First rattlesnake experience!

I took a field bath/shower with a large rattler coiled up just 10 feet from me during a rotation out at Fort Irwin, California; I kept spitting water on him to get him to leave, but he was too comfortable:D My only concern would be the pooch; my dog now wouldn't leave the snake alone and would most likely get bit:eek:. I use to just use a stick to pin their head down, pick them up (carefully) and relocate them. Reptiles are just awesome and most do taste quite good. Too bad the rattler ended your over-nighter.

When we lived in Texas, we either slep in tents or hammocks...I didn't have the balls to sleep in the open with the scorpions and rattlers that were quite prevalent!

ROCK6
 
It's not good to go out to enjoy the wild and then kill something because it scares you! Snakes are incredible afraid of humans and if you let it know you are there next time without any physical contact to aggravate the poor thing it would likely just slither away.
 
WalterDavis said:
...Gathered some wood, cooked some steak and potatoes (and enjoyed them immensely:thumbup:),

...and set up camp just as the sun went down...

...Contented, I laid on a rock, listening to some music and watcing the stars...
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Sounds like you had a great experience, :thumbup: :cool: :thumbup:



...the encounter with the rattler only makes it more memorable. :eek:






Big Mike
 
They are fairly rare around here. I'd hate to kill one. But if I was in an area polluted with them like some of y'all I might go for it.:rolleyes:
 
I don't blame you Walt, under the circumstances I would probably have done the same thing. Sounds like you still had a better weekend than I had though.
 
i go hiking at storm king mountain near west point a lot, and there are rattlers in some places. never been bit (duh, im still here).
I find they leave you alone.
 
zhangmaster12 said:
...i go hiking at storm king mountain near west point a lot, and there are rattlers in some places.
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Yes, :thumbup: ...there are lots of rattlers up on the rocky ridges in the Hundon Highlands and Taconic Range.

When conditions are right (like a warm spring day) you can often see many out laying in the sunshine.


I have seen more rattlers in one day there then I ever encountered hiking in the South West.





Big Mike
 
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Shot my first rattlesnake when I was ten years old and that was many decades ago. By the time I was 25 I'd encountered thousands (yes, thousands) of rattlers living in South Texas and spending summers at a large ranch in northern Mexico. Most were taken with .22 rifles, but we'd use sling shots, long sticks and occasionally a .410. Killing rattlesnakes is really pretty stupid for many reasons but then I was a dumb young fellow and grew up in a family of ranchers and woodsmen who killed every snake they encountered. My uncle was bit by a rattlesnake when he was a boy and that story was told over and again in my family.
1) Rattlers won't always rattle before they strike.
2) Don't freeze (like in the movies) when you come in close to a rattler. Jump out of the way and you'll likely not get bit.
3) Rattlers don't strike as often as some would have you believe. They are judicious in their strikes, but when they go for it then they've got you zeroed.
4) A small rattler will go for broke. A big rattler will gauge his venom release. So a small rattler can often deliver more venom.
5) Even a close encounter with a rattlesnake can ruin your day. Years ago a friend and I ran into 19 big rattlers in one afternoon. We got back to the house suffering from what can only be described as shell shock.
 
Saw some crows pestering a rattlesnake by the side of the road once.
I drove by in a flatbed chevy and that snake struck and hit the the bed of the truck 3 1/2 feet off the ground. I stopped with my trusty shovel and had a great little rodeo, the snake was about 4 ft long and mad as hell. when I got close enough to smack him with the shovel he struck and almost got my hand. we did that dance for a few minutes until I finally threw a couple shovels full of dirt on him to pin him down then I whacked him. that was the liveliest larger snake I ever encountered and having grown up in rural arizona farm land I've seen a bunch of rattlesnakes. That one didn't know the rule that he could only jump three quarters of his length.
 
ROCK6 said:
I took a field bath/shower with a large rattler coiled up just 10 feet from me during a rotation out at Fort Irwin, California; I kept spitting water on him to get him to leave, but he was too comfortable:D My only concern would be the pooch; my dog now wouldn't leave the snake alone and would most likely get bit:eek:. I use to just use a stick to pin their head down, pick them up (carefully) and relocate them. Reptiles are just awesome and most do taste quite good. Too bad the rattler ended your over-nighter.

When we lived in Texas, we either slep in tents or hammocks...I didn't have the balls to sleep in the open with the scorpions and rattlers that were quite prevalent!

ROCK6
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Thats cause you are an officer:p When I was on Hood, we just slept on the ground...usually, it was the ANTS that made life suck.
One of our guys did get bit by a Brown Recluse, and suffered alot of scarring on his neck and throat. That was a bad deal.
the scorpions just hurt alot, like a super bee.
 
awesome story. I just had a snake experience today at camp! Non venomous though.

_joe
 
My neighbor just dropped off a yellow timber. :) He's in the living room. :thumbup:
 
Lycosa said:
My neighbor just dropped off a yellow timber. :) He's in the living room. :thumbup:
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Dead or alive? If alive, I suggest trying to get along with your neighbors a little better:p
 
JCavSD said:
He was a smart man. I have nothing against them and leave them alone in the boonies, but if they're in my yard or workplace then off with their heads.
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That was the context he told us in-he lived on a huge family farm in Kentucky and with all the little cousins and siblings he had running around the older kids would hit the fields with flathead shovels and come back with 10-15 snakes at a time. He said it was a daily factor, you learn how to avoid, move or kill them in relative safety and get on with life. As muscular as they are they make for good survival food (Even though it takes an hour to pick all the meat from the bones) so I wouldn't totally write off taking them.
 
WalterDavis said:
Call me chicken, but I split:o Packed up camp, put out the fire and headed for the house. That snake was just a little too close to camp for comfort, and I really didn't know what to do to keep him away without killing him (or him killing me or my dog). I figured that nobody knew where I was, and at over an hour from town if either of us got bit it could be pretty bad.



How was everyone else's weekend?
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I think I would have done the same, packed up and called it a night, probably wouldn't have slept much had you stayed.
I hike a lot here in Ohio, not a lot of vast expanses, If you walk straight for an hour you'll pop out somewhere but none the less, whether I'm going down to the local fishing hole or where ever, I always try and let someone know where I'm going to be. You never know what might happen. My 2 cents
 
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Saw this one at the campground a couple weeks ago.
 
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