Any thing electrical would be a problem since it is about 200 yards to the nearest powder out let.

My dumb dogs do go swimming.

I did set up a half bared blind today. The only problem is that I have to cross over the spillways to get to it. If luck is with me they will not be at the damn when I cross over it.

What the latest on your rodent problem kbis? Have the buggers come back with a vengeance or did you get one the other night?

I find this thread to be very entertaining...we have neither of these critters over here in Australia.

Cheers, Vince

Vince wrote:

What the latest on your rodent problem kbis? Have the buggers come back with a vengeance or did you get one the other night? I find this thread to be very entertaining...we have neither of these critters over here in Australia. Cheers, Vince

"You have no Beavers" You poor fellows...........

Vince- I apologize for not answering sooner, I never received notification of your post.

I have not seen any signs of beavers since my post of March 5. It is sort of an insult since I went to all the trouble to build a blind and now no beavers.

Since the weather has turned warm the snakes and turtles are out in force. I have lost track of the number of turtles I have shot. This week I have shot 1 snake in the car port and 1 in the pond and missed 2 others. Yes I know there are good snakes and bad snakes, after I shoot them they are all good snakes .

I hope you were not affected by all the bad weather in Australia that I saw on the weather channel.

Ken

I would be more than happy to send you a pair of beaver (for the dirty minded that would be the 4 legged type) and they could turn your back yard into a logging camp :).

kbis wrote:

Vince- I apologize for not answering sooner, I never received notification of your post. I have not seen any signs of beavers since my post of March 5. It is sort of an insult since I went to all the trouble to build a blind and now no beavers. Since the weather has turned warm the snakes and turtles are out in force. I have lost track of the number of turtles I have shot. This week I have shot 1 snake in the car port and 1 in the pond and missed 2 others. Yes I know there are good snakes and bad snakes, after I shoot them they are all good snakes . I hope you were not affected by all the bad weather in Australia that I saw on the weather channel. Ken I would be more than happy to send you a pair of beaver (for the dirty minded that would be the 4 legged type) and they could turn your back yard into a logging camp :).

G'Day kbis. No problem with taking your time to answer mate, these things happen.

From the sound of things you have quite a menagerie taking up residence there. Now there's a thought........fence your place and call it a zoo...charge an entry fee. What sort of snakes and turtles are there? I take it they are considered vermin? We have more snakes than you can poke a stick at over here, and most of them are venomous...very untidy.

Personally, I don't mind snakes. I don't care what type hey are I will always shoo them off into the bush to get on with their life and away from mine. I am looking around for a python at the moment to put into the roof cavity of my house.....keep the mice and possums away.

The nasty weather we had is about 1600 kilometres north of me, but as with all cyclones (hurricanes) we got the rain and wild seas that go with it. The surfers on the Gold Coast loved it.....3 and 4 metre waves.

Cheers, Vince

Hi Vince

Glad to hear you were not affected by the cyclone. After going thru a hurican and twisters and being from S. Calif., I will take an earth quake any day of the week.

As to the turtles, I have no problem with them except they eat my fish. I am trying to get my stock of bass back after the gator visited 2 years ago and the turtles eat all the small bass and cat. So far all I have shot are red eared sliders. I am told that there are also snappers around.

As to snakes, so far I have shot cotton mouths, water moccasins, chicken snakes (non venomous, but still a snake), Timber ratlers and some kind of strange rattler that I can't identify. I am told that this is just the tip of the iceberg as far as snakes go around here.

As to 4 legged critters, we have coyotes, fox, wolves, panthers (my son saw 2 about 1/2mile( .8 KM ?) from the house), and feral hogs. About 100 miles (161 KM ?)to the East we have black bear and we also have small white tailed deer.

I must say, only living in Texas a short time, it has been an interesting experience. In S. Ca. the only wild life I saw was when we took a drive through Hollywood .

BTW no sign of beaver today.

Have a good day.

Ken

WOW Ken, you certainly do have a good supply of critters there. Be good for hunting.

The red slider looks like a turtle that someone released into a river over here. They have been contained in a small area and the wildlife people are trying to exterminate it before it spreads. The snapper looks like a real nasty piece of work. Might be worth laying a few baits in the area that they frequent....make sure you tie the dogs up first though. Put the baits in a fish carcass...maybe the dogs wouldn't be interested in that.

Wonder if there is such a thing as a turtle trap? Maybe you could build one. Have an idea in the back of my mind that may work....something similar to a croc trap. A tube or tunnel made of arcmesh or concrete reinforcing mesh, at one end a sliding gate with a catch , some meat inside at the other end attached to a cable that allows the door to drop when pulled....trapped turtle. Can't see why it wouldn't work. You might also try to identify the nest site and stake that out for a shot or three.

Maybe you could build a fish nursery for your hatchlings. Wouldn't be too hard, just a matter of some large tanks...maybe perspex or plastic...that the turtles can't get into. Would give the fish a chance to grow before they have to brave the turtles. Another option would be to buy mature fish, although this would no doubt be expensive.

Are the snakes aggresive? Will they attack for the hell of it or are they happy to stay away from people? I have always found that if you leave a snake alone and don't offer it any sort of threat it will generally leave you alone. Most snakes only bite as self preservation. I say most, but not all, you need to know the difference. With the chicken snakes (not sure how big they are) you can try what I have seen done over here. Grab it by the tail from behind then crack it like a whip......can pop the head right off. It sure stuffs their day around thats for sure.

Anyways, good luck controlling the turtles.

Cheers, Vince

Sheeesh, I'm glad I don't live in either of your neigborhoods with all them snakes around, I hate snakes!!!!!! We have garter snakes here and the odd area has rattlers and bull snakes but nothing like you guys are talking about. In fact I hate reptiles of any kind, I guess it's because we have very few and I'm glad of that.

1895,

Thats thanks to the cold weather Too cold most of the year in Canada for snakes

Dimitri

1895ss wrote:

Sheeesh, I'm glad I don't live in either of your neigborhoods with all them snakes around, I hate snakes!!!!!! We have garter snakes here and the odd area has rattlers and bull snakes but nothing like you guys are talking about. In fact I hate reptiles of any kind, I guess it's because we have very few and I'm glad of that.

Hey mate, have a look at this link. It will give you a pretty good idea of the reptiles we have in Australia.

Australian Reptiles

You would have a ball over here with the small number of reptiles we have....

Cheers, Vince

I am told that you can get a turtle trap and it sounds a lot like your gator trap. It would take some of the fun out of shooting them with the 22 .

As to snakes, I shot a chicken snake on the front porch that was 62 inches (157.48 CM ). The only real run in I had with a water snake was a few months ago. I was fishing and a snake came towards me. I shot him with my 357 loaded with snake loads (if you live in Calif they call them snake loads and in Texas they call them rat loads). I just winged him and he made it into the brush in front of me. I decided this would be a good time to try fishing some where else. I moved about 10 yards (9.144 meters) under a tree. I am now sitting there fat dumb and happy in my Gator (John Deere) fishing away when I hear something in the tree. I turn around and am eye ball to eye ball with a very p*ssed snake. He is about 5 foot (1.524 M) from my face. You would be amazed at what a 357 will do at close range . Needless to say I did have to go back to the house and change my shorts .I guess it would be safe to say that water snakes are somewhat aggressive.

I ran into enough snakes in Nam to not like any of them.

Better get going, have a nice day.

No Sir you can keep all them reptiles and the country they live in.......... like I said, I HATE REPTILES.

1895ss- the only good snake is a dead snake. I would be happy to send you a few snakes and even a beaver or two .

kbis wrote:

1895ss- the only good snake is a dead snake. .

I gotta agree with you 100%

1895ss wrote:

kbis wrote: 1895ss- the only good snake is a dead snake. . I gotta agree with you 100%

Well goooollly, are you guys going all soft on me now?

Snakes are not a problem unless you upset them. From my experience, if you leave them alone they will leave you alone. There is a reason why Rattlesnakes have that little rattle on the end of their tail......its saying:
Hey, I am here, this is my little piece of turf....leave me to enjoy it.

I will only kill a snake if I am totally forced to, otherwise I will give them their space and get on with my business. Now if the snake is silly enough to have a go or whatever then he will pay the price!!
This is the reason why I leave them alone....I don't wish to pay their price.

Cheers, Vince