Rattlesnake while going into my Spa!

[Hugh R]

Not ten minutes ago, the wifey saw this sucker about two feet from my bedroom door while we were going into the Spa. I hammered him with a flat blade shovel (rule: flat blade on hard scape, pointed blade on lawn). Five to six rattles, and about two feet long, rattling right from the second I encountered him. Nasty fucher. Too small to turn into another belt, but maybe enough for another hat band. OTOH, he was coiled and I hammered him so maybe not enough skin to salvage. I think the count is Hugh 13, rattlesnakes 0. I've been in my house 16 years and have killed about one every year or so.

[Embraer]

when I lived in an RV out in the desert by Edwards, i'd hear the familiar sound of the rattles just about every night when id come home from work. pitch dark outside....i'd walk up to my steps and hear the sound.

...that, and the constant supply of black widows that lived with me. ...oh yeah, and the giant desert scorpions that used to sit on the roads at night, enjoying the heat.

the Mojave green rattlers were always the worst. can't tell you the number I hit with my car at dusk.

[Evans, Marv]

Hugh, you're absolutely deadly when it comes to rattlers. In the last five years here, I haven't killed even one. I've only seen three small ones about a foot long & as big as your little finger. One of those was in the process of dying from some kind of injury. I caught one in a plastic bucket & dumped it out away from the house. The other two were decently big. One Red Pacific Diamondback a few feet long & as big around as my forearm, the other with almost black markings - don't know exactly what kind of rattler it was. It was a couple of feet & an inch or so in diameter. If I found a big one on the patio or something close in, I'd probably kill it & be asking you how to turn it into a hat band or belt.

[KFC911]

You're good Hugh!!!

KC 0, Rattlesnakes 0 ....and I'd sure like to keep it that way forever

None around here anymore...but Copperheads are...pretty nasty too!

[id10t]

Spent a few hours last friday just 2 feet from a 6' long cottonmouth. Fortunately, he was in his tub/enclosure, adn I was outside of it. I hate edges, ladders (I'm ok with height if I am on a stable platform) and I have a healthy fear of venomous snakes. Spent those hours Friday up on a rickety ladder, knowing that snake was just feet away, looking down on him as I was working on some network and camera equipment.

Think I'll talk to the zoo manager about putting the streaming cam on the terrapins or poison arrow frogs instead of that snake....

[rcecale]

So, it appears your aim is still true, Jarhead!

Randy

[yel911]

Hugh, nicely done!!! On another thread, you'd have to use a Have-a-Heart trap and re-located it 50 miles away!! No belt or headband either......

[Tobra]

You can still eat it, tastes like chicken.


Maybe throw some mothballs around the places you see them. That discourages varmints of the warm blooded variety. Have you got a barn cat to keep the little critter population down? Guess the coyotes would probably eat your cat if you left it outside like that.


What kills rattlesnakes? I mean other than you.

[id10t]

Originally Posted by Tobra

You can still eat it, tastes like chicken.


Maybe throw some mothballs around the places you see them. That discourages varmints of the warm blooded variety. Have you got a barn cat to keep the little critter population down? Guess the coyotes would probably eat your cat if you left it outside like that.


What kills rattlesnakes? I mean other than you.

Some birds, other snakes, coyotes, foxes, pigs.

[Tishabet]

Time to release a few king snakes on your property!

[Hugh R]

I count six rattles. I believe they grow a rattle every time they molt. Which can usually be once or twice a year. So this one was 2-3 years old. Not very big, but pissey from the moment I saw it. Nothing like having a few beers in me, naked going into the Spa. I did have the presence of mind to put on my cowboy boots before I went after it (yeah, otherwise naked).

[sammyg2]

Originally Posted by Tobra

What kills rattlesnakes? I mean other than you.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by Hugh R

Nothing like having a few beers in me, naked going into the Spa. I did have the presence of mind to put on my cowboy boots before I went after it (yeah, otherwise naked).

Good call not to turn that camera on yourself. You didn't, did you??

[flatbutt]

Hugh, any reco on the shovel type I should use for this?

[98cobra]

X2 on the king snakes, we kept them in the barn to kill the water moccasins

[id10t]

Originally Posted by flatbutt

Hugh, any reco on the shovel type I should use for this?

12 gauge, 308, or 44mag.

If you insist on using a shovel, there are docs on how to build an AK receiver from a shovel... guess that would count, yes?

[sammyg2]

Originally Posted by flatbutt

Hugh, any reco on the shovel type I should use for this?

[Tobra]

Originally Posted by Tishabet

Time to release a few king snakes on your property!

This would be good.

You definitely do not want any feral pigs around