Fred, be aware that they will be out and about even more at night or late afternoon when it cools down. That is when they do much of their hunting/eating. So keep your eyes peeled and use a flashlight if you have to go to an unlit area around the shop to move a customer's car, etc.

i'm renting a place out on 465 acres in the desert east of lancaster. this last weekend, i saw two rattlers AND a female black widow. the ankle gators are on the way, and i'll be bringing my 20 ga shot spoon back with me when i go home next.

Pygmy Rattlers are more Dangerous that Big ones, as when they Bite, they inect all the Venum they have

LOL, shouldn't he be holding it sideways? ;)

I was running on a track in OK one summer evening and saw what looked to be a squashed
6" baby rattler on the track. Looked like someone had plastered him against the pavement. Being a snake admirer, I bent down to look at it and then reached down to push it off the track. Just as I was about to touch it the little chit launched at me and almost got my finger. Almost! Would have been very embarrassing to say the least. And painful i'm sure.

First one of the year.

I think that makes the score Hugh 10: Rattlesnakes 0

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1310263930.jpg

Black widows are THICK out at Willow Springs. I've seen a tarantula there too, but never any rattlers.

yeah...im becoming intimately familiar with the widows. they are all over the place out here. rosamond had an issue not too long ago with tons of Mojave Green rattlers out and about. *shudder*

BTW - the severed head can still bite -- even a loong time later

The head was crawling around for 1/2 and hour. It was thinking to itself WTF!

impressive, eh?

Anywhere there can be black widows, do not put any part of your body where you cannot see.

Funny to see this thread show up again this morning. I was just talking with my firewood guy on Friday. He is the guy that got bit a couple of years ago. It was an eastern Massagua Rattlesnake. He described it to a tee , and I looked it up online.
It is apparently an endangered species , actually Pa's most endangered species, but for some reason, there is a little pocket of them in this area. He believes that he got them them in a load of logs he was hauling, and that is probably how I got it as well. I bought 5 dump truck loads of wood from him last year.
I did weed whack, and no bites, but everytime a rock or stick would hit me leg, I was rolling up my pant legs looking bite marks.
So now, I am paranoid up in the rear of my parking lot, I will probably never see one again in my life, but every time I go up there to get a car, I find myself checking under/and around it first.

The little sob's pack a meaner punch than the big guys. This is according to my uncle, who used to catch them. He liked to freeze the big ones and surprise us when we visited Florida. I care not to ever see another eastern diamond back, dead or alive. 3 feet is nothing, 8-9 footers were all over the place from what I was told. I've never come across one in the wild in Texas, and I hunt and fish regularly. Just luck I guess. I've seen lots of copper heads and cotton mouths though.

Mike (sorry I misread the name), out there where you are is where the Mojave Greens live, I do believe. You probably already know this, but just in case - these guys are incredibly dangerous because - or at least I was taught when doing a first-aid/med course - that unlike other rattlers, their venom contains a component that is a neurotoxin. Most venom just starts decomposing flesh so that it's easier for the snake to digest. This stuff does that, but also starts to close down one's central nervous system. They are very bad actors and deserve the shovel treatment - or a meeting with a shotspoon. See here for addional info:

The Mojave Desert Green Rattlesnake

if fred's in PA, he wont be running into any Mojave Greens :)

Mike, you never know - those little rascals travel fast. Sorry about the (idiotic) name confusion.

haha, no worries. you are absolutely correct. the mojave greens are out here, and YES, their venom contains both toxins....the neurotoxin, as well as the hemotoxin. AND...it's the most deadly rattlesnake around. their venom is 16 times more deadly than the sidewinder.

since moving out to the desert ive learned to avoid most any and all wildlife out here. they are able to survive out here for a reason.....and most things in the desert are capable of making you very uncomfortable or killing you.

I think I'll just stick to plain old vanilla-flavored rattlers. Last one I killed was a 5-foot diamondback that I found not far south of you, on the road to Silverwood Lake. Its rattles are now inside my Martin 00-21, where they belong.

Potential rattlesnakes around here caused me to buy some decent snake gaitors from Forestry Supply for when I'm working in areas with tall grass. I thought they were a good $32 investment.