NEPA ~ Off Topic ~ Chatting Thread ( New ) (alligator, document, grey)

[cremebrulee]

Originally Posted by fisheye

We did get the bat problem under control and now all we have is a problem with timber rattlers that like to sun themselves on our porch!

OMG, geeze Louise?

Saw one once in my life, we were taking a ride on some back path around Beltzville, can't even remember how we got there or where it was...(years ago, when I lived there) and one started to crawl across the dirt road...I was going to get out and hubby yelled at me, "Its a rattler" I was shocked because I remember it was more black with the rattle on the end of it's tail....never expected it to look like that?

Do you think they get under your porch to hybernate?

[fisheye]

Originally Posted by cremebrulee

OMG, geeze Louise?

Saw one once in my life, we were taking a ride on some back path around Beltzville, can't even remember how we got there or where it was...(years ago, when I lived there) and one started to crawl across the dirt road...I was going to get out and hubby yelled at me, "Its a rattler" I was shocked because I remember it was more black with the rattle on the end of it's tail....never expected it to look like that?

Do you think they get under your porch to hybernate?

There is a den in the hillside about a half mile from our camp. Years ago there were scheduled hunts that kept the numbers down. Now rattlesnakes and copperheads are highly protected. Actually all snakes are protected. Unless you are endanger you are not supposed to even 'disturb' them when out in the woods. If they are too close to your house you can 'very carefully' move them - but only a short distance away (I believe it is about 200 feet). Before, when the new protective laws were not in place, I killed a 62" one that was about 4" in diameter, that was a large snake. Yes, it was very dark in color. I think it had 13 rattles.

I think, but I would check first, that one can buy a permit in PA to harvest one of these poisonous snakes a year. But it is always wise to check with your local game commission before taking any action.

[Gerania]

Originally Posted by cremebrulee

LOL, you need a few dogs...to help keep you warm...lol


I believe if I ever lived in another home I'd buy insurance for my appliances...? It covers heaters, etc...

I remember that band.

Found it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3gGn6t8Bog

[cremebrulee]

Originally Posted by Gerania

I remember that band.

Found it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3gGn6t8Bog

LOL, yes....was wondering if you'd get it....

[Gerania]

Yes, I'm that old and I grew up with dogs. I remember every one of them. They were family members. They had personalities. I miss them.

[Gerania]

Originally Posted by fisheye

We did get the bat problem under control and now all we have is a problem with timber rattlers that like to sun themselves on our porch!

Really? I know people who want to come to your house to look at snakes. Herping. If you have a snake, they want to see it. Well, they want to pet it and take a picture, too.

[fisheye]

Originally Posted by Gerania

Really? I know people who want to come to your house to look at snakes. Herping. If you have a snake, they want to see it. Well, they want to pet it and take a picture, too.

They are not at my house; they are at our camp. Its not guaranteed that you will encounter one; but there are more of the around all the time. The resort that boarders our property owns the hills with the dens. They used to let people come back and hunt them. I think insurance and the new laws shut all of that down. I really have not been back to our camp for some time; so I don't know if there are more of them now? About four years ago I saw a four footer on the way back to the camp. Other members have complained about them on our porch.

[Gerania]

I don't mind snakes if they stay off of my steps. I was just reading a thread about someone's dog which was bitten by a copperhead in the yard. North Carolina. Just no.

[fisheye]

Originally Posted by Gerania

I don't mind snakes if they stay off of my steps. I was just reading a thread about someone's dog which was bitten by a copperhead in the yard. North Carolina. Just no.

I was grouse hunting down in Perry County when I had to work out of Carlisle PA. To get through the thick brush I had to crawl and it was a warm, sunny, Fall day. I ended up face to face with a Copperhead ready to strike. I struck first since my shotgun was pointed it the snake's direction. But it did unsettle me that my face was only about two feet away from a coiled large venomous snake! It is bad enough to be bitten in an extremity.

That same shotgun saved me from a raccoon attack in the middle of a sunny day. I think it was rabid? I shot my last shotgun shell and brought down a duck in the middle of some tall swamp grass. I went out to grab my duck and when I saw the grass moving I reached to get the duck. Instead my fingers were greeted by a raccoon's teeth and I barely got them out of the way in time. I backed up and the raccoon continued to attack. One does not expect to see these nocturnal creatures at that time. Plus I had just fired my very last round at the duck I brought out the air. Fortunately I remembered my hand to hand combat from the military. That old Model 12 shotgun still has a missing splinter of wood in its stock from the ensuing battle. I won and did not get bitten; but the raccoon was a fearsome fighter.

[cremebrulee]

Originally Posted by Gerania

I could use a nice ride in the car.

Ten years ago, my husband developed some sort of disease or disorder that the best doctors that we could find in Eastern PA couldn't figure out. When he contracted an infection, he was sent to Jefferson University Hospital. They do amazing things there. It's a very good hospital. He had picked up some sort of viral infection, and in his weakened state, couldn't fight it. He had fluid in his lungs and then picked up a hospital infection and it got worse. I spent about six hours one day pressing my back against his because he felt as though he couldn't breathe while lying down. He was too weak weak to sit up, so I had to brace my feet and press my back against his back, and I mean press. He was a big boned, muscular guy, so hard work for me. Not too hard, because that was my husband. I would have done that until I passed out. When it started to affect his heart, they put him on a ventilator. There was no time for sleepy meds before that. He had suffer tubes being shoved down his throat and probably feeling as though he was going to choke to death or suffocate.

After watching that, I'm terrified of this virus. I don't want to go through what I had to watch.

Good Lord, what an ordeal? I guess it scared you...actually sounds like Covid?

yes, those teaching hospitals in the city are paramount, aren't they.