Arnold Ziffle
Well-known member
Craig's recent posting about Boudreaux brought to mind a recent and somewhat unnerving experience of mine:
I was chain sawing a bunch of Chinese Tallow trees that were growing in a boggy and tall grassy area that was still pretty wet from all the recent rain. As I hurried along, not really paying much attention to the ground, out of the corner of an eye I caught sight of a big, fat cottonmouth VERY near my feet. I have seen many snakes on my place over the years, mostly harmless rat snakes and such. But in this case it took my brain about a nanosecond to tell my legs "hey boy, that ain't no rat snake!!" (with my apologies to you grammarians). I immediately jumped about five feet into the air and to the side and am happy to say that I didn't get popped. For the first year or two after buying my place, when chain sawing in the woods I always wore a pair of cordura snake-proof chaps due to concerns about copperheads. However, I have long since quit wearing the chaps since almost all the snakes I saw were harmless, and in really hot weather the chaps certainly add to the discomfort level --- but I may have to re-think that decision.
To TexasHart and others in rattler country (or to all those that get out and about in snake country, especially down south and out west) : $50 spent on a pair of snake-proof chaps would be money well spent.
I was chain sawing a bunch of Chinese Tallow trees that were growing in a boggy and tall grassy area that was still pretty wet from all the recent rain. As I hurried along, not really paying much attention to the ground, out of the corner of an eye I caught sight of a big, fat cottonmouth VERY near my feet. I have seen many snakes on my place over the years, mostly harmless rat snakes and such. But in this case it took my brain about a nanosecond to tell my legs "hey boy, that ain't no rat snake!!" (with my apologies to you grammarians). I immediately jumped about five feet into the air and to the side and am happy to say that I didn't get popped. For the first year or two after buying my place, when chain sawing in the woods I always wore a pair of cordura snake-proof chaps due to concerns about copperheads. However, I have long since quit wearing the chaps since almost all the snakes I saw were harmless, and in really hot weather the chaps certainly add to the discomfort level --- but I may have to re-think that decision.
To TexasHart and others in rattler country (or to all those that get out and about in snake country, especially down south and out west) : $50 spent on a pair of snake-proof chaps would be money well spent.
