I have nothing against firearms as such. There may be times and places where a firearm might be really handy to have on hand. Say ... falling into an old dry well or mine shaft and landing on a couple of snakes, who immediately take offense, and I might wish I had a gun loaded with shot shells to help 'pacify the natives'.

But I have been on this planet a bunch of years and so far I have never felt any great need for such equipment. I did come close to feeling a need for a firearm when one day when I was making my way in a crawl space and became aware of a large rattler as my eyes adjusted to the darkness. The snake was about six feet away but it felt much closer because I was on my belly in a confined space with no way to get away quickly. Snakes, even ones which seem unconcerned with your existence, seem much more dangerous when they are at eye level.

I back pedaled a bit and took a deep breath. I ran the snake off by tossing handfuls of sand at it. After calming down a bit I got on with the job. I'm not fearless around poisonous snakes. Staying calm can take a considerable conscious effort. I find it helps to carefully consider the situation. If I haven't been bit I figure either the snake can't bite me, or it is disinclined to bite me. Sooo ... if I don't do anything to change that odds are I will remain unbit.

Then again if I was required by my job to jump blind into confined spaces commonly inhabited by poisonous snakes on a regular basis I might be tempted to pack iron. Iron loaded for ... well ... snake. IMHO a light pump or double barrel shotgun, ideally a 20ga, loaded with #7 would be what I would carry. Most pistol-sized shot shells, topically loaded with #9 shot, are too light to reliably do the job.

The contradiction for me is that pistol-sized shot shells work but you have to be close. If your that close opening distance would be wiser. If your not that close the snake isn't an immediate threat so there is no need to shoot it.

If there was a bear in your way ... would you shoot it too?

Not to get all Sierra Club/Green Peace on you, but at some point humans need to realize that we are all sharing this planet and need to allow each other to take some space. Seeing a snake, frog, coyote, deer, or any other wildlife is always ALWAYS a thrill to me. That is part of what I enjoy about being outdoors.

Now, if that snake is in your house, that's a safety issue, but on the trail ...

If you can't just walk around it then I like the idea of tossing some dirt or small stones to encourage the snake to find another place to sun. No harm done.

Well Ken, I would get myself a really, really big stick so I could poke at the bear until it moved away. If it did not leave I would use the stick to tenderize the bear enough to eat it for lunch.


If I was going into bear country I would be carrying a gun. Either a 12 gauge or a rifle of at least 30 caliber. (306 preferred)
That does not mean I follow a shoot on sight policy, it just means I prefer having at least a slight chance in case I messed up so bad that a bear intends turning me into bear poop.

I've camped in bear country, mainly in CA, and never felt the urge to have a gun. Of course, it's nearly always black bears. A few rocks, some yelling, and most are taken care of. The exception was one night where I was in my tent with something sniffing around it for 2 hours. I can't prove it was a bear, but I don't think I'd have blindly shot at whatever it was.

Now, grizzly/polar bear country probably would be a different idea. Though, on my last trip to AK, I didn't end up bringing a shotgun (for those that remember that thread)

I am very glad you don't shoot wildly at strange sounds in the night.

Just go around the snake. If you happen to be in a two foot wide canyon where you can't do that, then just back up and go elsewhere. We used to have tons of rattlers on our south Texas farm. We wouldn't kill them unless they were inside the fenced yard or in some other way potentially dangerous to the younger kids running around cluelessly. We did end up having to take out quite a few of the buggers near the house, but not out in the fields where they were no threat at all. I hate snakes - not fear them. I think I hate them because they move in such a creepy way. Always startles me and sends shivers up my spine when I run into one. But you don't need to kill them for that.

Just did that myself riding a bike trail a couple weekends ago. I saw the snake and pointed and yelled snake as I went over it, just lifted my feet up.

Nomad: To answer your question about whether commercial shotshells would be effective against Mr. Slither, the answer is a qualified "yes". As Nighthiker has already pointed out, you tend to get a donut pattern shooting shotshells out of rifled barrels, even 2" snubbies (I've tested this on paper targets).

While I have never killed a snake with shotshells, not even Mr. Slither whom I met personally, my actual source for the qualified "yes" is my brother in Iowa who regularly mows about 3-4 acres of farmyard infested with all sorts of snakes. He hates snakes and, regardless of all their potential benefits, he doesn't want them in his yard, or around his barns and other outbuildings. When he mows, he always has his .38 Spl Smith and Wesson M&P with the 4 inch barrel on him, and he uses it several times every time he mows to kill snakes up to several feet long (mostly those are bull snakes in Iowa).

Perhaps you've already done this, but if you decide you want to use a shot cartridge in your revolver, I'd suggest that you get a few largish pieces of butcher paper, draw a rough sketch of the size of snake you expect to encounter on it with a magic marker, and then (aiming at the snake head) try shooting a shotshell at a couple of those targets so you can see the shot distribution pattern. That way, you will have some idea how to alter your aim (if necessary) to provide the best concentration of shot where you want it. Even if you don't intend to carry a shotshell in your gun, this is an interesting exercise. My .38 snubby stainless Rossi (which I like very much BTW), throws about a 16" pattern at about 8-10 feet with a slight donut hole distribution of shot. So, if I were wanting to hit a snake head-sized target with the greatest concentration of shot, I would not aim directly at the target but about 4 inches one way or the other.