of this particular coin.

Our snakes are well hunkered down right now. I didn't see a snake, or a tick, or hardly even a bug last week when I was out.

I did see a lot of coyote scat though. I don't know where they find the persimmons, they must all be under the leaves I guess, but they're eating them still and the seeds come out cleaned and fertilized and ready for sprouting in the Spring.

I honestly don't have any problems with rattlesnakes myself. Not real fond of being surprised by them so it keeps me on my toes. The dog has been through rattlesnake training. However, as we see about 10 a year minimum, I can tell by her response that unless they are buzzing she is not really worried about them. Time for a refresher class. Lucky she is really good with "leave it". But I have to pay attention all the time.

Pika, it's about $700 a vial for anitvenom in San Diego. The $3500 total is about right per bite for dogs including monitoring and blood work.

Bill, you have wild persimmons? or are they naturalized or in someones yard.

What, no pictures?

Snakes are a fact of life here (texas) but I like snakes, so it's no big deal.


It's been in the 60-70's here lately which means some very sleepy and sluggish snakes might get fooled and wander out to catch some sun. That's not good because we get morning frost before it warms up. Haven't seen anything lately though.

Was your rattler perky or sluggish? Usually this time of year they are slow and confused.

They are wild, and native to the area. We have a few trees on our property and I like them, but they will pucker you up if you eat them before a good frost.

Locals split the seeds to predict winter. I don't know what they found this year and critters ate all mine before I even saw them. There is a dark spot inside the seed you can see when the seed is split. It will look like a spoon (snowy winter), a fork (mild winter), or a knife (icy and cold).

I'm still trying to find a PawPaw tree that has fruit I can taste. They're here too, but I've never seen fruit on one that lasted until it was ripe. Again, critters, like raccoons, eat them as soon as they're ready. I planted a PawPaw in my front yard about 5 years ago. They grow really slow, but maybe I'll get a chance to taste them one of these days.

Saw a copperhead on the trail a few weeks ago, no rattlesnakes though. Apparently we have Carolina Pigmy rattlers here in north GA, but I've yet to ever see one.

We set the record high temp for the date yesterday, and had the fourth driest December on record with no rain in sight the next two weeks. If the current La Nina pattern doesn't change it will end up a very dry year across the state, a very early hiking season in the Sierra and a wicked bad fire season.

The snowshoes are gathering dust and yeah, I suspect the snakes are all out doing their snakey thing here as well.

Cheers,

Snakes out here in MD in December and today! First time I have ever seen a snake in January in MD.

It must be due to how warm its been here in Maryland. We didn't have many lows below freezing until after xmas. Normally at this time of year they'd be torpid. Some species, like Timber Rattlers hibernate in "viper pits"--sometimes with dozens of snakes together.

I know I study them and actively look for them. Field herping is what we call it. It combines much hiking, scouting, and mapping with finding reptiles and amphibians. It's a blast if you are into biology, ecology, etc, even geology.

Check out my MD recap from this season. maryland herps

How warm is it? Took this photo at about 5500 feet in Yosemite on December 29th. These flowers are supposed to be under about 4 feet of snow right now...



Not good. Not good at all.

High 60's

We must be getting ya'lls cold weather about -27F this morning. Had two weeks off for the winter break (university) and skiied once (I'm a wimp -20F is my cut off.) On top of that we got over 6 inches of snow (7 or 8 prob. - but didn't measure.) Too bad I don't live in Cordova or Valdez (I love snow) - they got seriously hit! even for them. Nome is having a bad year - they got that weird snow "hurricane" and now -30F and wind... shiver.

Ugh. I couldn't handle it.

You actually are getting "our" weather, as persistant high pressure has been diverting all the storms far away from their usual wintertime targets since sometime in November. It's now mid-January and the forecast shows no relief whatsoever. Rain. Please. Nao?

Just read that 2011 was Texas' driest and second hottest year on record.