Effing Rattlesnakes

[DARISC]

Originally Posted by GothingNC

Found this in my garage last year

King snake?

[Burnin' oil]

Don't feel bad, Hugh, alot of people are scared of snakes - nothing to be ashamed of . . .

[Heel n Toe]

Originally Posted by DARISC

King snake?

Black Rat Snake... aka Pilot Snake ...I used to keep 'em as pets when I was a kid.

http://www.wildwnc.org/education/animals/black-rat-snake-elaphe-obseleta-obseleta

http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/caer/ce/eek/critter/reptile/blackratsnake.htm

[Heel n Toe]

Originally Posted by Hugh R

...can't seem to get her act together to keep the sliding door in her room close for her rat dog.

LOL... that's what I call "those dogs" too.

The doggie door sounds like a good idea. If you're lucky, one of those rattlers in the area will sink its fangs into the rat dog.

[onewhippedpuppy]

You missed a prime opportunity to teach the MIL to shut her door.

[Rick Lee]

Originally Posted by Hugh R

It got in because my 79 y/o mother in law, who lives with us can't seem to get her act together to keep the sliding door in her room close for her rat dog. I think I'm going to get one of those doggie doors for the sliding door.

A decent sized snake, venomous or not, will make short work of a rat dog. Dogs don't grow up around snakes and have no fear or knowledge of them. Snakes, if not full of food and not shedding, will kill anything they think they can swallow. They are the most efficient killers on Earth. All of them. That rat dog is gonna be someone's dinner if he tangles with a sizeable snake.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

Snake in house = dead snake. Last time I checked, they're not exactly endangered.

I am SOLIDLY with Matt on this.

It actually take three pages of OT to come to THIS conclusion?

[Hugh R]

Rattler or not, like I said it was under the bed and I wasn't going to inspect it, go the internet and post a pic on Pelican to get a consensus of what kind of snake it was before I took action.

[Rick V]

Originally Posted by Dan in Pasadena

I am SOLIDLY with Matt on this.

It actually take three pages of OT to come to THIS conclusion?

I think I mentioned this on page one.

[RWebb]

every one should know the venomous snakes -- it can save your life

[Normy]

Southern black racer I found in my garage in Orlando. Black racers are beneficial animals- they eat mice and rats. I chased him out with a broom...

Before he left, he said to me: "Normy, I don't know about all those stone chips you've got on your front clip...but those Borla exhaust pipes are making me horny!"



N

[Tobra]

Originally Posted by DARISC

Oh, really?

yes really, never saw copperheads that big, ever, and I have seen plenty of them

[DARISC]

Originally Posted by Tobra

yes really, never saw copperheads that big, ever, and I have seen plenty of them

My post was in response to your statement:

"Copperhead does not have big triangular shaped head."

Those are photos of copperheads and they clearly have triangular shaped heads (all vipers do). I've also seen plenty of them - when I was a kid in PA.

Whether or not their heads are "big" I guess is relative.

I'm puzzled by your statement regarding the snake's "big" size, because I don't see anything in the photos to scale the snakes to. How do you know that they are "that big", however big that is?

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by RWebb

every one should know the venomous snakes -- it can save your life

Not if you kill them all equally dead.

[nynor]

obviously a gopher snake. not sure how anyone could mistake that for a rattler. i just grab those guys and put them in the garden. i used to keep one as a pet, a big five footer, and let him run about my bedroom loose, except for feeding. there weren't any bugs or rodents in the house as long as i had him.

[RWebb]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

Not if you kill them all equally dead.

untrue

you will break your neck getting help - worth the risk only if bit by a venomous snake


ps - for vipers re head shape above, read "pit vipers"

[scottmandue]

Originally Posted by 9dreizig

Did you ever think about keeping a sharpened garden hoe around ?

I keep a hoe around the house... she handles all the snakes.

[scottmandue]

Originally Posted by vash

i heard that rattle snakes are not rattling anymore. some don't even have the rattles. evolution or something.

This is the way I heard it is happening... people go walking and as they pass a rattle snake hidden in the brush the snake rattles to scare off the perceived danger. People freak out, hunt down the rattle snake and kill it. Thus by (un)natural selection rattle snakes that do not rattle survive to breed.

[DARISC]

Originally Posted by RWebb

ps - for vipers re head shape above, read "pit vipers"

I used a google (the one on the innernets) and found this:

"While it is true that pit vipers (which include all our venomous snakes except the Coral Snake) do have heads suggestive of arrowheads, there are many nonvenomous species which have broad heads are also suggestive of the arrowhead shape."

Eh?

[Rick Lee]

Originally Posted by scottmandue

This is the way I heard it is happening... people go walking and as they pass a rattle snake hidden in the brush the snake rattles to scare off the perceived danger. People freak out, hunt down the rattle snake and kill it. Thus by (un)natural selection rattle snakes that do not rattle survive to breed.

There goes my belief in creationism. Whew! That was easy.