Spring Creek Basin Mustangs

At Ace Hardware in Norwood, Colorado, the young man who helped me find the pieces and parts for a snake-pole-lasso quickly grasped the idea of what I needed. It was his first day on the job. What a first day. 🙂

Here are the parts:

Five-foot-long, 1 1/2-inch PVC pipe

1 1/2-inch cap

15 feet of soft, 1/4-inch rope

21/64-inch drill bit

Drill – already mine (battery was on the charger)

This is how it went together:

I drilled two holes in the cap and threaded the rope (the Ace Hardware man burned the ends for me in the store; he also cut a 10-foot length of pipe to the 5 feet I needed) through one hole from the inside, made a loop and threaded it back into the other hole, knotting it inside the cap. The long end of the rope then drops through the pipe to the other end, which is where the snake wrangler wants to be.

Voila! Snake lasso!

Heading to the basin now …

Snake wrangling equipment:

Step stool – because I realized I had to stand basically over the top of the vertical in-ground pipe to bring the snake up, and I really didn’t want to get struck in the shin if it came up less than happy.

Trash can – previously used for feed in the barn. Use: transport the snake from hole to home, away from water trough that the horses use.

DIY snake-pole-lasso. About $20 total.

And of course, my cell phone, which is only slightly easier to operate one-handed than my camera. Because I had to document the process for you faithful readers who are cheering for snakey-snake.

At left: fenced-in aprons that catch rainwater and snow.

Background: Our destination is the green water tank, on the far side of which is the valve pipe in which our reptile has been captive for at least a couple of weeks.

Question: Did rattler make it out on the crossed sticks … or was snakey still stuck?

Answer: See above. The thing had a slightly unnerving way of looking up at me the whole time, like it knew things were happening. Finally.

Here’s my setup:

Step stool on the north side of the pipe; trash can on the south side. Snakey in the hole in the middle.

I won’t lie; my hand was shaking as I was taking these pix. Everything’s all fun and games until you try to lasso a rattler at the bottom of a pipe.

OK. Deep breath. Ready?

It’s not easy to hold a lasso’d snake with one hand (I was holding the pipe and rope coming out the end to keep a snug hold on the slippery slitherer) and a cell phone with another (your only other) hand AND try to two-finger zoom the image because you’re several fraidy-cat feet above it.

It wasn’t heavy, and it didn’t wriggle or writhe. And – maybe wildest of all – it didn’t rattle. I managed to catch it at “neck” level (!), so I was confident it couldn’t reach any shins.

Don’t worry, dude/ette, it’s bigger, and it’s totally temporary.

Valve-pipe cap. Replaced.

When I called my mom from the road, snake-filled can (lidded) safely in the back of the truck, I admit that I was still breathing hard, and not just from carrying my equipment back up the slope (the water flows downhill from the catchment aprons).

Snake couldn’t live in the metal trash can any more than it could live in the bottom of a PVC pipe, so release was the next part of the capture saga.

Rattler relief is close. See that the boulder is shaped so that it provides a shady shelter?

I appealed to many deities, entities and spirits before embarking on this jaunt, including my mom, my dad, snakes in general, rattlesnakes in particular, even Lord Voldemort, that sovereign of serpenty Slytherins.

While carrying the can up to the pictured perfect boulder, I realized that getting the lid off the can wouldn’t be too bad, but having been so gentle so far, I didn’t want to just kick the can over!

Check out the perfectly shaped branch I found nearby (pictured above, hooked through the can’s handle)! On the bare, rocky shoulder of Filly Peak! I mean, trees aren’t what this area is known for. But it was perfectly perfect. Some spirits definitely were with us. Using the branch, with its excellent length and hefty hook, I was able to tenderly tip the can onto its side without even a jangly, jarring thump.

But you know how it is when you leave your old home for a new one. Maybe you’re excited, and maybe you’re a little nervous, too.

Rattler was a bit reluctant, so I had to find another stick to tip the bottom of the can up a bit and encourage (!) the slithery sucker to slide to the ground.

And that’s when happiness kicked in, and snakey slithered right into the super space like s/he owned the place.

I’m pretty sure I heard him/her speak Parseltongue ere s/he slithered out of sight: thanksssssssssssssssssss.

Mischief managed!

🙂

Thank you all for following along and wishing the best for our rattly reptile!

Happy life and many rodents, rattler!

**Update (and thanks to Sue for the reminder!): I meant to credit Linda Carson at The 7MSN Ranch for the snake-pole-lasso. I admired her nerve in snake wrangling … and never thought I’d have to make a pole of my own!