Rattlesnake/Ground Squirrel Research - Part 4

z10silver · **Joined:** Thu Jul 24, 2008 6:46 pm **Posts:** 80

an evening hike

the crew

western pond turtles

some nice fungi

cricket

baby quail

a cool tree

rattler wandered into one of our blinds

procedure for marking squirrels

administering a healthy dose of ketamine

getting his weight

starting to feel the effects

marking his ID#

visit from a gray fox

rattlesnake swallowing a squirrel pup

finally, we got a visit from National Geographic, who filmed our snakes for the series "Moment of Impact" which will be airing next year

meet "Phantom." it shoots up to 1000 frames per second and is worth more than your house

snake of the hour, prepping for his film debut

Matt, setting up a tethered snake

the fishing line tether

"pissed off snake take one"

crew shot, with award winning cameraman/director Alastair MacEwen, who's work you'll recognize from Planet Earth, as well as almost all of David Attenborough's "Life of" series. See his website here: http://www.macewen.co.uk/

The rosy man · **Posted:** Fri Jun 26, 2009 5:08 pm

great photos whens part 5

Absolutherps · **Posted:** Fri Jun 26, 2009 5:19 pm

Awesome, great post, I still need to catch up on a couple of the previous ones. Keep them coming!!

BTW you were NOT kidding about that camera, I just looked it up and the DAILY RENTAL price is $2,500!!!

peterknuteberg · **Posted:** Sat Jun 27, 2009 6:02 am

I have really enjoyed this series. Peter B. :clap:

monklet · **Posted:** Sat Jun 27, 2009 7:39 am

Very interesting stuff. Might be a stupid question but what's up with the tether?

PBR streetgang · **Posted:** Sat Jun 27, 2009 8:41 am

This is a really cool series of photos.

I am surprised you can handle those ground squirrels like that without them chewing you up.

waters954 · **Posted:** Sat Jun 27, 2009 9:28 am

PBR streetgang wrote:

This is a really cool series of photos.

I am surprised you can handle those ground squirrels like that without them chewing you up.

You must have missed the picture labeled "administering a healthy dose of ketamine".

KAVANAC · **Posted:** Sat Jun 27, 2009 9:38 am

Nice post. Looks like a fun project!

Brendan

PBR streetgang · **Posted:** Sat Jun 27, 2009 9:48 am

waters954 wrote:

PBR streetgang wrote:

This is a really cool series of photos.

I am surprised you can handle those ground squirrels like that without them chewing you up.

You must have missed the picture labeled "administering a healthy dose of ketamine".

Yep, missed it. I guess it helps when they're wasted.

z10silver · **Joined:** Thu Jul 24, 2008 6:46 pm **Posts:** 80

thanks for the replies. yea, we would not be able to handle those squirrels without the ketamine. and the tether is used to observe rattlesnake/squirrel interactions without the snake escaping off into a burrow, etc.

rdodson · **Posted:** Sun Jun 28, 2009 8:57 pm

Whoa, was that Jack Black?

DutchHerp · **Posted:** Mon Jun 29, 2009 5:00 am

That photo of the rattler swallowing the ground squirrel was amazing.

Good work, can't wait to see the show.

monklet · **Posted:** Mon Jun 29, 2009 7:27 am

z10silver wrote:

the tether is used to observe rattlesnake/squirrel interactions without the snake escaping off into a burrow, etc.

That would have been my assumption but it doesn't look like you could pull a stubborn snake backwards out of a hole with just that and not have to yard to hard on it. Guess it works or you wouldn't use it.

FunkyRes · **Posted:** Tue Jun 30, 2009 10:26 am

monklet wrote:

z10silver wrote:

the tether is used to observe rattlesnake/squirrel interactions without the snake escaping off into a burrow, etc.

That would have been my assumption but it doesn't look like you could pull a stubborn snake backwards out of a hole with just that and not have to yard to hard on it. Guess it works or you wouldn't use it.

I don't know, but I'm guessing it is easier with non constrictors.

EJ · **Posted:** Tue Jun 30, 2009 12:08 pm

I'd like a job like that... if it paid twice as much.

Loved the rodent sequence... snake included.

z10silver · **Joined:** Thu Jul 24, 2008 6:46 pm **Posts:** 80

well, if possible we try and set up the tethered snake away from any nearby squirrel burrows, but we have had it break free on a few occasions

FieldHerpForum

Rattlesnake/Ground Squirrel Research - Part 4