Rattle snake

[Freightman]

Grand daughter was knocking down weeds this morning, she came in and said you need your gun I just saw a Rattler. So I go out and find a shed skin in the area , didn't see the snake measured the shed it was 7' 3" so going to have to carry all the time even on the farm. she saw the snake but it disappeared into the tall weeds.

[Winger Ed.]

When you take its shirt off--
It'll make a nice belt and a hat band or two.

That's also big enough to eat, but of the couple I've had, they taste like Kleenex, only tougher.

[ACC]

I am glad your granddaughter didn't get bit. When I was up at scout camp last year a big fat one like to hang around the back door of my tent. I made a deal with him. He doesn't bite me and I don't bother him.

ACC

[bedbugbilly]

Glad your granddaughter didn't get bit. Just goes to show that everything in the Lone Star state truly is :bigger". Like they used to say on Hill Street Nlues . . . "Let's be careful out there!"

[Der Gebirgsjager]

I am glad your granddaughter didn't get bit. When I was up at scout camp last year a big fat one like to hang around the back door of my tent. I made a deal with him. He doesn't bite me and I don't bother him.

ACC

Don't trust them. They're known liars.

DG

[Cargo]

She did a good job moving away and getting you. Those things are testy when they're shedding and you'll need the fish cooker when you finally cross paths with it. ~Semper Paratus~

[Bad Ass Wallace]

Interesting that in this day people still seek out and kill snakes. Everything has a place in nature, our black snakes are just as dangerous but I never kill them.

[trapper9260]

I have had a black rat snake in the middle of the road coming back from fishing and someone was doing something with it coming the other way and seen me coming they took off . When I got to it .I took my walking stick and moved it across the road and it took off in the weeds It could of been about 6 foot , I can be wrong on the length , just a guess. The snake I fear is one that I do not see that is the one that had bite me when I was a teen going after some frogs for frog legs. It was a Cottonmouth Snake. I was with my dad fishing . My dad had took me to the ER luck for me that the fangs just hit the surface of my hand and was sick for about 2 days and the doctor gave me 2 shots and told my dad if you see a line going up my arm to bring me back. You can see the 2 pin marks on my palm .

[725]

I like nature and all, but snakes and such things the can make me seriously sick tend to get the treatment they deserve. If that little girl (or anybody really) got a full dose of venom, the medical ramifications are severe. I'm not phobic, but realistic.

.44 mag stoked with a modified .303 Brit case, Unique, and as much #9 shot / #7 1/2 shot it will hold. Works fantastic.

[Handloader109]

Have a big black rat that comes around the house looking for mice. He or his sibling was up in one of the hedge next to my house. He was eye level looking for bird nest. I ran him out and around back of house. I don't kill them unless they can really hurt me....

Sent from my SM-S908U using Tapatalk

[bedbugbilly]

I believe in live and let live until they start invading my space where we or our dogs could be bitten. My wife and I stepped out of our garage one morning, she was bare legged and wearing sandals, and I looked down and spotted a rattler. I reached back into the garage and grabbed a shovel I keep leaned up by the door. I didn't kilt I promise . . . it was an extremely troubled snake that committed suicide by running into the shovel. Better him than my wife'd legs or one of the dogs we were taking for a walk.

[dverna]

Illegal to kill the rattler here...but everyone I know kills them on sight IF they are near buildings or where livestock are kept. Some will kill them anywhere.

Never seen a big one but even the smaller ones can be dangerous.

[MostlyLeverGuns]

I enjoy our bullsnakes, green snakes, and garter snakes. I kill the prairie rattlers around here on sight. I have seen the damage and suffering they do biting horses, dogs and cattle. The cost of a finger or nerve damage to hands, arms, and legs, the pain, suffering and cost in of medical bills in the tens/hundreds of thousands of dollars is not worth the risk on my and other local property. Out in sagebrush antelope hunting, I leave them alone.

[Skipper]

When you take its shirt off--
It'll make a nice belt and a hat band or two.

That's also big enough to eat, but of the couple I've had, they taste like Kleenex, only tougher.

salt, pepper and paprika...roll the chunks in flour and fry like you would a fish. Watch out for the bones.

[sparky45]

Only good snake is any I don't cross paths with OR dead ones if need be.

[Rapier]

Poisonous, with no warning gets them gone to a better place. Otherwise we have an understanding. Our Indigos are very long but get a definite pass, they keep the bad actors cleaned up.

[HWooldridge]

Glad your grand daughter was not harmed. Our youngest son kept two pythons in the house when he was young so my wife is not afraid of snakes in general - and I grew up around all types in South Texas.

I only kill poisonous snakes near the house. We have lost 3 dogs to them - 2 were bitten and died in one day. My wife shot that rattler because I was at work during the day - snake came up on the porch and 4 dogs went after him - one dachshund and our old blue heeler were struck. Dachshund died immediately; the heeler had previously been bitten at least three times and lived but she didn't survive that last time. My son lives near San Angelo and they are plagued with rattlers - I've lost track but believe at least a dozen dogs have died from snake bite. There is no way to prevent rattlers from coming around the house, especially at night.

I will leave them alone out in the middle of nowhere - live and let live.

[lightman]

Wow, 7'3 is a whopper! Glad your Granddaughter was not bitten.

[contender1]

To the OP,, I'm glad your granddaughter was not bitten & all is fine. I've caught some big rattlers in Texas myself.

My business is dealing with nuisance wildlife. ADC work.
I get calls on snakes.

Sadly,, too many people have phobias about ANY snake. As noted before here,, the black rat, (black racer, indigos, whatever the local name for that basic species is,) is a non-poisonous species, and actually helps us by eating rodents. And they are one of the few species (here in WNC) that can climb walls & get in overhead places. In general,, they don't mind being inside people's homes & can be quite docile.
Yet,, I get calls from people freaking out about a skin they found in their house. People talk about moving out, selling the house etc. They fail to understand that if you have any form of woods or space for wildlife,, you can & will have all kinds of opportunities to have such critters. And mice are potential disease carriers, as well as rats. Yet the black snake will eat them. PLUS,, the black snake can ALSO kill & eat the poisonous snakes.
Now,, the Australian variety,, is a totally different species.

But in general, the black snakes DO NOT NEED TO BE KILLED. Just remove them & relocate them. But if they are in your house,, you have a FOOD SOURCE such as mice, rats, birds, squirrels, or even bats that they are after.

Rattlesnakes,, while dangerous,, generally do not like to be too close to activity/people. Yes, I do know that in many of the western & south western states they can be more numerous & more active. But in many places,, due to habitat loss, & such, they can be a PROTECTED species,, and are not to be killed.
Here in WNC,, the timber rattlesnake is protected under the "Species of Special Concern" clause of the FEDERAL Endangered list.

Killing them in SOME cases could be a FELONY.

For those folks who "kill all snakes," or whatever,, do you really want to get a felony & lose your gun rights & voting rights over such a trivial thing?

Self defense,, if avoidable,, avoid them. If it's absolutely un-avoidable, then self defense is sometimes acceptable to the LEO's.

Copperheads & water moccasins are not endangered on any lists as far as I know,, and as such,, if around people or presenting danger,, then if you must,, kill them. In my job,, when I get a copperhead,, legally I could relocate them. However,, I'd have to have written permission from the private property owner to relocate them to that piece of property. Nobody wants to accept them, and since it's illegal to put them on State or Federal property,, I kill those. We do not have water moccasins in my area, so they are not an issue for me.

But I guess I get tired of the lack of education by the public in general on snake identification.
Every snake is poisonous according to them.
Every snake is a copperhead to them.
All snakes should be killed to them.

We, as gun owners WISH people would get a proper education about firearms,, so that more folks would understand us & not be so emotionally against them. Yet, many gun owners fail to accept the fact they too could use a little education about snakes & such.

Both snakes & firearms can be dangerous OR non-dangerous. And often, guns are used for good, and snakes do perform a good service to us.

My wife used to be in the camp of; "If you want me to leave,,, just bring a snake in the house. I'll pack up & leave." Well, out of respect for her,, I've only HAD to bring one snake inside for one overnight stay. A python. I sold it the next morning. Yet,, over the 30 years we've been together,, she has learned to accept the FACT that we live in the country, we have snakes around (as well as all other wildlife) and she is no longer so anti-snake.

Education is the key to solving both the snake issues, as well as gun issues.

[MaryB]

i have a 6' long bull snake out in my back yard. Usually stays in my wild patch that I leave for wildlife. Last time I was mowing he was sunning out in the grass and refused to move. He was not happy when I picked him up and put his in the tall brush! He was rattling his tail trying OT imitate a rattlesnake, hissing... I set him down and he tried to head into the grass so I pushed him the other way a few times. He finally laid at the edge, let me make 3 passes with the mower then he stretched back out in the sun. He had a pretty full belly of gophers most likely and needed to digest it. I have handled him a few times, and he is semi tame around me. I do make sure he can't bite me! No poison but it HURTS and infection is a very real issue.

Friend saw him one day and panicked, "you have a rattlesnake out back!" I had to educate him on head shape, the bull snake doesn't have the triangular viper head a rattlesnake has, and the skin color pattern is different. There ARE rattlesnakes in the rock outcropping in the river valley. DNR claims there isn't but every year someone kills one at the one catfish hole.