Just doing some yardwork and was visited by this guy! A yellow rat snake looking for a meal I suppose. He appeared close to 6' just guessing.
i watch a deer hunting chat forum and most of those guys are convinced you need to kill every snake you see. i try to change their minds but it is pointless. unless a snake is aggressively coming after you there is no need to snuff it out. most of them don't want anything to do with humans and unless you provoke them they will leave you alone.
that guy is hard to ignore though.
Besides...
Why dislike something that kills rats?
Yikes! O'Roly.
I think that comment earns you five demerit points from Noods.
Deral
Finding this in your backyard might get your heart pumping a little faster. Found this one last week out on a project. 3ft long, well fed, and all ready dead when I found it. A couple months back in the same project area I almost stepped on one similar in size.
Yikes! O'Roly.
I agree with O'Roly.
I also like King snakes. They eat rattlers.
I also like Dragonflys. They eat skeeters.
Anything that eats rats, rattlers, skeeters, etc., is good in my opinion.
Besides...
** Baps You Guys!!** 😛
Reasons to NOT kill rats...
Rats make great chest warmers...
They make great laptop warmers...
They make great hand warmers...
They make great shoulder warmers...
They make great blanket warmers...
They make great couch warmers...
They already play "dead" for you....
They take baths...
Kids love em...
And they are great "basket cases"...
😉
:angel: Angel
PS: Wendell does great "rat" artwork.
Here's how the ratties feel about them damn snakes.
:angel: Angel
I ain't eatin' no raisins at the Harness home.
Wow, I am surprised. You and I are in agreement for a change. I say we are the invaders in their woods. Unless they are putting us in danger, we should let them live, they were here first.
Besides...
Too cool!!
I took my daughter to the local Petsmart on her 8th birthday, to look at fish with the intention of setting up an aquarium and introducing the whole responsibility thing to her. We were looking through the reptile cages when the attendant began making his way through the boa cages with a box full of rats. We watched him drop a rat into a cage, then watched nature do what nature does. Meagan was shocked, and literally snatched a grey and white rat out of the attendant's tongs. She refused to give her back, and thence came Sunshine into the Parsons household. Sunshine must've been really young, as she lasted 2 years with us and bore three litters for a total of 14 offspring. Sampson was her first beau, a white rat with bulging red eyes that fell to the predations of our cats after siring the first litter. We gave away all of those, and then got Antonio (named after that Bandaras guy), a solid gray rat with the longest tail I've seen on any rat. He sired the next two litters, then fled the scene for the great outdoors. Out of those litters we kept Mulder, Scully, Shaggy, and Thelma.
Scully was the last Parsons rat, living like his mother to the ripe old age of two years. We took about 400 bucks worth of Gerbilife tubing and cages to Goodwill right after Meg left for college.
FWIW, has anyone ever found a way to litterbox train a rat? I had no problem about them roaming the house (and neither did the cats) if it hadn't been for the whole 'smart pill' issue.
Besides...
> FWIW, has anyone ever found a way to litterbox train a rat? I had no problem about them roaming the house (and neither did the cats) if it hadn't been for the whole 'smart pill' issue.
Any pics of your ratties?? 🙂
Rats are very litter box trainable. My boys seemed to learn faster than my girls.
Litter Training
Rats are highly intelligent creatures and can be trained to do many simple tasks. Litter training is something that is well worth a little effort on your part, as it can save you lots of time in cleaning up and also money in buying bedding.
The whole training methodology works on the premise that rats are clean creatures and will go to the toilet where they smell that they, or other rats, have already gone. The procedure is as follows:
1. Find the corner of the cage that your rats usually go to the toilet, then place a tray filled with litter there. I use flat tupperware containers available from discount stores for about AUD$2 as a litter tray.
2. Toss in any raisins or wet litter you can find in the cage to make it smell like a rat toilet area.
3. Now this is the most important part... Remove all litter from the rest of the cage, or use a different bedding. It's essential that your rats can distinguish between the toilet area and the living area. e.g. I use Breeders Choice recycled paper pellets in the litter tray, and old towels and fabric strips elsewhere as bedding.
4. Place your rats in the tray to show them it's there. If they go elsewhere in their cage, say "No!" and place the rat (and the raisins) in the litter tray. If they go in the tray, praise them like crazy and give them their favourite treat. They'll soon get the idea.
Often this training method will only work for raisins, not pee... especially with male rats who are determined to keep their cage well scented. You can try removing pee smells by using products like Nilodor or vanilla, but often it just makes them more determined to re-scent it. Of course, there's also those stubborn rats who simply will not use a tray no matter how hard you try. Persist... after all, every raisin in the tray is one less you have to pick up later.
Litter training makes things so much easier on you. It's much simpler to clean out the cage (just scoop out soiled litter and replace as needed) and certainly cheaper. I think the rats much prefer the fabric and towels to live on anyway... it's less dusty, cleaner, softer on ratty feet, more fun to dig in and much quieter during those midnight skirmishes.
It's a good idea to have a litter tray for their use when outside their cage too... either as a separate play area tray, or simply access to their cage. When you get them out to play, place them in the tray so they know where it is. Every half hour or so, place them back in the tray to remind them it's there. If they use it, praise them like crazy and offer them treats.
Good luck!
Here's another great article on it.
http://www.gottaspoilem.com/LitterBoxTrainYourRat.html
Wendell either. LOL!! 😀
PS: The artist responsible for the rat/snake cartoons is your Webmaster. 😉
Besides...
> Why dislike something that kills rats?
HEY pardner'...that's my kin yer talkin' about.
Besides...
Wow, my apologies, I had no idea people kept rats for pets.
Now I have to clean BunBun's drool off of my monitor! 😉
Besides...
> Wow, my apologies, I had no idea people kept rats for pets.
>
> Now I have to clean BunBun's drool off of my monitor! 😉
Oh yea, rats are quite popular as pets. I use to be a rat "hater" too...shows what I needed to learn back then. 😛
BunBun?!! OMG that is CUTE!! :party:
Besides...
Noodles,
Those are artificial rats, i.e., lab rats. They would not survive in the wild. I am talking about the ones that chew holes in concrete to build nests.
SJ
The only good rat is one eaten by fox, coyote, wolf, cat, bobcat, snake, etc..
Besides...
> Noodles,
>
> Those are artificial rats, i.e., lab rats. They would not survive in the wild. I am talking about the ones that chew holes in concrete to build nests.
>
> SJ
>
> The only good rat is one eaten by fox, coyote, wolf, cat, bobcat, snake, etc..
LOL @ artificial. I like that. 🙂
You are right...my rats would never survive in the wild. Hence why they live the good life with me and Wendell. 😉
Wild rats though are VERY destructive, carry diseases and can be an utter pain in the ass!! They are all a part of the wild food chain IMHO.
