Snakes!

Yoikes!!! That's the snake! A Western Ribbon Snake.

Cyngbaeld, Horny Toads are beyond endangered here - in fact, I think in some areas of NE Oklahoma, they've been declared extinct. Which is one reason I'm so protective of them. not only are they just horribly ferocious looking fellows, I'm lucky to have them. There's people around here who haven't seen them since they were kids --- that's how scarce they are these days.

I think that the best thing to do is, Kill every snake you see. You can decide later if it is poisionus or not.
Mike

oh, sorry. I thought we were discussing horned toads. Had no idea horny toads were actually horny lizards. They're very cute either way but I'd have let the snake dine and move on. I've caught rat snakes in my quail pen and I catch them, put them in a cage, and let them digest in peace before releasing them. They can slither in on an empty stomach but they can't slither out :haha: and they are pretty vulnerable with 4-6 adult quail in their belly I love snakes. Even venomous.

__________________
Tiny Forest ~ my tiny blog

"Sandals, though, are the siren call of the snakes."

You got that right Countrygrrrl! At least they are in Oklahoma! :haha:

There are "HORNED TOADS" and there are "HORNY TOADS". The "HORNED TOAD" is in fact a toad but it is not the animal people mistakenly call the "HORNY TOAD" which is in fact the horned lizard. It is one hundred percent lizard and does not even resemble a toad, it has a tail! While you may be helping some prey animals by whacking a snake, you still have no business in doing it. How would man feel if God smacked us when we tried to eat our livestock??? The snake is just trying to carry out its role in nature, let it do so.

Hey, get some courage and post with a name, buster! :yeeha:

We called them that when I was little too. My Grandma lived in Atoka and they were everywhere then. She used to pay us .25 to catch them and release them in the garden - she said they were good bug zappers!!
I've never seen one here in Central OK, I miss those little critters!

__________________
Vickie

keep whackin and savin them horny toads. And while your at it whack a few hippies and tree huggers too.

The horned lizard lives exclusively on ants and will die without the formic acid. There are still a fair number in NW CO and sometimes boys catch them. I really laid into the last boy I found that had one in an old aquarium. I asked him 'do you feed that lizard? Do you know what that lizard needs to live on?' He shrugged his shoulders and said 'I don't know.' Well the lizard died, because he had kept it too long without feeding it. I made sure he knew what a horrible thing he had done to capture one of God's creatures and torment it to death. I don't think he tried it again. (Sometimes I get a little plain spoken.)

__________________
I believe in God's willingness to heal.

Cyngbaeld's Keep Heritage Farm, breeding a variety of historical birds and LaMancha goats. (It is pronounced King Bold.)

snakes scare me to death ! so that is why i live in the city !country girl at heart but just couldnt handle one like that .I would be in a lot of trouble if i ran across one even minding his own business "would do me !"
we all KNOW they are doing what comes natural but just not so close to home
i agree he could go over to the field and that would suite me just fine








MSTOOKE

The difference between a coral snake & a king snake= ''red next to yella,kill a fella,red next to black, friend to Jack''. Just a little ditty I was taught to be able to tell the difference between them. The other difference is size. The coral snake rarely gets larger than 2-3ft, whereas the king snake can exceed 6ft. I generally tolerate all snakes unless they invade my space. I don't like them in or too near the house. I had a rather large bull snake that lived under my tool shed for several yrs & we got along fine. Then one day my neighbor saw it & jumped over my fence to kill it. He thought he was doing me a Big favour, & I didn't bother to try to enlighten him obout the benefits of snakes or their place in Nature. It would have been a waste of time.

__________________
Freedom isn't Free

This snake was right next to my combination compost/potting shed / raised bed (with my heirloom tomatoes)/ grape arbor, which is right behind my place. Getting a bit too close for me.

I have a bunch of skinks living there --- I keep calling them salamanders but they're skinks and they're cute - the young ones are flourescent blue and they just TOTALLY FREAK whenever they see you. And I read late last night that Western Ribbon snakes will eat skinks.

:yeeha: That just won't do at all.

I also remembered that, last summer, one day when i was creeping into the greenhouse to spy on the teeny tiny prehistorc monster lizards (they're only about 3-4 inches long and look just like dinosaurs), I saw one of these snakes.

So I think they're eating my skinks and my tiny prehistoric monsters, too. They need to stick to rodents!! :yeeha:

Here is a picture of a horned lizard

http://wfscnet.tamu.edu/tcwc/herps/A...CORNUTUM_F.jpg

Is this your skink? It is a 5 lined skink child. The adults lose the blue. They all look like dinos don't they.

http://wfscnet.tamu.edu/tcwc/herps/A&M_EUMECES_FASCIATUS(JUV)F.jpg

__________________
I believe in God's willingness to heal.

Cyngbaeld's Keep Heritage Farm, breeding a variety of historical birds and LaMancha goats. (It is pronounced King Bold.)

That's my skinks! I simply adore them --- they're so funny. They seem to recognize eye contact, which I find interesting --- they like to peer over (under, around, etc) things and watch me, but if I look at them THEY TOTALLY FREAK OUT!

I've been trying to identify the tiny prehistoric monsters in the greenhouse for a year now. They kind of resemble fence-runners, I think they're called, but not quite. They bear a stronger resemblance to tiny Tyrannasaurus Rexes than the fence runners ... and they're only about 3" long. Very cute.