🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <50mrab$ld4@news2.texas.net>, 
hhullar5@texas.net (Harold Arnold) writes:
> 
> I am of the old school so far as rattle snakes are concerne!.  Their
> bite while not necessarily fatal is dreadfully disableing and subject
> to a wide range of medical complications during the recovery period.
> The necessary amputation of an arm or a leg often is the result.

I don't mean to be a stickler for details (as most of my programs will
stand as evidence), but is this a statistical fact or just hearsay?  I
suspect that most rattle snake bites heal without lasting harm and that
only if one is allergic to the venim will any real problems occur.

>  I
> and my neighbor have seen 4 or 5 dogs pay the price for an encounter
> with these snakes.  While I do not actively hunt for these snakes, I
> immediately take the necessary action to terminate any found in the
> vacinity of the house.  

You prefer mice?

> One that got away I discovered just last year about 4 feet from me as
> I was opening the garage door.  It was about 4 feet long and coiled
> and rattling in the attack mood.

I *think* that coiled and ratteling is a *warning* mode -- not an 
attack mode.  A snake that rattles before it strikes isn't going
to kill too many mice.

Remember, a snake isn't out to get you.  It just wants to warn you
to stay away -- because it is frightened by you.

>  As it happened I was in the act of
> opening the door which pivoting about its hindge came between the
> snake and me just in the nick of time.  It hit the door.  Being
> uncoiled it retreated into the garage under the rear part of the car
> where it recoiled.  I had only a rake handy and my effort to drag it
> out where I could hit a telling blow was unsuccessful,  It scurried
> under the car and from there made it to the crawl space under my
> office which is attached to the garage.  I kept an anxious eye for the
> remainder of the summer whenever I entered th garage, but I never saw
> it again.  

See -- you scared it away.

> I think my policy of killing snakes found around the house is fully
> justified by the danger they present.  Also in my area, the South
> Texas thornbush country,  the specie is certainly in no danger of
> extinction.

To me, extinction isn't the issue -- I end to prefer the snakes to
mice and rats.  I guess we all pick our preferences, huh?

Do not underestimate your abilities.  That is your boss's job.
It is your job to find ways around your boss's roadblocks.
_______________________________________________________________
Glen Appleby  glena@cruzio.com  http://www2.cruzio.com/~glena/