Canebrake+puppies=
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Posted by Conrad on May 10, 2003 at 22:32:19:
Well, this is a sad and happy story all in one. Earlier today, my sister-in-law brought puppies she had by to keep them in my back kennels where they could be more closely watched and taken care of. I had walked out of the house a couple of hours later to check a dirt road that runs down into the forest cause snakes often come out there around evening. On my way back up, something told me to check on the pups, the pups were making a lot of noise. When I got to the kennel they were all in one corner of the kennel which in 8'x 8', and in the other corner...a 4 1/2+ canebrake! I was exstatic untill I went to get the puppies out, and realized one had been bitten, and one was already dead. Two out of five had been struck. The only thing I can figure is that the snake had been hunting some squirrels, or looking for a bunny nest, which there are a couple of just in the woodline. When she read the heat signature of the puppies, she went into the kennel to check it out. The puppies ran over out of curiosity, and the snake struck out of fright. It's a shame that this had to happen to the pups, but it's only the third rattlesnake I've personally seen in this area in nearly 5 years. I'm relocating her tomorrow. This snake is fat as can be too! She's gotta be as big around as my forearm. What do you think...just fat, or possibly showing signs of being gravid already? I'm in eastern NC so it's possible, as we've been having "snake weather" for a couple of months now, but I don't know if they'd be that far along already. And before this I was mad that I didn't get to go herping.
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