# Snakes on a Plain



## nvn0806 (Nov 10, 2010)

Sooo...

I guess Eclipse and I made a new friend on the trail today! Sweet little snake, sunning herself in the sand. My only worry is that many ATVS ride along this same trail--and I don't want out new friend to get smooshed!

I decided against picking her up and moving her, though, as I did not want to disturb her reverie.

What kind of wildlife have you all met up with? Are they every ANY circumstances (man-made type ones, like ATVS) drastic enough to make you interfere with wild animals, or is it always better to "live and let live" on the trail?


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## DraftyAiresMum (Jun 1, 2011)

We came upon a couple of mule deer does resting on the side of a steep hill above the trail one time. Within easy view of the horses. My friend's Arab gelding just about had a cow. My gelding (who was two-and-a-half and on his first trail ride) just kinda looked at them like "Huh" and kept walking. :lol:

My friends came across fresh bear tracks while riding up the same trail a couple of weeks later. Good-size black bear. They said their horses just about had heart attacks when they smelled the bear. Tracks couldn't have been more than a few hours old.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## nvn0806 (Nov 10, 2010)

Maybe this will work! Longtime reader, but not much of a poster...


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## Avna (Jul 11, 2015)

Last weekend horse camping in the California foothills I saw bald eagles on their nest, some interesting hawks, one billion strange bugs, and a rattlesnake as thick as my admittedly rather puny arm, biggest I have ever seen. None of the horses spooked, just obediently gave it a wide berth. There were supposedly elk but I didn't glimpse them. Heard coyotes every morning before the baby donkey woke up and drowned them out. 

Deer are so common in my area no one including the horses gives them more than a glance.


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## Rain Shadow (May 1, 2014)

Coyotes, deer, alligators, snakes, just saw a huge water moccasin, foxes, raccoons, armadillos, I once saw a panther. Harley threw me he freaked out so badly. Bald eagles, hawks, turkeys, lots of birds. Tons of wild pigs. 

I did intervene a few times. A group of crows were killing a baby woodpecker and I got off and scared them away and rescued the baby. I took it home but it passed away from its injuries. 

Another time I found a squirrel nest on the ground. I noted the location and continued on my ride. I came back a few hours later and the babies were still there, the mother hadn't come back for them to move them to safety, so I brought them home and called a wildlife rehabilitation center to take them. 

We find a lot of lost dogs. A lot of people take their dogs off leash in the state forest, dogs go chasing after a pig or deer and the owners don't have them trained enough to come back. Most of us ride with a leash and dog treats its so common!


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## nvn0806 (Nov 10, 2010)

Avna said:


> Deer are so common in my area no one including the horses gives them more than a glance.


When I was a little girl, my Arizona rancher grandfather let my sister and I keep and take care of one of his ranch horses during the off-season where we lived in Southern California. 

The little mare was rank, an no one on the ranch really liked her, but we adored her, as children are wont to do when presented with any manner of horseflesh. She was AMAZING with the wildlife that we'd see on the trails, often leading other scared arena-type horses past all of the spooooky deer--and once, even past a Cinnamon Bear! She was stiff as a board the whole time, but she did it.

However, within the first two weeks that we had her, my sister and I got dumped half a dozen times every time a *GASP!* mountain bike rode by.


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## HombresArablegacy (Oct 12, 2013)

nvn0806 said:


> Maybe this will work! Longtime reader, but not much of a poster...


Beautiful (and big!!) snake. Is that a King snake? Markings look similar to one, but the head looks viper like.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

That snake looks poisonous to me:shock:, however it's minding it's own beewax so I wouldn't be afraid, maybe! We don't have anything poisonous around here, most exciting thing I run into while riding is grouse and deer, it's filthy with them. Last spring, I wasn't riding, I was jogging with my dog, ran into a black bear and it stood up on it's hind legs, then bounced up and down, heard that was a mock attack. I was ready to let Buddy off the leash to distract the thing while I got out of there, but my yelling at it and waving my arms made it leave, phew. Neighbours down the valley shot it, it killed their ram and 2 sheep.


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## nvn0806 (Nov 10, 2010)

Rain Shadow said:


> We find a lot of lost dogs. A lot of people take their dogs off leash in the state forest, dogs go chasing after a pig or deer and the owners don't have them trained enough to come back. Most of us ride with a leash and dog treats its so common!


This is such a great idea! I will remember to do this whenever I go riding on a holiday--that's when I see the most accidents happen (inside-type dogs getting loose, or sometimes even loose horses if they've thrown a rider). You can't have too many extra ropes--or treats!

And all of your rescue stories were so awesome. You should start a "trail rescue" thread.


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## nvn0806 (Nov 10, 2010)

Hombre, here in Utah we call them "Gopher Snakes." They are actually very peaceful, and are non-venomous. They are constrictors, and eat vermin, so the are useful to have around. And they're pretty!


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## nvn0806 (Nov 10, 2010)

Waresbear--is that how you came up with your name? 

Also, I'm so glad you and your dog got away okay.

These snakes are pretty friendly, and they aren't poisonous. They will sometimes wiggle their tails really fast, though, to pretend they are a rattler!


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## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

I love small constrictors, we have them too, garter snakes, those I do not mind.
No, waresbear is after the carebears, years & years ago when my kids where little, they watched that cartoon.


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## Avna (Jul 11, 2015)

HombresArablegacy said:


> Beautiful (and big!!) snake. Is that a King snake? Markings look similar to one, but the head looks viper like.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


It looks like a harmless, beneficial gopher snake to me. The head is not viper like and the only non-viper poisonous snake I know of in north america is the coral snake, which it certainly isn't.

In the photos, the first is a gopher snake, the second shows the bulgy viper head of a rattlesnake.


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## Avna (Jul 11, 2015)

My favorite snakes are rubber boas. They are native to the redwoods and are true boas. They are quite small and plain and quiet, easy to tame. The rubber part of their name is because their scales are so small they look like they're wearing little rubber snake suits.


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## nvn0806 (Nov 10, 2010)

That Rubber Boa May in fact be the cutest snake I have EVER seen. 

It's like he is just pretending to be a snake, curled up in his little snake suit. Love!


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## Avna (Jul 11, 2015)

When I was younger whenI found them under logs I would put them in my pocket and carry them around for awhile. I let them be now.


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## Golden Horse (Feb 20, 2010)

I just have to say every time I see the title of this thread pop up it makes me giggle....


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## Rainaisabelle (Jan 2, 2015)

I live in the Tropics in Australia so you can only imagine the wildlife we have hanging around... Salt water crocs, sharks, snakes, spiders, bats and many more.. 

This snake was on my tack box


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## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

It's not poisonous right?


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## nvn0806 (Nov 10, 2010)

Holy smokes, RBelle!


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## Rainaisabelle (Jan 2, 2015)

waresbear said:


> It's not poisonous right?





nvn0806 said:


> Holy smokes, RBelle!


That one ? No it's a green tree snake. Although we have our paddocks right next to cane fields and get taipans and brown snakes.


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## Darrin (Jul 11, 2011)

Love rubber boas, we don't have many but I run across one every now and again.

I've had all sorts of wildlife cross my path: Snakes (of course), coyotes, elk, bear, dear, rabbits, one bobcat, etc.. but the scariest ever was a llama used for packing! That llama was telling the horses it was going to eat them and by golly all the horses believed it.


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