Lots of rattlesnakes on my property & adjacent properties.
We are in a 4 mile by 14 mile flood plane in the Sonoran Desert.
I inherited my parents property & am clearing brush this winter.
There is a construction project across the street clearing half a mile of desert & putting in houses.
Lots of rattlesnakes are going to be looking for new homes & new food sources!
I’ve purchased 35 pounds of pawpaw seeds from Clifford England & was going to sprout 12K seedlings & select the best of the best for ultra high density planting (2ft x 5ft).
I was going to put pomegranate between pawpaw for shade & humidity.
Now I’m worried about snakes climbing the trees!!!
Had been planning on getting rid of all rodents because don’t want to attract additional snakes.
I’m very concerned about a lack of rodents & an influx of rattlesnakes resulting in snakes climbing trees.
Suggestions Please
Its a balance of the ecosystem… for there to be alot of rodents there is alot of seed that is to be dispersed for the plants to survive. The snakes keep them in check.
If the snakes dont have rodents to eat they will go for birds, without birds the insect population overcomes and eats all the vegetation.
Likely the whole habitat that is green is caused by rodents in the desert.
Not sure how your pawpaws will fit into your current ecosystem that reads to be healthy and thriving.
Be careful in what you remove as it will cause a chain of events as it always does when man intervenes.
birds like greenery for cover as well so the snakes are likely going high to take advantage of that resource.
It would be hard to survive on pawpaw and pomegranate alone… but rattleanakes would add significant source of protein to your diet.
They are so easy to skin and prep for cooking and tast pretty much exactly like frog legs… a very white clean looking meat… a little chewey… excellent southern fried.
If you like “the back” portion of critters like chicken, rabbit, squirrel… well a rattleanake is pretty much all back.
Kidding you a little… but not much… i have eaten several and they are good eats.
ate them at a couple BBQ’s out in the desert when i was stationed in N.M. they would come out in early evening to lay on the warm asphalt of the back roads and made easy pickings. even a high end restaurant in Las Cruces had it on their menu. very tasty roasted over mesquite.
Your fears are founded snakes are frequently in trees and brush here waiting for insects and birds. To get rid of the snakes you need a few pigs who love to eat snakes and about anything else you have extra like potato peels etc… if you dont have much extra maybe pot bellied pigs would still work i’ve not tried it though. My snakes are not rattlesnakes so the pigs are more trouble than these harmless snakes. My grandfather kept copperheads under control in this way. It is illegal to hunt rattlesnake here but it is not illegal to keep pigs on your own property. If i had small children in rattlesnake country they would all have a pet pig. Some areas near here are infested with rattlesnakes. Seems like since they are social snakes if you see one many more are there. You might like this article about nearby lenexa ks Exploring Outdoors Kansas: Rattlesnake relocation project
In addition to pigs… turkey and ginea hunt and eat rattlesnakes… eagles, hawks, owls, bobcat, coyote, fox, badger do too…
King snakes are little affected by pit viper venom and hunt and kill, eat rattlers. Blackracer snakes kill and eat rattlers too… I saw that happening once… the rattler was being swallowed head first by the black racer… and was still rattling occasionally even though he was near half swallowed.
We used to have lots of rattlers here… but now that coyote populations are here and thriving… it is quite rare to see one.
lol.
Have had rattlesnake before at my uncle’s place, good taste but way too chewy!
@ZinHead … yes… froglegs, snakes and turtles… are all on the chewey side. I have eaten soft shell turtle in the past… and what little alligator i have tried was in the same boat… somewhat chewey.
@TNhunter has several good suggestions, especially Guinea fowl an effective predator for venomous snakes. Your tree pics remind me of my fishing trips on Wolf River near Colliervile, Tn. My friend and I used a canoe to navigate thru narrow channels fishing for catfish. Very often cottonmouth moccasins would be coiled ready to strike in the willows overhanging the water. It was pretty unnerving if the canoe got too close before we spotted the snake. I recall that a family that lived near a local swamp where copperheads and cottonmouths thrived. This family kept a flock of Guinea fowls to control snakes near their home. So this may be your most cost effective preventive species that are well adapted to hot climates.
Dennis
Kent, wa
It seems you could make a good case for obtaining a zoning ordinance variance which is fairly common where there is good evidence. You should be able to protect your property from the impact of nearby development. I would use your pics as evidence for submittal, perhaps go to your level of governance to first research what they have already approved for others, or consult a local land use official for ideas to strengthen your case, then make your submittal to allow a denser predator population. Guineas are homebodies as don’t venture away from their feeding source, so no fence would be required.
Otherwise you just have to live with nature.
Dennis
Rattlesnakes rarely climb trees in general. Being designed for ambush on the ground they are poorly built to climb well in trees. Timber Rattlers tend to climb the most because it is their chosen habitat. And is where their prey usually enters/exits. But even they normally they stick to a branch near the trunk.
Now having a fruit orchard might engender that behavior. All snakes follow the prey trail.
If you really want to clear the rattlesnakes from your land; get a Kingsnake.
We use to have Guinea Hens and Geese running around our property and sometimes I’d hear them first then see them surrounding sometimes pretty large snakes even throwing them around. Which would attract the dogs. What sucked is it was normally king snakes. Those birds are top notch guards,
And both eat really well!
Every year we hatch off a lot of goslings and sell them before they go territorial. Guineas I do not care for. We already torture the neighborhood with very loud barking dogs.
Had a flock of big tasty looking Muskogee Ducks raised up. I think they caught on to their being served time was near. And they all flew off.
what do you plan to do??
We watched a lot of time and money fly off to Florida. Note to self
Clip wings next time.