.45Coltguy
Member
Don't like 'em. I f I happen to see one when I'm in the desert or mountains, I just do my best to avoid it.
Unwelcome visitor
- Thread starter burrhead
- Start date
Patocazador
Member
I live on 60 acres in central Florida, moved here in 1971. I have only seen one diamondback rattlesnake in that span of time on my property. However, I have killed about 20 coral snakes and one Pygmy rattlesnake.
Although I see and kill a lot of cottonmouths at my hunting camp, I’ve never seen one at my house.
I kill every cottonmouth I see even ifI have to get wet to do it. I leave the non-poisonous ones alone.
Although I see and kill a lot of cottonmouths at my hunting camp, I’ve never seen one at my house.
I kill every cottonmouth I see even ifI have to get wet to do it. I leave the non-poisonous ones alone.
FL-NC
Member
I am starting to think that in order to get bit, you have to either mess with them or make other bad decisions (like putting your appendages in places you can't see in the woods, like holes or under logs). I've had more than a few close calls, both in various locations in the US as well as overseas- places with the kinds of snakes that if you get bit, you might not get a second chance (Africa, various spots in the Latin American jungla, some really bad places in the mideast where everyone and everything is trying to kill you, etc.) There is a large base in Fl called Camp Blanding, which is mostly used by the national guard. This means that for most of the year, the training areas, ranges, etc. get very little use- most use is in the summer months when the reptiles are very active. Not to talk bad about the national guard, but they don't spend that much time in the field as it is, and there are all kinds of support units knocking out all of their training requirements when they are there in the summer. As a result, they tend to get a significant amount of snake bites in the summer.
Savage30L
Member
I worked outdoors in rural areas for many years, and have seen my share of rattlers. Surprisingly only one of them ever rattled at me; it was a prairie rattler in head-high kocia weeds in a fallow field in Montana, out in the middle of nowhere, in a field I had to walk through to get back to my truck. The weeds were thick and I couldn't see it, so I just gave it a wide berth and walked on eggshells.
Most of the rattlers I saw were in South Carolina. We were issued snake boots, but they were hot, and took a day or two to dry out from sweat, so I didn't always wear them. One hot late summer day I was working in a patch of woods and stopped my 4-wheeler to take some data. When I was walking back to it I saw a large timber rattler coiled up close to it; I must have stepped within 6 inches of it when I'd dismounted. Fortunately the snake was sluggish and didn't mind me a bit.
I remember that I met one fellow who told me that, at 18, he'd gotten a summer job for the Forest Service, working in the Francis Marion National Forest. He was out with a crew one day and suddenly felt like someone had hit him in the knee with a baseball bat. The next thing he remembers is waking up in the emergency room at a hospital. A Diamondback had bitten him; he was wearing snake boots but the thing bit him on the kneecap.
Most of the rattlers I saw were in South Carolina. We were issued snake boots, but they were hot, and took a day or two to dry out from sweat, so I didn't always wear them. One hot late summer day I was working in a patch of woods and stopped my 4-wheeler to take some data. When I was walking back to it I saw a large timber rattler coiled up close to it; I must have stepped within 6 inches of it when I'd dismounted. Fortunately the snake was sluggish and didn't mind me a bit.
I remember that I met one fellow who told me that, at 18, he'd gotten a summer job for the Forest Service, working in the Francis Marion National Forest. He was out with a crew one day and suddenly felt like someone had hit him in the knee with a baseball bat. The next thing he remembers is waking up in the emergency room at a hospital. A Diamondback had bitten him; he was wearing snake boots but the thing bit him on the kneecap.
