Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I live in northern Wyoming, so naturally my back yard is usually full of prarie rattlers during the summer. I want to thin them down a bit this year (not decimate the population) but as a snake lover don't really want to kill them. Is there a market for wc prarie rattlers or are they just too comon. I guess my other option would be to bucket them up and relocate them to BLM, like I said I really don't want to kill them. Just wondering.

Sean
Heart Mountain Herps

Not sure about Wyoming, but here in NM it is illegal to collect and sell any snakes without a permit to do so. You can collect them all you want, but you cannot resell them afterword.

AP

Ya, I looked into that a few years back. The only law that wyoming has dealing with reptiles is that you can't own black mambas in cheyene city limits. Collecting and reselling/trading are fine. I just don't know if there is any kind of market for them. I do boids, beardies, some colubrids, but have never got into the hot end of things.

Sean

Praries are dirt cheap. I've seen adult cb pairs for as low as $40.

You would be better off reducing the chances of them coming into your yard. If you have any seed bird feeders, get rid of them. They attract rodents, which attracts snakes.

I'm sure others have some ideas too.

Dave

Thanks for the reply, I didn't really figure that they would be worth much, but you never know unless you ask. I'll just relocate the ones that get up too close to the house.

Thanks
Sean

Cut your grass really short. Rid your yard of shrubs, ornaments, etc (i.e.- anything that might shelter them from the elements). Relocation? Are you talking about potentially lethal distances? If you really don't want to kill them, I'd think twice about that.

creep

Why not just leave them be? If they are in your yard constantly then you are attracting them somehow. I would look into relocating snake sheltter as opposed to the snake themselfs. This would cut down on the activity in your vacinity.

North American Crotalids (aka pitvipers), piticulary Crotalus (rattlesnakes)have a very low survival rate after being relocated even alittle ways from their natural stomping grounds. You could be killing them without even knowing it!

Short distantance relocation (less thyen a mile I would say) would be the best option. Being a snake lover, killing them should never even enter your mind.

Remember, THE SNAKES WERE HERE FIRST!!!

BTW, if your hopeing to make any finacial gain from selling C.viridis then think again. The market, especialy for WC is very low. Maybe 30 bucks a pop. Not worth robbing a snake from the wild IMHO.

J

P.S Why do you feel the need to thin out the population?

Good question.

creep

Its funny how I wish I had that problem..... LOL..... I wish I could step outside and find some rattlers..... I need to drive over an hour to catch some.....

They're all endangered in my state, boo.
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Eryx - All the fun of a boa in a convenient pocket size!

Sorry haven't been back here in a couple of days. From the sound of things, you guys live in more populated areas or haven't been up this way. Like I said before I live in northern wyoming, rattlesnakes are here it's just a fact of life. With the exception of a small chunk of grass right by the house, I pretty much keep my land natural (sagebrush for the most part). Usually the snakes aren't too much of a problem, with several mild winters in a row they have really had a boom in the numbers though. I wasn't talking moving them to another state or anything, I'm thinking down by the old pond for starters (plenty of mice and stuff down there for them to hunt). As far as trimming grass and all that, best place I know of to catch them around here is the golf course (doesn't get much more trimmed than that) I think it's just because we have enough that they really don't care where they go it's all their natural habitat. Why would I want to thin them out by the house, that's a pretty strange question but I've got a daughter that has pretty much no fear of any snake, she's been raised with them in the house her whole life and just doesn't comprehend the difference. I thought I was being pretty nice just moving them, my neighbors solution involves a gallon of gasoline (he's an asshole). I was only asking the question because I thought if there were people out there that wanted some great, and if I made a few bucks at the same time all the better (not just for financial gain though, hell I'd have to drive 3 hours to get to an airport that could ship them). I've never kept hots before so I didn't know if this was one that people really wanted/needed for their collections. It sounds like they are pretty common on the market though, so I won't worry about it. Thanks for the advice and comments.

Sean