Sirrius Black is growing!

Sirrius was just a baby when I got him two years ago.  He is getting pretty big now.  He is one of my favorite snakes because he is so gentle.  This one and Hermoine are the  two snakes that I allow children to hold, they are so docile.    Sirius has black, brown and green in his scaly skin.  He is a very beautiful snake.  If people could meet him and see how wonderful he really is, maybe they wouldn't be so quick to kill snakes like him  when they encounter them.  He is also one of the few snakes I have that my wife likes.  She will even hold him.  Hermoine also, but those are the only two.  Ghosts are her thing.  Snakes are mine.  And I wouldn't have it any other way.

Snake Numbers Declining Around The World

WALLINGFORD, England, June 9 (UPI) -- British-led scientists say they have determined several global snake species have experienced a significant decline in populations.
The researchers, led by Chris Reading from Britain's Center for Ecology & Hydrology, said they examined long-term data collected between 1987 and 2009 in the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Nigeria and Australia involving 17 snake populations in tropical and temperate climates and discovered declines in eight of 11 species.
The scientists noted snakes are top predators and any decline in their numbers might have serious consequences for many ecosystems.
"This is the first documented evidence from anywhere in the world that snake populations may be declining," Reading said. "Although we do not know the cause of these observed declines, we wish to alert snake ecologists to what appears to be happening and to stimulate further research."
The study is reported in the journal Biology Letters.
The question is, because this is snakes we are dealing with, will anyone care that they might disappear from the earth?  I would. 

ET Thinks she might have found Mrs. Blossom!

ET sent me a picture of what she thinks is Mrs. Blossom. My only thought was "What a beautiful Black Rat Snake!" Keep them coming ET! The saga of Mr. And Mrs. Blossom will continue as you send me the pics!

Video Of Blossom, The Black Rat Snake

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TS0DfzBypbY

Remember Blossom, the Black Rat Snake? He visits a nice lady named Elaine in Southwest Ohio. She got some nice video of him and I am posting it on here for you to see. He is one big snake, but very gentle. She seems very close in the video and he just looks at her. Another perfect example of how snakes won't hurt you. They just want left alone. Blossom never once even offers to harm Elaine. Thanks Elaine for the great video!!! Blossom is a nice friend to have around the house!

Another Dropped Off Pup And It Pisses Me Off!

This little guy is Echo. I found him wandering down at Grimms Bridge near Calcutta. He had on a blue camoflage collar. Echo is 4-5 months old and was just abandoned down there by some ass hole who had absolutely no regard for him at all. We pulled 16 ticks off of him as we cleaned him up. He was so scared and hungry. He is just a baby.
http://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/16237726
Here is a link to see him. He is currently at the Columbiana County Dog Pound. I have 7 dogs already from other stupid ass holes dumping their dogs out around here. I would loved to have kept the little guy otherwise. The pound assures me that they have not put a dog down in over 6 years. I told them to call me if that ends up being his only option.
Please don't dump your unwanted pets out in the middle of nowhere. You leave them to fend for themselves against ticks and fleas, other animals like coyotes, and the chance of being hit by a car. If the area is remote enough, they face starvation. Don't be a stupid ass hole like Echo's former owner. Please take your pets that you don't want or can't keep to the shelter. It often does not cost to leave them, or if it does, the fee is usually small. Your pets are a part of your family. Don't just throw them away.

More articles are coming......

I am busy right now looking for different snakes in my area and getting pictures of them, identifying what I find, and ultimately, putting it all on here. Since the snakes are awake now, I should be having some luck. However, I didn't have any today. I did find a couple of frogs, as seen above. Slippery. Slimey. Amazing. Keep checking back. Are there any snakes in particular that you are interested in from the Ohio area? Let me know and I will do my best to find one, and what ever I can about it.

Dead Snake

I ran into this video and thought I would share it. This snake is huge!!! Let me know what you think. I am still looking into what kind of snake it is. Possibly Anaconda. All I know is when I saw it, I had to put it on my blog. Enjoy.

Me and My Friends

The winter months are cold and boring. I can't look for snakes outside so I spend a lot of time working with my rescues. I handle Ronald-The Mean Little Bastard, so he isn't so mean. I rest on my dog proof couch with Mike's Best Friends- Neecha the Rottweiler, Buster, my Snoopy, and a new little friend, Peeko.

I have also been giving a lot of my time to Harry the Boa. He is a really good snake. For all that his former owner kept him in a cage too small for him, he also seemed to be good to him otherwise. Harry has never offered to bite me, even once. That doesn't mean I would become irresponsible in handling him. He is a large boa and demands respect. You can see in the pic above where it takes my wife and I both to handle Harry. Yet another young lady has come to the house to conquer her fear of snakes. Brooke is helping me with Harry above, and she did a great job!

I get each of the snakes I have out of their enclosures several times a week and spend time handling them. The Mean Little Bastard is the only one that has ever bitten me, though that was a while ago. If you want a pleasant, easy to hold snake just follow two simple rules.

1. Never feed them in their cage. Get them out and feed them in a separate area, away from their living area.

2. Handle them on a regular basis. If need be, start out by wearing latex gloves when you hold them. If they bite you they get the taste of the latex glove and they don't like it. It does not take long for them to stop biting.

If you have any questions about snakes, please let me know. Leave a comment and I will do my best to get you an answer.

Pictures Sent In From Southern Ohio. Thanks ET!

These pics were sent in from ET in Southern Ohio. This is a wild black snake that lives in her house. She has not seen it in a while, but there was time when this snake would come out while she sat on her porch and look in her coffee cup. She became concerned and started putting water out for "Blossom" to drink. Blossom never hurt her and never, ever offered to bite.

I wish every one was like this. Too often, a snake this size found in some one's home, gets killed. I am glad that this wonderful lady, Elaine, prefers to enjoy a new experience and make a new friend.

If you have a great snake story to tell or any other animal rescue, please let me know. Send pictures if you can and I will put it on my site. I appreciate the help to try to change how people think about my long slithery friends and all the other wild animals out there, too.

Ronald The Milksnake

My wife calls him the mean little bastard. He does have attitude. His name is Ronald. He is a Pueblan Milksnake. He is about 7 months old right now. This is the only snake that has ever bitten me. And he meant business. He was just grinding his tiny teeth into my hand. Looking at it from his point of view, he was only defending himself. He didn't know me. Now he does, but it took over three months to get him settled down. He was also an owner surrender. He was infested with mites. That can take one to two months to get rid of, if you're lucky and quarantined your new snake properly in a completely seperate room.I am working on an article about Mites and will post it soon.

Anyway, meet Ronald finally.