HOW TO BEHAVE SO THE RATTLESNAKE BEHAVES

Rattlesnakes (and most wildlife) usually first attempt to flee, and when I try to catch them, I usually find it very helpful to avoid making rattlesnakes (and other creatures) feel the need to defend themselves.

It can be incredibly helpful to generally have a good idea about what a rattlesnake will very likely do – will it: Run away? Go on defense? Try to strike? ...Or maybe if I behave in a certain way, will it not feel the need to strike, and it calmly slithers into the bucket so I can relocate it?

These concepts translate to other dangerous and less-dangerous living beings - ESPECIALLY dogs, and their +20,000 year history of selective breeding for friendliness and cooperation with humans!

In my experience, non-human animals are generally a lot simpler, straightforward, and much easier to understand, while a lot of humans (including myself!) can be very complicated and difficult to understand! Humans can be (among many other things) ...absolutely fascinating, and I am still learning a lot about understanding humans better!

Ultimately, it is the humans who must advocate for the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of dogs - working with dogs has given me a lot of opportunities and motivation for improving my abilities to work with other humans!

With almost all wildlife, I observe from a distance that does not disturb them (as much as possible!), also maybe capture/shoot with a camera, before everybody goes their separate ways in peace.

When I decide to catch/handle/observe/release any wild creature, they are returned to where they were found, but I might relocate a spider, scorpion, centipede, rattlesnake, and any other potentially dangerous creature that I think is too close to humans, ESPECIALLY if there are dogs.

I almost always do catch and release, but if the rattlesnake is big enough, I might eat it. I think rattlesnake meat has good consistency and it can taste very good. If compared to fish, I think rattlesnakes are so much less smelly and easier to clean!

Despite their tastiness, I strongly prefer relocating rattlesnakes, because rattlesnakes primarily eat rodents, which helps reduce the tick population, which helps prevent tick borne diseases! 

During the capture and relocation process, I don’t want the rattlesnake to waste any of its precious venom on attempted strikes – in addition to reducing the potential for fatality, injury, and/or stress for everybody, it saves their venom for the rodents - it’s way better than rat poison!

It seems like using rat poison is some super dangerous nasty stuff that is incredibly ineffective at actually killing rats. Even if the rat picks up the rat poison, it does not guarantee the rat will eat the poison – the rat may relocate the poison, making it accessible to another animal, maybe a dog or cat? Or the rat actually eats it – after consumption of the poison, death is not immediate and in the meantime the rat acts funny out in the open, effectively sending out an open invitation to anyone looking to eat a rat. So instead of just killing the rats that actually eat the poison, using rat poison has the potential to cause unintended fatalities to the beautiful rattlesnakes, owls, hawks, foxes, coyotes, and all the amazing wild animals that eat countless thousand of rodents per year! And when there is a lack of the amazingly effective rat-eating animals, there will be a lot more rats!

Also, dogs and cats may somehow eat the rat poison!

I am INCREDIBLY thankful when rattlesnakes use their rattles to communicate their emotions and feelings about their discomfort about my distance!

I am INCREDIBLY thankful for the rattlesnakes I see, and I can be very scared and afraid of the rattlesnakes that I do not see!

When I am lucky enough to see a rattlesnake, I often like to tell them something along the lines of: “Hello there rattlesnake, thank you for rattling! Wow you are incredibly beautiful/extremely pretty/extremely good looking/super cool markings! I hope you eat lots of rodents, and I hope we can all continue to peacefully co-exist!” or if I want to relocate the rattlesnake, maybe something like "Please stay there, I will be back ASAP with some tools..."

I occasionally hear or read about “the increase in rattlesnakes that don’t rattle”, and then I sometimes think about the reinforcement that a lot of rattlesnakes receive when they rattle at a human  – the rattlesnake gets killed!

On the other hand, the rattlesnakes who stay silent and do not rattle are much harder for humans to detect, and therefore are rewarded with “being allowed to live”!

I strongly prefer the rattlesnakes that rattle, because they are VERY clear with communicating their requests for distance, in a VERY peaceful way! 

Therefore, I do my best to reward rattlesnakes for rattling!

Rattlesnakes can be very effective for organic and sustainable management of rodent populations, which can help reduce the tick population, which reduces the spread of Lyme Disease and other Tick-Borne Diseases, for humans, dogs, cats, and for everybody!

In my experience, reducing outdoor clutter and keeping the grass cut short can be very helpful management practices for naturally reducing the rodent population in the immediate area, and therefore doesn’t attract as many creatures that eat rodents, like Rattlesnakes!

Reducing outdoor clutter and keeping the grass short is also good for making defensible fire space, and makes it easier to actually see the rattlesnake!