While I may be among the last people that should be saying something against this post, let's not get the thread closed because we dragged religion into a query about snakes and our relation to them as outdoorsmen. As a reminder there are certain beliefs and religions that hold the snake in high regard and there is no assumption to believe everyone on the high road follows the Judeo-Christian view of them.Genesis 3:14
The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life.
I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
The hatred of serpents goes back a long way.
You can literally call it what you want. Not my issue. You can have your snakes. I’ll keep putting holes in them. I care more about my shepherds than I do a cottonmouth. I care more about my kid playing in the yard than I do a baby copperhead. A venomous snake that is hard to see is easy to step on. A venomous snake that gets stepped on is going to bite most of the time. I’m not taking chances with them. They die. Period.
I'm sure snakes keep the rodent population in check, but I'd rather face a room full of rats than snakes. Afraid I suffer from ophidiophobia, only cure is a fully loaded firearm.
We routinely find them while hunting, blend in quite well.
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Where I live, it is illegal to kill most of the snakes that I might encounter. So killing them, even if I was like so many of the above, afraid of them, would be poaching.
But since I'm not a scardy cat and not a poacher, I live and let live.
Just sayin'.......
The woods are my yard. One big piece of property. I’ve spent most of my life hunting and fishing. I’m comfortable in the woods. I’ve just got enough sense to remove creatures that can seriously hurt or kill me without ever being seen. You do your thing. I’ll do mine.Be nice if you actually read the post above. Clearly said that in your yard is different from going into the woods. The idea that you think anyone cares more about a snake than a dog or your wife is insane and no one said any such thing. Hopefully if you are that concerned about your dogs and wife, with the fear that you do have, then it might be a good idea to stay out of the woods, Forrest and swamps. That kind of fear and a firearm just do not mix. At least, hopefully you do not hunt the same neck of the woods I am in.My gosh, with the amount of snakes we have, you slinging lead all over the place would sound like a small war going on.
The Link in the first thread was sent my the Virginia Wildlife Commission. They sent the message to make people aware of them and ask folks to just avoid them rather than kill them in their natural habitat. They did not say anything about YOUR yard.
In your own yard, shoot till your heart is content. Fill em full of holes. Lol.
I let the non poisonous ones slither on.
Catch the poisonous ones and relocate them to some one else.
Like any other snake if you want to kill it. Birdshot to the head at close range gets it done. I have a couple rounds stored next to my Mrs. FL-NC's single shot 410 if I find another dangerous reptile around the house.What gun for Pythons??? I'm sure somebody'll say "a Colt Python, of course." Actually, I was thinking Anaconda. Go big.
Me relocating copperheads from my folks' pool box...
The woods are my yard. One big piece of property. I’ve spent most of my life hunting and fishing. I’m comfortable in the woods. I’ve just got enough sense to remove creatures that can seriously hurt or kill me without ever being seen. You do your thing. I’ll do mine.
It’s quite simple, the land I hunt is land I own. Seeing as how I am paying for the place I’ll do as I damned well please when it comes to getting rid of nuisance animals. Wild pigs, coyotes and venomous snakes die on sight. The only other place I hunt is owned by a veterinarian whom treats a dozen or so snakebites a year. He has the same standing rule. Nonvenomous snakes get a pass. Venomous snakes die. You do things differently and that’s your perogative.Again, I get it. You kill Poisonous snakes in your yard. But if you are going beyond your yard, do you go looking for them to kill? And if you come across one in particular, then you probably walked by 10 more that you did not see. But if you have spent a lot of time in the woods as you say, then you would know this. I understand having a fear like "ophidiophobia" but just going out into the woods and just killing any snake is really just not right and totally unnecessary. Killing the random snake in the woods is going to accomplishes nothing. Nothing except some personable pleasure or unwarranted fear.
Yes, when I do go hunting I will do my thing and leave any snake alone. I guess you can do your thing and just kill them. But I am trying to figure out what makes you think, you can kill any wildlife beyond your yard based on your personal preference?
Some folks hate chickens. Do you kill every thing you hate? There are a lot of folks like yourself. Yes, they will come into the Forrest and Yes, kill any snake and does not matter much to them Poisonous or not. Most will not even take the time to find out. Some think the snapping turtle just getting some sun of a log is just a fee target for any fool with a gun. I guess they can justify with killing them with some kind of hate. When I was a kid. I saw a guy on a boat take out a shotgun and shoot off about 30 yards away to blow apart a Water Snake. I thought it looked beautiful and so natural in the early morning hour, just gracefully gliding along the surface. Just doing what was natural for him, out to get a fish or frog for Breakfast. Watching this jerk kill it, made me sick to my stomach. There are times when I wish that some of these people, when they pass on, come back as a Snake. What a Poetic justice that would be.All snakes die around me, end of discussion. If I'm at home they get a .22 or a cotton hoe. In the woods, they get whatever I've got in my hand from a .22 to an '06. I hate snakes with a passion. The only good one is a dead one, especially when it's in my chicken house or around my garden.
Mac
Some folks hate chickens. Do you kill every thing you hate? There are a lot of folks like yourself. Yes, they will come into the Forrest and Yes, kill any snake and does not matter much to them Poisonous or not. Most will not even take the time to find out. Some think the snapping turtle just getting some sun of a log is just a fee target for any fool with a gun. I guess they can justify with killing them with some kind of hate. When I was a kid. I saw a guy on a boat take out a shotgun and shoot off about 30 yards away to blow apart a Water Snake. I thought it looked beautiful and so natural in the early morning hour, just gracefully gliding along the surface. Just doing what was natural for him, out to get a fish or frog for Breakfast. Watching this jerk kill it, made me sick to my stomach. There are times when I wish that some of these people, when they pass on, come back as a Snake. What a Poetic justice that would be.