Snakes!!!

[GP100man]

Went to freshen up some bright eyes to some stands & I flipped this fellow out of the path 2 times but kept followin me sOOOOO.

This is why i carry the first shot a shotshell when i first saw him he was in strikin range EASY !!!

I`m gonna have a hi undergarment cleanin bill from the missus!!!!

[Trey45]

I hate copperheads! I keep a RG22 in the garage toolbox with snakeshot in it for those. Good shootin there, looks like you nailed him pretty good!

[KCSO]

Yeah but I only shooot them with my DIAMONDBACK. Is it even legal to shoot one anymore? I have a buddy in Missouri and he told me there no matter what you get caught shooting one you get fined.

[Matt_G]

Yeah but I only shooot them with my DIAMONDBACK. Is it even legal to shoot one anymore? I have a buddy in Missouri and he told me there no matter what you get caught shooting one you get fined.

Key words there are "get caught". :lol:

[1Shirt]

There are only two kinds of snakes I don't like. Dead ones and Live ones!
1Shirt!:coffee:

[StarMetal]

Well in that case then, the state should pay you a fine if one bites you!!! There are lots of non venomous snakes that eat the same things copperheads and rattles do. I understand their concern and the pitch they give you that they are beneficial.

Joe

[JeffinNZ]

Will it stretch to make a gun slip?

[GP100man]

Tell em ya forgot & put one under the hammer & it went off by accident .

Sometimes ya gotta pull da " SSS " & move on to other things!!!

[Heavy lead]

Those politicians don't want you to shoot "their own kind".[smilie=p:

[Tom308]

There are good snakes and bad snakes. The bad ones sometimes bite. The good ones are belly up and stiff. The good ones may also be beside themselves as in cut in two parts or more. I love spiders almost as much. Good spiders are usually flat. So are snakes.

[ph4570]

Good snake -- good and dead.

[OutHuntn84]

Just give'em the ol liberal answer that you are the victim and it was the gun made you murder that poor defensless snake! lol think the game ranger would fall for that one.

[montana_charlie]

Just give'em the ol liberal answer that you are the victim...
The real liberal would say he needed it eliminated because (just like a religious symbol) it made him 'uncomfortable'.

CM

[Jon K]

Nah................Here in California the "REAL LIBERAL" would say ban lead and guns cause you're endangering the snake...........

Jon

[462]

I fear two things: snakes and Janet Reno.

[Charley]

If you can't tell a poisonous snake from a non poisonous snake, I don't think you boys should even go outside. I won't even kill coral snakes, you have to work hard to be bitten by one. The pit vipers do get whacked when I see them.

[Trey45]

I fear two things: snakes and Janet Reno.

That's redundant

[lead Foot]

We have have plenty of snakes in Australia in fact we have the ten most deadly snakes in the world. There are plenty of number #2 Eastern brown Snakes running round here now:shock:. They are surpose to be protected but not when I'm around. Eastern Browns, Taipans and Red belly blacks are my favourites.:veryconfu My favourite weapon's are the 4x4, shoval, and 12g.
Lead foot;

[JRW]

If you can't tell a poisonous snake from a non poisonous snake, I don't think you boys should even go outside. I won't even kill coral snakes, you have to work hard to be bitten by one. The pit vipers do get whacked when I see them.

Having spent a lot of time in LE, and being told I wasn't sposed ta profile, I kind of enjoy the routine of "see snake, shoot snake, id snake, say 'good snake'". Used to get in trouble for that kind of thinking!:-D

[twotrees]

http://i37.tinypic.com/qz10mg.jpg

All the high water has moved some other types up closer to the house.

34" Copperhead was mating with another the same size. They were under a dead branch I was cutting off. The vibration of the 24" bar on a Husky 272 chainsaw got em moving. Well I saw them and dulled my blade chopping at the both of em. One got down the hole, sliced real good, this one I got back out. His head don't look too good cause he still had some fight in him and a size 10 work boot settled that quick like.

In Ga it's a big fine "If you get caught" killing Non-venomous snakes but the Fang kind are DRT. I let them pass if they are in the woods where they are doing their thing, BUT this pair were with in dog chain length of the house, and I made "Good Snakes" outa em.

TwoTrees and RedFoxy

[EOD3]

I guess I'll be the lone voice here... :sad: I like snakes and refuse to kill them without good cause. I read (can't remember where) that rattlesnakes are evolving toward rattle(less)snakes because people routinely kill the ones that WARN you to back off before they bite. I grew up in rattlesnake country and somehow managed to survive. :redneck:

Spiders now, that's a whole different matter (SQUISH)

[waksupi]

I pretty much leave snakes alone, too. Growing up, we would catch bull snakes, and put them in the corn cribs to take care of rats and mice.
When I still lived on the reservation, one of the summer time amusements was watching little Indian kids chasing each other with live rattlesnakes. Never heard of any of them getting bit!

[Idaho Sharpshooter]

Jeez, how do you get caught? Running your big mouth most likely. It's like wolves here in Idaho; we have the 3-S program. Shoot them, shovel them in deep, and just shut up about it.

More people have to tell the world about all the illegal things they do... It's taking my nephews places. I just let them use my cell phone so they can keep everyone they know updated minute by minute...

Mostly, who gives a rat's patoot?
sheesh,

Rich

[Lloyd Smale]

one good thing about living in northern mich. We got cold and snow but no frigging poisonous snakes or spiders!

[Mike Venturino]

In the 23 years we have lived on this place I've killed a few dozen rattlers. I made a unilateral treaty with them from the very beginning. They can go about their snakey business but if they come around the house or outbuildings they are DEAD! I can't have them biting my cats, dogs, horses, wife, company or myself. I don't bother the non-venomous snakes.

Why did I move to a place that had rattlers? Because it was relatively cheap in 1986 and I wanted a place to have my own private rifle range. What I wanted was more important than rattlers. (This area certainly isn't "cheap" anymore!)

Here's an interesting note, though. A rich guy built a million dollar house up on the ridge and a bit east of us. (Can't see it from my place.) He built "water features" and a concrete patio. Now he's upset because there's so many rattlers around. They come to the water and then sun themselves on that nice concrete. His dog got bit three times last summer.

Also by having cats (all spayed or neutered) the mouse population is down around the house, outbuildings, barns, etc. so there's little reason for rattlers to come around them. Didn't see a one this year. I think they all moved to the neighbor's place.

I use #12 shot. Its very hard to find but if I need more than the 25 pound bag I got 25 years ago then I indeed need to move somewhere else. Shoot them with a .44 or .45 shot capsule full of that stuff and they don't even squiggle afterwards.
MLV

[BABore]

one good thing about living in northern mich. We got cold and snow but no frigging poisonous snakes or spiders!

We used to get a few of them big pine snakes where I lived in Delta county. Not poisonous, but will make you jump out of your boots when forkin hay inside a dark barn. Had one crawl acrossed my lap when I was sitting on a rock pile eating lunch one hay baling day. Sure glad the bladder was previously emptied.

Hey Mike, how do those rattlers taste deep fried. Like chicken huh!

[StarMetal]

We used to get a few of them big pine snakes where I lived in Delta county. Not poisonous, but will make you jump out of your boots when forkin hay inside a dark barn. Had one crawl acrossed my lap when I was sitting on a rock pile eating lunch one hay baling day. Sure glad the bladder was previously emptied.

Hey Mike, how do those rattlers taste deep fried. Like chicken huh!

When I worked at the oil refinery in Tulsa one of the women brought in some fried breaded rattler and it was really good. Lots of bone, but easy to pick around. I can't remember exactly the taste but it wasn't fishy or gamey. It wasn't far off from tasting I chicken.

Joe

[txbirdman]

I've lived around diamondbacks and copperheads all my life. When we moved back to the country in 1976 I killed 11 close to the house, that's before I found their den in an old abandoned cellar close by. They were pretty bad this year for some reason. I think I killed 4 or 5. My dog and a neighbor's bull was bitten. I have a Polaris Ranger that I use on the farm and have a Savage 24C (.22/.20ga.) that does a good job on "Mister No Shoulders".

[Dframe]

Primary usefulness of pit vipers is for hat bands and maybe belts.

[JeffinNZ]

Has anyone read Sam Fadala's book of the .22? There is a great chapter named "Rattle nights and the Louisiana Bullfrog Man". The story of catching rattlers on the railway tracks at night, bagging and selling them. Great yarn.

[chaos]

I guess I'll be the lone voice here... :sad: I like snakes and refuse to kill them without good cause. I read (can't remember where) that rattlesnakes are evolving toward rattle(less)snakes because people routinely kill the ones that WARN you to back off before they bite. I grew up in rattlesnake country and somehow managed to survive. :redneck:

Spiders now, that's a whole different matter (SQUISH)


I think the whole rattleless rattlesnake thinking is pure unadulterated B.S.

I grew up catching rattlers and selling them to the rattlesnake round ups in both Gainesville Texas and Sweetwater Texas. ( the one in gainesville has been since shut down).

Although I have not caught any snakes to sell in some time, I now kill them when I see them.

A rattlesnakes best defense is his Camoflauge.......PERIOD. Every rattlesnake that I have encountered Knew I was there before I knew he was there. They simply WILL NOT rattle and give up their position if they think you have not spotted them. If they know you have them pegged they will rattle to let you know what is coming if you proceed. If you reach down and pick up one of those rattleless snakes' I'll be he'll buzz like no tommorrow.

Me thinks all this rattleless nonsense comes from a bunch of city folk trapsing though the brush like they had good sense and step on a snake. When they get bit, they cry..... he never rattled.

We shoot deer with big horns around here as well. I have yet to see the deer start growing smaller horns in order to better survive because it. Maybe deer are not as smart as buzztails.

This is how I deal with them anymore:

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s132/colbcheese/rattler.jpg

[montana_charlie]

If you can't tell a poisonous snake from a non poisonous snake,
I generally agree with your sentiment. Pit vipers (praire rattlers) are the only poisonous ones around here, and I'll let them be if they are out where they belong. If I find one near the buildings I'll shoot it or relocate it...depending on which action is most convenient.

As for the non-poisonous varieties, especially those seven-foot bullsnakes, I do my best to protect them from harm no matter where they are...as long as they stay out of the chicken house.

CM

[KCSO]

Hey I don't have anything against snakes, like other said Gramps would put them in the grain bins, but NOT the rattlers. I had a NATURALIST from Chicago go with me to visit the prarie rattler dens up by Santee. He gives me this big speil about how we have to learn to live with the snakes and we shouldn't kill them. So I asked how mmany he was taking home with him... "Well I can't have snakes around my house I have kids and dogs". Like I'm raising monkee's at my house??? Out in the field I don't bother them much but if they are close to town they are gone.

As to the keep your mouth shut, yea that's OK but why should the State or the Fed's dictate to me what I have living on my property? That's MY business.

[StarMetal]

Hey I don't have anything against snakes, like other said Gramps would put them in the grain bins, but NOT the rattlers. I had a NATURALIST from Chicago go with me to visit the prarie rattler dens up by Santee. He gives me this big speil about how we have to learn to live with the snakes and we shouldn't kill them. So I asked how mmany he was taking home with him... "Well I can't have snakes around my house I have kids and dogs". Like I'm raising monkee's at my house??? Out in the field I don't bother them much but if they are close to town they are gone.

As to the keep your mouth shut, yea that's OK but why should the State or the Fed's dictate to me what I have living on my property? That's MY business.

Jim,

Well because like the great state of TN, they, the game wardens, tell us the animals belong to the state. We all don't believe them.

Joe

[EOD3]

I think the whole rattleless rattlesnake thinking is pure unadulterated B.S.

You're entitled to your opinion, same as anybody else. Seems to me the "natural selection" argument is pretty hard to refute. :neutral:

[chaos]

You're entitled to your opinion, same as anybody else. Seems to me the "natural selection" argument is pretty hard to refute. :neutral:

I agree Sir, it is just that....... Only My opinion. Didn't mean it to come out that way.

[EOD3]

I agree Sir, it is just that....... Only My opinion. Didn't mean it to come out that way.

Not your fault Sarge, I'm old and tend to be a little grumpy before my first pot of coffee. :drinks:

[Triggerhappy]

Greasy chicken that's not worth the trouble to eat. Too many little bones.

TH

[softpoint]

Some areas here in central Texas must be ideal for copperheads. I used to average five or six a year right around the house. One of my dogs likes to kill them ,but he has suffered for it .He has been bitten several times. Afriend told me to keep a few cats around, so I got 3 cats, I started noticing little copperheads, 7 to 9 inches or so, dead around the house, some were partially eaten. Now I only see maybe 2 larger ones a year around the house. I think the cats have helped a lot. And I'm glad, the wife nor I have been bitten, but we have had some close calls. Copperheads and cottonmouth moccasins are pretty common here, and have nastier dispositions than rattlers. The rattlers around here (we only have a few, Timber rattlers)will generally try to get away from you ,unless they are crowded. Coppers and Cottonmouths will stand thier ground,and have a "come on, git some" attitude.
If any poisonous snake is caught around my house or shop, he gets terminated.:coffee:

[jnovotny]

Just my 2 cents but I personally don't kill or hate any snake, they are just out there tryin to make a livein. You can always relocate any snake you find round the house, take em to the nieghbors.

[RSOJim]

I live in town, not suppose to shoot. When I do, one or more neighbors run out and hollers, did you get him Jim ? I always say yes. Home made 45 colt loads out of a blackhawk at 4 or 5 feet takes their heads clean off.

[hoosierlogger]

I kill any snake I see. I hate them all. Last spring there was a huge black snake sunning its self in the road in front of my house. It was the same snake that took up residence under the concrete pad of my garage. You don't really realize how loud a double barrel 12 gauge is until you are standing in the middle of the street with smoke coming out of the barrels.

[pumpguy]

I guess I'll be the lone voice here... :sad: I like snakes and refuse to kill them without good cause. I read (can't remember where) that rattlesnakes are evolving toward rattle(less)snakes because people routinely kill the ones that WARN you to back off before they bite. I grew up in rattlesnake country and somehow managed to survive. :redneck:

Spiders now, that's a whole different matter (SQUISH)

You're not the only one. I try not to preach to others, but I really don't see the sense in killing snakes. I guess my perspective is different than most. In 1993, a buddy and I went about cataloging the reptiles and amphibians of SE Nebraska. We ended up with several hundred county records and discovered the 62nd reptile in Nebraska. Of the thousands of critters we discovered, never once did one of them chase and attack us. You have to remember they eat rodents that carry diseases and destroy property. Snakes do not carry any diseases that can be transmitted to humans and have no ability to gnaw on anything. Which would you rather have by your house?

As far as them evolving toward being rattleless, I doubt it. They have been rattling at predators long before we started rounding them up, etc.

[Charley]

You're not the only one. I try not to preach to others, but I really don't see the sense in killing snakes. I guess my perspective is different than most. In 1993, a buddy and I went about cataloging the reptiles and amphibians of SE Nebraska. We ended up with several hundred county records and discovered the 62nd reptile in Nebraska. Of the thousands of critters we discovered, never once did one of them chase and attack us. You have to remember they eat rodents that carry diseases and destroy property. Snakes do not carry any diseases that can be transmitted to humans and have no ability to gnaw on anything. Which would you rather have by your house?

As far as them evolving toward being rattleless, I doubt it. They have been rattling at predators long before we started rounding them up, etc.

My comments about most not knowing the difference between poisonous and nonpoisonous snakes was aimed at the screaming girls who kill every snake they see. I'm an entomologist, and most of the smaller snake species eat a very large number of insects, and are extremely beneficial. Ditto the larger snakes for rodent control. Before modern medicine, you were far more likly to die of a rodent or insect borne disease than snakebite. Buncha screaming sissys...

[txbirdman]

My perspective is based on my wife's being bitten by one and spending 17 days in the hospital. She has problems with her foot to this day. I also now have grandchildren that frequent my farm. If I see a poisonous snake I kill it. It doesn't seem that I've hurt the population too badly. I have managed to thin them out close to the house with the help of some cats.

[Mk42gunner]

It is supposed to be illegal to kill snakes in Missouri, but it isn't unusual to see pictures in the local paper when people kill a big rattler???

I live on my Grandparents place. Grandpa never said much about snakes, but he never exlained why he fed about two dozen cats here either. After Grandpa died and we moved Grandma to town the first renter got rid of all the cats and then started complaining about snakes.

The first three years I lived here I got between 15 and twenty snakes a year with my lawnmower, last year I got five and this year I got one.

Of course my daughter got a pair of kittens about two months after we moved in. We are down to four cats now; the oldest one is my cat Target,(my daughter hates that name) but like I told her: "What else are you going to call a cat with a big orange dot on its forehead?"

Robert

[Down South]

Rattle snakes don’t always rattle. I’ve killed too many of them in my time that never made a sound.
I won’t harm a non-poisonous snake but a pit viper is history if I catch him anywhere near my house. I even let some pit vipers alone out in the woods. It just depends on my mood at the time.
I had a chicken snake that lived in my barn for several years till one of my grandsons finally caught up with him. I hated to see the chicken snake get killed but the kid didn’t know, it was just a snake.
We have our share of copper heads, timber rattlers, diamond back rattlers, ground rattlers, coral snakes and water moccasins.

[StarMetal]

You're not the only one. I try not to preach to others, but I really don't see the sense in killing snakes. I guess my perspective is different than most. In 1993, a buddy and I went about cataloging the reptiles and amphibians of SE Nebraska. We ended up with several hundred county records and discovered the 62nd reptile in Nebraska. Of the thousands of critters we discovered, never once did one of them chase and attack us. You have to remember they eat rodents that carry diseases and destroy property. Snakes do not carry any diseases that can be transmitted to humans and have no ability to gnaw on anything. Which would you rather have by your house?

As far as them evolving toward being rattleless, I doubt it. They have been rattling at predators long before we started rounding them up, etc.

They do too carry diseases humans can get:

Snake Diseases/Parasitic: Tapeworms, Amebiasis, Trichomonas (http://www.animalhospitals-usa.com/reptiles/snake_diseases_parasitic.html)

Parasitic Diseases: Snakes can be hosts to a large number of parasites, ... pet snakes and snakes kept in zoological collections are carried with them into ...
www.animalhospitals-usa.com/.../snake_diseases_parasitic.html - Cached (http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache:tZ5LqvYuf9AJ:www.animalhospitals-usa.com/reptiles/snake_diseases_parasitic.html+diseases+carried+by+ snakes&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a) - Similar (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&hs=Ldv&q=related:www.animalhospitals-usa.com/reptiles/snake_diseases_parasitic.html)

Joe

[atr]

I leave snakes alone...except for the rattlers....and mostly I leave them alone too, but once in a while I need a new hat band and if I find a rattler who fits that description, well he is history. I grew up around rattlers, diamond backs, and we used to eat the bigger ones.

[montana_charlie]

"I kill any (pick a species) I see. I hate them all."

Hmm...
Commendable? Extreme? Interesting? Rational?

[Highland Drifter]

I'll join the minority here. I like all snakes venomous or not and have no reason to kill any of them. I'll collect them around the neighborhood and relocate them up the road in a wilderness area.
I'm with Charley... the rest of you girls are a "buncha screaming sissys"... :kidding:

Brian

[Mike Venturino]

Some of you might find this interesting. In his book ON COMBAT Lt. Col. David Grossman (ret.) who was a U.S. Army psychologist (after he was a paratrooper, etc.) says that the second most common phobia in humans is snakes. !5% of the population has an irrational fear (phobia) of snakes. They can't help it. It just is.

For those who care the number one phobia in western society is interpersonal aggression (attack by another human). 98% of us have that according to his sources.

MLV

[bob208]

we have black snakes here they stay out of my way and we get along fine. one day i rolled over a pice of building tin and there was 2 copperheads first i ever saw in the wild. laid tin down got ruger .22 target pistol picked tin up 2 dead copperheads got 4 more that summer.

[Charley]

Snakes are waaaaay up their. Trust me on this, though, arachnids (specificly spiders and scorpions) rate pretty high on the phobia list as well.

For mammals, very large percentage of folks are afraid of bats.

[montana_charlie]

...birds, too...

A friend of my wife was visiting back when we owned a parakeet. They were chatting while the bird was 'exercising' outside of his cage.
He landed on the lady's shoulder and I thought she was going to cash in her chips on the spot.

She couldn't breath...she couldn't move...she couldn't even blink her eyes.

I plucked the bird off and put him in the cage, and it was a full five minutes before that lady could speak normally.

CM

[Shepherd2]

I've seen more black snakes around here this year than ever before. Lots of them 5 to 6 feet long. Hardly a day went by this summer than I didn't see at least 1. Most days I saw several. I'm OK with them once I know they are there. My only complaint is them being under the windrows when I'm baling hay. I think they are looking for field mice and I always kill a couple when I'm baling. The buzzards find them pretty quick and clean up the mess.

I'm usually at the house having lunch when the UPS truck delivers. This summer I would go to the window to watch the driver tiptoe across the lawn looking for the 2 black snakes that live under the porch. They were usually out sunning themselves. I saved a couple shed skins to show him. They were 6'+.

[pumpguy]

They do too carry diseases humans can get:

Snake Diseases/Parasitic: Tapeworms, Amebiasis, Trichomonas (http://www.animalhospitals-usa.com/reptiles/snake_diseases_parasitic.html)

Parasitic Diseases: Snakes can be hosts to a large number of parasites, ... pet snakes and snakes kept in zoological collections are carried with them into ...
www.animalhospitals-usa.com/.../snake_diseases_parasitic.html - Cached (http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache:tZ5LqvYuf9AJ:www.animalhospitals-usa.com/reptiles/snake_diseases_parasitic.html+diseases+carried+by+ snakes&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a) - Similar (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&hs=Ldv&q=related:www.animalhospitals-usa.com/reptiles/snake_diseases_parasitic.html)

Joe

Sorry. Unless you are cold blooded, you aren't going to suffer from any of these snake specific maladies. Most, if not all parasitic organisms are specific to their chosen host. Look at your article. I only scanned it, but I think it mentions captive snake diseases and not warnings about what you can catch from them. In any event, unless you are picking up wild snakes and snuggling with them, you aren't going to be exposed anyway. Rodent scratches and bites can give you a whole host of illnesses including rabies. Their feces and urine can give you hanta virus.

[docone31]

Down here, when we see a Black Snake, we know there will be no rattlers.
Especially the Pygmy Rattler! Agressive little things.
Black snakes eat them, their fry. It is one of their favourite meals.
Aside from there being extremely large Reticulated Pythons, Green Anacondas, Black Mambas have been sighted a couple of towns up the road, Bamboo Vipers, All is well!
Seems folk down here have been collecting exotic species.
I am not so sure that is a good idea.
Especially the Bamboo Vipers, and Mambas. The two Mambas that were seen are probably not the only ones. Same with the Vipers.

[lead Foot]

Down here, when we see a Black Snake, we know there will be no rattlers.
Especially the Pygmy Rattler! Agressive little things.
Black snakes eat them, their fry. It is one of their favourite meals.
Aside from there being extremely large Reticulated Pythons, Green Anacondas, Black Mambas have been sighted a couple of towns up the road, Bamboo Vipers, All is well!
Seems folk down here have been collecting exotic species.
I am not so sure that is a good idea.
Especially the Bamboo Vipers, and Mambas. The two Mambas that were seen are probably not the only ones. Same with the Vipers.

That's interesting here in Australia the black snakes eat other species too.:shock:
Lead foot;

[Suo Gan]

My dads neighbor was bitten by a larger rattler two summers ago and died twenty minutes later. A real sad story. But he kept junked out cars, tall weeds, bathtubs, you name it in the yard around the house. He also had a whole bunch of ground squirrels and wood rats around. My dad lives a mile away and rarely sees a snake. But he keeps it mowed down, and has a few cats to kill the rodents.

[blazin.45acp]

I've always had a fascination with snakes. In fact, my brother and I, in one day, caught close to 150 in the fields that backed our yard. We (ages 9 and 7) had made a nice snake pit for them, obviously not deep enough because they all got away. Unfortunately (for my parents, of course) many of them took residency in our yard. Parents weren't happy campers!

While residing in Illinois, I worked at a steel tubing facility. Warm tubes in the fall time brought the snakes in. I would find a box until I could get an aquarium to keep them in my office. I was a quality supervisor at the time and the quality manager would hide in my office all the time (hiding from his boss), until he found out I boarded snakes; he never came back to my office.

If my wife and neighbors would allow, I'd take all your snakes, mostly for pets but also to clear out some of these pesky black squirrels.

Blazin.45acp

[bruce drake]

I'm not phobic or afraid of them...I just acknowledge their right to exist is valid as long as they don't decide to investigate the area near me. Once they move into my personal comfort zone, they usually get removed from the food chain.

Bruce

[BD]

I'll take black snakes any day. You can send me yours. They keep down rats, mice and other snakes. I'll generally leave pit vipers alone if they're not bothering me, unless they're around the house. Same goes for porcupines, and skunks. It's not that I can't deal with them, it's just that accidental encounters can be too costly, (or smelly in the case of skunks).

My nephew got bitten twice one night walking across a friends mowed lawn. It was touch and go for a couple of days, but he made it. In my mind it's not worth that risk around the house.

BD

[Philngruvy]

I guess I'll be the lone voice here... :sad: I like snakes and refuse to kill them without good cause. I read (can't remember where) that rattlesnakes are evolving toward rattle(less)snakes because people routinely kill the ones that WARN you to back off before they bite. I grew up in rattlesnake country and somehow managed to survive. :redneck:

Spiders now, that's a whole different matter (SQUISH)

You are not the lone voice here. I think it is so funny to hear a grown man say he is afraid of snakes and the only good snake is a dead snake. It really [edit] me off when a neighbor kills a snake and are all proud of themselves when they show it to me and it turns out to be a rat snake or a black racer. I can see killing a rattler or mocassin if they are in the yard where my dogs might get bitten but rat snakes, come on!!!!!!!!!!!!

[hammerhead357]

The information about the number of people that have phobias about snakes is interesting. Humans are born with no fear of snakes but chimpanzies are born with an inbred fear of them. So from what I have learned over the years a person learns the fear of snakes from other people.
I personally respect snakes especially the venomous ones. I have been bitten once by a western diamondback. I spent 4 days in the hospital and lost 41 days work over the bite. I was handling the snake so it was my fault.
In over 42 years of hunting snakes and giving educational exhibits I have handled over 10,000 snakes most of them of the venomous varity. Most of them have been western diamondbacks and prairie rattlers with some timber rattlers and several other species thrown in.
I don't want venomous snakes loose around the house or the out buildings. So if one is found near they are either relocated, caught or killed. The same goes with skunks, opossums or racoons and porcipines.
Oh by the way if snakes were poisonous they would kill you if you were to eat the meat of them. They are venomous....Wes

[Mike Venturino]

Wes: I was wondering if someone would point out the difference between venomous and poisonous. I only learned that myself a couple of years ago.

Here's a little story about skunks and rabies. Back in 2003 the day after Thanksgiving I was in bed with severe flu and my wife went down to feed our horses just after daylight. A skunk came out of the brush nashing its teeth and coming straight for her. She reached back in the pickup for her ever-present Glock .40 S&W and killed it with two shots. I called the county animal control people and they came out and collected the carcass for testing at Montana State University lab. It was definitely rabid. My wife is a hard core animal lover but she also has common sense.

Then in January 2006 my big beautiful collie got in a fight with a skunk out by one of the outbuildings in daylight. That almost always means a rabid skunk. He was bitten. Long story short that skunk was killed, tested and NOT RABID! The time between their fight and the test results had to be the longest hours of my life so far.

I don't want skunks, racoons, or rattlers around here.

MLV

[Charley]

Oh by the way if snakes were poisonous they would kill you if you were to eat the meat of them. They are venomous....Wes


????? Doesn't work that way. Venom sacks are located on the rear quarter of the head in most species. The flesh is most definately nonpoisonous. Ever hear of Sweetwater's rattlesnake roundup? They serve rattlesnake meat to everybody that wants it, nobody dies, or even gets sick. Check out an anatomy guide for snakes, like this one...http://www.bugsinthenews.com/snake_anatomy.htm

I'm from South Texas too, and deal with snakes fairly regularly.

[muleequestrian]

Fortunately for me, I live in the backwoods of Maine now. We have no venomous snakes here. Why that is I don't know, as I do on rare occasions see small garden type non venomous snakes. Maybe it's too cold here in winter ? However I did grow up in the mountains of western NC. We had to always watch where we stepped out in the woods. Rattlers and copperheads abound there. Many times I'd be out hiking to a good fly fishing spot and have to use my rod to flip a copperhead off the trail so I could walk by.

Since I have a small farm here in Maine, the worst thing I have to contend with is the fox population eating all my chickens and turkeys. My Uberti 73 in .45 Colt does a good number on those predators.

[Mike Venturino]

Charley: I think you misunderstand what Wes was saying. He was speaking of correct terminology. Something poisonous is something you ingest by eating or breathing. A venomous animal is one that injects you with venom by biting or stinging you.

Hence a rattlesnake is not poisonous it is venomous.

MLV

[StarMetal]

I was told by a representive of the Ohio Game Commission about a fellow once told them he ate box turtles. The Rep said she knew that not to be true because a box turtle has the ability to eat poison mushrooms and it has a gland that stores the poison so it doesn't harm the turtle. She said if that man ate a box turtle that had been eating quite a few of those mushrooms that it might have killed him or made him very ill. I guess you call that box turtle poisonous.

What I've heard, don't know it to be true.

Joe

[HollandNut]

Having been bit by a cottonmouth , a humourous story in itself , many years later ..

And almost stepping on a huge timber rattler the same year ( he took five loads of 3" 00 buckshot outta A5 12 gauge ) ..

We have an agreement , an understanding , we stay outta each others way , or else ...

We keep our little corner of the deepwoods very clean , this helps keep them away ..

Put gourds out they will stay away , apparently they dont like the fuzz on the vines .. Lime also works , we have tried several things like that , they work ..

We also have a couple cats roaming the property , and as someone else stated , they keep the rodents down , and apparently , helps with the snakes problem ..

[Uncle R.]

Here in southern WI we get a few rattlers but they're far from numerous. Based on anecdotal stories more than any real data I'd guess that there were more of them around here in the past. Or maybe the "old timers" just know how to spin a good yarn. In any case, I agree that snakes should be left alone in the woods. In the past ten years I've seen only one very small rattler and that in the river valley a perhaps a half mile from my home. It was still there and still alive when I walked away - I've grown remarkably tolerant in my old age. :lol:
BUT
I wouldn't allow one to take up residence near the house - and the dog and the kids - without termination.
Keeping cats around? All of the farmers that I know like to keep cats - and the closer to wild the better. They apparently feed 'em enough to keep 'em around, but NOT enough to keep 'em from hunting. And yes, a half-dozen hungry cats can make a serious dent in the rat and mouse populations. I never thought of it as snake control but I suppose it would work out that way too.
Uncle R.

[BD]

It's true that we never need to worry about venomous snakes in Maine. However, I'd trade'em for the black flies any day.
BD

[muleequestrian]

It's true that we never need to worry about venomous snakes in Maine. However, I'd trade'em for the black flies any day.
BD

By God ! I'll have to agree with you on that one ! But I am happy that black flies ain't venomous or I 'd be dead for sure. Between black flies and mosquitoes here in Maine I'm usually a quart low on blood DAILY during the summer months whenever I go fishing. At least with a snake I can avoid them or put the pistol to them when they pester me.

[BD]

I've never been bitten by a snake myself. I sure can't make that claim about black flies!
Mule rider, Where are you in Maine? I lived in Greenville for 20 years, and still have a house there.
BD

[troy_mclure]

i like snakes!
i was chased a couple of times by cotton mouths, once in a canoe, and once on foot. the one in the water (a good 6')chased me down stream trying to get in the canoe(with me whacking at it with my paddle) for at least 5 mins. it finaly just left.

also used to catch copperheads and drop them in in an old log that a 6' long, softball thick pine snake lived in.

also got bitten by a cow snake, first and only one i ever saw. i picked it up and he clamped on my hand and started chewing. very painfull and lots of holes.

also pinned in a porta-john for about 5 mins by a black cobra in iraq.

[Tom308]

I'll still kill any snake I can and I will do so without regret. If the snake wishes to live, it will stay out of my sight. I also do NOT like coyotes, wolves, bears or lions. Don't care for skunks either.

[txbirdman]

I knew an old rancher that insisted that skunks were better mousers than cats. I don't know where he got his information but he did have a certain aire about him.

[muleequestrian]

I've never been bitten by a snake myself. I sure can't make that claim about black flies!
Mule rider, Where are you in Maine? I lived in Greenville for 20 years, and still have a house there.
BD

Well I grew up in western NC in the mountains. 5 years ago I moved to Maine to get away from ever increasing crowds of people. ( If they call it " Tourist Season ", why can't we hunt them ? )

NOW I live in Downeast Maine between Harrington and Columbia Falls, right on the edge of the barrens. For the folks who don't know what the barrens are - it's approximately 3 million acres ( give or take ) where 90 % of the US blueberries are grown. NO powerlines, NO houses, NO cities - just hundreds of miles of dirt roads, deer, moose, bears, and coyotes. Washington County alone is roughly the size of Rhode Island and Conneticut combined ! And only about 30,000 people in all that space. Works out to maybe 5 or 6 people per square mile I think. And there's some really GOOD fly fishing here. :D

I like it OK, but the winters are pretty tough sometimes. You said Greenville ? Then you're up near Moosehead ? I used to go up there a lot. Lily Bay Road up past Rip Dam then down the Golden Road into Milinocket. A lot of moose up there too.

[montana_charlie]

I'll still kill any snake I can and I will do so without regret.
Knowing that you were stationed in Germany during the Vietnam thing, I realize that you and I are about the same age. As old dogs who can't (or are unwilling to) learn new tricks, I won't try to change your mind.

But, I hope you have allowed others (in your life) to make up their own minds about things like this...instead of requiring them to adopt your own outlook.

Peace...
CM

[bruce drake]

Mulerider,
(We Mainers go for the simple things in life)

I grew up in Dover-Foxcroft in Piscataquis County myself. Some of my best fly-fishing (20 years ago) for small-mouth and Brook Trout was along the Piscataquis River between Dover and Milo.

And yep, no venomous snakes native to the region, although some guys down by the New Hampshire border are claiming to see Eastern diamondbacks starting to appear in the woods near there...

Bruce

[BD]

ME, I used to make the drive up the Lily Bay road and across the Golden road to Big eddy, and back, 5 times a week from June through September. The drive got old, but spending the day on the west branch of the Penobscot made it worth the trip. I'd rather be back at home in Greenville, but I need to stay where the work is for now.
BD

[hammerhead357]

Mike thanks for jumping in and standing up for my use of correct terminology as far as poisonous and venomous go. This bothers me just as much as someone referring to a loaded cartridge as a bullet. As in someone wanting to purchase a box of bullets when in fact they want a box of ammuntion.
Yes I am aware that the Sweetwater J C's sell rattelsnake meat at the Sweetwater Texas round up. I usually eat rattlesnake meat about every 5 years just to remind myself why I don't eat it more often. It doesn't taste like chicken or anything else that I am aware of. It tastes like rattlesnake and is greasey and stringy. I don't really dislike it, it is just not something I like very much.
The Sweetwater round up is one that I have never competed in. I have won numerous 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places at many other roundups though....Wes

[.45Cole]

My grandfather allowed bull snakes to live about the property when he was involved with ranching and said they did a good job of eating the rattlers. I red an older autobiography that made it seem that placing a hemp rope around your sleeping blanket when camping to keep snakes away was common knowledge.

[HollandNut]

My grandfather allowed bull snakes to live about the property when he was involved with ranching and said they did a good job of eating the rattlers. I red an older autobiography that made it seem that placing a hemp rope around your sleeping blanket when camping to keep snakes away was common knowledge.

would reenforce what I heard about gourds and the fuzzy vines keeping snakes away ...

Is interesting thought ..

[hammerhead357]

If a rattlesnake will crawl over catus spines why in the world would a rope or anything else stop it from crawling into your camp or sleeping bag. It just won't work, an old wives tale as far as I can see.
I have seen them crawl or slither over ropes and have caught them from fuzzy vines so I have no faith in this old saying.
I have heard about bullsnakes eating rattlesnakes but I have never wittnessed it. I have kept them both in the same containers and have never lost a rattlesnake. Now I have had dingsnakes eat rattlesnakes when kept together so I now seperate them....Wes

[bruce drake]

What is a Dingsnake?

[Trey45]

What is a Dingsnake?

Probably a close relative of the Kingsnake, only louder.

[Cadillo]

If a rattlesnake will crawl over catus spines why in the world would a rope or anything else stop it from crawling into your camp or sleeping bag. It just won't work, an old wives tale as far as I can see.
I have seen them crawl or slither over ropes and have caught them from fuzzy vines so I have no faith in this old saying.
I have heard about bullsnakes eating rattlesnakes but I have never wittnessed it. I have kept them both in the same containers and have never lost a rattlesnake. Now I have had dingsnakes eat rattlesnakes when kept together so I now seperate them....Wes


Years ago a local BBQ restaurant had a neat old black and white photo of a large live indigo snake that was well into the process of swallowing a rattlesnake that appeared to be some four feet long. The indigo was quite long. There was a guy kneeling alongside the indigo, which gave it some scale. Some of those indigos get quite large.

[docone31]

Back when we lived in Punta Gorda, we had a yard full of Black Snakes, and Indigos. The Indigos are larger. We also had Corkscrew snakes. I stumbled on a mating ball once.
At any rate, the Black snakes would head out each morning. They would all go to the same spot, stand up, look around, taste the air, and head out in a direction only known to them. The Indigo was more subtle. The Indigo would be in bushes, in the yard, around the house.
When we trimmed out palm trees, we had rattlers in the branches! I never knew they could climb! Big ones!
Then we had a Pygmy Rattler migration!!! I had never seen anything like it! Little worms moving across our new patio. I knew what they were as I had seen a show on Pygmy Rattlers and did extensive reading on them. They are agressive! The large Rattlers in the trees are agressive also.
We sold the house, Hurricane Charley struck the next week! We got clean.
I had only seen one Rattler in my life before I had moved there. I saw more Rattlers and other snakes than I ever cared for there. Brown widows, Brown recluse, another toxic spider which I do not remember. A toxic tree frog that the mucus on the skin burns on contact. It was huge! They jumped on you at night.
Then there was the fire ants.
That is another story.

[Mike Venturino]

Where in the world is Punta Gorda? I want to know so I don't ever go there!
MLV

[Char-Gar]

Old time Texas cowboys slept inside of a braided horsehair rope (lariat) believing that rattlesnakes would not cross a horsehair rope. I don't know if it is true or not, but generations of cowboys believe it to be true.

[EOD3]

Where in the world is Punta Gorda? I want to know so I don't ever go there!
MLV

http://www.visitflorida.com/Punta_Gorda

There are several other nasties he failed to mention.... :Fire:

[txbirdman]

Charles, I heard that story from a neighbor who was one. He was born in the 1890's. He said "We wasn't sure it did any good but it made us feel like we dun somethin'".

[budman46]

pennsylvania fines you for killing rattlers, too...i wouldn't bother to tell them if i did.

i cobbled up some .45 colt shot loads for a pal with a 4" s&w mountain gun. i used a cardboard wad over 5 gr of ww231, filled the shell with #9 shot (190-200gr) and crimped a gas check on top with the skirt facing upwards.

i tested the loads with my 8" s&w and was amazed to find a dense 9" pattern when fired at 8-10' that penetrated one side of a 1 qt. steel tomato can with the gas check penetrating as a bonus. i doubt one would have a need for a second shot.

budman

[hammerhead357]

Sorry about my spelling. Yes it should have been kingsnake not dingsnake. Sometimes my fingers don't spell what my mind tells them to.....Wes