We discuss the concept of the Three S's often at our house.
I am reminded of it the past couple of days reading a NM forum.
It seems someone in NM (not sure where) shot and killed
a rattlesnake on his way to their henhouse. A 43 inch, 6 rattler.
This person has been given tons of grief for killing the snake
instead of relocating it.
Uhm.
(First off, the image of me trying to bag a rattler to relocate
it is just funnier than I ever could imagine. My odds of getting
bitten are astronomical. Also relocate it where? To the
neighbor's house? Oh they'll love you forever!!).
It is illegal to kill a wild animal (deer, bear, mountain lion,
elk, etc.) in NM unless you have the proper permit at hunting
season. There is no law against killing a rattler. At one
time I had a dead deer on our property. All NM deer belong
to the Game and Fish Department. They are supposed to investigate
any death (even natural causes). A bloody waste of taxpayer's
money at it's best. Meanwhile I had this dead deer - a deer that
would attract bear and goodness only knew what else. I called
Game and Fish. One warden lived just a couple of miles from
my house. "They'll be there shortly." They didn't show.
Called again. Same thing. Again. Same thing. I'm still
waiting for them to show to get the dead deer 14 years later!
After a day I called the poor dog warden. We lived in the
county but due to the extraterritorial zone he could come
2 miles outside the city limits to do something. He came
within five minutes and removed the deer.
I mentioned this story a few days later to the owner of the
local radio station, who was a neighbor. He looked at me
and replied, "Molly it's time you learned about the 3 S's."
"The 3 S's?"
"Game and Fish is a total waste. They don't want to do
anything. Plus they have the law on their side so we can't
do anything. The 3 S's stand for:
Shoot
Shovel
and
Shut Up."
I've never forgotten that. And I would have no problem
killing a rattler close to my house, my kid, or my animals.
While we do not have a deer, bear, or mountain lion problem
here in Missouri, there are those that have problems
with squirrels, and they employ the 3 S's! For the
record I do kill spiders and bugs, with no remorse :)
My son's cat takes care of the overpopulation of squirrels
and rabbits and rodents. As far as if I have ever killed
a rattler or any other poisonous snake, I'll plead the 3 S's :)
