With the warmest October to date, heavy fall rains, and a surplus of rodents –The Texas Parks and Wildlife Lubbock Regional Office said that rattlesnakes are on the rise this Fall season. As hunters hide in the grass looking for quail and deer, biologist Aaron Simmons said he advises everyone to take a second look at the ground.
“So in the last few years with the rain we’ve had it’s been a really good bumper crop for rodents,” said Simmons. “Those are the primary food source for rattlesnakes and because there is an abundance of food the rattlesnakes are doing so well.”
People are seeing them throughout Garza county as well. Whether it’s out on the main roads, front yards or near barns. Eddie Pitts with The City of Post Animal Control said he’s the guy to call whenever they appear. Although he said lately he hasn’t heard them rattle as much.
“I caught one the other day, messed with him, held him up, he never did rattle,” said Pitts. “I think that its the hog problem you know the hogs eat them and I think the rattlers aren’t rattling because they don’t want to alert them.”
The snakes gain a rattler every time they shed a skin. Pitts said a lot of bites happen after the snake is dead. People think that once the head is removed the snake is no longer dangerous but due to nerve movement, the snake can still bite.
“A baby doesn’t know how to regulate its venom,” said Pitts. “If an adult wants to give you a little or a lot he knows, but when a baby bites you he gives you everything hes got.”