Picked this handsome little Wester Diamondback Rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox) from some folks who had found him in their garage. Poor little guy was seeking refuge from the heat like we all are. Little fella will get a drink and be released. In this extreme heat and drought, all animals are seeking relief. Please be kind to all kinds. We are all here just trying to survive.
Beautiful gravid western diamondback rattlesnake we relocated today. She made her home under someone’s shed. Glad we were able to get her or their neighborhood would have had a big surprise come September!
So fun fact! Rattlesnakes give live birth! They also know what to do from the moment they are born. They hunt for themselves and defend themselves.
Also! Baby rattlesnakes can control their venom. Their venom glands are so small that it takes more of their venom to have the same result as an adult.
Rattlesnake venom is also used in various medicines to help treat blood pressure, arthritis and cancer!
The more you know!
It’s been a busy week for us! We have taken in more baby opossums, 9 just today 😳 and this little nest of baby wrens that were found on a trailer someone had borrowed! The wrens are being transported to All Things Wild since we are not equipped or experienced in taking care of birds.
We got the rare opportunity to pick up this beautiful red fox that someone caught in a live trap. He was more than happy to back to the wild!
Released the rat snakes and the hog nose today. They got a few days to rest & hydrate then back to the wild they go.
Got a call on my lunch break for a hognose. Needless to say his acting skills are superb.
The Eastern Hognose snakes range along the east coast down to Texas. They are commonly called a Spreading Adder. They are a rear fanged venomous snake that’s considered medically insignificant to humans. (Still don’t stick your finger in its mouth.) they can get up to 4 feet long. As you can see in this video, it is using one of its defensive techniques. Playing dead. It will also musk leaving a nasty smell that will deter most predators from eating it. They also will coil up, flatten their heads and hiss really loudly to also deter predators. The Hognose snake predominantly eats toads and frogs along with lizards, reptile eggs and rodents.
This drama king will be released somewhere where he will be safe.
This is the litter of babies we took in that Mom had been attacked by a dog. They got to have some enrichment time while I was cleaning their enclosure. They are all growing so fast, I feel like they double in size each week at this age!
We received a message earlier for a Opossum in a chicken coop. She had been caught and placed in a small trash can. The finder suspected she was pregnant. Turns out she was already a mom. 3 of the babies weren't alive, but there were 5 healthy little babies still in the pouch. May they all live a life free of human interaction. Bye bye little mama opossum.
This neat little fella is a Soil Centipede one of our many naitive centipedes. This is about as big as they get and are harmless to humans. Super beneficial to have roamong around your yard or garden. They eat a variety of small invertebrates. Also since the spend most of their time under the dirt and leaf litter, they help aerate the soil.
You can see this one has tons of legs. More than it's cousins the Giant Red-head Centipede and House Centipede. They can have between 27 and 191 pairs depending on the species. Also their legs differ from Millepedes. Millepedes have 2 pairs legs per body segment and Centipedes have one pair.