Farm Life

David, do you cook them anymore? I've had them cut in steaks and grilled, put in gumbo, and even rattlesnake ravioli. I wonder if they would make good sausage?
 
Not anymore. We mostly fried them like chicken back then. They were not bad. DM
 
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we only have eastern diamond backs and pygmy rattlers down here. also coral and cotton mouths or water moccasins. there are two other rattlers in the state, canebreak and southern copperhead, but not where i am. rest are harmless. cant stand any of them. if they show up and hang around by the time i come back with my shovel and machete....... i put 'em down. if they flee before i get back, they live. i highly dislike snakes.
 
jb, I've seen all those snakes you mention when I lived in E. Texas. I was blessed by not getting bite by one. My uncle did while fencing a pasture( a copperhead). His wife just happened to look out and see him staggering and rushed him to help. Here in the SW I've been bit 2 times by Diamondback rattlers. Once on my hand, but the glove shielded it's penetration. Then the same thing 5 years later on my leather boot. Same thing with my wife (once). I'm grateful we were lucky. So, we must watch and be vigilant because of where we live and who we share the environment with. DM
 
I was wading in a shallow river in MS and saw a branch coming sideways down the current towards me. I tried to step over it and the 'branch' wrapped itself around my hind foot. At one and the same moment I realized it was a cottonmouth and with the adrenalin surge snap kicked it behind me and off my leg. The snake left two long red scratches down my ankle but I did not get any venom. Whew!
 
David Martin said:
jb, I've seen all those snakes you mention when I lived in E. Texas. I was blessed by not getting bite by one. My uncle did while fencing a pasture( a copperhead). His wife just happened to look out and see him staggering and rushed him to help. Here in the SW I've been bit 2 times by Diamondback rattlers. Once on my hand, but the glove shielded it's penetration. Then the same thing 5 years later on my leather boot. Same thing with my wife (once). I'm grateful we were lucky. So, we must watch and be vigilant because of where we live and who we share the environment with. DM
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yes Sir. i've been lucky. never been bit yet, knock on wood. run into plenty in the swamps and woods but luckily most snakes are shy and flee. my wifes uncle has a small cattle farm in north florida. he's from texas. he loves true angus. he dislikes snakes more than i do. he believes they serve no purpose now, but trouble. when he sees a moccasin swimming in their pond....he calls for his wife and she leans out their kitchen window with her .22 pistol and puts it down. shes a great shot at 30 yards or so. it's a bit shocking if you are in the kitchen the first time ya see it happen. great people though. will give ya the shirt off their back.
 
New guy here and I really enjoyed reading this string. I live in an area that was covered with poultry farms until about 10 years ago. As you mention feed attracts rodents, and rodents attract snakes.

Not trying to be a "Safety Sally", and I'm sure it is common knowledge to you David (and others), but as far as dead rattlers go, be sure to pin down that head or better yet lop it off before anyone sets a knife to the rattle as a trophy. No matter how dead you think it is, it will snap back on you. A lot of folks know how to kill a snake, but alot of folks don't know that rattlers have for lack of a better term, a "strike reflex" in it's tail.

Thanks again for the insight into your project.
 
River, thanks for visiting us in the Buck Forum. And chiming in on this topic. A guy told me he had been bit in the manner you describe. We was wearing a work glove but one fang penetrated. A day in the hospital and lots of shots later.-- He felt lucky. We use these items on poisonous snakes around our farm. But not all. Some I let live, namely the Regal Ring-neck. Google it as we have them and they are very deadly. But have a small mouth and are hard to see. The Chicken snakes, Bull snakes and King snakes I'll capture and relocate. I reload the .357 shot caps and my wife loves them. One shot and the affair is over, without precise aiming, low recoil and no ricochet of a big bullet hitting expensive livestock. DM
 
I drool over those drop point club knives every time you post them, David.
I've also been admiring your millennium trapper, and was fortunate enough to pick one up off of the auction site. Just got it today, and I've gotta tell you....It's HUGE!! I expected it to be a bit on the big side, but I was honestly shocked at its size. NIB with nice snap to the blades. Beautiful piece of cutlery.
I've got an extra leather 110 sheath lying around, and I think I may carry it in that. Not sure how it'll work for front pocket carry. Maybe back pocket next to my wallet.
Anyways, just thought I would share. I was pretty excited to find one, especially in new condition. I'm normally a smaller knife person, but I think I'll see what this one can do.

John
 
soldier, can you post a photo of your 334 Trapper? I'm glad you were able to snag one. Let us know what you think of it after using it. I carry mine in a 110 sheath and it fits. Thank you, DM
 
David Martin said:
soldier, can you post a photo of your 334 Trapper? I'm glad you were able to snag one. Let us know what you think of it after using it. I carry mine in a 110 sheath and it fits. Thank you, DM
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Thanks for the info regarding the sheath.
I'll see what I can do about posting photos. I need to open an account with photobucket, flickr, etc. and then I can start uploading some.

John
 
Good luck with the photos. It's a pain but once you do it a few times it is more comfortable. DM
 
David,
I've been away from the "Farm" for a little while now, but visited again today.

Just as I was introduced to Buck knives late this summer, your Farm Life chats have just introduced me to the world of snakes. What you said (in bold below) really caught my eye, especially noting "we and snakes share the environment where we live." Reminder that I was raised just 6 miles west of downtown Chicago, and most of my life has been spent in metropolitan areas. As a kid, the only snake I came in contact with was a garter snake. These were pretty common in the fields around the house we lived in before the neighborhoods were built up. Because I didn't know any better, I'm glad they were/are a harmless snake.

Second snake I "met" was when living in KS about 15 years ago. Fortunately it was another harmless snake -- a blue racer. Actually, it "met" my wife head on. We lived then in a small rural town, had a large double lot with a lot of high grasses and open fields near our house. My wife was hanging clothes one morning, and I recall the lawn was pretty high at that time. She rarely yells for any reason, but when she probably stepped on the blue racer, it bit her ankle, and her yell was quite distinctive! Also those four fang marks on both sides of her ankle are well-remembered. She had told me she heard its rattle, which (I afterwards learned) is one characteristic of this snake's defense. Because I didn't know what kind of snake bit her, I had to take it out, and brought it, and her, to our local vet. We were quite relieved it wasn't venomous, so the subsequent visit to the doctor was at least not an emergency.

Yup, this mostly city-dweller was surprised at the chats about snakes on this Farm Life page. Seems like there are as many varieties of snakes -- both harmless and dangerous -- as there are Buck knives. Again, I enjoy your on-going thread very much. I'm learning a lot.

Take good care...Bozhidar


David Martin said:
jb, I've seen all those snakes you mention when I lived in E. Texas. I was blessed by not getting bite by one. My uncle did while fencing a pasture( a copperhead). His wife just happened to look out and see him staggering and rushed him to help. Here in the SW I've been bit 2 times by Diamondback rattlers. Once on my hand, but the glove shielded it's penetration. Then the same thing 5 years later on my leather boot. Same thing with my wife (once). I'm grateful we were lucky. So, we must watch and be vigilant because of where we live and who we share the environment with. DM
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Some winter weather moved in during the night. With this wind, we're glad we still have electricity. I'm beating out a path, to the wood barn, keeping the house warm. DM
 
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