Can you drive a stickshift, & photograph an owl while...

[AJMD429]

...being repeatedly SNAKEBIT...???

Just before I pulled into the driveway the other day I spot this little Eastern Milksnake crossing the road and likely to get squished, so I stop, hop out of the car, and picked her up. Then grab the mail with the other hand, toss it on the passenger seat, and head up the driveway. Naturally, not speaking English, she wasn't reassured that I was just going to toss her in a big brushpile where there would be plenty of grubs and some baby mice and so on, so she started chomping on my forearm (the Lampropeltis family is like their cousins the 'Rat Snake' and 'King Snake' and have teeth that are more 'rasp-like' than 'tooth-like').



Then I get halfway to the house on an incline, and a Great Horned Owl is sitting in the driveway, so of course I want to take a picture. Of course the owl majestically faces me every few seconds, then turns away just as I take each picture...



When I get to the house, I realize I've been "wounded" by the dangerous serpent...



Later on, when I was checking to see the gender, I actually didn't get bitten, but I guess that's because I had both hands free.

[Blaine]

You, Sir, are a kind and generous person. I've been chomped by a black snake, and a large garter....very annoying. Contrary to popular belief, even non-poisonous snakes have an extremely mild toxin in their mouths that can cause irritation. I think it to help the snake digest its food before swallowing....

[plowboy 45]

That owl standing there ahead of you is not good, its bad luck, it means someone just died at that moment, Indian superstition, suppose to be someone you knew, happend to my wife and myself few years back.

[Ysabel Kid]

You, Sir, are a kind and generous person. I've been chomped by a black snake, and a large garter....very annoying. Contrary to popular belief, even non-poisonous snakes have an extremely mild toxin in their mouths that can cause irritation. I think it to help the snake digest its food before swallowing....

Yep - a bite by any snake is potentially problematic, considering the general state of their mouths. I'm sure you flushed the wound well and treated it like... a doctor!

[GonnePhishin]

That Owl was waiting fer' you to toss 'em that thar snake for supper
If it didn't bite you then what made you draw blood?

[Neil Casper]

It was very nice of you that you saved the snake, but once they taste human blood....and you could change into a zombie now!

About ten years ago my wife, Ayesha, backed into our garage with her window open and a Red Tailed Hawk flew into her Ford van. Between her swatting and the hawk clawing and defecating they almost demolished that van!

[OldWin]

Tune in next week for more exciting footage on.....Mutual of Omaha's Wild Driveway.

Sorry you got snake bit Doc.
No good deed.......

[Griff]

Hey Doc, you did use an antibiotic on that bite, didn't you?

[Sixgun]

Doc,
You got BIG ones!

But on the other hand, I guess it was better being bitten by that snake than a one eyed trouser snake, especially if it was not yours. ---------6

[cshold]

Tune in next week for more exciting footage on.....Mutual of Omaha's Wild Driveway.

Sorry you got snake bit Doc.
No good deed.......

Good one

[bdhold]

Hey Doc, you did use an antibiotic on that bite, didn't you?

and a tetanus shot...

[Mescalero]

I grew up on the reservation, and while it is true many natives believe that about owls; I have encountered many owls with no bad effect.
Blaine has an owl fetish.

[piller]

I would rather have an owl around than a hawk. I have never seen, nor heard of an owl killing a pet cat, dog, or barnyard fowl. Hawks seem to take particular delight in eating fresh chicken. Owls do a great job in keeping the mice population down. As far as the snake, well, it was just doing what was in its nature to do when it felt threatened.

One morning about a week ago, I was walking out the door to go to work and there was a 2 foot long grass snake on the walkway. It was trying to get away so hard that I started laughing. I just waited until it got into the grass and went on to my car.

[BrentD]

I would rather have an owl around than a hawk. I have never seen, nor heard of an owl killing a pet cat, dog, or barnyard fowl. Hawks seem to take particular delight in eating fresh chicken. Owls do a great job in keeping the mice population down. As far as the snake, well, it was just doing what was in its nature to do when it felt threatened.

Rethink the diet of your owls. If you have great horned owls (or eagle owls for you northern Europeans), they love cats. And Barnyard fowl. Not too many feathered anythings will kill dogs on a regular basis and even puppies just aren't that easy for them.

I like all of them and have all of them, plus more, living on my stretch of the river. We get along well enough.

[piller]

Owls are meat eaters, but I have witnessed several hawks taking chickens and ducks, but I have never seen an owl do it. If they do, it is probably on a less frequent basis than the hawks. Hawks are rally bold about taking chickens, cats, and small dogs. At least, the ones I have witnessed are.

[Blaine]

I grew up on the reservation, and while it is true many natives believe that about owls; I have encountered many owls with no bad effect.
Blaine has an owl fetish.

Trust me, it's hard to tie up the little buggers

[Mescalero]

VA got you off your meds?

[AJMD429]

I would rather have an owl around than a hawk. I have never seen, nor heard of an owl killing a pet cat, dog, or barnyard fowl. Hawks seem to take particular delight in eating fresh chicken. Owls do a great job in keeping the mice population down. As far as the snake, well, it was just doing what was in its nature to do when it felt threatened.

Yep. No hard feelings towards the snake; in fact I felt sorry for it being so scared, but wanted to get it away from the road.

We've seen both owls and hawks (and dogs and weasels and raccoons and possums) take our chickens, but we just try to keep enough of them around that a percentage loss won't be a big deal.

Amazing how a slow-moving possum can snarf a chicken when it is asleep, but chickens lose what little sense they have once it is dark.

[3leggedturtle]

Sure is a purty little thang. Contrary to myths, I view any owl sighting as a blessing and my day is going good. Saw a mink in droad daylight the other day in Coon Rapids. Shocked me but sure was a gorgeous dark brown and very curious as I whistled going by him.