I hate snakes and this is why!

[vonsmog]

Almost stepped on this 3+ ft. Rattlesnake tonight while in the parking lot by Redrocks amphitheater! Thank god he rattled to warn us. I never was a fan of snakes and this just reinforces my haterid of them. I was about 2 ft. away when my wife and I heard the tail rattle. My wife jumped first and yelled "snake", and I was right behind her in the running department!

[john70t]

That little guy is keeping swarms of rats from chewing your wiring harness.

[doug_porsche]

I hate snakes also, but...
This is why I sort of give rattlers a pass.

You don't like snakes and don't want to stumble on one.
The rattler doesn't like people and doesn't want to be stumbled on.
You got close to stumbling on him.
He communicated, using his tail, "Hello, snake here, lets do our own separate directions!"
Sounds like you and your bride accepted his offer.

[Tobra]

I like snakes.




They are delicious sautéed in butter and a bit of wine

[Bill Douglas]

Hugh would say "That's a belt."

[BK911]

(S)he's beautiful!!!

[BK911]

Picked up some debris behind my house the other day, and a baby snake "rattled" at me.
Almost crapped myself until I saw it was a brown snake and not a rattler.
Little fucher's tail was rubbing on dried leaves, costing me a pair of under wear!
Picked it up and put in a bug/worm tank i keep for turtle and lizard food.
Kids studied it for a few days then we let it go to "live free and in the wild!" (Wild kratts)

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by Tobra

I like snakes.




They are delicious sautéed in butter and a bit of wine

The heck they are. They are tough and chewy, and have more bones than a carp.

[masraum]

I'm OK with snakes. I prefer them to be non-venomous and away from the house. Unfortunately, we have snakes on our property, and while we do have several species of non-venomous, most of the snakes that I see are copperheads. The two bits of info about copperheads that I take as positive are 1 they tend to be small and 2 they have all seemed very timid and just want to be left alone.

I know that #1 is probably not much of a benefit. I assume smaller fangs and a smaller mouth has got to be a bit of a benefit, and even more so, if the whole snake is only 12-18" long, the strike distance most be greatly reduced. The only con about them is that a small snake is potentially harder to see.

But, I've run into several of them, and 99% of time they freeze if you see them. The other 1% of the time they slither away. I've never seen a copperhead act defensive. I've poked and prodded and moved them and not one has ever opened its mouth or done anything to indicate that it was going to be defensive. For that I'm thankful.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by BK911

Picked up some debris behind my house the other day, and a baby snake "rattled" at me.
Almost crapped myself until I saw it was a brown snake and not a rattler.
Little fucher's tail was rubbing on dried leaves, costing me a pair of under wear!
Picked it up and put in a bug/worm tank i keep for turtle and lizard food.
Kids studied it for a few days then we let it go to "live free and in the wild!" (Wild kratts)

Many years ago, I was driving around in the hills above Santa Barbara and saw a snake crossing the road towards the uphill side. I stopped the car and got out to get a closer look. As I approached the snake, it turned around, acted as menacing as it could and started shaking it's tail like it was a rattler. It was a California King snake. I got a good look and then left him alone since I was clearly stressing him out.

[s_morrison57]

I've been bitten, Fer de Lance, in the jungle in S. America, it was a scary experience. I didn't like snakes before, liked them less after being bitten, a good snake is a dead one IMO.

Finn

[creaturecat]

yup. no like.
had to bunny hop a few, when living in the interior of BC. first encounter scared the bejesus outta me.
no like the gopher snakes either. they get big - really big, and viper-like. buddy lost a small chunk of his arm - the snake had been hidden under a tarp. it was an ugly wound, yessir.

[Danimal16]

Heading out to a project at the Boton Wharf at Subic. All kinds of snakes, but when you see a King Cobra crossing the road and it is over one lane width long, well . . . that was a snake. Our training told us if you see one, there is another close by.

The vipers that hung in the trees were the really ugly demons.

Can't count how many rattlers and king snakes I encountered trail running in the Santa Monica Mountains and the mountains behind Simi Valley and Moorpark.

[Tobra]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

The heck they are. They are tough and chewy, and have more bones than a carp.

Clearly you have never had rattlesnake prepared well.

[look 171]

We are perfectly fine with snakes....at your house

We get them too here in our yard but haven't come across a rattler yet. Lets keep it that way.

[stevej37]

I'd much rather have snakes at my place than rats.

[jhynesrockmtn]

I moved to Castle Rock Colorado in 2000. Bought a new house in a fancy neighborhood called Diamond Ridge. I assumed it was a made up name, trying to convey a higher end neighborhood. After we encountered our 1st rattler, one of the neighbors explained to us that no, Diamond Ridge stood for Diamondback rattlers that were known to live in large numbers on the ridge. Oops 😜

[masraum]

Originally Posted by stevej37

I'd much rather have snakes at my place than rats.

Yes and no.

I would rather have the occasional snake than rats/mice. But at the same time, if the alternative was rats/mice or a den of 10 or 20 4'-6' western diamondback rattlesnakes living under my house, then I'd take the rats/mice and would deal with them another way.

Fortunately, we also have a fair number of red shouldered and red tailed hawks, crested cara caras, skunks, opossums, foxes, coyotes, and deer. I think there's a couple/few of those that prey on snakes.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by jhynesrockmtn

I moved to Castle Rock Colorado in 2000. Bought a new house in a fancy neighborhood called Diamond Ridge. I assumed it was a made up name, trying to convey a higher end neighborhood. After we encountered our 1st rattler, one of the neighbors explained to us that no, Diamond Ridge stood for Diamondback rattlers that were known to live in large numbers on the ridge. Oops 😜

[stevej37]

^^^
Rats can live anywhere. MI has no dangerous snakes...a few rattlers..never seen one here.
The only snake commonly found here is the garter snake...harmless.
A few blue racers...harmless also.