Wildlife

[riflearm2]

I live about 15 minutes from the beaches in Laguna and Dana Point and about five minutes to the Cleveland National Forest. My neighborhood is in the foothills of the mountain, among hundreds of thousands of acres of a fully operating ranch and a wildlife sanctuary. So this development is pushing out the mountain lions, coyotes, and other friends.

Yesterday, I went for what I thought would be a nice bike ride on the new paved paths where only bikes and the NEVs (faster, nicer, more expensive golf carts) are allowed that connect the neighborhoods and crawl through parts of the ranch that are closed off to humans with fencing to protect the wildlife. Everything was good until I came across this guy:



Then, 20 minutes later, I ran into this guy:



At that point, I said fvck this, and decided that I'd head home and take a hike in the evening.

About three blocks from my house, before entering the thousands of orange, lemon, lime, and avocado trees, I ran into this skeptical little guy:



The only thing I haven't seen is a mountain lion, but one guy has set up a handful of trail cameras around here, and he is getting snaps of tagged and untagged lions weekly.

 

[Jartard]

I live about 15 minutes from the beaches in Laguna and Dana Point and about five minutes to the Cleveland National Forest. My neighborhood is in the foothills of the mountain, among hundreds of thousands of acres of a fully operating ranch and a wildlife sanctuary. So this development is pushing out the mountain lions, coyotes, and other friends.

Yesterday, I went for what I thought would be a nice bike ride on the new paved paths where only bikes and the NEVs (faster, nicer, more expensive golf carts) are allowed that connect the neighborhoods and crawl through parts of the ranch that are closed off to humans with fencing to protect the wildlife. Everything was good until I came across this guy:

View embedded media

Then, 20 minutes later, I ran into this guy:

View embedded media

At that point, I said fvck this, and decided that I'd head home and take a hike in the evening.

About three blocks from my house, before entering the thousands of orange, lemon, lime, and avocado trees, I ran into this skeptical little guy:

View embedded media

The only thing I haven't seen is a mountain lion, but one guy has set up a handful of trail cameras around here, and he is getting snaps of tagged and untagged lions weekly.

It’s not mountain lions we want to see pics of, it’s cougars 😉

 

[HerdandHokies]

I’ve seen a handful of snakes and a lot of coyotes on hikes. I didn’t realize how big they are until one crossed about 10 feet in front of me on a trail. No mountain lions and I’d like to keep it that way.

 

[Raoul Duke MU]

Snakes don't bother me, and frankly that second one is beautiful so I had to look it up, red diamond rattlesnake. My only complaint about snakes is how copperheads blend in with fall leaves on the ground on a trail. That's why you hike with trekking poles.

And unlike the majority of people, I dig coyotes. I used to live beside a state park that has a decent population of them, I enjoyed listening to their calls in the evening.

 

[riflearm2]

It’s not mountain lions we want to see pics of, it’s cougars 😉

Too many of those here. Between some of the Real Housewives of OC who live here and the social media stars, it's getting a little too Californiash here.

Years ago, well before I moved here, I remember an article that went viral proclaiming young twin girls as "the most beautiful twins in the world." Well, they live two blocks from me, have 2+ million Instagram followers, and probably pay half of the mortgage for the family as 12 year olds (or however old they are).

The problem I am having is what to do with the 16 - 20 years olds. The fitness centers in my neighborhood, except for one, are open air. Half of them are roofed while the other half are completely open. But both sides have a wall that is almost always completely open, and they overlook pools. While on the cardio machines, you have a clear view of the pools and hot tub. And last night, there was a group of three 16 - 20 year old girls who kept bouncing back and forth between the bodies of water. And their bodies were definitely bouncing, and one of them had a thong on. Then, a younger couple got into the pool, and the girl was probably around 18, but she also 3/4 of her ass hanging out of her bikini bottom.

Am I supposed to ask them if they are 18+ before I look? As they walk by, I look dumber pretending that I don't see them compared with if do follow them with my eyes everywhere.

It's not fair. We should be not only allowed to look but also expected to look.

And unlike the majority of people, I dig coyotes. I used to live beside a state park that has a decent population of them, I enjoyed listening to their calls in the evening.

I have cameras outside of my place and caught one walking along my fence line. Outside of the middle of summer, I sleep with my bedroom windows open year-round. About a half-dozen times, I have been awakened by the coyotes crying from what is probably at least a half-mile away.

 

[MichiganHerd]

I’ve seen a handful of snakes and a lot of coyotes on hikes. I didn’t realize how big they are until one crossed about 10 feet in front of me on a trail. No mountain lions and I’d like to keep it that way.

This is why some of you are going to die, once the government takes away your guns. Granted, you may get yourself a large stick and be able to shew away a bear, a coyote, and a mountain lion, but once you've completed your one and only shew away, each of those is going to eat you raw, balls and all.

Same is true in West Virginia. I went on a hike down in the gorge a dozen or so years ago, and wouldn't have considered going on one, had my brother not allowed me to borrow his hand gun. Problem being, you shoot and miss, you're likely in sad shape, unless the sound of the gunfire spooks them and they run away. That very same trip I saw a huge copperhead while walking down to the river bank to watch the rafters go through the final rapid close to the bridge. Ran my ass back up to the car, and left. I'll never leave the pavement again down there. One big snake is all I needed to see. Thinking about it though, back in the late 70s and early 80s, we would get blown out of our minds, and camp out along the river, and tie on a big one, and fish all night. We would even walk through the woods from the train tracks down to the river bank, and hunt for wood at night. You couldn't pay me enough to pull a stunt like that again. That's what good pills used to do for you back in the day.

 

[johns1124]

The first one is a Mohave Green, second is a Pacific Rattler the more deadly of the two.

 

[Raoul Duke MU]

That very same trip I saw a huge copperhead while walking down to the river bank to watch the rafters go through the final rapid close to the bridge. Ran my ass back up to the car, and left.

Surely you are not scared of a snake. Leave him alone, and he will leave you alone.

second is a Pacific Rattler the more deadly of the two.

Perhaps I was wrong, I thought it was this fella.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crotalus_ruber

Either way, that's a beautiful snake. I'd be honored to have seen him....perhaps this feeling is not mutual with those who see them on the regular lol.

 

[OldielovesHerd]

I’ve seen a handful of snakes and a lot of coyotes on hikes. I didn’t realize how big they are until one crossed about 10 feet in front of me on a trail. No mountain lions and I’d like to keep it that way.

Growing up in West Virginia I saw so many snakes I could hardly count how many especially when we lived on Mount Union road and on Beech Fork road.

 

[HerdandHokies]

I only saw a handful growing up in Milton, but I didn’t go out and hike as much as I should’ve.

 

[MichiganHerd]

Surely you are not scared of a snake. Leave him alone, and he will leave you alone.

Scared of a snake? Big ass copperhead laying in the middle of a foot wide path down to the river? Shit, I'm not scared of it. I'm petrified of the sumdabitch. Hell, I was 51 years old then, and still broke the record for fastest sprint back up the side of the hill. Big long ass strides too. Usain Bolt couldn't have kept up with my ass.

 

[Raoul Duke MU]

Scared of a snake? Big ass copperhead laying in the middle of a foot wide path down to the river? Shit, I'm not scared of it. I'm petrified of the sumdabitch. Hell, I was 51 years old then, and still broke the record for fastest sprint back up the side of the hill. Big long ass strides too. Usain Bolt couldn't have kept up with my ass.

You should go up to Jack Mountain, in Pendleton County. Lots of rattlesnakes there.

 

[OldielovesHerd]

Scared of a snake? Big ass copperhead laying in the middle of a foot wide path down to the river? Shit, I'm not scared of it. I'm petrified of the sumdabitch. Hell, I was 51 years old then, and still broke the record for fastest sprint back up the side of the hill. Big long ass strides too. Usain Bolt couldn't have kept up with my ass.

LOL I am scared of them too. I have run rapidly away from them many times.

 

[ThunderCat98]

Snakes don't bother me, and frankly that second one is beautiful so I had to look it up, red diamond rattlesnake. My only complaint about snakes is how copperheads blend in with fall leaves on the ground on a trail. That's why you hike with trekking poles.

And unlike the majority of people, I dig coyotes. I used to live beside a state park that has a decent population of them, I enjoyed listening to their calls in the evening.

Like for the snake comment.

Dislike for the coyote.

I live in cattle country. We kill those fvckers any time we lay eyes on them. Ain't nothing good about a coyote.

 

[greengeezer]

For me, it is deer. Dozens of deer. Most of you know that I like to plant and landscape. It is becoming almost impossible.

What was a couple of deer has now become a vicious gang of dozens. I had a bed of coral bells - an attractive shade loving plant. It was wiped out over the winter so I bought about $100 worth of new ones. Came out this morning and the deer had eaten all of them out of the store pots they came in. Never had a chance.

 

[marshallisqbu]

Those are awesome. When I used to fish the canals in Miami I never knew what I would run into.

 

[-CarlHungus-]

I hate snakes so much. I would have lost my shit if I saw two in one ride.

Those coyotes are awesome though - assuming you don’t have a chicken coop of course.

 

[imherdfan]

I actually can’t stand snakes, but had a photo op with a 165# Burmese Python draped across my shoulders on a visit to Vietnam a few years ago. Got the picture and got that sumbitch off of me. That was a freaky experience.

 

[MarshallManiac]

Other than Black/King/Rat snakes I will chop the head off any snake I see. Here in NC Copperheads are a plague. When in Florida I saw way more wildlife than I ever encountered in West Virginia. Found a Coral snake in my pool skimmer one time. Had a black racer scare the life out of my wife. Saw cotton mouths and rattle snakes on hikes down there. Had a family of black bears that would hang out in the yard 2-3 times per month. Saw several wild pigs too. It's crazy the types of animals that you see in and around the military land down there around Eglin Air Force base.

 

[Raoul Duke MU]

I live in cattle country. We kill those fvckers any time we lay eyes on them. Ain't nothing good about a coyote.

Oh I totally get that, when I had horses both coyotes and venomous snakes were killed on sight. Only got one coyote though, they were still sneaky then, now most of them are quite brave and show themselves.

 

[HerdandHokies]

I’ve seen coyotes hanging out at trailheads here because people feed them. Stupid people.

 

[MichiganHerd]

For me, it is deer. Dozens of deer. Most of you know that I like to plant and landscape. It is becoming almost impossible.

What was a couple of deer has now become a vicious gang of dozens. I had a bed of coral bells - an attractive shade loving plant. It was wiped out over the winter so I bought about $100 worth of new ones. Came out this morning and the deer had eaten all of them out of the store pots they came in. Never had a chance.

My wife started feeding the deer last year. I warned her about it being a big mistake, but she don't listen to me about anything I happen to have to say. She thought it was cute when mama deer and two baby deer started coming around at dusk to eat all the corn she laid out. Then they would eat all the bird seed off the tray feeders, and mama deer would stand up and eat seed from the hung feeders, and shake them with her head to have seed fall out all over the yard. But, what really sucks is when they start eating everything else in the yard, including your landscaping plants. I spent $149.00 per tree on a couple of Honeycrisp apple trees, and sure enough, the deer ate off all the lower branches. Broke my back planting them with the pick axe too. You have to have two trees for the cross pollination requirement when planting fruit trees. Most big dummies don't know that, but you do. As for your issue, they'll eat all your coral bells. Those are like a first choice for them. Same thing is true when planting a garden. Rule of thumb is that you have to plant enough for everyone, including birds, rabbits, squirrels, deer, and the dreaded chipmunk. Our rabbits devoured all of our nice blueberry and raspberry bushes, but were nice enough to leave a 2" stem close to the ground. They grow back though, and get nice enough again to feed the rabbits annually.

Also, when you feed the deer, you may start out with only mama and a couple kids, but they end up telling the entire herd, so we often will see 9 or 12 out there rampaging through the yard.

 

[greengeezer]

Also, when you feed the deer, you may start out with only mama and a couple kids, but they end up telling the entire herd, so we often will see 9 or 12 out there rampaging through the yard.

That is what happened to me. The wife of a neighbor started feeding a cup of corn to a couple little fawns. She called them “her babies.” Now the herd from hell is up to 16. They eat everything

I even shot one of the bucks from my porch with a BB gun. The BB bounced harmlessly off his chest and he stood there pawing at the ground as if to say, “Is that he best you have?”

 

[i am herdman]

Other than Black/King/Rat snakes I will chop the head off any snake I see. Here in NC Copperheads are a plague. When in Florida I saw way more wildlife than I ever encountered in West Virginia. Found a Coral snake in my pool skimmer one time. Had a black racer scare the life out of my wife. Saw cotton mouths and rattle snakes on hikes down there. Had a family of black bears that would hang out in the yard 2-3 times per month. Saw several wild pigs too. It's crazy the types of animals that you see in and around the military land down there around Eglin Air Force base.

NC has an incredible about of copperheads. Back thing about the copperheads is they hide and just kind of sit there and hang out until disturbed. Like a booby trap. Went underneath my crawl space last summer and there was a big old snake skin right about head high where the light swicth. Might have just been a black snake skin but, damn now I am thinking a copperhead might get me on the hand or the head when I go under there. Copperheads are all over the place in NC.

There we some moron Yankees that had moved in and on the neighborhood page a woman had taken a picture of a copperhead in her yard and was asking what kind of snake it was. that is not the bad part. The bad part was she said her little girl was playing and was running by the snake and jumping over it just prior to taking that picture.

Then, there are the tree hugger morons that don't want people killing the snakes and there is this dude, again Yankee, who says don't kill them. He will come and get them and relocate them. Not me, copperhead near or in the house is getting whacked.

 

[i am herdman]

That is what happened to me. The wife of a neighbor started feeding a cup of corn to a couple little fawns. She called them “her babies.” Now the herd from hell is up to 16. They eat everything

I even shot one of the bucks from my porch with a BB gun. The BB bounced harmlessly off his chest and he stood there pawing at the ground as if to say, “Is that he best you have?”

Get one of those spring loaded 177 pellet guns. That or a 308/270/30-06/7mm magnum.

 

[greengeezer]

Then, there are the tree hugger morons that don't want people killing the snakes and there is this dude, again Yankee, who says don't kill them. He will come and get them and relocate them. Not me, copperhead near or in the house is getting whacked.

That is the trouble with people who move here from the city. They don’t know what a woman is, they are confused about sex and gender, they know nothing of the culture but want to change it, and they know nothing about the wildlife, especially snakes.

If a snake is poisonous, I kill it. If it is a harmless garden snake, I put it in a bucket, take it out in the woods and let it go.

 

[riflearm2]

If a snake is poisonous, I kill it. If it is a harmless garden snake, I put it in a bucket, take it out in the woods and let it go.

That is the trouble with people from the country. They need a person from the city to educate them on the difference between poisonous and venomous.

 

[big_country90]

That is the trouble with people from the country. They need a person from the city to educate them on the difference between poisonous and venomous.

Right… because city people are much more familiar with wildlife than people from the country. I guess you still qualify as being from the country, considering where you’re from.

 

[riflearm2]

Right… because city people are much more familiar with wildlife than people from the country. I guess you still qualify as being from the country, considering where you’re from.

The issue isn’t about being familiar with wildlife. It’s about intelligence and knowing the difference between poisonous and venomous.

The fact that I had to clarify that to you further proves my point, Big Dummy.

 

[big_country90]

The issue isn’t about being familiar with wildlife. It’s about intelligence and knowing the difference between poisonous and venomous.

The fact that I had to clarify that to you further proves my point, Big Dummy.

The average toothless holler dweller knows more about wildlife than the average Californian. Fact.

 

[greengeezer]

That is the trouble with people from the country. They need a person from the city to educate them on the difference between poisonous and venomous.

When I see a poisonous frog rubbing against you, I’m not saying a word.

 

[muthed]

For me, it is deer. Dozens of deer. Most of you know that I like to plant and landscape. It is becoming almost impossible.

What was a couple of deer has now become a vicious gang of dozens. I had a bed of coral bells - an attractive shade loving plant. It was wiped out over the winter so I bought about $100 worth of new ones. Came out this morning and the deer had eaten all of them out of the store pots they came in. Never had a chance.

Get you some Deer Scram. It works

 

[Raoul Duke MU]

Not me, copperhead near or in the house is getting whacked.

Just don't kill the good ones. Black snakes, cow snakes, etc. Unless you want a rodent problem. If you have a kingsnake on your property, hell give him a name and treat him like royalty...they kill copperheads.

The average toothless holler dweller knows more about wildlife than the average Californian. Fact.

But does the average toothless holler dweller know more about wildlife than the average rural Californian?

 

[greengeezer]

I haven’t noticed a snake on my property in years. Today I raked one up with yard debris. I’m blaming this thread.

 

[Jartard]

Has anyone checked with ET to see if these serpents escaped his church? They may be out doing the lord’s work.