Snake trap?

This year seems as though it was a good year for Snakes. In the 12 years that we have been here I have only found one Rattle Snake on our property. The Gopher Snake or "Bull Snake" is quite common however. This year they seem a bit more common than usual. There is also a strain that I call "flying Snake". You see them when I toss the intruder across the creek, thinking that they won't come back quite as easily.

I admit to not knowing very much about their lifestyle or ability to see, or how they "think" if that would be the correct term. I just know that the house seems to draw them. Of course then I give them flying lessons. It would seem to me that the creek should constitute a barrier that they would not willingly cross. So I am assuming that I am seeing different snakes each time I toss one across the Creek. I am sure that my friend Richard will enlighten me soon. It is obvious that Mice are more often found in the rocks and other natural barriers. Perhaps they follow the Mouse trails to my house.

The dogs have become quite proficient in finding these critters. Being pointers and naturally cautious, they stay back, but get my attention. The Bull Snake does not have all that much of a noticeable scent to most dogs. Unlike a Rattle Snake, that has a really nasty stink to it that even a human can smell. Most of the dogs that I have had that weren't Brittney's did not even notice a coiled Bull Snake, and would walk right over them. Now that Josie and Brick know that I want to find them, they naturally look for them, so that they can get the praise from me when they do.

My Hawk Mews have been empty for quite a while, but this weekend Sarah brought Yogi back. She is moving and can't keep her, so I am keeping her until Tami can get ready to fly her this fall. I put Yogi in the center mews to finish her molt. I also installed an automatic water set up for her bath and went in to check it yesterday. The door to the first mews was open and I could see a Bull Snake inside the door by a bucket and a noose carpet. After I finished my morning chores, I went back to remove the Snake.

A noose carpet is a trap for Raptors that is put over an active kill to snare the hawk when it comes back to feed. It is mostly used on Falcons, or at least that is mostly what I use one for. After the hawk makes a kill it is bumped off of it. The carpet is then laid over the prey and when the Falcon comes back its feet are snared in the nooses. I had tossed the carpet in the mews so that it would be close but not in the way.

I moved the bucket and it was obvious that the Snake was caught in it. With Karen's help I soon freed the Snake. It had been quite successful in the chambers and had two Mice in its stomach that it had tried to regurgitate unsuccessfully of course since it could not open its mouth. It was a little worse for wear, but I pushed the Mice back down its stomach a bit and put him in a rock pile. He had been caught around the jaw. I don't think any thing was broken since the jaws are quite flexible. If he kept the Mice down, he would have enough food to sustain him until he healed. He might make it, at least he has a chance.