[AlpacaTalk] rattlesnake warning in CA

Hi all,
Don't know if this is a problem anywhere else, but here in CA it is a really bad rattlesnake year already!

We have lived here for seven years now and I have seen a total of 4 rattlers in that time- all well away from our home. This year we have seen three already, and shockingly they have all been very close to either our house (by the trash cans- it's a dead 4 footer now) or our alpacas- outside the female pen - OF COURSE!!

I do have a shovel and my shotgun within handy reach, but this morning it was a close call. I looked outside to see all my pregnant females surrounding something (never a good thing as the most due momma wasn't even close- so it wasn't a baby!) then I saw one stick her nose in, heard the rattle and everyone jumped back and ran away.... after I picked my heart up off the floor, I grabbed the gun and ran out there but it was gone. No one seems to have been bit, everyone was leaping around like it was the best game in the world- scare the rattler.... HA! More like give-the-owner-a-heart-attack!!!

All the brush has been cut even farther than usual away from the pens, and I gave my girls a stern talking to about snake dangers.
So, just be extra careful if you live in CA... we're in for a bumpy ride this year!
Slainte~
Rachelle

Wyatt & Rachelle Black
Black Magic Alpaca Ranch
Honesty, Integrity, Quality
6500 Digier Road
P.O. Box 457
Lebec, CA
93243
http://www.blackmagicalpacaranch.com
wyattblack@earthlink.net
661-248-6568
ARI- PACA Foundation-ARF

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