Beginning and Ending with Rattlesnakes

The doe that had been bit by a rattlesnake died yesterday morning. I was hoping that she would make it, since she kept eating up until Thursday. The venom caught up to her. She had gorgeous hair. I have already sold one of her bucks and will plan on keeping one. She had triplets and was going to be one of the ones I kept.

Last night I came back from bottle feeding the baby goats and started walking along the porch to go lock the dogs up for the night. It was pitch black out there, so I turned my flashlight on as soon as I heard something slithering next to me. I thought it might have been the Gila monster, but it turns out that it was a 4 1/2 foot rattlesnake. With the light of the flashlight and the camera light, it looks like daylight. I was hoping to catch his rattles. He had at least 7. It was one of the largest that I have seen in years. I woke up several times during the night thinking about it. No trace of it this morning. I plan to take all of the fleeces outside and get them on racks today. I closed the workshop doors last night and plan to keep on closing them!