Heather's Heavenly Vapes - THE BIG THREAD (Part 6)

[LAwaters]

That's probably why it's there. Your garden attracts critters gopher snakes eat. It's your new best friend helping to preserve your garden!!!

Red-tailed hawks dine on gopher snakes. Perhaps other birds of prey too. Coyotes and fox also eat gopher snakes.

You may have the beginnings of a pretty cool wildlife sanctuary in your yard.

In our backyard, I have seen a mountain lion, bobcat, coyotes, golden eagle (overhead), peacocks (daily), ravens, (daily), and a red shouldered hawk in June who stopped by for a drink from the pool. Pretty good menagerie so far! Oh, and the neighbor had a bear in his pool last summer.

 

[ShowMeTwice]

In our backyard, I have seen a mountain lion, bobcat, coyotes, golden eagle (overhead), peacocks (daily), ravens, (daily), and a red shouldered hawk in June who stopped by for a drink from the pool. Pretty good menagerie so far! Oh, and the neighbor had a bear in his pool last summer.

Wow, very cool!!!

Golden eagles are my favorite type of eagle. I think they should have been our national bird. IMO, they are much more majestic and better looking versus bald eagles.

 

[rosesense]

I am squeamish, can't handle the carnage. They can eat all the rattlers they want, ok by me.

 

[Bronze]

Body pattern and color looks similar to a rattler but the head shape does not (best I could tell from the blurriness). A rattler has a diamond shaped head (most poisonous snakes do).

 

[retic1959]

Our next door neighbor sent us a video of this guy. He was on her front porch and she wanted to warn us. The markings look like it could be a rattlesnake. Anyone able to tell? The video didn’t include the tail.

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That is a Gopher snake . kept a few when I was younger before getting in to the exotics . They're even tempered animals , they make good pets , It absolutely won't bother or hurt you unless you try to handle it , it might bite in self defense then and even then it's nothing more than a few pin ...... . Good animal to have around a garden , great rodent catcher . Wouldn't wanna let kittens or puppies near it though .

 

[Bronze]

That is a Gopher snake . kept a few when I was younger before getting in to the exotics . They're even tempered animals , they make good pets , It absolutely won't bother or hurt you unless you try to handle it , it might bite in self defense then and even then it's nothing more than a few pin ...... . Good animal to have around a garden , great rodent catcher . Wouldn't wanna let kittens or puppies near it though .

I was wondering when you were gonna chime in.

 

[retic1959]

I was wondering when you were gonna chime in.

I just wanna remove any doubt about the animal before they go chopping it in half . They're nice critters , even had an albino Gopher snake at one point . Way more active than a boa or python though , they like to move a lot . They have a loud hiss but not much more in the way of defense . Good snake to have hanging around a garden , they'll run down a rodent relentlessly .

 

[retic1959]

It's 6:20 pm and it's 107 degrees here in Shreveport , had enough of summer , It's been over a hundred in excess of 30 days here this summer . NOLA's been hitting a hundred plus too .

 

[LAwaters]

It's 6:20 pm and it's 107 degrees here in Shreveport , had enough of summer , It's been over a hundred in excess of 30 days here this summer . NOLA's been hitting a hundred plus too .

Hey Retic! I was hoping you’d jump in. The neighbors concluded it’s a gopher too. No one has any plans to harm it, as far as I know. I’m glad it’s around. In the video, it was doing a little lunging head bob while it moved. Any idea why? Is that just how they move?

He’s a big guy, which means he knows how to evade all the coyotes and predatory birds around here. I’d love to see it in person - as long as neither of us startles the other. And as long as I’m far away.

 

[retic1959]

Hey Retic! I was hoping you’d jump in. The neighbors concluded it’s a gopher too. No one has any plans to harm it, as far as I know. I’m glad it’s around. In the video, it was doing a little lunging head bob while it moved. Any idea why? Is that just how they move?

He’s a big guy, which means he knows how to evade all the coyotes and predatory birds around here. I’d love to see it in person - as long as neither of us startles the other. And as long as I’m far away.

It may have been injured , they normally move smoothly and quickly if they need to . They will hiss and try to bluff their way out of a confrontation . Steadier temperament than King snakes or Rat snakes as far as being a pet . They figure out that you're not gonna hurt them very quickly , chances are I could free handle that animal without getting bit . Don't recommend that to someone who's not familiar with handling snakes though . He'll try to get out of your way if you do run in to him unless he's injured and can't move properly .

 

[Bronze]

My limited experience with snakes in the wild tells me by and large they don’t want anything to do with humans and prefer to be left alone. Will retreat, freeze, or camouflage before attacking (or defending).

 

[retic1959]

My limited experience with snakes in the wild tells me by and large they don’t want anything to do with humans and prefer to be left alone. Will retreat, freeze, or camouflage before attacking (or defending).

The only snake that's an exception to that is the Cottonmouth . They stand their ground and open that white mouth as a warning . God knows how many I caught because of that behavior . Even the Canebrake rattlers try to run from you if you give them a chance , The breeder I bought my Retic's from has his own show on the Roku channel now , his place might be close to where @LAwaters lives, he's got a a dam zoo practically . Beautiful animals including white gators . Worth checking out the show if you like animals or paying his place a visit if your close . The show is Reptile Royalty on the Roku channel .

 

[LAwaters]

The only snake that's an exception to that is the Cottonmouth . They stand their ground and open that white mouth as a warning . God knows how many I caught because of that behavior . Even the Canebrake rattlers try to run from you if you give them a chance , The breeder I bought my Retic's from has his own show on the Roku channel now , his place might be close to where @LAwaters lives, he's got a a dam zoo practically . Beautiful animals including white gators . Worth checking out the show if you like animals or paying his place a visit if your close . The show is Reptile Royalty on the Roku channel .

That’s about an hour and a half south of me. He sounds like a cool guy! Could be fun to check out the zoo. Someday

 

[DavidOH]

Afternoon... Been a fun Friday... The power went out at Noon and didn't return 5:00... Get just a bit warm in here.... It's getting better now. Seems the storm the other night did some damage to a substation and they were fixing it today....

 

[rosesense]

Afternoon... Been a fun Friday... The power went out at Noon and didn't return 5:00... Get just a bit warm in here.... It's getting better now. Seems the storm the other night did some damage to a substation and they were fixing it today....

View attachment 1000324

He looks cool as a cucumber again. Or did you have to fan him all day? lol

 

[DavidOH]

He looks cool as a cucumber again. Or did you have to fan him all day? lol

No he likes to go in the bedroom between the wall and the bed and sleep. I don't know if it's coller or what. He was back there most of the time. After the power came back and the AC started to cool it down he came back out..

 

[retic1959]

That’s about an hour and a half south of me. He sounds like a cool guy! Could be fun to check out the zoo. Someday

He's passionate about what he does , he sent me photo's of every baby Retic he had at the time so I could pick the one's I wanted . The show is worth watching just for the variety of animals he has . It would be fun to visit his place . This is a clip of him getting hit by a mama Retic guarding her eggs . They do incubate their own eggs and they get feisty at that time .

 

[Bronze]

Those eggs are huge.

 

[Bronze]

.

 

[rosesense]

Hey @LAwaters