Now Im effin' pissed.

[Hotshot]

Actually I've heard that the babies are more dangerous because they haven't learned to control their venom yet. They just give it all to you!

this is true ^^

[STORMS]

this is true ^^

REALLY???WOW! I can honestly say I did not know that! Glad I used a slick to move the little buggars!

[allmote]

I dont see this any different then a farmer killing a snake. We are preditors and that snake screwed up by showing itself to the higher food chain witch happen to be a stupid drunk guy. The guy got bit and could have died and the snake died both got what came to them for being stupid.

Its nature at its best come on now I know most of us dont live off egg plants and daisys in our sunflower seed salads. Both got caught slipping snake would have gotten eatin if this was few hundred years ago or if that man happen to be an eagle. So eagles dont drink who cares.

[Colin Vestrand]

that's why she said RELOCATE. Then the animal in question is nowhere near the general population. It's not a cougar, it doesn't have a set territory to come back to. Once out of populated areas that animal won't cause a threat.

well it's actually just as detrimental to relocate a reptile... google 'genetic diversity in reptile populations'.

[edie]

This reminds me of something actually - I was watch COPS one day (not normal for me, just nothing on) and some officers somewhere got a call from someone who reported a snake on their front porch.. It was a harmless rat snake and the officers called backup - backup was a big guy with a knight stick that whacked the snake in the head and killed it, it was leaving the property too, didn't make any sense to me!

I hate animal cruelty, but I prolly would have killed the snake too.


what if your kids were at that park........playing, then got bit by this snake.

Well, the thing is his kids were not at the park, he was stupid and drunk and because of his actions the snake was killed for a terrible reason. I did a report on rattlesnakes for my ENG102 class and a lot of information I found had said that the main reason people are bitten by a rattlesnake is because they try to either harass or kill the snake. For the most part, if you leave them alone and walk away or call someone to relocate the snake (within a mile of where it was found) then there will be no problems.

And if you have kids that are playing at the park keep an eye on them people don't watch their kids around pools and they end up drowning (no one cuts the head off a swimming pool!), ultimately it is the adults responsibility to watch their children and not try to blame unfortunate events on things that they could have avoided if they had paid attention.

I live in AZ (so we see tons of rattlers around here) and am friends with a couple of people who know a lot about rattle snakes and relocate them for the AZ Herpetological Association - if someone comes across a snake on their property they can usually find someone who will remove the animal for free, theres really no reason to kill something just because you are afraid of it, its a shame people think that way!

This could be a pointless post and these topics might have already been brought up, I only read the first page and am really tired - sorry if I'm being redundant!

[edie]

that's why she said RELOCATE. Then the animal in question is nowhere near the general population. It's not a cougar, it doesn't have a set territory to come back to. Once out of populated areas that animal won't cause a threat.

Why did cops handle the snake, why wasn't animal control called to deal with it? I would bet dollars they didn't know how to handle it, which could have lead to more envenomations.

kzooherpetoculturist got it.. You cannot relocate a rattlesnake farther than within a mile of where it was found - they will stop eating and they will die - it does have a set territory it stays in and if placed out of that territory then it will usually die (read some about this on the AHA forum and on online articles when doing a ENG102 paper).

If the snake cannot be relocated near where it was found, then sometimes experienced "hot" keepers in the area may be able to take it in a care for it for the remainder of its life - I do not know a whole lot about this, but am on the AHA forum a lot and this seems to be common practice - AZ has tons of rattlers!

[edie]

Okay, done for tonight, heres just some information about relocation for anyone that was confused:

""Nuisance rattlesnakes" are those found near dwellings or on private property where the residents consider them a threat and want them removed. Long-distance translocation (LDT) refers to the relocation management of rattlesnakes well beyond their usual home range distance which for blacktailed rattlesnakes and western diamondback rattlesnakes is more than 8 km (5 mi). Short-distance translocation (SDT) refers to relocation of snakes within the known or estimated home range for that species and sex, usually less than 1 mile (1.6 km).

"Recent studies indicate rattlesnakes released well beyond their home range (LDT) become confused and tend to wander long distances. They apparently attempt to return to their home range where they grew up and knew their surroundings. Many snakes managed with LDT die within a year, unable to adapt to their new environment (Johnson et al. 2000 [massasaugas, Ontario], Hare and McNally 1997 [diamondbacks, Tucson], Reinert 1999 [timber rattlesnakes, Pennsylvania). Other studies indicate translocated snakes' aberrant activity patterns (Nowak 1998 [diamondback and blacktailed rattlesnakes, Montezuma Castle National Monument, Arizona], Sealy 1997 [timber rattlesnakes, North Carolina]). Our own long term studies (11 years) using radiotelemetry near Portal, Arizona, indicate blacktailed rattlesnakes know their home range intimately, seldom range out of it, and frequent the same refuges, hunting sites, and opposite sex meeting locations year after year (Hardy and Greene 1999).

There are other reasons why LDT is not in the best interests of rattlesnakes. If LDT snakes are released in suitable habitat, they will overload that population. If there are no resident snakes, the habitat is not suitable. The genetic composition of the resident population could be changed. Finally, LDT rattlesnakes held before translocation may transmit disease to the wild population

Short distance translocation (SDT) allows a snake to remain within its home range and avoid the problems above. "

Quoted from:
http://webspinners.com/coloherp/cb-n...elocation.html

There are probably some better sites with more clear information on this, but I'm going to bed now.

[redpython]

its unfortunate that this snake was killed. the guy harrassed it and got what he asked for.

i dont think copperheads are in chicagoland.

[NightLad]

That is still NO reason to kill the snake. It's an education issue. Educate your children to NOT pick up ANY reptile, just like you would in teaching them how to not approach a strange dog.

Exactly. If you teach your children then they should be fine in these situations. I'm living proof. When I was 3 (yes, 3) my parents took me to visit with a friend of the family who owns a farm in the country. The season just started turning to fall, and I was outside with my dad in my over-sized rubber boots. I noticed what looked like a gray branch moving on the ground, but I knew not to touch it because it was something strange and I knew better (from repeated warnings) not to touch things I was unsure of. So, I backed up and I called my dad over to see the 'moving stick'. It turned out to be a rattle snake.

Dad picked me up and we went back inside for the rest of the day. No need to harm the snake.

[Colin Vestrand]

And if you have kids that are playing at the park keep an eye on them people don't watch their kids around pools and they end up drowning (no one cuts the head off a swimming pool!), ultimately it is the adults responsibility to watch their children and not try to blame unfortunate events on things that they could have avoided if they had paid attention.

not to start an argument, but i'm going to take a guess by that statement that you do not have any kids! i don't see how it'd be feasible to watch a child so closely that you can keep really them from getting bit by a rattlesnake at a park... or at a home for that matter.