Determining age of rattle snakes?

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Rattlesnake under 4 years old tastes kinda funny... like rattlesnake.
Over 4 years it tastes kinda odd... like rattlesnake.
Probably doesn't help you out much but NONE of it tastes like chicken...CHICKEN tastes like chicken
 
I had one take a strike at me while hunting at night. I was walking out to a wounded rabbit in the sand hills using the truck's headlights. I had walked past it on the way to the rabbit and gotten its attention. It made the strike on the way back. It missed. I didn't.

BTW, it never made a sound.
 
I agree about eating snakes, they taste a lot like snake. The ones around here don't get very big, to skin one out to eat they look a lot like you filleted a fish and threw the fillet away and kept the part with all the bones. Takes a good sized snake to make much of a meal.

I've had one dog bit in the face in that yard (almost died but for a fast trip to the vet), had one snake IN the house, one under the porch steps I discovered in the dark as I came home and stepped on that step, one in the door of the garage that I'd stepped over going in and only saw on ther way out, several others in the yard, several in the road right by the house, alomost stepped on or very near many in Az and here in Wyoming. Did I mention that most I've seen weren't ever going to get any older after I saw them?

I hate snakes.


BTW, 44 birdshot is hard on the floor, but the results are worth it.
 
Lacy

I had doberman-cross that was bitten on the snout by a rattlesnake when she was a pup (around three months old). We were out in the country and no way to get to a vet and had heard the old wives' tale that if a dog is bitten ahead of the front feet, its chances of survival are pretty good, so we didn't really do anything but watch her. Her head swelled impressively, but she never slowed down. She'd just go over to a five gallon bucket of water and dunk her head periodically to cool it off. Three days later there was nothing left except the puncture wounds that would indicate she was bitten I had her for fifteen years.
 
Do you guys shoot rattlesnakes on sight?

I don't unless they are around the house. When out and about in the wild I let em go. I figure I'm not ever going to shoot enough of them to make a dent and for the most part a rattler is a docile harmless snake. In other words they don't come looking for trouble and need to be provoked either on purpose or by accident to strike.

I am fascinated by snakes and only kill them if the need arises like when my wife comes flying out of the barn yelling RATTLER! Then I am duty bound to dispatch the snake. :D

Two years ago I had a green mamba crawl within inches of me. I was in the Kwa Zulu Natal during March which is a hot month up in northen RSA. We had sat on a large pile of rocks in the hilly country of Natal and were glassing some wildebeast. Some movement caught my eye to my right. It was a long green mamba slithering out of a hole in the rocks right by my right elbow. I froze knowing that was the best bet.

The mamba slithered past me around my outstretched feet and disapeared into the grass ahead. Once she was gone I went back to glassing. On the ride back to camp my tracker a Zulu tribesman from the area asked my if I'd "seen theese snaake". I said I'd had. His reply was "theese snake verrry deadly". And then went back to scanning the country side for game. Not another word was said on the two hour ride back to camp. :)

I don't shot em unless I have to. I guess it's a weird quark. ;)
 
Age

I've seen a lot of really big Diamond Backs with only 1 or 2 segments of rattle.
Rattle count has nothing to do with age. The more segments there are, the more noise they make, I guess We should be grateful for the warning.
I've seen small Cottonmouth Moccassins hanging in bushes several feet off the ground, I guess hunting birds. or tree frogs. You've just got to pay attention.
 
I don't "just shoot" snakes. Now if I or someone is in danger, or possible danger I will. I have gone out and "cleared" a farm pond so kids could bream fish and not get bit...and we adults keep watch for snakes...

I had a problem once trying to re-locate some snakes...once dead they re-located much easier. :p

I learned a 40 yr old female...well " I didn't know I could still run and climb a tree" . Tip: Do NOT take a picture of this type of "situation". Seems like being lady-like in a skirt was not a priority at the time... :D

Well sometimes when you blow up a beaver dam, the water mocs gets a bit riled...I will re-state for those whom has missed me saying so - I don't care if the word "Marine" is on the 870 - these Marine 870's don't float, trust me, I checked this twice...

One of the Gunny's I had back in the day, was real 'particualr' about some stuff. Great guy, sense of humor. He would do stuff like " ready on the right/ left and then fire a handgun...before the "commence firing" order. Best to not flinch, and let off a shot. He would also take a glass of ice water "almost " to the brim, place at back of neck on a hot summer day. He was testing one's prone position. That ice water is mighty cold.

So we learned to watch six, have eyes in back of heads, and peripheral vision was really tweaked.

So he gives the "ready on right...left..." and this time he tossed some small garden snakes onto the blankets before the "commence firing".

Yeah buddy , only myself and one other shooter ( a girl) kept our cool, our poise, and waited for the "commence"...damn snake slithering about my elbow, sling elbow...all locked in...

The rest had jumped up, and stepping and fetching...Gunny stifled a grin..." since ya'll in the mood to wiggle around, grab them rifles, make safe and run up the road a few times.... ":D

Now I did learn the Mrs. Gunny was tougher than a Gunny. Oh yeah. See I was at Gunny's house and he put a rattler in the fridge in the garage to keep until he could take to taxidermist. He forgot to tell the wifey.

Wifey came home while we were out back, she went to put stuff in the fridge...I mean Gunny came to attention, "Yes-Ma'am" , " Right away Ma'am". We went to the Taxidermist post haste...

:D
 
Do you guys shoot rattlesnakes on sight?
Click to expand...


Yep!!

If it crawls, it dies. They're all coppermouthrattlemoccasins in my book.

The only good snake is a dead snake...and there's no such thing as a dead snake, KILL IT AGAIN!!!!

With all due respect to the snake fanciers out there, as you can no doubt tell, I hate snakes. :fire:
 
Quote:
Do you guys shoot rattlesnakes on sight?

Depends. If I can't clearly identify and/or the snake is slithering away, I usually let 'em just slither away. I did not lose a wink of sleep over popping the noisy rattler last month, figuring that's just one less that might take a whack at a human or bird dog next September and beyond ...

There are two ponds on new lease near Archer City, one more like a small lake. We'll also having fishing rights beginning June 1. Brushy clumps along damn and water mocs therein prompted a buddy to say he would not be going back around the lake without a shotgun handy. :uhoh: (Same guy ;) who used his Glock to stir up a boatload of dust around pissed-off rattler before I used my Glock to terminate the issue.)

While I don't think I want to wag a shotgun around while fishin', I did figure that the water mocs might be worthy of a fresh box of CCI shot loads for the Glock. If for nuthin' else, to maybe keep the old "batting average" up there where it belongs. ;)
 
"Do you guys shoot rattlesnakes on sight?"

Only in the area around My Daughters house and mine. Snakes are part of the system, doesn't matter how anyone feels, they do a needed job. Before it became illegal I caught them and sold them to the Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, too much red tape now.
http://photobucket.com/albums/v244/tsiya/

Fishing in the Bayou


Boudreaux been fish'n down by de bayou all day and he done run outa night
crawlers.He be bout reddy to leave when he seen a snake wif a big frog in
his mouf. He knowed dat dem big bass fish like dem frogs, so he decided
to steal dat froggie.Dat snake, he be a cotton mouf water moccasin, so he
had to be real careful or he'd git bit. He snuk up behin' dat snake and
grabbed him roun de haid. Dat ole snake din't lak dat one bit. He
squirmed and wrap hisself roun' Boudreaux's arm try'n to git hisself
free.But Boudreaux, him had a real good grip on his haid, yeh. Well,
Boudreaux pried his mouf open and got de frog and puts it in his bait
can. Now, Boudreaux knows dat he cain't let go dat snake or he's gonna
bite him good, but he had a plan.He reach into de back pocket of his bib
over hauls and pulls out a pint a moonshine likker. He pour some drops
into de snake's mouf.Well, dat snake's eyeballs roll back in his haid and
his body go limp. Wit dat, Boudreaux toss dat snake into de bayou. Den
he goes back to fishin'.A while later Boudreaux dun feel sumpin' tappin'
on his barefoot toe. He slowly look down and dare wuz dat water moccasin
wif two more frogs. :evil:
 
With all due respect to the snake fanciers out there, as you can no doubt tell, I hate snakes.
Click to expand...

RK,

Now don't take this wrong because I'm just asking for my own curiosity. I ain't insinuating anything.

Do you hate snakes for the sake of hating them or do you hate them because they scare you?

Now don't get me wrong guys I'm not some S.N.A.G.(Sensitive new age guy) snake savior. I kill em when they need killing. This big ole western diamond back had the bad maners to rear up and have a rattle at me and my little girl. She was about 18 months old at the time and used to love to ride the old man around in her pack pack. We were climbing the hill you can see in the back ground. And when he reared up he was at face level because of the steep terrain and he was above me. About 10 feet from my face! Talk about getting the bejeezuz scared out of you. My little girl thought it was cool and wanted to SEE THE NAKE DADDY.

The ole M-77/22 went into action plenty fast broken arm and all. I had broken my arm the week before after having a bit of a disagreement with a new guilding quarterhorse. He won.

baileessanke.jpg
 
Well, if we're gonna tell "fish stories" ... When I was around 10 at church camp, on Monday they announced a fishing contest with awards to be presented on Friday in two categories: the biggest and the mostest.

I'd been there just long enough before while Dad was working on the cabin to know that I could catch gobs of perch out of the creek, so promptly went to "work". On Tuesday morning, I noticed some fish missing, torn off my stringer - and figured it was probably turtles.

On Wednesday morning when I was down at the creek just before sunrise trying to add to my total, I pulled the stringer out of the water to add another perch to it. It was heavier than it should have been. And the water was really swarming around it. In the dim light when I got the stringer about 1/2 way out of the water, I "discovered" that a HUGE moc had started at the bottom and had swallowed several of the perch - and the snake looked like it wanted to swallow ME next.

Thereafter, that 10-year old started taking great pleasure in learning to use a 20 gauge shotgun on just about anything that slithered - on land or in water. ;) Until I learned to "lead 'em" for head shots, I remember it chopping a couple of 'em in two.

I still took first place, BTW, with the "most fish" that year at church camp. And, had the water moc not backed off the stringer by the time I got back down there with an adult, I would have likely also won "the biggest" - or the longest anyway. :eek:
 
H&H,

Yep, I'm scared of them and not ashamed to admit it, either.

I have two friends that were victims of snake bites....one has a now almost useless left hand thanks to a bad tempered copperehead. The other spent three days in intensive care and several reconstuctive surgeries because of a rattlesnake bite.

As a result, I'm VERY careful where I put my feet and hands when out hunting or hiking.
 
Great Story and Pic. Is that our "Rat Hunter" back in her younger days...?
Click to expand...

Steve,

That is the fearless rat hunters little sister. Who now is also a famous and fearless rat shooter not to mentio a pretty good tracker and dog handler. :)


Yep, I'm scared of them and not ashamed to admit it, either.
Click to expand...

RKirby,

I agree with you it's a scary proposition getting nailed by a venomous snake. My brother got bit when he was about 8 years old. He got bit on the hand and swolw up so bad thay had to cut open his hand from the tip of his thumb to wrist and spent 3 or 4 days in intensive care but he came out of it alright. Except he's the unluckiest outdoorsman you'd ever want to meet. More on that later. ;)
 
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