Re: [AlpacaTalk] Digest Number 211

Hi Rachelle
I don't know how true it is, but everyone keeps telling us that peacocks
keep rattlesnakes away. When we moved here over 6 years ago, the property
came with 3 cocks and 2 hens and we saw one baby rattler in the driveway
(about 200 feet from the house) the first month we were here. Everyone that
we asked said that it probably came from a neighboring property that had
been cleared of brush the day before, but that if we kept the peacocks and
hens they would ward off rattlers. Some said the snakes can't take the
horrible noise that the birds make, others said the birds eat the eggs. I
don't know what is true, but we haven't seen a rattler since that first one,
6 years ago.
We also have bull snakes around here, and have seen at least one on the
property every year. This year I have seen 4 or 5,...or maybe just 2 of
them repeatedly. I have heard that they eat rattlers and their eggs, so I
don't know which is responsible for keeping the snakes away.

If anyone knows that peacocks and hens do NOT keep rattlers away, I would
love to hear about it, so I can get rid of the birds. They make a horrible
noise, and poop everywhere, including the front porch! Not to mention that
they eat everything I plant, whether it is flowers or veggies.
Billie Rogers
Billie@DutchValleyRanch.com
www.DutchValleyRanch.com
----- Original Message -----
From: <AlpacaTalk@yahoogroups.com>
To: <AlpacaTalk@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Friday, June 02, 2006 12:27 AM
Subject: [AlpacaTalk] Digest Number 211

There are 2 messages in this issue.

Topics in this digest:

1. rattlesnake warning in CA
From: "Wyatt Black" wyattblack@earthlink.net
2. Re: rattlesnake warning in CA
From: "alpacawoman@comcast.net" alpacawoman@comcast.net

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Message: 1
Date: Thu Jun 1, 2006 9:57 am (PDT)
From: "Wyatt Black" wyattblack@earthlink.net
Subject: 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

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

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Message: 2
Date: Thu Jun 1, 2006 7:03 pm (PDT)
From: "alpacawoman@comcast.net" alpacawoman@comcast.net
Subject: Re: rattlesnake warning in CA

Yup, we had a huge one on the farm a few years ago. The cat thought she
should try to kill it or something. I as out on the other side of the
barn, a good 150-200' or so away, and I heard something that sounded
very much like a chainsaw. I ran to go see what it was and also nearly
had a heart attack when I saw this thing right in the back yard! And
the cat was really way too close, then the black lab also thought she
should do something with it, maybe it was a toy for her... I finally
convinced it to go back into the woods near the house, and I made all
the pets go inside for the rest of the afternoon. Whew!

Last summer my daughter and I relocated a baby rattler we found in the
birthing pasture across the street to a very large property into their
blackberry bushes (weeds here in Oregon). We did our best Steve Irwin
and got the little guy into an empty feed bag, then released it. :)

Thanks and best regards,

Heather Zeleny
West Wind Alpacas
1150 Darlene Ln. #199
Eugene, OR, 97401

voice: 541.868.6976
Breeding for Elite Fleece in the Pacific Northwest
Home of Avatar's West Wind Scirocco and El Bello's Padré
http://www.westwindalpacas.com/
http://www.alpacanation.com/westwind.asp

On Jun 1, 2006, at 9:51 AM, Wyatt Black wrote:

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

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

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