The snakes have un-hibernated

[Smoke]

My grandmother killed snakes when she was well into her 80's. Her sister-in-law gave up killing snakes due to poor eye sight a couple of years ago. She's 96.

Neither one of these ladies would weigh 100# soaking wet. Both prefered a hoe as the weapon of choice. Both were as fine a southern lady as ever lived, but don't get between them and a snake.

SOme hunters in Stephenville (1 hour north of here) caught a few recently.

Taken from the Stephenville newspaper:

The Great Rattlesnake Hunter from Proctor has been out looking under rocks again, this time near Alexander.
On Valentine's Day Jim Bob Basham,holding the snake, and his fellow hunters, Danny Fincannon and Johnny McClatchy of Dublin, uncovered
a den of rattlers that yielded this monster. This snake is even bigger than the one Basham caught last November that made its rounds on the Internet. Big Charlie here is more than 6 feet (an exact measurement was not attempted). He boasts 15 rattles and a button.

He was sharing the den with 11 other rattlers that were all caught alive.

Smoke

 

[brushbuster1]

That big old snake was also taken here in Texas. That particular one was taken near Stephenville. I posted that in the California Preditors Club last month.

There's a little bit of trick photography in this one but, it was a huge snake.

 

[Selfdfenz]

Some of these picture make you wonder just how big these western rattlers could get. I seem to recall reading an item taken from the Lewis and Clark expedition that indicated the ones they encountered were giants.

I guess the snakes in that time living on the open western ranges either got killed or they passed some critical point where they couldn't be troubled by the wolves, bears and bison round them...in which case they got huge.

L&C had a long and at times dangerous adventure but seeing the still mostly unmolested wildlfe of the western US must have been magical. Lots of bison, lots of passenger pigeons and I assume lots of Native Americans....must have been cool.

S-

 

[pax]

My mom killed a rattler, once.

We lived in snake country and the snake was between her & the front door. Us kids were all at school, Dad at work. Mom picked up a small metal trash can and used it to effect her escape.

Dad got home about an hour before we got home from school. His report is that he found Mom sitting crosslegged on top of his motorcycle out in the yard. She'd been sitting there for at least an hour.

She asked him to go look and make sure the snake was dead or gone, since she wasn't sure she'd killed it and wasn't willing to go look. For that matter, she wasn't willing to put her feet on the ground.

Dad further reports that there was no piece of snake remaining anywhere in the house that was larger than 1 inch long.



pax

 

[TheDutchman]

Two years ago I went with my buddy to his lease near Lampasas one of the Ranch hands caught a 70'' Rattle snake.The head was the size of a baseball and the body was huge. The end up selling the Rattler at a snake roundup to pay for there electric bill.

 

[brushbuster1]

I believe that.....I hear you can get up to $1500 for big rattlers but I don't have any personal experience with that.

 

[Selfdfenz]

I wonder is a rattler that big eats rabbits? I wonder if they can swallow something that size?

S-

 

[gigmike]

Who buys those Rattlesnakes? I'd presume a zoo or pharmaceutical company, I'm curious as I've never heard of such a thing.

 

[Jalexander]

Who buys those Rattlesnakes? I'd presume a zoo or pharmaceutical company, I'm curious as I've never heard of such a thing.

Folks like this, usually. It's foolish, if you ask me.

http://www.chrishamiltonphotography.com/stories/RRessay-contact.html

James

 

[Oleg Volk]

Would anyone take me snake-hunting. I'd like to nail at least one venomous snake in my lifetime just to get over my childhood fear of them. Not sure where I could go after them though.

 

[Greybeard]

Maybe some of the other Tejans here can be more specific, but I think it's in Sweetwater TX they have a "Snake Roundup" every year. Not much killin' in the field, but gobs of 'em flushed out, caught and brought in to town to do whatever with ...

Might could get ya up to Archer City lease one of these days. Rattlesnakes might take some actual "hunting". Water mocs tho were pretty fairly easy pickin'. At least a few weeks ago.

We have a meeting this morning at 7:30 for all guys on the lease, some of which may get back up there before I for a little fishin' - and with shotguns to further "purge the pond".

 

[Smoke]

Lots of Rattlesanke Roundups in the state. Sweetwater has one of the largest.

Try: Rattlesnake Roundup
Lots of info there.

I have friends that hunt snakes, they've hunted all over my place and I've gone with them on numerous occasions. I don't get involved. Watching those guys pull dozens of snakes out of a den gives me nightmares for weeks. When I see a rattlesnake he is about 1 minute away from being buzzard bait.

Been awhile since these guys messed with them but a few years ago the price was $10.00 a pound with premiums if it was an especially large/thick snake.

Smoke