I stole this from another site I frequent.
So your stomping around the great outdoors and run into this
snake den snake den 2 Yet more snake den closeup

And your reaction is?

18 shots, use them all.

Am I starving?

Take a picture like this person did, then go about my business, and let the rattlers go about their own.

Later I'll wonder how I wound up about 2000 miles away from home and why I was stomping around. LOL

Put a 180 grain Barnes bronze solid, .300 H & H round into the engine block of anyone who thinks buzzworms need destroying and let them walk back.

Back in the day we used to go hunt rattlers (pacific rattlers, a lot more docile than diamondbacks or timber rattlers). We found a couple dens like this, though they were down in the ground more (hibernating I reckon). Very lethargic in those holes, but the ones we found out at other times were more lively. Wear thick vibram soled boots, stick your foot out at them, let them strike the bottom, then stomp down good and quick. Their fangs get hung up in the tread and a little stomp and maybe a twist and the fangs come off, better still the snake's neck also gets broke quick. Pacific rattlers aren't good eating for some reason, must be different sort of forage that puts their meat off. Make good headbands though. We gave that up long ago, but for a while it was interesing. I'll take snakes over spiders any day.

I dunno as I'd be sticking my foot out at that pile, though. I prefer them one at a time. If I had to eat, I'd be looking for a big willow switch or saguaro spine or some such, depending on where I might be. Better still would be to use my mates' methods from Queensland; run a chain down a 6' length of hose. They used that to ward of the Tai-Pans and Browns, at least that's what they told me. Pit vipers aren't real aggessive, not like them nasties down under.

If it weren't a matter of survival, I'd just get some pics and move on, watching my step.

Kinda reminds me of the round-up Cousin Eddie would use to keep his kids occupied out in the Vegas desert.

nothing if they aren't coming at me but as i do not like snakes one bit. (Yes 6 foot 2 300 lbs man is not fond of them at all) If I just stumbled upon the den as in very near stumbled I would think my Kimber would be emptied quickly and my reload would be for my walk away from there

Many many years ago, back when rattlers were considered nothing but targets, my best friend and I were out ground squirrel hunting and got our selves surrounded by a gaggle of snakes almost as large as that one. My Remington tubular mag .22 and his Winchester "clip" fed .22 saved our bacon. Or so we thought. Open sights back in those days, scopes would have saved a lot of snakes lives at that close range...

Rantor - You have SEEN my reaction with 1 snake, I have even been with you when you ran into those baby timber rattlers. I levitate approximately 5 feet off the ground, scream like a little girl, flap my arms and wet myself. I do this until I am safely in another county. Did I mention I dont like snakes....

Bring one home to show my daughters, then eat it.

Um, and then try and talk DW down out of the attic rafters.

-Blast

Seems to me the reactions are about equal, some would walk away and others wouldn't be as calm. I have to say none on my mountain property survive meeting me. My DW, my dog, my friends and their kids all stomp around up there. I'll leave them alone anywhere else but not on my place. It's been my experience the timber rattlers are too aggressive to have close to home. Maybe I'm overly paranoid but I can't get past my primal fear of them. I wonder what the psychology is behind that, some people including DW aren't bothered by snakes in the least. Me, I'm generally ok as long as I know they are there. I really HAVE seen Epirider levitate at the sight of one and others will react with immediate deadly force. Anyone else in an area with a fairly high dangerous snake population? what do you do?

Copperheads here. Not deadly, but very painful. Almost stepped on one several months ago. I didn't even see it until I was standing right next to it. Don't know why it didn't bite me, but I'm glad it didn't. I didn't kill it. As long as they don't come too close to the house, I'll leave them be.

My uncle, on the other hand, has no mercy for snakes. Doesn't matter if it's a dangerous snake or not. If he sees em, he shoots em.

We used to get a lot of snakes on our property in California, king snakes I believe. We left them alone, they're not dangerous. Our neighbor down the street would kill them, kill any kind of snake in fact. It turns out king snakes either eat rattle snakes or so strongly compete with them that if you have lots of king snakes you don't have rattlers. She killed the king snakes, she got rattlers.

I advocate deadly force and a lot of it. As for Rantor - I can attest to him not allowing snakes on his property (the slithery kind or the 2 legged kind). Once witnessed Rantor shoot a timber rattler with three shots fast enough that it looked like a continously growing mussle flash. It was fast! I personally do not like stopping until I am out of ammo or I am sure that soup would be the only meal that could be made of the snake. By the way... did I mention that I dont like snakes....

Snakes have always freaked me out.

Whether venomous or not, it really doesn't make any real difference to me. We have a bunch of long skinny black snakes here in NC, and they actually tend to freak me out worse than the large western diamondbacks that I used to see occasionally when we lived in SoCal.

My policy regarding snakes in the wild is to give them all the room they desire. My fear of snakes keeps me from going into the woods as often as I would otherwise, but when I do and run across a snake, I do not forget who lives there and who's visiting.

On the other hand, non-venomous snakes that find their way onto my property will either be relocated by a neighbor if one's available, or will be killed. Venomous snakes on my property unfortunately don't get the opportunity for the catch and release program, as I just don't want to risk ever having them show up a second time.

Unfortunately the last couple of times that my wife and I have stumbled across snakes here at our home, it did not end well for the snake. It's not that I take any pleasure in killing them, it is simply a case that my irrational fear of snakes is such that unless I know they have been relocated several miles away or killed, I'll convince myself they are still there just waiting...

Earlier this summer while watering plants, my wife ran across three small snakes (~2 feet long). I went next door to summon my neighbor (who is not afraid of snakes) although he was quite concerned that they were copperheads, so he opted to kill them rather than take a chance. It bothered me quite a bit that he chose to kill them, but it's not like I could have fought through my own fear of snakes to relocate them.

A couple of months ago while having my nightly cup of decaf out on the side porch before bed, I caught some movement out of the corner of my eye. There, not more than a foot from where I was sitting was a black snake...



While certainly not poisonous, seeing this freaked me out pretty good. As soon as I moved the thing tried to bite me, and then even continued to slither after me as I retreated into the safety of the garage.

Talk all you want about how snakes control rodents and other pests, and won't bother you if you don't bother them, but we have two small dogs (a Yorkie and a Toy Poodle) that pass through that same area several times a day (not to mention myself and my wife) so I have absolutely no desire to have a snake that large and aggressive hanging around.

Relocation was simply not an option, as it was the Fourth of July holiday and all of the neighbors were staying at the beach or out of town visiting family, so he was quickly dispatched as humanely as possible and placed into a garbage bag:



Just thinking about it again kinda gives me the willies...

Jim

We have 4 types of venomous snakes here in Texas. Rattlesnakes, copperheads, coral snakes and Cottonmouths/Water Moccasins. They are not worth messing with, but if they are hanging around where you frequent (deer stand), they're killed.

I think cottonmouths are the worst. They have a bad attitude and will actually chase you.

Crofab is the antivenom used for rattlesnakes. It cost 2-4 thousand dollars a vile and the average amount used is 10 vials, plus a 3 day stay in the ICU in case of anaphlaxis. At least that is the SOP at our hospital for a bad bite. I can't afford to get bit.

Yes, it makes the caduceus pictured in your avatar rather ironic.

I have no poisonous snakes in my region, and I try to let the garden snakes be. They're small compared to the snakes you guys deal with and certainly not dangerous.
However, if some kind of climate shift forces the poisonous snakes closer... well, I'd kill a coyote if he came sniffing around the chicken coop and I'd kill a viper if he came sniffing around my house. Or the coop.

I would like to thank you for pointing that out. Man ... I was SOOOOO close to graduating and now I have to change my major. <look to the heavens and stomp off mumbling about stupid snakes>

We were living in the foothills of the Adirondacks, 23 acres of overgrown farmland. There was a dug well in the back yard, and it housed a colony of DeKays snakes. Pretty olive green on top, lavender underneath, don't smell bad or nip like garter snakes-the perfect show-and-tell for my daughters second grade class with the 'snakes are our friends' message. I contacted her teacher, who thought it was a fine idea. So daughter, her younger sister and I gathered half a dozen snakes in a five gallon pail ang schlepped them to school a couple days later. Carried them into the classroom, saying "The snakes are here, the snakes are here!" Sadly, the regular teacher was out sick that day, and had left her class in the care of a substitute teacher who wasn't prepared for our arrival. The sub may still be on top of the desk, shrieking. Very difficult to deliver the snakes=friends message in that environment. I took the critters back and turned them loose, but my daughters kept catching them and bringing them inside. Sadly, their mom shared the mindset of the substitute teacher-she would occasionally chase snakes on our riding lawnmower, resulting in interesting paths through the tall grass around the house. Teaching the kids to like snakes may have been the cruelest thing I ever did to her. Did I mention that we are not together anymore?

Nursemike I do beleive that is one of the funniest things I have read on this forum. THAT was FUNNY! I am sorry that I dont understand the concept of snakes = friends tho.

I wish I could be on a more amiable footing with Mr No Shoulders, but when traipsing around in Eastern Washington on my friends property, our rule is simple, if they are close to areas where the kids and animals go, they must be dissuaded from threatening their health and safety. This is normally accomplished with a .410 bore negotiating instrument, although I have once happened upon one when only armed with a .38 snub nosed revolver. The first two were snake loads and the other three were JHPs, he got them all and half a reload before I was suitably satisfied with the results of my marksmanship to cease fire.
In Texas, our family always found the standard variety of garden hoe to be a wonderful instrument of destruction. My experiences with cottonmouths is they are always aggressive and because of their demeaner, they immediately warrant destruction, if I am capable at that time.
Herpetologists cringe at the mention of my name. If I were capable of flight, I am certain I would have made Mach 2 on several occasions of my close encounters. My high pitched screaming would shame opera sopranos.

Just do a search of google images for rattlesnake bite if you think sir hiss is your friend (Note; not for those with a weak stomach)

There are a lot of beneficial things that can do quite a bit of harm. Chlorine can be a disinfectant or it can be a poison gas cloud that can cause asphyxiation.

No one is suggesting spooning with a rattler... Well I once helped with a documentary on snake handlers, but that was a whole other ball of wax... Some people are just saying that the rattlesnake's role (or any snake for that matter) in the ecosystem should be respected... Or that's what I'm saying... Right now.

[quote=epirider]Nursemike I am sorry that I dont understand the concept of snakes = friends tho. [/qhttp://forums.equipped.org/images/icons/default/cry.gifuote]

No worries, mate. I am sure that there are dozens of things that you tolerate that terrify me-for instance, whole raw chickens, logical positivists, and anything written by Solzhenitsyn.

No... No... Call me any part of the anatomy that you want, I dont do well with any of them either. I am better at them then say... snakes. Did I mention I dont like snakes???