Tale of Two Snakes

[Dave]

The big one got away. We were on our way home yesterday with our last load of poles. Actually about half a load of odds and ends needed to finish. Anyway I spotted a big rattle snake on the road. I stopped the truck. Reached in the back but my shovel had got covered up by some of the poles. There was a short handled single bit axe. I grabbed it. Axe with a 24 inch handle going after a 36+ inch rattler..... I got a couple swings in but missed. He wasn't sitting still so I was chasing him trying to get close enough but not too close. He made it to some tall grass and bushes. End of chase. I wish I would have had my shovel. He was a dead snake if I had the shovel. But...... the big one always gets away don't they?
Then yesterday evening after a long hot day the sun had finally dipped behind the hill. The wife was mowing the lawn and I decided that it was a good time become scarce so I head to the post office to pick up the mail. I drive by J's house and I see L my closest neighbor talking to him. They wave, I wave. About 50 yards past his place there is a big rattler in the road. I slam on the brakes. My shovel is not buried this time. I grab it and head back for the snake. I get to it and see right off that it is missing it's head and rattles. But it is fresh killed. About that time L is coming toward me laughing. He said that he told J to watch, Dave will stop. Apparently some tourist types had just drove by and went right past it without stopping. L had just killed it a few minutes before. He showed me the rattles. I didn't count them but there had to be at least ten or more. It was a solid two inches long.
Two different snakes about a quarter mile apart. Both big snakes. Two different out comes. But this hot weather is bringing the big ones out.

 

[WFfarm]

I'll take the blizzards and Nor-easters vs. rattlesnakes, thank you very much.

 

[Dave]

I'll take the blizzards and Nor-easters vs. rattlesnakes, thank you very much.

We get the occasional blizzard too. I would take the rattle snakes over the mosquitoes. There are a lot less snakes and it is easier to avoid getting bit by them.

 

[sstterry]

The big one got away. But...... the big one always gets away don't they?

Ask Caustic about that Hog. :lol: :lol:

 

[SBMF 2015]

I'll take the mosquitoes.
What does the number of rattles represent? Age?

 

[callmefence]

I'll take the mosquitoes.
What does the number of rattles represent? Age?

Kinda
A snake adds a rattle everytime it sheds it's skin. They also break off pretty easy. The bigger the snake when it sheds the larger the rattle. So if the rattle is tapered to a very small tip . It's probably mostly there. Surely ol Dave cut that rattle off and saved it.

 

[Dave]

A collection of snake rattles. The one the neighbor killed had rattles like those in the lower left of the picture. I killed one last night up the canyon. His rattles are the upper left. It was ball park the same size as the one the neighbor killed. The on that got away? I didn't look at its rattles I was busy watching the other end. Those biggest rattles in the picture came off a snake that wasn't nearly as big as the one I killed last night. That biggest rattle is 2 1/2 inches long. A lot of the rattlers I kill on my place are only about a foot long with one little button of a rattle. People have said that me killing those young snakes is a sign that there is a den near by. I wish I knew where it is..... gasoline.... maybe a little diesel..... Too bad dynamite is so hard to get these days.

 

[Stocker Steve]

I thought real cowpokes eat the snakes?

 

[callmefence]

I thought real cowpokes eat the snakes?

Not so much. Real cowpokes eat whataburger.
Pretty much everyone in Texas has had rattlesnake though. Lots of rattlesnake roundups every spring .kinda like a county fair.and fried rattlesnake is sold at all of them. Usually on a stick.

The Comanche considered rattlesnake a delicacy.

 

[Dave]

I thought real cowpokes eat the snakes?

No, the real ones eat mountain oysters. They are considered a delicacy. Snakes are a hit or miss deal in this part of the world. Some places will have them while other areas will have none at all. The realtor who sold me this place was raised a few miles from here. He warned us before we bought it that it was a "snakey place". We probably average killing about 5 a year on our property. Head up the canyon from here and the population goes up significantly.

 

[herofan]

I'll take the blizzards and Nor-easters vs. rattlesnakes, thank you very much.

I'm lucky that I have no rattlers or copperheads in my area. Black snakes, Garter Snakes, and an occasional green snake is all I have. There are no bears or anything else I have to worry about. I'm thankful.

 

[Dave]

I'm lucky that I have no rattlers or copperheads in my area. Black snakes, Garter Snakes, and an occasional green snake is all I have. There are no bears or anything else I have to worry about. I'm thankful.

I have rattle snakes, bears, and mountain lions. None of them bother me at all. Wolves are getting too close and they do bother me some.

 

[pdfangus]

Have always had copperheads..not cotton mouths are being spotted in our county.....have not had them here in my life until now....a few confirmed sightings....back bears are now everywhere and seeing big ones is becoming a common occurence....sighting Lions is becoming more frequent even though the game department is still denying all sightings...I have friends who have seen them and I am pretty sure there was one on my place a few years ago and I have photographed a track in a sandbar in a small stream nearby

 

[herofan]

I have rattle snakes, bears, and mountain lions. None of them bother me at all. Wolves are getting too close and they do bother me some.

I understand that is what you are accustomed to, but I'm sure you have to be a little more aware and cautious i an area where you have them. I e heard of children getting bitten playing in the yard, or someone getting bitten moving lumber or cleaning up brush. We have rattlers and copperheads in Ky, but they are very territorial in my neck of the woods. There are places known for having rattlers, but go a mile down the road, and there has never been one spotted there. My farm has been in the family for over 100 years, and rattlers and copperheads have never been seen. I don't know if they are territorial like that in other places, but I'll take it.

 

[Ky hills]

In this area of Ky, we have copperheads, around 25 miles south or East there are timber rattlesnakes. For the last few years black bears have been around. There have been several accounts of folks seeing big cats.

 

[Post Oak]

I cruise timber for a living. This was last week.

 

[kenny thomas]

I cruise timber for a living. This was last week.

If you are in eastern South Carolina you must be a brave man. Not so much the rattlesnakes but the cottonmouth.

 

[Post Oak]

If you are in eastern South Carolina you must be a brave man. Not so much the rattlesnakes but the cottonmouth.

This was back in August. This was a young cottonmouth that crawled under my foot as I was opening my truck door . He crawled about 4 feet from my truck door and started striking towards me.