Gopher snake rescue....

Dedicated exclusively to field herping.

Moderator: Scott Waters

Post Reply
User avatar
ratsnakehaven
Posts: 2272
Joined: June 8th, 2010, 9:08 am
Location: Southern Arizona

Gopher snake rescue....

Post by ratsnakehaven »

Yesterday, a large, male Sonoran gopher snake got stuck in some chicken wire I had put around a new apple tree in my orchard in the front yard. I got tagged for my effort to try to free him and he only got stuck worse, so I went and got some wire cutters and cut a big hole around the area he was stuck in. Later I cut the wire biting into his body with a pair of shears in my herp room. Freed, he was much happier and settled down for a good drink of water. The damage wasn't too bad and I put some ointment on the wound. Since the weather is so bad today, I'm holding him until tomorrow. He is a hefty snake and likely eats rats, as well as mice and gophers. Can't wait to let him get back to work...hehe.

Image
Image

I loved the color and pattern too...
Image
Image

TC
User avatar
ThamnElegans24
Posts: 406
Joined: November 23rd, 2010, 6:44 pm
Location: Mesa, Arizona

Re: Gopher snake rescue....

Post by ThamnElegans24 »

Nice save Terry. That thing looks like a beast. Makes me wish I lived closer to wilderness again.
User avatar
ratsnakehaven
Posts: 2272
Joined: June 8th, 2010, 9:08 am
Location: Southern Arizona

Re: Gopher snake rescue....

Post by ratsnakehaven »

Thanks, Ben. I think he could knock down a wood rat easily enough... :)
User avatar
Joshua Jones
Posts: 413
Joined: August 31st, 2011, 2:33 pm
Location: Vanderbilt, Michigan

Re: Gopher snake rescue....

Post by Joshua Jones »

Ben said it, Terry. That's a good-looking gopher. :thumb:
User avatar
ThamnElegans24
Posts: 406
Joined: November 23rd, 2010, 6:44 pm
Location: Mesa, Arizona

Re: Gopher snake rescue....

Post by ThamnElegans24 »

Yeah you know a gopher is old when it gets all faded like that.
User avatar
ratsnakehaven
Posts: 2272
Joined: June 8th, 2010, 9:08 am
Location: Southern Arizona

Re: Gopher snake rescue....

Post by ratsnakehaven »

Joshua Jones wrote:Ben said it, Terry. That's a good-looking gopher. :thumb:
Tanks, Josh. Seen any snow snakes lately? Hehe.
User avatar
ratsnakehaven
Posts: 2272
Joined: June 8th, 2010, 9:08 am
Location: Southern Arizona

Re: Gopher snake rescue....

Post by ratsnakehaven »

ThamnElegans24 wrote:Yeah you know a gopher is old when it gets all faded like that.
Yea, he's an old timer, but they still like to eat.... ;)
User avatar
ratsnakehaven
Posts: 2272
Joined: June 8th, 2010, 9:08 am
Location: Southern Arizona

Re: Gopher snake rescue....

Post by ratsnakehaven »

One of our friends told us about killing a rattler in their yard this week, and I said that it's about 30 rodents that got a reprieve this year. Hope that made sense to them.

Also, one of our neighbors had a Mojave rattler caught in their chicken wire frame around some plants. I didn't even know we had Mojaves close to where we live, but the desert west of us is only a few blocks away. Anything's possible there. I'm going to start looking closer at the rattlers around here.

TC
User avatar
herpseeker1978
Posts: 1139
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 8:05 am
Location: Albuquerque

Re: Gopher snake rescue....

Post by herpseeker1978 »

Very nice snake Terry! I have a soft spot for gophers, one of my favorites even though though they are dirt common out here! Haven't found one yet this year, only a few striped whipsnakes, a diamondback and a couple massasaugas. Can't complain about that! :thumb:

Josh
User avatar
Joshua Jones
Posts: 413
Joined: August 31st, 2011, 2:33 pm
Location: Vanderbilt, Michigan

Re: Gopher snake rescue....

Post by Joshua Jones »

ratsnakehaven wrote: Tanks, Josh. Seen any snow snakes lately? Hehe.
Don't I wish!? Only seen a newt, so far. Been busy working all this week (the first one this year suitable for herping.)
herpseeker1978 wrote:Haven't found one yet this year, only a few striped whipsnakes, a diamondback and a couple massasaugas. Can't complain about that! :thumb:

Josh
Yeah, you better not! :lol: I've lived in Michigan for more than a year and I still haven't seen any saugs. :cry:
User avatar
ratsnakehaven
Posts: 2272
Joined: June 8th, 2010, 9:08 am
Location: Southern Arizona

Re: Gopher snake rescue....

Post by ratsnakehaven »

herpseeker1978 wrote:Very nice snake Terry! I have a soft spot for gophers, one of my favorites even though though they are dirt common out here! Haven't found one yet this year, only a few striped whipsnakes, a diamondback and a couple massasaugas. Can't complain about that! :thumb:

Josh

Couple 'saugs. Heck, I could go for that... ;)

I'll be out there in N. M. around the first of June. Will be looking for subocs and 'saugs. Maybe you could get away for a day or two.
User avatar
ratsnakehaven
Posts: 2272
Joined: June 8th, 2010, 9:08 am
Location: Southern Arizona

Re: Gopher snake rescue....

Post by ratsnakehaven »

Joshua Jones wrote:
ratsnakehaven wrote: Tanks, Josh. Seen any snow snakes lately? Hehe.
Don't I wish!? Only seen a newt, so far. Been busy working all this week (the first one this year suitable for herping.)


I'll be in MI the 7th-21st, mostly in da U. P. Hope I bring some warm weather with me... ;)
Verhoodled
Posts: 306
Joined: August 7th, 2010, 3:48 pm
Location: Tucson, AZ

Re: Gopher snake rescue....

Post by Verhoodled »

Nice save, Terry! :thumb:

Chicken wire can be the worst for herps. My stepfather had a 6 foot black rat snake caught in his rent-a-garden-plot years ago where only chicken wire was allowed for fencing. The snake was cut by the wire, and could have easily bit my stepfather as he clipped out the wire around him. But it did not. Upon freeing it, he picked it up, and carried it to the adjacent woods where it happily slithered off sans a hiss or a buzz of the tail. Black rats are like that. Kindred souls. Of the hundred or so I've caught, I was only once ever nipped by an adult (and deservedly so the one time it happened).

Anyways, to reiterate the obvious to us herpers, rodent-eating herps are a gardener and homeowner's best friend. They're more than happy and agreeable to protect your homestead and its produce.
User avatar
herpseeker1978
Posts: 1139
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 8:05 am
Location: Albuquerque

Re: Gopher snake rescue....

Post by herpseeker1978 »

ratsnakehaven wrote:
herpseeker1978 wrote:Very nice snake Terry! I have a soft spot for gophers, one of my favorites even though though they are dirt common out here! Haven't found one yet this year, only a few striped whipsnakes, a diamondback and a couple massasaugas. Can't complain about that! :thumb:

Josh

Couple 'saugs. Heck, I could go for that... ;)

I'll be out there in N. M. around the first of June. Will be looking for subocs and 'saugs. Maybe you could get away for a day or two.
Pictures can be seen here: http://www.fieldherpforum.com/forum/vie ... =9&t=19380

Josh
User avatar
ratsnakehaven
Posts: 2272
Joined: June 8th, 2010, 9:08 am
Location: Southern Arizona

Re: Gopher snake rescue....

Post by ratsnakehaven »

Verhoodled wrote:Nice save, Terry! :thumb:

Chicken wire can be the worst for herps. My stepfather had a 6 foot black rat snake caught in his rent-a-garden-plot years ago where only chicken wire was allowed for fencing. The snake was cut by the wire, and could have easily bit my stepfather as he clipped out the wire around him. But it did not. Upon freeing it, he picked it up, and carried it to the adjacent woods where it happily slithered off sans a hiss or a buzz of the tail. Black rats are like that. Kindred souls. Of the hundred or so I've caught, I was only once ever nipped by an adult (and deservedly so the one time it happened).

Anyways, to reiterate the obvious to us herpers, rodent-eating herps are a gardener and homeowner's best friend. They're more than happy and agreeable to protect your homestead and its produce.

You betcha, Monty. When I lived in OH I used to protect the black rats too, even though they occasionally got into a bird's nest around the houses.

In our yard here in AZ, we also have rattlers and a few other snakes that eat rodents, like coachwhips and longnose, which we like a lot. Anything that keeps the rodent populations down, even rattlers, we like having around.

TC :beer:
User avatar
ratsnakehaven
Posts: 2272
Joined: June 8th, 2010, 9:08 am
Location: Southern Arizona

Re: Gopher snake rescue....

Post by ratsnakehaven »

herpseeker1978 wrote:
ratsnakehaven wrote:
herpseeker1978 wrote:Very nice snake Terry! I have a soft spot for gophers, one of my favorites even though though they are dirt common out here! Haven't found one yet this year, only a few striped whipsnakes, a diamondback and a couple massasaugas. Can't complain about that! :thumb:

Josh

Couple 'saugs. Heck, I could go for that... ;)

I'll be out there in N. M. around the first of June. Will be looking for subocs and 'saugs. Maybe you could get away for a day or two.
Pictures can be seen here: http://www.fieldherpforum.com/forum/vie ... =9&t=19380

Josh

Nice pics. I'd like to see where you found the 'saugs... ;)
User avatar
herpseeker1978
Posts: 1139
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 8:05 am
Location: Albuquerque

Re: Gopher snake rescue....

Post by herpseeker1978 »

I took you on the road we found the 'saugas! We got another last night :thumb:

Josh
User avatar
ratsnakehaven
Posts: 2272
Joined: June 8th, 2010, 9:08 am
Location: Southern Arizona

Re: Gopher snake rescue....

Post by ratsnakehaven »

Ok, I think I remember now. I'd be great to see one in the wild. I'll be around Truth or Consequences the first week of June. Will get back to you later. Leaving for MI on the 7th of May and be back on the 21st.

Terry
Post Reply