Changing how people view and treat snakes
About 6:30pm, 3 July 2012. Though we had a few tantalizing sprinkles in June, the monsoon officially arrived last night. We got about a half inch of rain at headquarters and the 4th of July has started out cloudy and cool. For the first time in weeks, every snake we checked on this morning was […]
And so it begins… Read More »
Each summer, a friend of ours is visited by a male Arizona black rattlesnake whom she calls Red. Red spends much of the active season hunting near bird baths and feeders (or, in Arizona, ‘snake feeders’), patiently coiled and awaiting an inattentive or distracted bird. Usually Red turns up in late May, but with summer
Saturday afternoon started clouding up and thunderheads formed. I was still skeptical that it would rain, but the clouds and light breeze felt really nice regardless. Then, around 2:30pm, it happened. As I mentioned in my last post, we are in the midst of the hottest, driest part of the year in Arizona. Temperatures keep
April Showers Bring May Flowers; June Showers Bring… Read More »
I am currently reviewing all the footage from the dens this past spring and will have many things to share very soon (until then, you can see a new timelapse photo almost daily on our facebook page). Recently, I came across some rather unusual behavior: What’s unusual about this? Well, interactions among snakes at our
A tussle at the den? Read More »
In 2011, the Center for Snake Conservation started a twice yearly Snake Count “to map and track snake distributions across North America.” Additionally, the goal of Snake Count is to get everyone (not just scientists) to take an interest in the snakes they see and get involved in conservation. In Arizona, May is typically hot
Snake Count Spring 2012 Read More »
It is with a heavy heart that I report the death of one of our snakes, Chris (male Arizona black rattlesnake). While I love all of the rattlesnakes at Muleshoe, Chris has a special place in my heart because he was the first Arizona black rattlesnake I found here (from The Arizona black rattlesnakes trickle
Goodbye to a friend Read More »
OK, I (melissa) am the only one who has been gone, but that meant no blog updates. I’ve spent the last month finishing up fieldwork at our other project in central Arizona. And my how things changed at Muleshoe while I was gone! When I left, snakes were just starting to come out; now things
Snakes are first cowards, then bluffers, and last of all warriors (Pope, C.H. 1958. Snakes Alive and How They Live. Viking Press, New York, NY). Yesterday morning Lula (our dog) and I headed back from tracking our rattlesnakes on a trail through the mesquite forest. Lula was only a step or two ahead, so I
Bluffers & Cowards Read More »
Because of our remote location, there is no trash pickup at Muleshoe Ranch. We have a couple trash bins where we accumulate bags of trash from residents and guests until we get a chance to take it to the local dump (~one hour away). Over the winter, rodents moved into our trash bins and created
Roger, adult male Arizona black rattlesnake named for Roger Repp (photo by Roger Repp). We’ve been really lucky to have some fantastic volunteers at the site this spring (and also why I haven’t had time to update the blog :-)). One volunteer did his own write up of our adventures last weekend, which I highly
Special, unofficial, guest blogger Read More »