I only trap rabbits, kitty. I could not possibly trap all the squirrels. Plus, both rabbits and squirrels are considered "pests" here in California, and you're not allowed to trap and release them, or you'll be fined. I do release the rabbits, but just to my own front yard. The squirrels would be impossible - I would be trapping hundreds of them. I use poison bait stations with non-through kill bait, so I won't kill a hawk, owl, coyote, my own dog, or a weasel that might eat the poisoned squirrel or rat. The only downside of using non-through kill bait is there is NO antidote. So, you must make sure your dog or small children cannot get to the bait. Patty S.

Armstrong's Gardens in SoCal is offering Rock & Roll and Shockwave in their new catalog, and they have a picture of it. But drat, I don't have a scanner!!! Both are showing up in the catalog as Armstrong's Exclusives from Weeks....think it's the same thing? It says Rock & Roll is a cross of New Zealand and George Burns. Sonja

My yard is so over run with voles and cotton rats that I go out of my way to catch snakes and release them in my yard when I can. It drives a lot of friends and visitors crazy because I don't care if they are poisonous snakes or not, as long as they eat rodents they are fine by me. Whenever I use bird netting to protect fruiting bushes or trees I check it twice a day to rescue any snakes or turtles that have gotten tangled up in it (this happens a lot!). My neighbors used to assume I was going to chop up the copperheads but I carefully cut them free and took them over to the brush pile. I need all the rodent eaters I can get. It helps that I worked for years and years as a zookeeper and had to handle snakes every day - they don't bother me at all. I enjoy them when I see them.

I have never, ever seen one of these in the wild, not alive, anyway. The closest I've come was a flattened remnant on a highway in Charleston County. It's a good thing you realized this guy was NOT a shoe string, since this "shoe string" could very well have ended up killing you! Sharon McKenzie