This little ankle biter (18 inches) had just shed his skin on our patio within a few feet of the Kittywalk with the cats in it! The thought of it crawling into their enclosure made me shiver. I had never thought of that possibility so I plan to keep an even closer eye on them from now on. I would never consider killing any snake so I coaxed the little guy into the wash where he sat rattling his tail at me while I took pictures.
That’s 3 rattlesnakes in 2 days! The other two were good sized but were on the dirt road by the trail. Since several of the flowers I want to document won’t bloom for another two weeks, I plan to be more than a little cautious while hiking!
Don’t worry about the cats too much. They can take a bite and keep going. My parents had a cat that was bitten on the head. He was one sick kitty for a couple of days. He lived another ten years.
The last paragraph of this link should reassure you.
http://www.placervillevet.com/rattlesnake%20antivenin.htm
Tom
Thanks for the article! Really interesting and I sure hope it’s true 🙂
Oh my gosh! It’s easy to forget all the places snakes can get into. I’m so glad they have rattles to let us know where they are.
Thanks for sharing. I’m going to look at these before I go hiking for a reminder.
Cindy