Another awesome rattlesnake trip!

[slamjay]

An unseasonably warm day of 28 degrees greeted us at Dinosaur Provincial Park. Also greeting us, a wandering garter on the side of the road that eagle eyed Ian spotted. "Stop the car!" he yelled and then went flying out the door. One of the back doors was actually left open, it was like something out of a reality tv show.

Adam had "pre-caught" 2 snakes so we were assured a hands on with rattlesnakes. We caught three more and saw but were unable to catch 2 others, for a total of 7 snakes, including a hatchling. Three of the people on the trip had never been so it was awesome to see their faces when held a tubed rattlesnake for the first time. The trip included a fossil talk and for the first time ever we got to visit the preserve area which is off limit to the public. No bull snakes unfortunately but hopefully in the spring, that seems to be a more successful time.

Fun was had by all, I am sure photos will be up soon. Thanks as always to Adam for taking us out, and a big thanks to Budget Rent A Car for providing our transport, a shiny ford explorer with more buttons and touch screen thingys then I could figure out.

We have big plans for the spring trip, stay tuned!

[TraceyS]

Sounds like fun! Dying to see pics!

[joeysgreen]

It was awesome. No bullsnakes, but in the preserve I saw huge dinosaur bones just sitting out exposed. Something I dreamed of since I was a kid

[Blizzard14]

i wish i could have gone! it sounds like it was lots of fun! i went camping at dinosaur provincial park in july and my friend and i caught a bullsnake. then a conservation officer almost fined us $500! we never saw any rattlesnakes though! hope i get to go in the spring!

[slamjay]

i wish i could have gone! it sounds like it was lots of fun! i went camping at dinosaur provincial park in july and my friend and i caught a bullsnake. then a conservation officer almost fined us $500! we never saw any rattlesnakes though! hope i get to go in the spring!

Yup, it is illegal to harass any wildlife in the park and you can get caught. Because Adam has a permit to do the research we have the opportunity to do this, otherwise we would not be able to!

[Michael Roth]

I've moved bulls off the road in DPP, and wouldn't hesitate to do it again :> I suppose that doesn't count as harrasment though...

[joeysgreen]

I wouldn't think so. Harrasment is the word of the law, but the park officials there certainly seem reasonable to me. They are alert however as it's a popular place for "snake collectors".

[dhanson]

So are there any pictures from this years trip ?

Derek

[zohariels]

Yes it was absolutely fabulous! I was especially surprised to note that despite us harassing them and handling them, while they showed their displeasure by rattling, not once did they strike at us.

Do you think Jeremy would mind if I steal some of his FB pics and post them here? Unfortunately I did not have a camera...

[joeysgreen]

I have some pic's, but they're stuck on my camera. I'll post them when I find them.