I was born in the "bridge town " and in the 1950's and 1960's my brother Leonard and I loved to explore our beloved coulees ! Many a time we were confronted by rattlers but as our Dad so wisely said: " leave them alone and they'll leave you alone." On one of our excursions we came across a snake pit of literally thousands of garter snakes. Those garters of course are much smaller and non poisonous. We each decided to take a few of them cute garter snakes back home. Later that evening as Mother was doing the laundry with our " dirty dusty coulee clothes " we hear this loud high pitched shriek. There were several snakes in our pants pockets that Mother did not appreciate as much as did my brother and I.
Back in the 1970s and 1980s I was hauling oil field and heavy equipment from the States to various destinations in Alberta, BC and the NW Territories. The view from the Southside of the valley looking North is or was on of my favorite scenic spots in all of North America. Right next to the beautiful flower garden and the LaBlatt(?) brewery. Great beer, great view and a truly great country. Many happy memories of Lethbridge and Canada.
Why would anyone dislike this video? These were beautiful rattlesnakes that were handled with care and respect. That's one of the biggest Prairie Rattlesnakes I've ever seen, too.
@@clopez4280 Beaty is relative, I for one think farm animals are ten times more disgusting than any snake, farm animals are covered in bugs and sweat and their own shit. You only think snakes are the devil because you're scared of them. You should learn how to see past your fear and see beauty for what it is.
Thank you for being there for these magnificent creatures, But even more thank you for your patience with educating people, I have read almost all the comments on this video, It hurts me in a way I can't even put into words, all the hate and fear, the slaughter of them for no reason... You are a great man Ryan Heavy head!!!
I came across a snake this size in southern Alberta this year. I had pulled over on Hwy 1 to a ranch approach to get out and stretch a bit. it would appear that 'he' had pulled out of his cattle grid gate to sun. fortunately no mishaps. he had likely seen me and was keeping an eye out. I had walked back and forth several times before I saw him. after yelling 'snake, big, big, snake' several times as he scared the bejeepers out of me, we both stared at each other for about 10 minutes before he decided to return to his home. never know what new things you will come across. read later that they aren't all that common anymore and certainly not at that size. Glad to see people taking care of them and keeping them safe.
In 1985, my 2yr, 10 month old daughter was bit by a 3ft+ Prairie rattlesnake in the high mountain country of Arizona where it’s cool and there aren’t too many snakes around. The snake made no sound as it only had a mangled end where the rattles should have been. She received 20 vials of antivenin, spent 2 days in the ICU, and 4 days total in the hospital. Upon discharge her pediatrician and I examined her leg and realized she had 6 fang marks; she’d been bitten 3 times! Her leg was too swollen before to see the individual fang marks. We sent the $3,600 bill in to our health insurance, Blue Cross, Blue Shield, and got a reply back that $1,200 was their limit for the “…usual and customary” allowable benefit for a rattlesnake bite and that $2,400 was our share! We wondered how many bites they got sent in to them for them to come up with a usual and customary figure. Anyway, I replied back to them that at $1,200 a bite, that should cover the whole bill since she’d received three bites. We never heard back from them. Medical bills were a lot smaller in 1985.
Wow... financially, you were very lucky. $3,600 might buy you one vial today. As for the bites, I'm betting that she was standing right on the snake, like literally, and it did the only thing it could do. Important for folks to know that even a 2-3 year old is not going to die from this experience
Yes, she was. It was in an inside corner of a building and she had gone to it and touched it. And I didn't hear it due to no rattles. Fortunately, she was only bitten on one leg, not in her face as she bent down. As we explained to her later, he was just asking her in the only way it could, to please move.
OneKindWord Do you happen to be of Native descent? I'm only asking bc I assummed so due to your lovely choice of words and explanation to your child and holding no animosity for the experience. Beautifully taught! What happened to the. 🐍 snake? Did he wonder off after the bites?
You learn something every day. I have relatives scattered from Nova Scotia all the way out to western Canada. Never once did the subject of snakes, especially rattlesnakes come up in conversations when my family travelled north for as visit. We had a few copperheads and timber rattlers in Massachusetts where I grew up. You could find a larger population further south as close as the foothills of the Berkshire mountains in Connecticut. I would have never expected venomous snakes so far north. Thank you for this educational video.
I've never seen a video of a person apologizing to a rattle snake, while laughing like a perverted vilan, in the basement of a horror movie. Your snake colleague shot lovely soundbytes of the gorgeous blue sky.
Do a bystander/emt/firefighter/police officer a little favor. Place a sticker on your vehicle or a label on your bucket with venomous snake(s) inside. It would suuuuuuck if you were in a serious motor vehicle accident and needed to be extricated unconscious with the lid off the bucket, or the bucket was broken with no one knowing what may be still lurking inside, somewhere.
I want to relay a story to you... in 1980 or 1981 went canoeing down the Colorado River - in California/Nevada/Arizona - from Blythe CA south to Parker Dam. We stayed on the river for three days... on second day we - four of us - stopped by a deserted mine to investigate.. some deserted tools and machinery... and suddenly across the path we saw a HUGE RATTLE SNAKE !!! I never saw a rattle snake in the wild - I saw a BIG one in San Diego Zoo... My colleagues all RAN IN FEAR to 30-40 yards away... I stayed to watch IN AWE !!! I am not a big man - 5'6" - but the girth of the snake was the size of my thigh - and he was better than 6 FEET LONG!! AN OLD SNAKE !! and he was longer than the width of the path... slithered under one of the rusty machinery !! I threw some pebbles at it just so it will SOUND THE HUGE RATTLE he had! That was AWESOME!!! Steve Irwin - of Fame - had a show on rattlers, and he was 6 FEET TALL... he held a huge rattler that was just his hight... the one I saw was BIGGER !!! In those days there were no digital cameras or smart-phones - and I had no camera with me anyway - I WISH I DID !!
Excellent video. I do a lot of fly fishing on the Thompson River here in BC and I've come across quite a few rattle snakes but nothing like the size of the first one you caught in this video, The ones I've seen are for the most part 30 to 35cm and are rather shy and quite beautiful.
I have a friend who lives in the hills of the lower Sierra Nevada in California. When he finds a rattler, he puts a large four sided trash can on it's side and scoops the snake up with a snow shovel and places it in the can, sets the can upright and places the can cover on top. The can then goes in the back of his pickup. He lets them go far away from anyone's homes. He jokes that he lets them go in his X's back yard than admits that would be to cruel to the poor snake.
The largest rattler I have ever seen in the Lethbridge, AB area was on the Laidlaw Ranch at Bow Island, AB. Without actually catching it we estimated it to be about over two meters(6.5 to 7 feet). For southern Alberta that was a monster!
Just by way of added info, I used to work at the Brooks Research Centre and the farm staff always coached the newbies that when changing or moving the irrigation pipes to stand them on end , to make sure there was no rattle snakes inside them.I once saw a very large dead rattler on the outskirts of Edmonton, but we assumed it fell off a vehicle from down south.Have you ever heard of a rattler that far north? Cheers from White Rock and free of any venemous snakes.
I believe the rattle snakes historic range once went much further north than they do nowadays, So it is possible that there might be some scattered throughout the northern Canadian plains!
Dude. Sweetie. Complacency in the form of a rattlesnake is gonna' bite you in the ankle or toe (as nature intended). Its the one that you step on while you're concentrating on the one you can actually see. Boots man. BOOTS!
OK. I can see your point. Myself, being under 100 lbs (female) and getting a lot slower (age) any bite seems to just kick my butt now. Iiiimmmm gonna' stick with the "boots" policy so that I keep on being the one to take care of these situations & move the little darlin's. BYW born & raised Lethbridge where I never saw any snake other than garden/water variety.
I been handling and rescuing Rattlesnakes for the past few decades. Picked up my first one 50 years ago. Bare handed.... Well, Now I used tongs and buckets. I have 4 rescues here right now which I am releasing in the next 2 days.... I feed em first and then release then after getting them some water and chill time from the wild.
Saltriver canyon north of Tucson AZ. Piece of road that runs down and back up the canyon, there's a pull off spot. Nice place great view. Stoped a couple of times, wanted to go down, but all I heard was the down of those radddles. All around me.
The larger one was more the size of what we had in Florida when I worked at the South Florida Field Lab; Eastern diamondbacks. The average ones were that large, but that species is known to be large.
I, born & raised there, won't go back but not because of "low snakes" . The reptile snakes have always stayed in the same areas, for the 65 yrs that I know of, but more people are building into their traditional areas (i.e. West Side). More danger from the horrific social structure. Really horrific. Traveled the world - worse than Mumbai without the overcrowding but better than Mombasa without the fantastic weather.
@@matthew413 it is brutal, I can see why someone can go nuts living there. I worked one summer twinning highway at milkriver. There wasn't a non windy day the whole summer. All of the trees are leaning sideways in the boulavards
we have rattlesnakes in southern British Columbia ,and I remember seeing them at the Dinosaur Park at Patricia Alberta right on the pathways along the Red Deer River. they were of a light green tint took some pics and keep the kids from getting too close.
I had a small Pacific rattler in my dog kennel, put the pups away on a very dark night and they just stayed next to my feet, it finally dawned on me to get the hell out of the kennel and get a light, found a 18 inch rattler behind the dog box. Why didn't I hear it? I am 80 and poor hearing even with hearing aids.
I hope you don’t mind if I say this, but you get my award for the BIGGEST set of 🏈⚾️🎾🏉🏀 ever!! LOL!!! Wow!! I didn’t realize it til you were done “fucking” 😲 with that last one, that I had been holding my breath! If you would have messed with it much longer, I would have most certainly passed out due to a lack of oxygen! LOL!!!
I know the location of nine rattlesnake dens within the city of Lethbridge, and I'm sure there are others I haven't found. Also in Lethbridge, I know the location of one gartersnake den, and the general area of two bullsnake dens. Different dens can be as close to one another as a hundred meters, or isolated by several kilometres
These snakes are protected in Lethbridge. It's illegal to kill them Once captured, they're released back into the coulees as you saw in this video. Killing them makes no sense, given what they contribute to the eco-system...
You all need to look on the internet for Rattlesnake Globe Arizona. Amazing the size of this one and the story where the man found and dispatched it and why he did so.
south west Nebraska ranch I work for, we loose 6 baby calves yearly to snake bite, so ranch has orders to kill on sight-- most I have killed was 11 in 30 minutes/ using BB pistol so it does not spook the cattle-- we call them crawling land mines
Hi there Ryan, I have watched many of your videos, and I see the care, expertise, and knowledge you display and possess in dealing with these snakes, I personally can not stand any type of snake but I respect the the passion you show, I have a question and it is in no way meant to be degrading or disrespectful, I've seen you go and pick up and move these snakes and have never heard anything regarding the exchange of money etc, do you do this for a living(removing,relocating, educating people/students about snakes/rattlesnakes) or is this something you do as a hobby/community service? I'm just curious as you appear to do a lot of driving and gas is'nt free. Keep doing these videos as they are fun to watch and you do a good job on 99% of them except for the language you displayed on this last video, just kidding I would have said much worse probably. Thanks
Yeah, I'm in the fortunate position to be doing something I'm passionate about and getting paid for it at the same time. I average about five-thousand dollars of revenue per summer on rattlesnake mitigations. The City of Lethbridge gives me a retainer at the beginning of the season, and then I invoice them at a rate of $50 per incident, whether I'm able to remove a snake from the scene or not (i.e. if someone hears a cicada and phones it in as a rattlesnake, and I take the time to go there, then I still get compensated for the time and gas). Now... that said... while I am getting paid, it also means I have to be on-call 24/7 for the whole season. This means, whatever other revenue I"m going to earn, it needs to be through work that is flexible enough to allow my routine absence during this season. The rattlesnake work ends of shaping my entire life, determining what other contracts I pursue or accept during the year... it keeps my on my toes, not having a dependable salary with benefits like most educated men my age
I used to work for the U.S. Government near Lethbridge , Alberta. For 6-8 weeks in the late summer. I had no idea the area had snakes like this. Shows my ignorance. I'm from the southern U.S. where everyone knows to watch for them It's a wonder I'm still alive.
I'm not a snake person so can someone tell me what does a rattlesnake snake or a copperhead or a cottonmouth do (environmentally) that a black snake, corn snake, rat snake etc. can't do?
Ken Shirk The rattler fulfills the same functions as other snakes in the eco system, but we can't just remove them from the eco system and expect another species of snake to fill in the void.
I found a 2 ft sidewinder rattlesnake in the middle of my hallway some years ago (Tucson AZ). The snake was fast (almost made it into a bedroom) and coincidently matched the carpet perfectly. How could this be?
You have quite the enterprise going on. Receive a snake call, find the snake, capture the snake, relocate the snake and wait until the snake makes it back to the neighborhoods, repeat. Good on you.
We used to hunt rattlesnakes. Adivce: Always wear knee high boots. I certainly wouldn't be wearing shorts and sandals, like this guy. I disagree with his estimate of 4'. I'd put him at 5'. Of course, he's the one getting paid, so more power to him.
Harvis Baggett no the only venomous snake we have that isn’t a pit viper is the coral snake as far as I know but I guarantee there’s no wild taipan snakes in the USA
Nice job of rescue there buddy! Very proud if the work you do in our city to preserve these special creatures. Saw my first rattler in Popson park a few years ago. Went across the path in front if me then curled and rattled. If So I stood still, had a good look and waited for it to leave. It did and it went quickly off into the hillside brush cover. It turned out to be about 3 feet long. Very nice fellow:) would love to go on a pick up run with you all sometime! Rattle snakes play a valuable roll in nature. Cheers! Helen Schuler display artist:)
have to say I always knew there were rattlesnakes in Alberta just hadn't come across one before and I had no idea they came in that size. 'Very big snake'.
While trout fishing on the first hot day in april I saw the most snakes I ever wished to see 60 miles north of NYC. There were so many snakes that I started wading in the stream to keep clear thats when I saw water snakes every were I looked.On my walk back up a to the road I came across maybe 20 plus or too many snakes to avoid. On a average day I would see one or two at most. I only saw six small rattlers in NY state and a few larger ones in California.
Thanks Ryan, I didn't know it was a criminal offence to move the snakes, I thought it would be safer to move the snakes for the safety of both the snakes and the humans. I appreciate the information.
Yeah... even though there's good justification to keep some tongs on-hand if you live in one of the areas with lots of snakes, putting them in a bucket is about as far as you can go without taking on legal risks. Transporting them, returning them to the coulees dens and all that, you need a special permit from Fish and Wildlife to do that. They'll just tell you to call our service. Managing these snakes is definitely not as simple as just moving them away from people
I understand all the rules if they are protected, but thankfully where I live we just pick the things up and move them away from the house. if you water your garden, and have frogs hang out- which, we do, (it's a sign of a healthy environment), it will draw the snakes in.
This was so informative, because I'm originally from the US and never thought there were snakes, especially Rattlers, in Southern Alberta! Do you know if there are any in the Vulcan County area???
We have a massive Eastern King Snake who lives in our out building. He seems to prefer coiling up under one of our push mowers. I generally knock on the shop door to let him know I'm coming in. I've only seen the last 3 feet of him, disappearing under my "parts" motorcycles, once. Other than that all I generally see is "evidence". Well, that and we have no rodents or other snakes in seven years. My wife caught him on video, out in the yard about three years ago. He had just eaten. Otherwise I doubt we'd know he was there!
Jeez, 4 foot?! I live on the eastern slope of the Bighorn Mountains in Wyoming and our prairie rattlers rarely get to 3 foot. Most of the rattlers I've seen where about the size of the little lady you caught. If I saw a monster like the one you caught, I don't think I'd be right for a few days. What part of the world are you from that grows these monsters?
I think you need to guess again as to the length of the Lethbridge snake...You say 4 feet...I say he is pushing 6 feet! Regardless they can cause a lot of damage to the body if bitten.
Hey Ryan, thanks for the awesome video, great job! I've seen them in Dinosaur Provincial Park (though smaller than that big guy) and around Brooks, AB, but didn't realize you guys had them in Lethbridge also. Seriously though, you better start wearing some safety boots if you don't want one of these online haters to have a coronary. You sure catch a lot of flak from these internet "tough guys" for trying to do a public service for your community. Don't let them get to you Bro, it's doubtful they'd even have the stones to rescue and relocate these bad boys which is why they feel the need to kill them from a distance. LOL Keep up the good work!
"HATERS" THAT'S RATHER A STRETCH NOW AIN'T?WHEN ONE NAILS YOUR WIFE FROM BEING T CLOSE TO YOUR LODGING OR POPS YOUR TODDLER CHLD OR GRANDCHILD OR HOORSE R COCKER SANIEL MAYBE YOU ILL RECON=OGNIZE SOMEIMES THE THREAT OUTWEIGHS THE GIZZLY ADAMS MIDSET WHICH WULDN'T HAVE WORKED FOR MISTER MAGGERTY AND IT WON;T WORK FOR YOU WITHER.HATERS INDEED...A WASSERMAN SCHULTZ SUPPORTER/VOTER TO BE SURE......SOME THINGS WILL KILL YOU, QUICKLY DEAD AND WITH ON TOUCHY FEEY MAGNIFICENT ANIMAL APPRECIATION DAY ANTICS OR SOCIAL DISCOURSE. I KNEW 2 GUY WH SPOKE OF THE REGAL SNAKES AND ONEWAS BITTEN ON HIS MANICURED OAWN OF HIS MONUMANT TOEXCESS HOME IN THE BURBS...HES DEAD...THE OTHER LOST AN ARM AND A POSSIBLE CAREER AS A COLLEGE TO PRO FOOTBALL PLAYER AND ON TO PRO BUT NOW HE WORKS AT A FACTORY RUNNING AN OVERHEAD CRANE FOR GOOD MONEY BUT NOT AS GOOD AS IF HE'D NOT ADMIRED HIS ASSASSIN QUITE SO MUCH......BIG 5 FOOT REALLY FAT COTTONOUTH, WITH A BABY MUSKRAT GOT HIM ....ANOTHER GOT SICK FROM A COPPERHEAD 6 FEET LONG...ALMOST DIED AND STLL HAS SOME NEURO ISSUES...HATTERS INDEED....DISCRETION IS THE BEER PART IF VALOR AND CHARITY BEGINS AT HOME EWHRE CHILDREN DEPEND ON THER PREFERABLY HEALTHY AND WHOLE PARENTS.."CAN YOU PLAY BALL WITH ME DADDY" ...."OH SORRY, DADDY I F'GOT ABOUT YOUR ARM(S)"....
I was born in the "bridge town " and in the 1950's and 1960's my brother Leonard and I loved to explore our beloved coulees ! Many a time we were confronted by rattlers but as our Dad so wisely said: " leave them alone and they'll leave you alone." On one of our excursions we came across a snake pit of literally thousands of garter snakes. Those garters of course are much smaller and non poisonous. We each decided to take a few of them cute garter snakes back home. Later that evening as Mother was doing the laundry with our " dirty dusty coulee clothes " we hear this loud high pitched shriek. There were several snakes in our pants pockets that Mother did not appreciate as much as did my brother and I.
Back in the 1970s and 1980s I was hauling oil field and heavy equipment from the States to various destinations in Alberta, BC and the NW Territories. The view from the Southside of the valley looking North is or was on of my favorite scenic spots in all of North America. Right next to the beautiful flower garden and the LaBlatt(?) brewery. Great beer, great view and a truly great country. Many happy memories of Lethbridge and Canada.
Now it’s all people zombies hunched over strolling around. It’s bad in Lethbridge for fentanyl
Why would anyone dislike this video? These were beautiful rattlesnakes that were handled with care and respect. That's one of the biggest Prairie Rattlesnakes I've ever seen, too.
CW41 ...snakes aren't beautiful. Snakes are the devil.
CW41 I didn't realize they got that big. I'm used to the Eastern diamondbacks we have in AR.
@@clopez4280 Beaty is relative, I for one think farm animals are ten times more disgusting than any snake, farm animals are covered in bugs and sweat and their own shit. You only think snakes are the devil because you're scared of them. You should learn how to see past your fear and see beauty for what it is.
Thank you for being there for these magnificent creatures, But even more thank you for your patience with educating people, I have read almost all the comments on this video, It hurts me in a way I can't even put into words, all the hate and fear, the slaughter of them for no reason... You are a great man Ryan Heavy head!!!
Well said my man. Some people are so consumed by their own fear that they can't see past it and respect nature for it's beauty.
Thank you for your work. These are valuable to the plains.
I came across a snake this size in southern Alberta this year. I had pulled over on Hwy 1 to a ranch approach to get out and stretch a bit. it would appear that 'he' had pulled out of his cattle grid gate to sun. fortunately no mishaps. he had likely seen me and was keeping an eye out. I had walked back and forth several times before I saw him. after yelling 'snake, big, big, snake' several times as he scared the bejeepers out of me, we both stared at each other for about 10 minutes before he decided to return to his home. never know what new things you will come across. read later that they aren't all that common anymore and certainly not at that size. Glad to see people taking care of them and keeping them safe.
In 1985, my 2yr, 10 month old daughter was bit by a 3ft+ Prairie rattlesnake in the high mountain country of Arizona where it’s cool and there aren’t too many snakes around. The snake made no sound as it only had a mangled end where the rattles should have been. She received 20 vials of antivenin, spent 2 days in the ICU, and 4 days total in the hospital. Upon discharge her pediatrician and I examined her leg and realized she had 6 fang marks; she’d been bitten 3 times! Her leg was too swollen before to see the individual fang marks.
We sent the $3,600 bill in to our health insurance, Blue Cross, Blue Shield, and got a reply back that $1,200 was their limit for the “…usual and customary” allowable benefit for a rattlesnake bite and that $2,400 was our share! We wondered how many bites they got sent in to them for them to come up with a usual and customary figure. Anyway, I replied back to them that at $1,200 a bite, that should cover the whole bill since she’d received three bites. We never heard back from them.
Medical bills were a lot smaller in 1985.
Wow... financially, you were very lucky. $3,600 might buy you one vial today. As for the bites, I'm betting that she was standing right on the snake, like literally, and it did the only thing it could do. Important for folks to know that even a 2-3 year old is not going to die from this experience
Yes, she was. It was in an inside corner of a building and she had gone to it and touched it. And I didn't hear it due to no rattles. Fortunately, she was only bitten on one leg, not in her face as she bent down. As we explained to her later, he was just asking her in the only way it could, to please move.
OneKindWord yes they were if it happened today it would be triple or more !!
My brothers friend in Austin tx got bit recently and it costs him $100,000.
OneKindWord Do you happen to be of Native descent? I'm only asking bc I assummed so due to your lovely choice of words and explanation to your child and holding no animosity for the experience. Beautifully taught! What happened to the. 🐍 snake? Did he wonder off after the bites?
One of the better video's I've seen in a while.
Thanks, man
Thank you so much for loving and releasing these beauties!
muse
You learn something every day. I have relatives scattered from Nova Scotia all the way out to western Canada. Never once did the subject of snakes, especially rattlesnakes come up in conversations when my family travelled north for as visit. We had a few copperheads and timber rattlers in Massachusetts where I grew up. You could find a larger population further south as close as the foothills of the Berkshire mountains in Connecticut. I would have never expected venomous snakes so far north. Thank you for this educational video.
Alberta and Montana are full of Rattlers.
I asked several ranchers near Whitefish, Mt, they said it got too cold for poisonous rattlers! Now I know the truth, thanks!
kkkkkk
NewHampshire Jack did u not watch crocodile Hunter lol
tons around here in sunny south western saskatchewan also
I am so glad we don't have Rattlesnakes as far north as I am! (Edmonton area)
Thanks for sharing this!
You make it look so easy, capturing those things.
Thanks so much for the show!! What a beaut', that big guy!!! Cheers!!
I've never seen a video of a person apologizing to a rattle snake, while laughing like a perverted vilan, in the basement of a horror movie.
Your snake colleague shot lovely soundbytes of the gorgeous blue sky.
I miss those colee's, the wind not so much. It was always interesting to come upon the snakes while exploring the trails down there. Good find
Do a bystander/emt/firefighter/police officer a little favor. Place a sticker on your vehicle or a label on your bucket with venomous snake(s) inside. It would suuuuuuck if you were in a serious motor vehicle accident and needed to be extricated unconscious with the lid off the bucket, or the bucket was broken with no one knowing what may be still lurking inside, somewhere.
Great advice👍
Word.
I want to relay a story to you...
in 1980 or 1981 went canoeing down the Colorado River - in California/Nevada/Arizona - from Blythe CA south to Parker Dam.
We stayed on the river for three days... on second day we - four of us - stopped by a deserted mine to investigate..
some deserted tools and machinery... and suddenly across the path we saw a HUGE RATTLE SNAKE !!!
I never saw a rattle snake in the wild - I saw a BIG one in San Diego Zoo...
My colleagues all RAN IN FEAR to 30-40 yards away... I stayed to watch IN AWE !!!
I am not a big man - 5'6" - but the girth of the snake was the size of my thigh - and he was better than 6 FEET LONG!!
AN OLD SNAKE !! and he was longer than the width of the path... slithered under one of the rusty machinery !!
I threw some pebbles at it just so it will SOUND THE HUGE RATTLE he had!
That was AWESOME!!!
Steve Irwin - of Fame - had a show on rattlers, and he was 6 FEET TALL... he held a huge rattler that was just his hight... the one I saw was BIGGER !!!
In those days there were no digital cameras or smart-phones - and I had no camera with me anyway - I WISH I DID !!
Thanks for the story
Al Catraz no;
???
what do U mean?
Sorry about all is she likes I hope you get more
Awesome. Love the rattlesnakes. Used to catch them when I was young. Keep up the great work.
Excellent video. I do a lot of fly fishing on the Thompson River here in BC and I've come across quite a few rattle snakes but nothing like the size of the first one you caught in this video, The ones I've seen are for the most part 30 to 35cm and are rather shy and quite beautiful.
@ 4:50 did I hear " in case he comes RUNNING this way!" That's really funny...👌👍👊👊👊
I have a friend who lives in the hills of the lower Sierra Nevada in California. When he finds a rattler, he puts a large four sided trash can on it's side and scoops the snake up with a snow shovel and places it in the can, sets the can upright and places the can cover on top. The can then goes in the back of his pickup. He lets them go far away from anyone's homes. He jokes that he lets them go in his X's back yard than admits that would be to cruel to the poor snake.
The largest rattler I have ever seen in the Lethbridge, AB area was on the Laidlaw Ranch at Bow Island, AB. Without actually catching it we estimated it to be about over two meters(6.5 to 7 feet). For southern Alberta that was a monster!
I love the fact that you release it back into its habitat
Just by way of added info, I used to work at the Brooks Research Centre and the farm staff always coached the newbies that when changing or moving the irrigation pipes to stand them on end , to make sure there was no rattle snakes inside them.I once saw a very large dead rattler on the outskirts of Edmonton, but we assumed it fell off a vehicle from down south.Have you ever heard of a rattler that far north? Cheers from White Rock and free of any venemous snakes.
I believe the rattle snakes historic range once went much further north than they do nowadays, So it is possible that there might be some scattered throughout the northern Canadian plains!
You got that right, South Georgia has some huge rattlesnakes
Dude. Sweetie. Complacency in the form of a rattlesnake is gonna' bite you in the ankle or toe (as nature intended). Its the one that you step on while you're concentrating on the one you can actually see. Boots man. BOOTS!
Complacency is what happens when you use protective footwear, and as a result relax your natural inclination to watch where you step
OK. I can see your point. Myself, being under 100 lbs (female) and getting a lot slower (age) any bite seems to just kick my butt now. Iiiimmmm gonna' stick with the "boots" policy so that I keep on being the one to take care of these situations & move the little darlin's. BYW born & raised Lethbridge where I never saw any snake other than garden/water variety.
I been handling and rescuing Rattlesnakes for the past few decades. Picked up my first one 50 years ago. Bare handed.... Well, Now I used tongs and buckets. I have 4 rescues here right now which I am releasing in the next 2 days.... I feed em first and then release then after getting them some water and chill time from the wild.
Philip Bonafede how does somebody get into this business. I live in Texas and actually love snakes so this would be a dream job
8:33.... guy on the right slowly approaches.... snake twitches..... guy says "fuck this" and backs away.... lol
I'd be afraid that son-of-a-buck would flip around and strike me when I was letting him go. Those rattles are their warning, and I'm a *big listener*.
These parts of southern Arizona we get the western diamond backs they seem to max out at like five feet, most of them are like three footers.
Yeah, that's about the same here with prairie rattlesnakes. A lot of people exaggerate their size
One good reason why large snake released?
Saltriver canyon north of Tucson AZ. Piece of road that runs down and back up the canyon, there's a pull off spot. Nice place great view. Stoped a couple of times, wanted to go down, but all I heard was the down of those radddles. All around me.
Wow! The John Holmes of rattlers for Lethbridge!
I don't like snakes, but I respect them. I sure do like the way you handle them. Well done. Where is Lethbridge, please?
Southern Alberta, Canada
wow.... amazing video....thank you for protecting the snakes in Lethbridge
what if you go there
Leighton Harrell
Some of the biggest rattlers I've ever seen were in the lava fields south of Mt. Lassen in N. CA.
Walter Strong I lived in that area and the logging camps had huge Timber Rattlers.
I didn't know there're so many rattlesnakes in Lethbridge. I've never heard of a rattlesnake incident in Calgary, probably too cold for them here.
How about placing some strong string to open the lid and some clamp to hold the bucket in place and use a mirror attached to extension rod.
The larger one was more the size of what we had in Florida when I worked at the South Florida Field Lab; Eastern diamondbacks. The average ones were that large, but that species is known to be large.
Crossing Lethbridge off my list of places to move.
From what locals have told they don't live near the valley where the cpr trestle crosses and they only come out 2 months of the year
I, born & raised there, won't go back but not because of "low snakes" . The reptile snakes have always stayed in the same areas, for the 65 yrs that I know of, but more people are building into their traditional areas (i.e. West Side). More danger from the horrific social structure. Really horrific. Traveled the world - worse than Mumbai without the overcrowding but better than Mombasa without the fantastic weather.
Probably no danger in the winter.
The wind is consistently high and brutal! Theres a rumor that its the cause for a high suicide rate! So the snakes arent the big problem
@@matthew413 it is brutal, I can see why someone can go nuts living there. I worked one summer twinning highway at milkriver. There wasn't a non windy day the whole summer.
All of the trees are leaning sideways in the boulavards
I saw a snakeskin once so long and so big in diameter that it really frightened me. Yikes - somebody had been living in there and was even bigger now.
Awesome snake. We use to catch and keep them for a year or two in California.
Snakes thought they were awesome till the plastic bucket came along
we have rattlesnakes in southern British Columbia ,and I remember seeing them at the Dinosaur Park at Patricia Alberta right on the pathways along the Red Deer River. they were of a light green tint took some pics and keep the kids from getting too close.
That's a big Prairie Rattler! They usually don't get that big.
I had a small Pacific rattler in my dog kennel, put the pups away on a very dark night and they just stayed next to my feet, it finally dawned on me to get the hell out of the kennel and get a light, found a 18 inch rattler behind the dog box. Why didn't I hear it? I am 80 and poor hearing even with hearing aids.
I hope you don’t mind if I say this, but you get my award for the BIGGEST set of 🏈⚾️🎾🏉🏀 ever!! LOL!!! Wow!! I didn’t realize it til you were done “fucking” 😲 with that last one, that I had been holding my breath! If you would have messed with it much longer, I would have most certainly passed out due to a lack of oxygen! LOL!!!
I didn't know they had rattlesnakes in Canada eh
little Massasauga's in Georgian Bay area Ont, Copperheads in the great lakes areas southern Ont, rare but present...and Rattlers out west
So cool you do have the best job ever how many dens do you know of that are near Lethbridge and my other question is how far apart are the dens
I know the location of nine rattlesnake dens within the city of Lethbridge, and I'm sure there are others I haven't found. Also in Lethbridge, I know the location of one gartersnake den, and the general area of two bullsnake dens. Different dens can be as close to one another as a hundred meters, or isolated by several kilometres
What happens if you bring a rattle to a rattlesnake encounter?
Tiger H. Lore You get a samba? Trick question or joke?
He makes it look so easy
Thank you for not killing them...and letting them go. I wish more people thought this way..again Thank you..
woodrow walker ...Canadians are too polite. In other places a machete would take care of them
keep up the good work....n be safe.
These snakes are protected in Lethbridge. It's illegal to kill them Once captured, they're released back into the coulees as you saw in this video. Killing them makes no sense, given what they contribute to the eco-system...
F bombs in a situation like this r totally allowed
" I should quit f@&king with him now !" 😂😂😂😂
I wondered why I had never heard of a "Lethbridge Rattlesnake". I had to google it - lol. Very interesting story.
You all need to look on the internet for Rattlesnake Globe Arizona. Amazing the size of this one and the story where the man found and dispatched it and why he did so.
Wow! Great video. I wonder why there is no rattle snakes in Illinois but you have them in Canada? Anybody know why?
Justin Aguilar Sr there are rattle snakes in Illinois. Just not very prominent.
south west Nebraska ranch I work for, we loose 6 baby calves yearly to snake bite, so ranch has orders to kill on sight-- most I have killed was 11 in 30 minutes/ using BB pistol so it does not spook the cattle-- we call them crawling land mines
Koo
Hi there Ryan, I have watched many of your videos, and I see the care, expertise, and knowledge you display and possess in dealing with these snakes, I personally can not stand any type of snake but I respect the the passion you show, I have a question and it is in no way meant to be degrading or disrespectful, I've seen you go and pick up and move these snakes and have never heard anything regarding the exchange of money etc, do you do this for a living(removing,relocating, educating people/students about snakes/rattlesnakes) or is this something you do as a hobby/community service? I'm just curious as you appear to do a lot of driving and gas is'nt free. Keep doing these videos as they are fun to watch and you do a good job on 99% of them except for the language you displayed on this last video, just kidding I would have said much worse probably. Thanks
Yeah, I'm in the fortunate position to be doing something I'm passionate about and getting paid for it at the same time. I average about five-thousand dollars of revenue per summer on rattlesnake mitigations. The City of Lethbridge gives me a retainer at the beginning of the season, and then I invoice them at a rate of $50 per incident, whether I'm able to remove a snake from the scene or not (i.e. if someone hears a cicada and phones it in as a rattlesnake, and I take the time to go there, then I still get compensated for the time and gas). Now... that said... while I am getting paid, it also means I have to be on-call 24/7 for the whole season. This means, whatever other revenue I"m going to earn, it needs to be through work that is flexible enough to allow my routine absence during this season. The rattlesnake work ends of shaping my entire life, determining what other contracts I pursue or accept during the year... it keeps my on my toes, not having a dependable salary with benefits like most educated men my age
I used to work for the U.S. Government near Lethbridge , Alberta. For 6-8 weeks in the late summer. I had no idea the area had snakes like this. Shows my ignorance. I'm from the southern U.S. where everyone knows to watch for them It's a wonder I'm still alive.
I'm not a snake person so can someone tell me what does a rattlesnake snake or a copperhead or a cottonmouth do (environmentally) that a black snake, corn snake, rat snake etc. can't do?
Ken Shirk
no
Ken Shirk
The rattler fulfills the same functions as other snakes in the eco system, but we can't just remove them from the eco system and expect another species of snake to fill in the void.
I found a 2 ft sidewinder rattlesnake in the middle of my hallway some years ago (Tucson AZ). The snake was fast (almost made it into a bedroom) and coincidently matched the carpet perfectly. How could this be?
Maybe you should clean your house more often.
@@jayare1414 hahaha!!!
That’s crazy! We found a big one in Colorado while we were filming a hike and I would be terrified to do this haah
9:20 The nice lady liberates the roaring dinosaur from its bucket prison
You have quite the enterprise going on. Receive a snake call, find the snake, capture the snake, relocate the snake and wait until the snake makes it back to the neighborhoods, repeat. Good on you.
holy shit this guy got balls playingwith them in shorts and sandals
sooner or later he will be bit , the more he does this the more confident he becomes , then the mistake happens
frank ertolacci the guys a teacher and works for the city ... have some respect ...this is canada not some texas back water
"Texas backwater"? You trot yer lilly-arse down here and say that k'nuk!
ROCKWOOD GROM856 .
ROCKWOOD GROM856 maybe he doesn't have any testicles,being a snake catcher,they have been bitten.
We used to hunt rattlesnakes. Adivce: Always wear knee high boots. I certainly wouldn't be wearing shorts and sandals, like this guy. I disagree with his estimate of 4'. I'd put him at 5'.
Of course, he's the one getting paid, so more power to him.
Beautiful specimens.
They make these things called boots, I hear they might even offer a bit of protection to your feet
i was born and raised in Lethbridge and i've never seen any Rattlers but i do know their there
He said he believe the "Monster" was only 4'. I caught snakes before and that guy looks to be at least 5'. That is certainly a bigun.
He also qualified that with "in Lethbridge". It's all relative - there's no eastern diamonds anywhere near Lethbridge; nor Canada for that matter....
Have to agree.that snake is at least 5 foot
so...... HOW BIG WAS IT. ???.........&&&& how much did it weight ???
Probably five feet long and as bit around as my wrist
Snakes kill lousy rotten rats, so snakes are very important to the environment
Honestly that was a well placed F-Bomb
There is no such thing unless you're a 10 year old showing off for a 9 year old.
50 Ducks In A Hot Tu
Is there any Taipan Snakes in the U.S.
Harvis Baggett no the only venomous snake we have that isn’t a pit viper is the coral snake as far as I know but I guarantee there’s no wild taipan snakes in the USA
do you just catch and release or do you milk them before release?
I heard out of all rattlesnakes the 2 you have to watch are the western diamond back and the Mojave. And i'am Australian.
Thats a fact. Bad thing about the mojave's is sometimes they don't rattle and they will chase you. Plus the venom has become super potent.
Nice job of rescue there buddy! Very proud if the work you do in our city to preserve these special creatures. Saw my first rattler in Popson park a few years ago. Went across the path in front if me then curled and rattled. If So I stood still, had a good look and waited for it to leave. It did and it went quickly off into the hillside brush cover. It turned out to be about 3 feet long. Very nice fellow:) would love to go on a pick up run with you all sometime! Rattle snakes play a valuable roll in nature. Cheers! Helen Schuler display artist:)
Thanks Vicki!
Beautiful Snakes!
You remind me of Jim Varney in Ernest's Christmas movie where he played a snake handler : )
have to say I always knew there were rattlesnakes in Alberta just hadn't come across one before and I had no idea they came in that size. 'Very big snake'.
That monster is Viridus? Wow!
Shorts and sandals???
I dont understand why the snake doesnt strike at you?
Rattlesnakes are not very interested in possibly injuring themselves striking me. It's only when they feel it's a last resort that they'll use it
Why did this snake end up with the adjective “Lethbridge” rattle snake?
Because we are in Lethbridge, Alberta
While trout fishing on the first hot day in april I saw the most snakes I ever wished to see 60 miles north of NYC.
There were so many snakes that I started wading in the stream to keep clear thats when I saw water snakes every were I looked.On my walk back up a to the road I came across maybe 20 plus or too many snakes to avoid.
On a average day I would see one or two at most.
I only saw six small rattlers in NY state and a few larger ones in California.
Garters leaving their den, most likely
I live in Minnesota and we have timber Rattlers in the abandoned iron mines on the iron range .
Where do you buy the equipment to remove snakes, so they can be relocated to a different place "far away"and release them?
It's a criminal offence to move these snakes away from their home dens. They will set off in search for it, and might even die trying to find it
Thanks Ryan, I didn't know it was a criminal offence to move the snakes, I thought it would be safer to move the snakes for the safety of both the snakes and the humans. I appreciate the information.
Yeah... even though there's good justification to keep some tongs on-hand if you live in one of the areas with lots of snakes, putting them in a bucket is about as far as you can go without taking on legal risks. Transporting them, returning them to the coulees dens and all that, you need a special permit from Fish and Wildlife to do that. They'll just tell you to call our service. Managing these snakes is definitely not as simple as just moving them away from people
I understand all the rules if they are protected, but thankfully where I live we just pick the things up and move them away from the house. if you water your garden, and have frogs hang out- which, we do, (it's a sign of a healthy environment), it will draw the snakes in.
This snake has had a big meal!
I have seen a diamondback here on florida of 2 meters
Sandals and shorts?
People are so ignorant- quit talking to him so he can concentrate on catching this homeowner's snake
Beautiful creature!
The worst thing would be walking around your car and opening your door only to find the bucket top is partially open.
Barney Fike n
This was so informative, because I'm originally from the US and never thought there were snakes, especially Rattlers, in Southern Alberta! Do you know if there are any in the Vulcan County area???
We have a massive Eastern King Snake who lives in our out building. He seems to prefer coiling up under one of our push mowers. I generally knock on the shop door to let him know I'm coming in. I've only seen the last 3 feet of him, disappearing under my "parts" motorcycles, once. Other than that all I generally see is "evidence". Well, that and we have no rodents or other snakes in seven years. My wife caught him on video, out in the yard about three years ago. He had just eaten. Otherwise I doubt we'd know he was there!
i thought rattle snakes cant get that big ,,where we have winter weather ??
Even "big" ones like this don't rival the size of some rattlesnakes in the deep south
Jeez, 4 foot?! I live on the eastern slope of the Bighorn Mountains in Wyoming and our prairie rattlers rarely get to 3 foot. Most of the rattlers I've seen where about the size of the little lady you caught. If I saw a monster like the one you caught, I don't think I'd be right for a few days.
What part of the world are you from that grows these monsters?
Where is this? At the 7:00 minute mark
What are you referring to?
You want me to tell you where I'm releasing the snake... not likely
It's actually a criminal offence to mess with these animals at any of their den or rookery sites... and I watch our coulees for that kind of thing
I think you need to guess again as to the length of the Lethbridge snake...You say 4 feet...I say he is pushing 6 feet! Regardless they can cause a lot of damage to the body if bitten.
Hey Ryan, thanks for the awesome video, great job! I've seen them in Dinosaur Provincial Park (though smaller than that big guy) and around Brooks, AB, but didn't realize you guys had them in Lethbridge also. Seriously though, you better start wearing some safety boots if you don't want one of these online haters to have a coronary. You sure catch a lot of flak from these internet "tough guys" for trying to do a public service for your community. Don't let them get to you Bro, it's doubtful they'd even have the stones to rescue and relocate these bad boys which is why they feel the need to kill them from a distance. LOL Keep up the good work!
"HATERS" THAT'S RATHER A STRETCH NOW AIN'T?WHEN ONE NAILS YOUR WIFE FROM BEING T CLOSE TO YOUR LODGING OR POPS YOUR TODDLER CHLD OR GRANDCHILD OR HOORSE R COCKER SANIEL MAYBE YOU ILL RECON=OGNIZE SOMEIMES THE THREAT OUTWEIGHS THE GIZZLY ADAMS MIDSET WHICH WULDN'T HAVE WORKED FOR MISTER MAGGERTY AND IT WON;T WORK FOR YOU WITHER.HATERS INDEED...A WASSERMAN SCHULTZ SUPPORTER/VOTER TO BE SURE......SOME THINGS WILL KILL YOU, QUICKLY DEAD AND WITH ON TOUCHY FEEY MAGNIFICENT ANIMAL APPRECIATION DAY ANTICS OR SOCIAL DISCOURSE. I KNEW 2 GUY WH SPOKE OF THE REGAL SNAKES AND ONEWAS BITTEN ON HIS MANICURED OAWN OF HIS MONUMANT TOEXCESS HOME IN THE BURBS...HES DEAD...THE OTHER LOST AN ARM AND A POSSIBLE CAREER AS A COLLEGE TO PRO FOOTBALL PLAYER AND ON TO PRO BUT NOW HE WORKS AT A FACTORY RUNNING AN OVERHEAD CRANE FOR GOOD MONEY BUT NOT AS GOOD AS IF HE'D NOT ADMIRED HIS ASSASSIN QUITE SO MUCH......BIG 5 FOOT REALLY FAT COTTONOUTH, WITH A BABY MUSKRAT GOT HIM ....ANOTHER GOT SICK FROM A COPPERHEAD 6 FEET LONG...ALMOST DIED AND STLL HAS SOME NEURO ISSUES...HATTERS INDEED....DISCRETION IS THE BEER PART IF VALOR AND CHARITY BEGINS AT HOME EWHRE CHILDREN DEPEND ON THER PREFERABLY HEALTHY AND WHOLE PARENTS.."CAN YOU PLAY BALL WITH ME DADDY" ...."OH SORRY, DADDY I F'GOT ABOUT YOUR ARM(S)"....
Jesus, that one has been feasting on a lot of mice.