FARM Just killed another rattler

BaywaterRoss

BaywaterRoss

Inactive
Yep, another pygmy rattler right next to the house again! Hadn't seen any snakes since those last two at the end of August. However, yesterday I had not only MY lot, but the lot next door bush-hawged. Might have contributed.

Those little pygmy snakes aren't afraid at all, it would seem. I stepped out onto the front porch to go move the watering hose and noticed a motion out of the corner of my eye... something slipped around the corner of the house. I figured it may have been a bird or squirrel, but I did go look. It saw me, and I saw his beady little eyes staring right back at me.

Went in the house and grabbed my S&W Kit gun with snakeshot. Went back out and the snake was still in the same spot, watching me. So, I put the shot betwixt his eyes. Dead snake!

I don't like spiders and snakes! :lol:

-Ross
 

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Jean B

Inactive
He is beautiful however. You could keep his skin for a belt maybe? Can you eat him? Might be good game in a crisis.
 
BaywaterRoss

BaywaterRoss

Inactive
Jean B said:
He is beautiful however. You could keep his skin for a belt maybe? Can you eat him? Might be good game in a crisis.
Click to expand...

That's an adult pygmy and is only about 18" long. Ankle bracelet anyone? :lol:

Justin, my neighbor, killed a 4 1/2 foot rattler at the head of my driveway a couple weeks ago. He did skin it for a belt, kept the meat and the rattles.

-Ross
 
K

kokomo

Contributing Member
We have a lot of snakes this year. We have 212 acres and ponds. Have shot several moccasin's this year and a few rattle snakes. We do not kill the non-poison ones. My daughter walks a lot, on the roads, and has to carry a .22. She has shot several moccasin's. They worry me since our grandchildren play out here....we keep close watch. My husband just came in and saw a snake in the carport, it went under the house!
 
Satanta

Satanta

Stone Cold Crazy
_______________
Keep the skin and it it. That way every day you can see the skin and brag about needlessly killing something.

"Oh but it's a rattle!"

Yeah.

So?

Ever been bit by one?

Needless fear of something is pitiful.
 
F

FireDance

TB Fanatic
Good news Ross!


http://www.vanishingspecieswildlife.../000059/Pygmy Rattlesnake/Sistrurus/Miliarius

Although they are small, "pigmys" are feisty and are apt to strike if molested. Fortunately, these snakes have small venom glands and don’t inject large quantities of their potent venom when they bite. There are no records of any person dying from the bite of a pigmy rattlesnake.

Pigmy rattlesnakes, as their name suggests, are miniature rattlesnakes. Sometimes called "groundrattlers," these snakes are so well camouflaged that they are rarely seen. Adult snakes are usually only 18 inches long or smaller. When coiled on the forest floor, they are only the size of a loblolly pinecone. These snakes have a small delicate rattle that is not much wider than the tip of the tail. When they vibrate this rattle, it sounds very much like an insect buzzing; some people have difficulty hearing the rattle.

Diet
Small frogs, lizards, small mammals and insects

Offspring
They give birth to 3-9 babies in late summer.


(p.s., Don't let Justin come on your property any more. He seems to have too many adventures!)
 
sassy

sassy

Veteran Member
Satanta said:
Keep the skin and it it. That way every day you can see the skin and brag about needlessly killing something.

"Oh but it's a rattle!"

Yeah.

So?

Ever been bit by one?

Needless fear of something is pitiful.
Click to expand...


But Satanta, down here they are much much bigger and we eat them!

;)
 
F

Frenic

Are we there yet?
repellent

Please confirm whether lime will keep snakes away from the house. I am the queen of spreading lime and haven't had any trouble. I need to know if that is just dumb luck. I FREAKED the last time I found a snake by my door and it was just a black snake (harmless I was told). Please let me know.
 
BaywaterRoss

BaywaterRoss

Inactive
Satanta said:
Keep the skin and it it. That way every day you can see the skin and brag about needlessly killing something.

"Oh but it's a rattle!"

Yeah.

So?

Ever been bit by one?

Needless fear of something is pitiful.
Click to expand...

Nope, never been bitten.

Then again, I've never been shot either. And even though there's a chance that I'd survive either activity, I prefer not to have either one happen and therefore take appropriate measures to reduce the chances.

But thanks anyway Sat ol' buddy... got nothin' but love for ya! :lol:

-Ross
 
BaywaterRoss

BaywaterRoss

Inactive
kokomo said:
We have a lot of snakes this year. We have 212 acres and ponds. Have shot several moccasin's this year and a few rattle snakes. We do not kill the non-poison ones. My daughter walks a lot, on the roads, and has to carry a .22. She has shot several moccasin's. They worry me since our grandchildren play out here....we keep close watch. My husband just came in and saw a snake in the carport, it went under the house!
Click to expand...

Wow, I bet the huntin' & fishin' are great where you are!

When I first started working around my place, I used to carry a gun, knife and cell phone with anytime I was walking the property. Over the last few months of being so busy here, I got out of the habit. When I killed those two rattlers in August, I got back on track for awhile.

But over the last week or so, I slacked off because I've been watering trees and plants close to the house. After all, I'm only going maybe 100' into the yard. And that little rattler had the oppotunity to evac the area while I went back in the house to retrieve armament. He chose not to do so. His bad.

Sooooo... now I'm back to having a full complement when venturing outside again. :lol:

-Ross
 
F

FireDance

TB Fanatic
During one of the drought years I almost stepped on a copperhead barefoot (he and I had hand-to-hand combat - it was a baby) and then there was a beautiful black snake that was passing through on his way to where ever they hang out. Those have been the only snakes I've seen in 10 years here.

We live next to a river, so you would think that we would see lots and lots of snakes but apparently they have a nice home where ever they are because we don't even see many on the road. (Although I did run over a toad that was singing in the rain one afternoon - which oddly broke my heart!)

I'm not sure about lime as a repellent, but I think there are just some places that you won't see many for whatever reason.
 
O

Ozlady

Inactive
Frenic said:
Please confirm whether lime will keep snakes away from the house. I am the queen of spreading lime and haven't had any trouble. I need to know if that is just dumb luck. I FREAKED the last time I found a snake by my door and it was just a black snake (harmless I was told). Please let me know.
Click to expand...

I would love to know if this works!! Here we have king brown snakes, bite is one of the most venomous in the world. A few days ago found a shedded skin of one on my front step :shkr:
Have placed it near the door to remind me to look before I go out. :D
 
F

FireDance

TB Fanatic
Ozlady said:
I would love to know if this works!! Here we have king brown snakes, bite is one of the most venomous in the world. A few days ago found a shedded skin of one on my front step :shkr:
Have placed it near the door to remind me to look before I go out. :D
Click to expand...


Brrrr. I still have the mantra embeded in my head as a child: WATCH FOR SNAKES!! This was repeated EVERY time we walked outside. (There was good reason for this as the place was infested with moccasins.) And oooo, we were ALWAYS barefoot! Across the ditch, down to the pond, up in the trees - it's a wonder we weren't bitten.

Then, there was the horror story that we were told about Theophilus McCreeless who fell into a pond and into a bed of snakes one summer - I won't go into what happened to Theophilus.

Snakes - just another reason to watch for dimes!
 
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