The New Snark

[mountainmist]

I shot a cotton mouth at the lake a few weeks ago, the same day the neighbor was shooting at a snake 6 shots and he never hit it. They came and got me it was a 5ft black snake on the dock, I picked it up and moved it to a brush pile. I am not a big fan of snakes but if it isn't poisonous then I am fine to let it do its thing.

Good on you! I can't abide people that just shoot snakes for the heck of it, or because they're too ignorant to tell the difference.

Last year we moved to the new place in KY, first day my sister just about grabbed a copperhead, I killed that one. I also killed thirteen others throughout the year. One was on the doorstep and bit my sisters's pant leg! I shot that one with the .22, it blew it into six pieces and the whole thing went flying into the air, about 4 feet. So far this year we haven't seen a single Copperhead. There was that one Blacksnake on my Mother's bed though....

 

[Bladite]

I'm a snake sympathizing sumbitch, but that is the best rationalization for you anti-serpent people that I've heard. You hit all the usual talking points and gave your rebuttal. Nicely done JT.

Thank you for understanding my point of view. Y'all can love 'em as much as you like, that's none of my business. Just keep 'em away from me.



You shoulda been a fly on the wall when Gus and Christine stopped by our place last Christmas time... picture me and him sitting on the sofa, racing to the bottom of a bottle of Four Roses Single Barrel and discussing everything from politics to metallurgy, while our far-more-civilized wives sat on either end of the room just rolling their eyes at us and having an actual intelligent conversation... good times

I don't like snakes. Period. I've been bitten by Texas rat snakes (as shown above - aka chicken snakes), king snakes, coachwhips, garters, and water snakes (similar to cottonmouths, but non-poisonous). I've been struck (but luckily not envenomated) by rattlers and copperheads. One of my cousins nearly died from a copperhead bite and I had a $1K+ vet bill when my blue heeler was bitten in the face by a rattler.

However, I only kill snakes in very limited circumstances:
1) You are a rattlesnake, you die.
2) You are a copperhead, you're dead, too.
3) You are a rock python, anaconda, boa constrictor, or non-native snake, you will be fed a final meal of hollow points.
4) I wake up to find your slithering axx in my bedroom, one of us is gonna be dead.

All other snakes get a pass because they eat rats, mice, voles, shrews, other rodents and a plethora of bugs, which is good, and they are NOT venomous.

life, and esp wildlife is beautiful and should be preservered

unless it's in my house

i have horrified a few people with just how fast i will dispatch certain things, sometimes with evil accuracy.

friend: "eek a <splat>, uhm, mouse. uhm, holy shit dude, you didn't have to kill it, with a knife. from over there..."

 

[TMHunt]

The educational aspect of snark just went up a notch.

Thank you all for the interesting read.

Todd, you know the rules! you can't tell somebody you have a knife for them to buy and NOT post some drool worthy pictures of it!


SuperWW to the hammock! up up and awaaaaaaay

Ask and you shall recieve,

 

[worldwood]

Sweet blade!! Nice presentation box as well!!

 

[TMHunt]

Sweet blade!! Nice presentation box as well!!

Ehh, its a desk knife, used to put on your desk and use for cutting open letters, small, boxes, ribbons and whatnot. Whatever cutting chores you need to do at your desk. I made this one for myself about 4 years ago, used it quite a bit at my desk but havnt in the last year or so. I figured it was time to move it on to someone else that would use/appreciate it. Cbear saw it at blade and liked it awfully well but I couldnt get any deeper in his wallet. Lol, so, I thought the rightful thing to do is to torture him with it here. what are friends for huh?

 

[cbwoods67]

I am okay with snakes as long as I see them first. A few years ago, I was chased by a blue racer across a pasture. It is a rare occasion that I run, but that thing scared the crap out of me.


Todd, sweet knife. Compared to your usual lineup, that looks a little...... dainty. But in a good way.:thumbup:

 

[The Warrior]

Snakes are a good thing. :thumbup:

Sweet little blade Todd.

 

[worldwood]

Cbear saw it at blade and liked it awfully well but I couldnt get any deeper in his wallet. Lol, so, I thought the rightful thing to do is to torture him with it here. what are friends for huh?

With friends like that who needs enemies

Back when i worked in an office my boss had kind of a similar type knife he always kept on his desk. It had a matching pen in the box as well... I wanna say it was a "Buck" or "Case" brand but i may be remembering wrong. The knife was pretty nice, but nothing like the one you got there. And i never once seen him use it or the matching pen LMAO

 

[GSO1962]

Kill it with shotgun blasts and fire!!

I know, I know... snakes are hugely important to the ecosystem, and most of them never come anywhere near harming humans. But sorry dude, when I see one (either a tiny garter snake or a copperhead or a deadly cobra or a goat-swallowing anaconda), it has exactly two choices.... GTFO or die where it stands/slithers/whatever.

I fully understand that my hatred of those awful sons-of-Satan bastards is completely irrational. In my head, I know full well that they're beautiful and amazing and have as much right (probably more) to be on this planet as I do. I certainly don't go out of my way to mess with 'em. But it's a waste of time to convince me to love 'em.

I'm a snake sympathizing sumbitch, but that is the best rationalization for you anti-serpent people that I've heard. You hit all the usual talking points and gave your rebuttal. Nicely done JT.

Thank you for understanding my point of view. Y'all can love 'em as much as you like, that's none of my business. Just keep 'em away from me.

Well said by both of you! Kudos!! I do fall in the sympathizer category myself, though.

I don't like snakes. Period. I've been bitten by Texas rat snakes (as shown above - aka chicken snakes), king snakes, coachwhips, garters, and water snakes (similar to cottonmouths, but non-poisonous). I've been struck (but luckily not envenomated) by rattlers and copperheads. One of my cousins nearly died from a copperhead bite and I had a $1K+ vet bill when my blue heeler was bitten in the face by a rattler.

However, I only kill snakes in very limited circumstances:
1) You are a rattlesnake, you die.
2) You are a copperhead, you're dead, too.
3) You are a rock python, anaconda, boa constrictor, or non-native snake, you will be fed a final meal of hollow points.
4) I wake up to find your slithering axx in my bedroom, one of us is gonna be dead.

All other snakes get a pass because they eat rats, mice, voles, shrews, other rodents and a plethora of bugs, which is good, and they are NOT venomous.

I have a nice scar on my left thumb from a garter snake that I caught while growing up in Missouri. I was maybe 9 years old or so and had caught one and put it in my dad's fish cage. When I tried to pull it out to play, it protested and latched onto the web of my hand. Not the brightest thing I've ever done, but I got it out of the cage attached to my hand. I did let it go after petting it for a bit.

 

[TMHunt]

Well said by both of you! Kudos!! I do fall in the sympathizer category myself, though.



I have a nice scar on my left thumb from a garter snake that I caught while growing up in Missouri. I was maybe 9 years old or so and had caught one and put it in my dad's fish cage. When I tried to pull it out to play, it protested and latched onto the web of my hand. Not the brightest thing I've ever done, but I got it out of the cage attached to my hand. I did let it go after petting it for a bit.

Im not a huge fan of snakes, but black snakes and garter snakes I will pick up. Had countless garter snakes in my back yard. I never knew one that bit. Hell I let the kids play with them.

 

[zzyzzogeton]

I have a nice scar on my left thumb from a garter snake that I caught while growing up in Missouri. I was maybe 9 years old or so and had caught one and put it in my dad's fish cage. When I tried to pull it out to play, it protested and latched onto the web of my hand. Not the brightest thing I've ever done, but I got it out of the cage attached to my hand. I did let it go after petting it for a bit.

My loathing of snakes comes from back when I was 6 or 7 years old and was gathering eggs. One row of nests was just a little too high for me to see into the back of it, and when I reached in for an egg, I came out with a 3 foot chicken snake (aka Texas rat snake) attached to my hand. It hurt like hell, got infected and I still have a faint scar 50+ years later. Still, I don't willy-nilly take out rat snakes. Just poisonous ones and non-natives.

 

[Psyop]

It was sort of a sawed off shotgun, a Taurus Judge with a .410 shell

 

[worldwood]

I have had several pet snakes. Corn, Garter, Milk, Ring neck, And several pythons. Last python i had was just 2-3 years ago, until he bit into my finger, still have that scar. After he bit me once he went pyscho and tried to bite me every time i put my hand in the cage. Before that i was holding him about every day. He was fed excellently, Mice were super cheap and i loved watching him eat so he prolly ate more than he should... I didnt understand why he just snapped one day, but i decided then i was done keeping snakes.

I gave him to a guy that never planned on holding him. He had built a huge display case and wanted him as art. He had these neat tubes built in so he could drop in food in several different spots... The display was huge taking up an entire wall. It had separate sections he could open and close from the outside as well. He normally kept them all open until he wanted to clean the cage, then he could lure the snake to whatever side he wanted with a mouse. It was a sweet setup. He planned it out well so he wouldnt need to ever touch it. I explained to him it got aggressive but he watched him eat one time and had to have him. I have had several pythons. And other snakes as well... But NONE ate like the last one. Most would strike, latch on, and begin swallowing it hole.... This one though would strike then throw the mouse into the side of the cage and then strike again, before it started to constrict and swallow it. It was awesome to watch.

My first snake was a Ringneck back when i was 13 or so. A buddy found him by the school and gave him to me. When he first seen it he thought it was a worm moving quick LMAO

When i got him he was this size... Not my picture

The coolest snake i had was the garter snake. He loved being held by everyone and when he got bigger id take him into our above ground pool and swim with him, he was awesome in the water. He would take a few laps and then swim right back to me and go straight up my arm around my neck.

 

[Guyon]

Ehh, its a desk knife, used to put on your desk and use for cutting open letters, small, boxes, ribbons and whatnot. Whatever cutting chores you need to do at your desk. I made this one for myself about 4 years ago, used it quite a bit at my desk but havnt in the last year or so. I figured it was time to move it on to someone else that would use/appreciate it. Cbear saw it at blade and liked it awfully well but I couldnt get any deeper in his wallet. Lol, so, I thought the rightful thing to do is to torture him with it here. what are friends for huh?

I'd email him pictures daily.

 

[bigghoss]

life, and esp wildlife is beautiful and should be preservered

unless it's in my house

i have horrified a few people with just how fast i will dispatch certain things, sometimes with evil accuracy.

friend: "eek a <splat>, uhm, mouse. uhm, holy shit dude, you didn't have to kill it, with a knife. from over there..."

Oh yeah, mice gotta go. A dude at work caught a mouse the other day and then let it go outside, and not very far from the building either. I told him that thing is just gonna come right back inside.

Ask and you shall recieve,

Very nice work, as usual.


I don't care for snakes but I suppose there's not much point in killing one that isn't causing a problem. I do recall one time I was out at a guy's farm when we cam across a rattle snake in the weeds. It went down an embankment towards a stream but the guy that owned the place had little kids as well as several animals so we couldn't let it go. I grabbed a tire iron to dispatch the snake and handed it to another guy who went after it. Now imagine if you will, a 50 year old 6'4" heavyset cowboy skiing down a small hill in cowboy boots holding a tire iron over his head then swinging at a snake that's trying to hide in some tall weeds. He got it but it wasn't until it was dead did we realize it was just a bull snake, but they want you to think they're rattle snakes so it was his own fault. If we had realized it was just a bull snake we'd have let it live.

 

[Dexwithers]

Yea, I'm not a big fan of snakes either. I used to hate them. Grew up in the swamps of LA so we always had them in our yard. Along with alligators.

Back in college I had a friend who was moving and asked if I wanted his ball python. I said sure, I hate snakes and what better way to get over my fear. I got so used to it that I would take him with me everywhere I went and would let him ride around my neck while driving. lol. I had a nice crown royal bag I would let him crawl up in when I would go into stores and stuff. Got kicked out of a few places cause some old ladies or something would complain and act all scared. Anyway, I went out of town hunting for a week or two one time and my roommate was supposed to take care of him, and well he didn't make it.

Oh, and Larry, that was his name, got loose at a hotel I was staying at for my cousins wedding and I spent a good hour turning that room upside down trying to find him all while praying that he didn't squeeze under the double door into some other guests room. haha. I finally found him curled up inside of the dresser or something. Good times indeed.

A few years later I wanted to get another one since I really did enjoy having a snake. I found one from a guy and it was about the same size as my last one. I got the nice reptile enclosure and all that. But it just wasn't the same. This guy wasn't as nice and did try biting me a couple of times. Not sure why tho. I did give it time and try to handle him a few times a day to get him used to me but I just never felt the connection so I gave him away.

 

[james terrio]

My wife's aunt is only a year older than her, so they grew up more like sisters or cousins, very close. Anyhow one time when they were little they were goofing around out in the yard and came upon the coolest bunch of neat-looking "worms" they ever saw. So of course they got to playing with 'em and petting 'em and showing 'em off, la de da, how fun. Apparently Granny just about had a heart attack when she saw and realized they weren't worms at all... but baby rattlesnakes

When it's hot and muggy, salads and fruit are the way to go for sure. Right now we have more greens and onions and radishes and whatnot than we know what do with anyway, so we're chowin down like rabbits.

Speaking of rabbits, the little rascals were doing a number on our pole beans, but now that everything is grown up a bit we opened the gate and let the dogs roam around on the garden side. They're not digging anything up and they seem to have pretty much taken care of the bunny issue... :thumbup:

Just heard that a farm opened in Ohio that is going to raise crickets for human consumption. They're going to grind them into flour and use that to make chips called "chirps".

Eeewwww! :barf:

 

[Murphnuge]

I'd email him pictures daily.

Or let me do it.

 

[Guyon]

If you want it to sell, you should probably hold off on the crotch shot.

 

[worldwood]

Neko would love "taking care" of them rabbits James He almost got himself a low flying bird yesterday. I thought the people on the shiba forum were exaggerating, but when these dogs get ready they have some amazing speed and agility.

Neko still doesnt get along with any other dogs or cats that come by him unless slowly introduced. Of course he mostly only sees other animals when im walking him or at a park. And i dont take him to the park anymore because of how aggressive he can get. He will try to go after any dog or cat he sees, start a low growl then bark and show his teeth. And thats the only time i EVER have to get loud with him. Once i do raise my voice and tell him to quit it and calm down, he does though, he still dont look happy until we are a good distance away from other animals and if one comes back too close to him too quick he is back biting and showing his teeth....

But my wife's aunt brought her 10 year old chocolate lab over and at first Neko wanted to bite him too, but once we spent a good 15 minutes slowly introducing them Neko was fine and playing happily with the lab. So as long as he is slowly introduced he is fine.

Me and the dog are a lot alike... I dont like people i dont know and want to be left alone too LMAO