Snakes; Be careful out there

[Der Gebirgsjager]

I am so, so glad that there aren't any here where I live. Too many close calls with diamondbacks as a youngster. I think they don't like the severe winters, but also I was told that since the soil is mostly pumice they don't like that either as it works in between their scales and irritates them. To me it's well worth the snow to not have them. Hate 'em!

DG

[Texas by God]

I haven't seen a cottonmouth in a long time. I think the pigs have wiped them out here? We still have the odd timber rattler and last year, the first copperhead that I've ever seen on our farm tried to bite me in the dog pen.
Viva LA .410!

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[Rick R]

My Elkhound found a 4’ long black snake laying across the house steps when we came home from a walk. The dog got to meet a snake. The snake crawled off to lessen the rodent and poisonous snake population.

[3006guns]

Diamond back rattlers in this part of the country. Easy to tell the difference between poisonous and non poisonous.......if it has fat jowls (arrow shaped head) it's poisonous.

I've always heard that they're more afraid of you than you of them. Bull. I've actually been "charged" by two rattlers at once and used a pistol to send them to meet their ancestors. In the last few years I won't shoot if I can avoid them though. I figure I'm in their back yard and they DO try to warn you.

[762 shooter]

Just killed a 24" copperhead in the back yard. Used 2mm to kill it. Shovel blade that is.

762

[Mr_Sheesh]

762 shooter - I haven't heard of that cartridge, is it rimfire or centerfire?

[yovinny]

Snake chaps are pretty reasonable,, think I paid $40. for mine, but that was about a decade ago, so maybe a little more now.
I bought them because the explosive test range I worked at the time was next to a swamp and copperhead heaven.
I still keep them in the truck, as their also the best heavy brush protection I've ever found and save beating your hunting pants thread bare...

[TyGuy]

Last year I came across two copperheads in a week at our place. The first ended up headless on the burn pile. The second found itself between our gravel driveway and my Goodyears. Haven’t seen one since. I enjoy all the critters we get around the house, including the non-venomous snakes. Copperheads just aren’t worth the risk. Seeing them while hiking, fishing, or hunting is a treat. Seeing them while walking barefoot to the garage? That’s more excitement than I’m looking for…

[GOPHER SLAYER]

My next door neighbor killed a two foot Diamond Back in hiss back yard yesterday.

[Catshooter]

The "they're more afraid of you than you are of them" is stupid. So his being afraid is a good thing? Gonna make him friendly? Just makes him more dangerous in reality.

I'll let non-venomous intruders live. Venomous of any specie DRT. Had a pygmy rattler come into my porch in Florida. Pinned him with the broom and cut off his head with my pocket knife.


Cat

[abunaitoo]

We're not suppose to have any snakes here.
There is something they call a hawaiian snake.
It's a small harmless thing.
Never even seen one.
We do have lots snakes with arms and legs.
Not allowed to shoot them though.
To bad.
Would solve lots of problems.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

I hope you Hawaiians are fortunate enough to always remain snake-free. I do remember just a few years ago reading about the Brown Tree Snake, venomous, that was slowly spreading across the South Pacific from a couple of islands where it is well established. Apparently they have found them in the landing gear of arriving aircraft. Another disheartening fact is the influx of invasive species here on the mainland, such as the Chinese Snakehead Fish and Burmese Pythons.

DG

[BigAlofPa.]

Wild blue berry's are on the bushes. In about 2 weeks they should be ripe. I gave my speech to the family about snakes. I told them to shake a stick on the ground around the bushes. And after that to still keep an eye out for snakes. We won't kill them. Unless we plan on eating it. Rattler is yummy.

[oldblinddog]

I haven't seen a cottonmouth in a long time. I think the pigs have wiped them out here? We still have the odd timber rattler and last year, the first copperhead that I've ever seen on our farm tried to bite me in the dog pen.
Viva LA .410!

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Don’t know. I’ve seen a couple of male moccasins in the road already dead this spring. The first one I stopped the truck, got out and plugged him again just to be sure. I have a number of road runners around my place and they keep the snakes down too.

[Omega]

Don't go to Montana if you don't like snakes.
https://www.wideopenspaces.com/rattl...m_medium=fbads

[Lloyd Smale]

I am so, so glad that there aren't any here where I live. Too many close calls with diamondbacks as a youngster. I think they don't like the severe winters, but also I was told that since the soil is mostly pumice they don't like that either as it works in between their scales and irritates them. To me it's well worth the snow to not have them. Hate 'em!

DG

yup nothing poisonous here either. I dont even like the non poisonous ones!! Live in black bear country. LOTS of them here. Never felt a need to carry a gun in the woods because of it though. If i lived in snake country id never walk in the woods without one. Cant stand the things. Id rather face 2 men in a bar fight then a rattler 10 yards away.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

I grew up in the Sierra Nevada foothills. Heavy forest, mostly National Forest land around our property. For some reason there seemed to be more than a reasonable number of the critters, and 5 ft. lengths were common. What always got me was their variation in color which seemed to match their surroundings. If it was dry leaves they were brown; rocks, black; grass, green, but always with the white outline diamond pattern on the back. Most of them did not rattle. It's really unnerving to find one of these big, evil looking snakes coiled up within striking distance. You develop the ability to spontaneously jump six feet straight up and ten feet backward. I'll bet I've got a hundred snake stories about diamondback timber rattlers from those days. I had nightmares for years about finding myself surrounded by hundreds of them, kind of like Indiana Jones. In the dreams I always had a gun and ammo, but knew it wasn't enough ammo! Never got bit though--I'd always wake up!

This is a true tale: On our ranch we had a small reservoir that was a natural spring with a dam across it's natural stream bed. There was a big water gate (valve) in the center of the dam, and a ditch through the forest that took the accumulated water from that reservoir down hill about 1/4 mile to a second reservoir where it was used for irrigation. It was my job to walk up the path along the edge of the ditch every afternoon and open the water gate, and later to return and close it again so more water would accumulate for the next day. More than once I encountered a rattler on the path or somewhere in the vicinity of the ditch. I think the hunting for gophers, etc. was good for them because of the dampness.

Anyway, on one such trip I saw a mountain lion sitting on his haunches watching me, so the next day I took along one of my two rifles at the time, a full length Russian 1891. Another story there. I also had a No.1 Mk. III Lee Enfield, but was almost out of ammo for it, but still had the 10 free rounds of FMJ 7.62x54mm received from Golden State Arms with the Mosin-Nagant. I was about age 14 at the time, and the rifle was almost as long as I was tall.

On this particular evening it was dusk by the time I got to the top reservoir to close the water gate, and rapidly getting dark as I headed back down the trail. I was watching where I stepped as best as I could see in the gathering darkness, and suddenly observed something white moving across the path in front of me. The realization came to me that it was a big rattler, about 2 ft. away, and I was seeing the white outline diamond pattern. I did the aforementioned jump up and back, and when I hit the ground I pointed the Mosin (too dark to aim) at the snake from about 3- 4 ft. distance and fired off one of the Korean War-vintage rounds. There was just an amazing ball of orange fire and a big shock wave. I couldn't see anything for a couple of minutes, and had to wait for my night vision to return. The snake wasn't moving, so I found a long dead tree branch and poked it a few times. No movement.

I told you I was a kid, maybe not a smart one, but I've always like and respected firearms and i didn't want to get any snake juice on my rifle. Didn't want it to rust, you know. I sure wasn't going to pick the durn thing up in the dark, so I worked the branch under the snake and carried it home draped over the stick and thrust out as far away from my body as I could hold it. By the time I got home, carrying the long rifle and the long stick with the snake on the end was killing my arms and shoulders.

We had a flagstone patio in front of the house, and when he heard me come through the gate my dad came out with an electric lantern. I'd told him about the mountain lion, he'd heard the shot, and was concerned. He and I looked the snake over very carefully and could find no hole or other damage. You'd think that a hit from a 7.62mm would just about blow one in half----but there was nothing. We concluded that the snake had been killed by the concussion/muzzle blast. It was about a 5 footer.

The lesson learned was to perform my assigned reservoir duty earlier in the day and not to procrastinate until dark! I still have the Mosin rifle. It cost me $1.00 back in 1956, but is worth much more now.

DG

[OldBearHair]

Well written story. It seemed as though I was looking over your shoulder as you took the shot and visualized seeing the fireball, all the while feeling your anxiety in the fading light. Write on!

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Glad you enjoyed it. As stated, it is the plain, unvarnished truth. Here's the rifle....



Two more thoughts come to mind: First, although never having been in that situation, this was largely like standing in a minefield. During the time that I was totally blinded from the flash I was afraid to move my feet, as I couldn't see what had happened to the snake, or if it had changed locations and I might step on it. Next, I learned the value of having a sling on your rifle, as I could have carried the snake on the stick home much easier if I'd had two arms available unencumbered by the rifle.

DG

[richhodg66]

Passed a big bull snake killed in the highway this morning, sure wish he was alive and healthy and on my place. I see lots of snakes in the yard, vast majority are this little species, I think the biggest I've seen was a foot long, most aren't much more than a big night crawler.

Just don't understand how so many grown men can be such cowards of something that's only flesh and blood and relatively unlikely to be a danger to you. Hard to believe so many guys on a site like this are afraid of their own shadows and that timid.