Wayne,

I lived on 10 acres in the foothills near Placerville for 4 years. We
had two domesticated cats that were allowed to roam indoors and out as they
wished from the time that they were very young. In that period of time I
saw a total of 4 snakes, 1 was a small rattlesnake, near the house and
other buildings.
My immediate neighbor killed several rattlesnakes a year near his
house. He did not like cats but did try to adopt a feral cat by putting
food out for it at night in order to entice it to stay nearby.
Unfortunately a skunk also liked to eat the food. That kept me away!
Another neighbor had peacocks and I can attest to the incredible amount
of noise they make day and night. They reported that they did not have
many snakes on their property, nor many friendly neighbors.

Regards,

Allan


Wayne Watson wrote:

> I've noticed a few posters are from the western U.S. and particularly
> Arizona. I live in Northern California at an elevation of 2700 feet.
> We've lived in our new house for about 3 and 1/2 months. Apparently this
> is the time of year that rattlesnakes begin to stir from their winter
> habitats. In the last two weeks I've found two of them. The first one I
> corraled and then got into a garbage can. I relocated him. Last night as
> the sun was setting I found one near the front steps as I was going out
> to check the skies. Because of the oncoming darkness and the difficulty
> of corraling this one, I dispatched him.
>
> I'm curious what precautions others who have found themselves in such
> situtations have done to guard themselves ortheir observatories from
> rattlesnakes. I'm thinking about putting in 1/2 (Dutch) doors so that
> if I need ventelation I won't be troubled by them going through and open
> door, and it will give me a chance to peek out before exiting from the
> observatory. I've taken some measures to clear paths and areas they
> could crawl under. A neighbor keeps (wild, feral) cats, a tom cat in his
> case. Apparently they are pretty effecitve. I've heard of using
> peacocks, but they apparently make loud noises at almost any movement,
> rabbits, other birds, etc. They could be a nusiance.
>
> In any case, I plan to call the local snake expert today and see what
> his take on this is and have him seek out any others in the area.
> --
> "Few things are harder to put up with than a good
> example."
> -- Mark Twain
>
> ========== Wayne T. Watson
> ==========
> When having fun, which is a lot, you'll find me on the internet pursuing
> my hobbies of amateur astronomy and science. When I get serious, I
> consult in C, UNIX, C++, Java. See my web page.
>
> Web Page:
> http://www.sirius.com/~mtn_view (Updated 3/30/99)

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