A rather interesting day

[sunshine4me]

A rainy day in maine

Hi all, it is not the greatest day for digging here in westbrook maine. This is a bummer of a day. There a chill in the air. [sm=rolleyes.gif] Who knows might go digging anyway.

 

[Harry Pristis]

Hey, Kelley . . .

That rattlesnake that messed you up was a Prairie Rattlesnake, Crotalus viridis viridis, according to my book on Texas snakes. The viridis group of rattlesnakes includes a fair number of subspecies like Diginit's Northern Pacific Rattlesnake.

I have collected C. viridis viridis in NW Nebraska, and they range over the Great Plains from Alberta and Saskatchewn to northern Chihuahua. In Texas they occur from about San Angelo north into the Panhandle and west throughout Trans-Pecos Texas.

The venom of the Prairie Rattlesnake is more than one and a third times as toxic as Western Diamondback venom. The good news is that the venom has only about half the tissue-necrotizing effect and less than a third of the blood-destroying potency as WDB venom.

I'll bet your bite was no picnic in the park.

-------Harry Pristis

 

[bigkitty53]

Harry,
You're into herps,too?!?Why am I really not suprised?As I've noted before,you're definately a Renaissance Man!

KAT

 

[diginit]

Ouch! Too bad you didn't step on it's head.
My next step would have had the same results I'm sure. I thought about that alot that day.You Know,Weather or not I could put my foot in my mouth to suck out the venom.
Or did I already? Anyway, sounds like you're doin' alright if your diggin again.Excellent!
I'm lookin' alot more closely at sticks in the trail.
Oh! By the way,Sorry sunshine. Looks like it would be a good day to clean the bottles you.ve already dug. Have a great day anyways!

 

[IRISH]

Harry, that is one beautiful snake in your first post, I haven't seen one of them in the wild the one's that we come across tend to be the unfriendly one's [] .
diginit, they are protected species but a lot of people shoot them anyway, I don't know why [&o] , if you leave them alone and keep an eye out for them they are fine.

 

[diginit]

Kinda like Bambi, huh. Please don't get me wrong because of my last post. I love animals. I make it a point not to hurt anything that doesn't hurt me first.But if it came down to him or me I'd give no quarter.I think people just shoot them because they feel safer if it's dead.Like the California state animal.You Know,the one on our flag.The California Grizzly.Now Extinct.

 

[IRISH]

Fair enough if they are a problem, it's just when you get people that go out of there way to shoot them way out in the bush that seems a bit pointless.

I came across 7 Fellow Deer on sunday, they crossed the track I was on about 30 feet away then the stag spotted me and they bolted, deer are vermin in Australia but they are still nice to see that close [] .

 

[Maine Digger]

Irish, sounds like the White Tail deer where I grew up in NY state. It's very difficult to keep a vegi garden because of the deer. They're not very large, but awfully plentiful, and all their natural preditors have been wiped out. Here is Maine, they're much larger, and a lot of poeple hunt for years without bagging one. Our deer kill this year was way down, 27% from the average. I myself don't hunt with a gun, would rather use a camera, but I don't have a problem with those who do.

 

[sunshine4me]

Yes it was an interesting day as of yesterday. I went digging for bottles by the river. And to my surprise i fell in the river. I never got out of anything so quick before in my life. [] It is a better day today. I think i will stay near the house. I hope all is well with everybody.

 

[Harry Pristis]

Do you suppose, Irish, that fewer animals (including pest species) will be shot now that your government has dis-armed Australians? :^(

I read that the Victoria government has proposed more "weapons control" to force sword owners to pay a $135 license fee and to keep their blades looked in safes bolted to the floor.

I didn't realize that Fallow Deer were a pest in Australia. Imported from India for hunting, I suppose. Rabbits, foxes, and water buffalo (in the north) are problems, I know -- all imported species.

Ahh, well . . . there's always the boomerang for controlling the numbers of these pests.

---------Harry Pristis