Almost got tagged by a rattler !
 

I was up in my back lot trying getting ready to drag in a dead soldier that was towed in yesterday. I had the door open and one foot in the truck, and one foot on the ground, and was turning on the ignition switch, and listening for the fuel pump, When I went to pull my other foot in , I noticed the little guy on the ground. He was a feisty little sob, He was repeatedly striking at my boot. He was all coiled up an d kept shaking his tail, which looked like a rattle ,but did not rattle. He was a little guy, less than 3 feet long. His head did have the shape of a pit viper.
Kind of odd. I have never in my life seen a rattler around here, and I spent my youth in the woods either riding dirt bikes, or hunting or whatever. Just a few days ago, there was a short segment on the local news, that rattle snakes have been spotted in our area. I have seen a few in my time , but that is a couple of hours north of us up in the mountains, and have seen a few out west as well.
Poked at him with a long stick a couple of times, and he scurried off under another car. I was planning on weed whacking in that area this weekend, and now it is going to be running through me head the whole time

Better wear good boots when you weed whack the area. Ever see a snake get spit out from under a lawmower? Pure entertainment. And I am a snake lover.

I think I'd go buy some "snake" boots and not rely on the fact that not all bites involve venom and the risk of death is low...

Just heard a guy got bit in Fayette Co. quite a bit south of you. My father had a wrecking yard in Uniotown, saw lots of snakes but never a rattler.

Bernie

I'm in Towanda PA putting in a pipeline and we have run across several rattlers on the job. I ran over a copperhead the other day with a D6. They're really out and moving now.

It looked (a lot) worse before it started getting better. This was about 18 hrs after the bite.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y18...g/DSC_0419.jpg

Aww, jeez. Not that pic again!

Hoo boy have I got some recent gross pics. But that's the only snake bite in the portfolio. I think the guy wound up getting something like 14 doses of antivenin.

I've seen a few of those small ones around here, and I leave them alone. It was after seeing one about 3+ feet long and about as big around as my forearm that I bought a set of snake gaitors (from Forestry Suppliers, or something like that) They cost $32 at the time.

I bet they give that stuff away, eh?

Yeah, I don't even want to know what that hospital stay billed out to. I think he spent about 3 or 4 days in an ICU, too.

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kill it with FIRE!

I don't mind snakes...

Rattlers can die

If your weather has been either drier or wetter than usual lately, that could be causing some movement/influx of critters to your area. It's a food (and water) thing.

Jim... love the baby chimp with the pistol... hilarious... that could even be a Trunk Monkey in training, huh?

MY trunk monkey is sharp enough to keep his thumb off of the slide! ( That and he carries a 1911 in condition 1)

Hahahaha... that sent me into a laughing monkey roll. :D

Rattlers.....in our neck of the woods???!!

What area of town was this in?

I am about 10 miles south of Butler. I know a guy who was bit out in Sarver by a little rattler in his garden, and couple of farmers say they have seen a few as well. There were 3 of us there who saw it, and we were all in agreeance about what it was. At first , I thought it was a corn snake or something, but it's head and the little baby rattle on it's tail told me differently . I have also never seen a snake raise it's tail and shake it like that.

I don't know guys, but a 3 foot "baby" rattler sounds more like an adult to me...and thus should have had more than one rattle on it's tail.

Just today, our here in the desert arid region of Washington state (where we do have these nasty bastards), we caught one at work while unloading a 12 ton trailer of sugar snap peas. Around here, 18" is a big one and this dude had 5 rattles on him. Of course, he's dead now. Don't need him slithering around and biting the employees.

3 feet is not a baby. I killed about a three footer last year with 8 or 9 rattles. This is what you do with a three footer.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/off-topic-discussions/480552-making-rattlesnake-belt-warning-potential-gagging-photos.html

Be careful, this one is a good foot or two big enough to KILL you!