Almost stepped on a rattler today

[brewer12345]

Opening day of small game season today, so my buddy and I went out. We have had a hot dry summer and today was on the warm side. I have never seen a snake while hunting, so I wasn't watching for them. Today I got within 3 feet of one and it went into defensive strike stance. I avoided soiling myself and the snake crawled down a small hole. Those of you who have this as a more common threat than I do, what precautions do you take?

[Tatume]

Wear leather boots at least ankle high. Ankles are most likely to be bitten. Never put your hands or feet where you cannot see. Step on, not over, rocks and logs.

[richhodg66]

Wear leather boots at least ankle high. Ankles are most likely to be bitten. Never put your hands or feet where you cannot see. Step on, not over, rocks and logs.

Good advice, can't add much.

I've lived in Kansas more than 20 years now and have done a lot of fishing, hunting and camping here and have come across just one venomous snake. They just don't seem common, though non venomous varieties abound.

I grew up in S.C. and have lived and worked in west Texas and southern Oklahoma quite a bit. All of those places you can bank on coming across venomous snakes if you spend much time outdoors. At Fort Bliss certain times of the year, rattle snake encounters were like a multiple time a day thing. They don't get very big, but there are a lot of them and they like to crawl under equipment and anything set down on the ground so you had to be careful.

[Texas by God]

Tatum gives good advice. Here we have 3 of the 4 venomous US native snakes. Some years we don't see any rattlers, some years we see a lot. Copperheads are seen every year. Cotton mouths are actually aggressive when disturbed but they are mostly in the river nowadays. The explosion of feral hogs seem to have reduced their population dramatically.

[MrWolf]

About a month ago my dog was barking kinda funny. Went out back door and dog was looking at me barking. Looked down at a 2+ foot copperhead at my feet. Good thing I leave my duck boots at door as if I had stepped out barefoot it would not have been fun.

[brewer12345]

I generally wear leather boots when hiking to avoid cactus spikes in my feet, so I am good there.

[Char-Gar]

Here is Deep South Texas, we have some big and not so big rattlers. We also don't have the cold weather needed to drive them into a den, therefore they are a year around problem.

There is only one snake country rule: Don't put your feet or hands anywhere your eyes have not gone first.

[marlin39a]

I got a lot of Diamondbacks in my area. That is always on my mind when I walk. I almost stepped on one a couple years back. He was coiled, but would not rattle. I also had one come after me once. Part of desert life.

[sigep1764]

I do a lot of weed eating and cutting up of downed trees at my Grandparents house near a lake here in MO. There are copperhead incidents every year. I always wear jeans, tall boots, and an NAA Mini revolver loaded with snake/rat shot from CCI. Ive only ever had to shoot one snake. Almost stepped on it, didn't hear it with the weedeater going.

[MyFlatline]

Here in west central Florida , we wear certified snake proof boots almost everywhere.

[GOPHER SLAYER]

The first time I heard a rattler the hair stood up on the back of my neck. Here in California we have two types of rattlers. One is the Western Diamondback which carries a Hemotoxin which is bad enough but we also have a rattler referred to as the Mojave green which carries not only the Hemotoxin that attacks the blood cells but a Neurotoxin which attacks the nerve system. A double whammy you might say. Bad actor, to be sure.

[Boogieman]

I nearly stepped on a rattler on the path rom my house to my shop, he died. we have 2 kinds on venomous snakes here, the ones I don't see and dead ones.

[smokeywolf]

Dad had a friend who farmed alfalfa out near McKittrick, CA. We had permission to shoot jack rabbits on his place. I was about 10 years old. Walking up a small sage brush covered hill next the the alfalfa fields, had a Colt 22 Scout on my hip and a model 06 Winchester pump in my left hand. Looked down just a split second before lowering my foot and saw a small (about 30 inch) rattler right were my foot was about to land. If I'd panicked I could have easily shot myself in the foot. Very slowly brought my foot back and stepped away and, looking back on it, probably should not have shot the snake, but did draw the SA Colt 22 which had shot loads in it, and shot the snake.

[WheelgunConvert]

The irony is that the snakes are where the eating is good, the same reason you’re hunting or fishing there.

Bond ranger with #4 stays on my hip in the yard and the woods this time of year.

[Hardcast416taylor]

A friends Brother bought a new house in a new sub on the outskirts of Gainseville in Fl. A neighbor of the Brother was hitting whiffle golf balls on his new sod lawn when he did a quick back step and yelp. He got his `Big Bertha` driver club from his bag and proceeded to `drive` the head off an eastern diamonback that had been disturbed by the earth movers and such. The animal removal people came to take the dead snake that measured just shy of 8` - minus his head.Robert

[RED BEAR]

i had to kill a black snake while casting last year. the darned thing came up and tryed to bite me. i put him out of the garage a few minutes later he was back so i took him out and put him over the fence at back of yard about 15 minutes later he was back again. i usually don't like to kill nonvenous snakes but three strikes and your out.

[Bookworm]

Years ago I was hunting alone, out eastern Oklahoma way, muzzleloader season. I was back off in the woods a good ways, following a game trail. I heard the rattle, looked down at a coiled, ready to strike rattler. It wasn't 2feet away.

As I backed slowly away, I remember thinking "if I get bit out here, I'm in deep doodoo". It all happened so fast....

[MaryB]

Rattlers are very rare here but some of my fishing spots involve walking the granite outcroppings to get to the river. One spot we fished was down a steep granite slope(almost a wall) to an outcropping right above river level. 10' climb down. I got down, heard a rattle, and my friend with me said I levitated up the wall. Big rattler sunning itself on the end of the rock outcropping. Reported it to the DNR and they went down and moved the snake because a LOT of kids use that spot to fish and swim from. From then on we looked all over before climbing down! Used to see them out on top of the granite getting to the river but that was a first right down by the water... they seemed to like laying near the prickly pear cactus that grows here in MN...

[Hardcast416taylor]

I have a friend that used to host an outdoor show on a PBS station here in Michigan. He had been assured that there were no rattlers of any kind here in lower Mich. by our DNR. My friend was fishing under an old bridge on a gravel side road when he almost stepped on a rattler. He killed it with a rock and bagged it up. He drove 25 miles to the local DNR office and put the bag on the lobby desk and asked the wide eyed officer to identify just what this was. It measured almost 40" long with a now flat head. This incident happened 10 years ago back in `08.Robert

[jmort]

A friends Brother bought a new house in a new sub on the outskirts of Gainseville in Fl. A neighbor of the Brother was hitting whiffle golf balls on his new sod lawn when he did a quick back step and yelp. He got his `Big Bertha` driver club from his bag and proceeded to `drive` the head off an eastern diamonback that had been disturbed by the earth movers and such. The animal removal people came to take the dead snake that measured just shy of 8` - minus his head.Robert

That is one extremely dangerous snake. People keep parroting the myth that small "baby" snakes are more dangerous. No, wrong. Big snake is a big problem. You might only last 20 minutes. I did know a lady who was bit by a small one in her garage and the Life Flight and hospital bills were over $100,000. The big ones have large stores of venom and if they unload may God help you. Even a Life Flight might not be enough. I have killed around 100 rattlesnakes including Mojave Greens. Only ones that were near the house. In Texas you could probably kill that many in a couple weeks or less if you look for them. Took me 12 years, but I was not looking for them, they found me. Closest I got was around 6 inches. Just about stepped on it.