Snakes was Voles
Joey Russell (Tue, 18 Jul 2017 08:34:35 PDT)

Yes, Yes, Yes!
I don't have any kitty's either and I do have many rodents, Pocket Gophers,
Voles, Deer Mice, etc. along with Gopher snakes for sure, have seen a King
snake cruising around my garden on occasion and a Short-tailed Weasel seen a
couple years ago. I noticed a Gopher snake just yesterday just outside a
rodent hole near the barn and thought, YES! Doing it's job! I have bulbs
that are susceptible to rodent damage planted in cages and have had some
success inter-planting bulbs that are susceptible to rodent damage amongst
bulbs which aren't in an effort to deceive the rodents! I love my reptiles
in the garden and believe it is a very efficient way to help me control my
rodent populations.
I once told my friend that I don’t believe the rodent population was ever
this bad before I moved here and he told me that if he were a rodent he
would love to live in my garden too!
Joey Russell
zone 5
Pacific Northwest, high plains desert! USA

-----Original Message-----
From: Leo Martin
Sent: Tuesday, July 18, 2017 7:48 AM
To: pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net
Subject: Re: [pbs] Snakes was Voles

Native snakes tend to be much more effective rodent predators than
introduced cats. Snakes can crawl into rodent burrows. Cats also kill off
the snakes, as well as native birds. It takes quite a while for snake
populations to recover after cats are removed.

My desert neighborhood is, sadly, a dumping ground for unwanted cats and
kittens. Most don't last long among the coyotes. A few survive for several
months, and kill off the king snakes. Rodent populations are higher here
when cats are present, and for a few years afterwards, until snake
populations recover.

Leo Martin
Zone ?
Phoenix Arizona USA
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