Requiem for a snake

mrolson · May 9, 2002

No, actually BAD is running over a bunny on Easter with young kids in the car.... Man were they upset /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif

Bird · May 9, 2002

Yep, I know what you mean, Brad. A couple of years ago, I killed a very small cottontail with the DR trimmer/mower (string trimmer) and never saw it until I saw the fur flying. And I almost got another one a couple of weeks ago before I saw it.

patrickg · May 9, 2002

Bird, I was backing out onto a peninsula in one of my pon.... I mean TANKS with the brush hog and cornered Mr. Cotton Tail. He wouldn't go past the brush hog and by the time I saw him I had blocked his escape. Sometmes a bunny will literally die of fright so I don't like to crowd them. This little fellow jumped in the pond and swam 60-75 feet to the dam. Did a pretty good bunny paddle. Luckily the creature from the black lagoon didn't get him.

Someone fishing with my mom saw one of a pair of wild ducks swiming underwater being chased by something big. He couldn't tell what. Anyway, the duck did not surface and we only had one duck for the next two days then no ducks. Either the remaining duck left or sufered his mates fate or... I'm open to input regarding what could have caught and eaten a duck underwater. So far suggestions include: large catfish, large bass, turtle (we have snappers and alligator snappers) a feral crockagator some bozo turned lose when it wasn't fun anymore. We have discarded alien intervention but nevertheless extend an open invitation to agents Molder and Skully to help sort this out.

THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE...

Patrick

fractal · May 9, 2002

<blockquote>In reply to:<hr>

Yep, I know what you mean, Brad. A couple of years ago, I killed a very small cottontail with the DR trimmer/mower (string trimmer) and never saw it until I saw the fur flying. And I almost got another one a couple of weeks ago before I saw it.

<hr></blockquote>

Reminds me of last summer when I pulled the mower out of the shed to mow the grass. Saw 'something' flutter under the the wheel. Lifted the front of the mower as I back out of the shed and out walks a neighborhood skunk. I lower the mower and back slowly out of range. Silly thing had made a nest in the clipping bag.

I am just REAL glad I found it before I started the mower.

bgott · May 9, 2002

It might be a big bullfrog. I'm joking, right? A few years ago I was working on a swimming pool pump used as an aerator on a 30 x 40 foot pond when I heard a lot of splashing going on. I ran over and got to watch a bullfrog try to eat a gosling. It was a good sized gosling, too. The gosling was a lot larger than the frog but it still took some time and effort to get away. I don't know if frogs eat underwater but before I saw that I didn't think they ate big birds, either!

Bird · May 10, 2002

a feral crockagator some bozo turned lose

Doesn't seem too likely, but certainly a possibility. Quite a number of those things were shipped through the U.S. mail in the late 50s and early 60s, and I can remember some of them (up to about 4' long) being found in creeks in Dallas in the late 60s (one in fact in my aunt and uncle's backyard). And a number of people claim to have seen alligators in White Rock Lake in Dallas. Haven't heard of any in the area now for many years, but sure wouldn't bet there are none around.

Thomas · May 10, 2002

Well we got something in common for I'm not a snake lover either,but I do understand your compassion and agree.

You should give some sort of a warning before someone open the attachment..yikes..HAD a hot cup coffee when I click the attachment open /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif

patrickg · May 10, 2002

Brad, If you are around long enough and pay attention, you see some amazing things. I saw a bass come up out of the water in a vertical leap, go up in the air about 3 ft and take a small bird off of a limb on a dead tree out in a lake. I was about 10 feet away in a boat. I accidently caught a bulfrog while fly fishing. I guess frogs aren't as discriminating as fish. I saw a heron beside the road in San Diego swallowing a really large rat. Of course it is no surprise to fishermen that bass take ducklings as well as bullfrogs.

My aunt the biology teacher used to go bullfrog hunting with me. Most often I used a .22 rifle with short hollowpoints. She and my mom were cleaning a mess of frogs, maybe about 20, but were curious regarding some of the frogs distended bellies so they cut them open and had a look. They had been eating SNAKES, lots of snakes, about a foot long. Some were in good shape and some nearly digested and all stages in between. They both were so turned off that you could just say frog to either of them for the next week or so and they would get woozy.

Bet you thought I wasn't getting back to the SNAKE topic, ha ha.

Patrick

dmccarty · May 13, 2002

Brad,

Years ago when I worked on a farm one summer, the boss and I where out
cutting a pasture. He was on a MF 165 and I was on a little MF135. We
started looping around the pasture slowly cutting into the center. He was
moving around much faster than I since he had the bigger tractor. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

As we almost got the pasture cut I saw a little fawn, white spots and all,
trembling in the grass. As soon as I saw the fawn, it saw me and jumped
up to run. Thankfully it hit the front right tire, bounced off and went around
the FRONT of the tractor! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif Phew! When I saw the fawn I pushed in
the clutch to at least slow down which hopefully prevented a real ugly
situation. /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif

If I had run over that fawn I would have been a very unhappy camper!

I have one lot that I have worked on so that the house site and driveway
are all cleared. The driveway just needs to have rock dropped. Since
it turned out that we are not going to built on that site I just let the grass
grow. I mow the lot once a year in the fall for two reasons. One, the lot
is easily tresspassed and one would be insane to walk into the grass when
it is knee high. The ticks and chiggers will make the tresspasser's pay
dearly for their walk. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif By the fall the grass is up to the hood of the
tractor. The second reason I don't mow it is because I know the fawns will
use the grass as cover and food. After the mowing incident years ago once
the grass gets to a certain size I just wait for the fall and figure the fawns
are big enough and edicated enough to not be in much danger when I mow....

At least that is the theory! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Later...
Dan McCarty

Frank_Mulligan · May 14, 2002

Wal,

Several years ago I had a similiar situation but by the time I had circled around the snake was dead. The next day my wife and our dog went for a walk nearby. She came running back screaming the dog had a snake in her mouth! It was really just a piece of 'snake jerky' by that time!

Another story more miserable than yours. Last year I was cutting some tall grass when I ran over a bunch of small bunnies. I think I killed about 3 of them. It was very upsetting. After that, I slowed down to a crawl and looked ahead and down at my feet so much that I gave myself a good neck pain. Those poor things were probably so young that they didn't know to run. Then I kept having to stop and chase the survivors out of the tall grass (even catching one in my hands) so I wouldn't run them over. I never told my wife about the bunnies.