Who knew they did this.......

E

EVERLAST

New member
Copperheads

Northwest GA ridges are warm rocky shelves for the Copperheads to lie up and get warm before going down to hunt the plentyful rodents.

I have never seen a Rattlesnake in the wild. But believe you me I have seen
Hundreds of Coppereheads and big ones too. 34-36" and thick.

My grandpa said that
"Rattlers should be called the "Gentlemansnake"
... because at least he will warn you...
Copperheads act like you owe them money."
 
H

HiBC

New member
A friend e-mailed me a series of pix about an ordeal a young man suffered.He sat down on a rock,dangled his hand,and was bit in the web of his hand by a small rattler.He was with a group,and received prompt medical attention.The way the venom makes a muscle swell inside the sheath,I saw the pix,clear to his shoulder they had to split open his arm,then each muscle had to be opened up lengthwise.It was horrific.His arm looked like a butcher case display.They had to do some serious reconstructive surgery to give him a hand he could use.I was redesigned some.
I'm sure glad she wasn't bit.
 
H

Hunter Customs

New member
What caliber/gauge do you use for them mushrooms? I hear they can be pretty ornery in the springtime...





I know, I know... But I couldn't resist.
Click to expand...

50 BMG works real well but a quad 50 works even better.:D:D:D

Best Regards
Bob Hunter
 
H

Hunter Customs

New member
My grandpa said that
"Rattlers should be called the "Gentlemansnake"
... because at least he will warn you...
Copperheads act like you owe them money."
Click to expand...

I agree with your grandpa.

My experience with the rattlers is they either warn you or try to get away.
However in the dog days of August when they are shedding they can be on the cranky side.

Now copperheads they seem to be up to no good all the time and love to lay and wait for you to come and visit.

Best Regards
Bob Hunter
 
E

egor20

New member
My grandpa said that
"Rattlers should be called the "Gentlemansnake"
... because at least he will warn you...
Copperheads act like you owe them money."

+1 to your grandpa

I might add that:
Water Moccasins act like you slept with their wife. :eek:
:D
 
T

TXGunNut

New member
More and more rattlesnakes around here don't rattle much, some timber rattlers don't even have rattles. Theory is that hogs eat the ones that rattle. My theory is that the pygmy rattler was hunting the birds that were after the same fruit OP's wife was after, hunting over bait is something we don't have a monopoly on. Never had a copperhead give me much of a bad time, I've smelled the odor they give off when disturbed and I know when there's one around.
Water moccasins/cotton mouths are another story. Always aggressive, fearless, and cranky. Only snake I'll kill on sight.
 
B

bil

New member
I have killed my fair share of pygmys, having been born and raised in Florida, but the snake that scared me most was the non-pygmy, 6-footer that struck me, THEN started to rattle!!
My bird dog musta stirred him up some and then I came along behind. Thank goodness for birdshot and snake boots, cause that smartassnake got scattered as far as three and a reload could spread him!
Followed by a real close inspection of my quiverin' leg and the inside of my venom-spattered boot.
That was 44 years ago and I remember that palmetto field like it was yesterday. Didn't hit a quail the rest of the day. (Talk about hunting over bait - palmettos filled with quail and rabbit.:eek:)
bil
 
J

jimbob86

Moderator
Re: Arboreal snakes

I have seen bullsnakes cleaning out Redwing Blackbird nests in flooded cattail stands...... I think snakes will go wherever there is food and shelter.
 
H

hartlock

Moderator
I have known since an early age to always look for rattlesnakes when
picking wild berries. My grandmother used to tell me stories about
her sister and herself, picking dew berries and about all the rattlesnakes
that would be around the berry bushes. I think most every country
kid in Texas had learned this lesson by the time they were old enough
to go out in the woods. Of course, the snakes were there for the birds
that came to "pick the berries", too! :)
 
D

Double Naught Spy

New member
More and more rattlesnakes around here don't rattle much, some timber rattlers don't even have rattles. Theory is that hogs eat the ones that rattle.
Click to expand...

This is an internet rumor. It is a story propogated by a picture with an email and the two do not go together. This email has subsequently made it into several forums and blogs.
http://www.shaggybevo.com/board/showthread.php/83951-West-Texas-Rattlesnake-Population-Boom

One guy in Arizona thinks that the snakes have stopped rattling because because they know they are being hunted by humans, LOL.
http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/snakes/a/Rattlesnakes-Not-Rattling.htm

Other herpetologists dismiss the whole thing as a myth. Stephane Poulin, Curator of Herpetology at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum in Tucson, says he he's noticed no major changes in rattlesnake behavior over the past quarter-century. "Overall, rattlesnakes just don't rattle very often," he explained in an Associated Press interview. "Most of the time they use their camouflage and try not to be seen." Another naysayer is biologist Randy Babb of the Arizona Game and Fish Department, who says the existing research suggests rattlesnakes simply don't rattle that much in the first place. According to Keith Boesen of Arizona's Poison and Drug Information Center, there's no evidence that rattlesnakes striking without warning constitutes a "recent phenomenon."
Click to expand...

About 1995, my major professor was struck by a large rattlesnake in the Mimbres Valley of SW New Mexico while giving a tour on a remote piece of property. There was no warning. This is long before all the hoopla about hogs and overhunting somehow causing the snakes to all of a sudden jointly stop rattling very often. He was struck in the shoe where the snake's fangs got stuck in the rubber and Harry danced around until the snake went flying off.

Rattlesnakes don't rattle unless they are distressed as by being startled, angered, or scared.
 
C

Colorado Redneck

New member
Quiet rattlers

I have nearly stepped on rattle snakes a couple of times. In this neck of the woods the rattlers are prairie rattlers. Both times the snake was quiet and was lying kind of stretched out. Both times my foot came down within inches of the damned things. Evidenly they didn't feel threatened.

Another time on a spring evening I was driving out of the foothills well after dark and there was a fairly large old rattler lying in the gravel road. I pulled up really slow and when I was next to it but about 5-6 feet from the snake it suddenly started toward my truck, and started striking before it was close enough to hit anything. And it kept on striking! Maybe it didn't like Dodge trucks.:D Anyway, his rattles are still in my desk drawer.
 
O

Old Grump

Member in memoriam
I have nearly stepped on rattle snakes a couple of times. In this neck of the woods the rattlers are prairie rattlers. Both times the snake was quiet and was lying kind of stretched out. Both times my foot came down within inches of the damned things. Evidenly they didn't feel threatened.
Click to expand...

I did step on a rattle snake and it still didn't rattle. Without even knowing why I made a leap and came down about 8' away. Looked back to see what startled me and it was a Western Diamond Back about 3 - 3 1/2' long with a flat spot in the middle where I must have stepped on it. It was outside the fence of the dog pound at White Sands Missile Range in the gravel and the dang thing was nearly invisible till he moved.

It wasn't uncommon for me to see 3 or 4 different kind of rattle snakes every time I made one of my little hikes in the desert or mountains, the biggest by far was another Western Diamond Back 6' or a little bigger and as thick around as my arm. It had been eating real good. In all my walks I never had to do anything to defend myself from a rattler and never felt threatened by them. But I did carry a walking stick and I routinely gave them lots of room. After all, there was a lot of desert and if that snake wanted that particular piece of ground it was no problem finding another piece close by just as convenient to walk on.
 
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