Dr. Erika Nowak from Northern Arizona University commented on my last rattlesnake blog on relocating rattlesnakes, and provided the following info - so I thought I would provide it as a separate blog. In a nutshell, if you must relocate rattlesnakes (which is preferable to the alternative of …
Our Welcome (and not welcome) Nature Guests
Our housesitter called when we were away to say that we hadn’t told her about our unexpected friend. At dusk she had walked out onto the back patio and discovered a 5-foot gopher snake slithering along the house. Knowing our respect for critters, she successfully whisked it away with a broom. …
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Great hikes: Head to the Crafton Hills
I’m always on the lookout for hikes that feature our area’s rich California native habitat and wildlife -- and Crafton Hill’s Grape Street Trail in Yucaipa provides plenty of that. It’s an intermediate trail that takes you up a not-too-steep hill to nice views and more trail …
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Rattlesnakes! Relocating Them Works Just Fine….
I have a follow-up post on this subject here with a further discussion and bibliography with Dr. Hayes and another here on more recent research by Dr. Erika Nowak. We were up at a Big Bear concert a couple weekends ago, which was sponsored by the San Bernardino National Forest Association (great …
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It’s Springtime for Baby Rattlers and Other Snakes
We were at our San Diego home and one of our renter's cats caught a baby snake (which we of course saved) - and it got me thinking about the baby snakes joining the baby birds, rabbits and other mammals being born as spring ramps into full-time. I checked in with Dr. William Hayes, a herpetologist …
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Some Truths about Rattlesnakes (and myth debunking)
(Updated Aug 2018) Acquaintances of ours were over at our house the other night and when they asked if we wanted to see a photo of the rattlesnake they found on their property, I thought to myself ‘they probably killed it.’ Yep, they did. It was a good 4-plus feet long, so likely had lived many …
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