Someone explain rattlesnakes to me.

[vash]

I saw four tonight mountain biking. I waited for the evening to cool down so I don't die. I guess with the air cooling, they seek out the warmer spots? Like the trail I ride on? Do I need to ride in the heat? What about riding at night? Crazy? I'm not scared of them, but I hate being startled coming around the corner. The grass is tall and I can't always see them early. I almost rolled over this one. He struck at my new tire.

Saw a king snake too!

[stomachmonkey]

Start a belt business.

Ask Hugh for some manufacturing tips, Shaun for Marketing and retail.

[Embraer]

they'd come out in droves once the sun started to go down when i lived out on that dry lake bed. they'd be on the side of the road, just relaxing. most of the ones i saw here were the Mojave Green. Both types of toxins....hemotoxic and neurotoxic. the most venomous rattlesnake. and ultra-aggressive.

i wore snake gators whenever i hiked.

[Aurel]

Where is that? Arizona? I wish I would see a few here in NM, but after over a year I haven't seen any...

[Embraer]

over by edwards afb in california. rosamond, lancaster, palmdale, boron, etc. everybody cuts their hedges about a foot off of the ground...just so you can see them.

[porsche4life]

Aurel, you should come to OK, the Okeene rattlesnake hunt was last weekend...

[vash]

Originally Posted by Aurel

Where is that? Arizona? I wish I would see a few here in NM, but after over a year I haven't seen any...

I'm in the east bay area near San Francisco. I wussed out and turned home. I took it as an omen

[scottmandue]

Originally Posted by vash

I'm in the east bay area near San Francisco. I wussed out and turned home. I took it as an omen

Wise choice... I don't mess fanged poisonous things!

We used to have them around here... but I was just hiking and they were easy to spot... I could see where it would be a problem on a bike.

And oh yeah... they are cold blooded so they need to keep warm... that is why they come out of the bushes to sun themselfs when the temps drop.

[rattlsnak]

Wait, what?

[Evans, Marv]

They start coming out to hunt some time before sundown and hunt into the night until it gets too cool. They can also be out durinig the afternoon in the shade of grass or bushes. I would just ride around them. Most of the ones I've seen around here were pretty small & I've herded them into a plastic bucket & relocated them - except for one monster snake & just left alone.

[RWebb]

vash - they are using that road to thermoregulate

install a chilling device underneath the roadway and they will not come onto the cold road any more

[LeeH]

Friend of mine who lives a couple of miles away saw his neighbors looking at something last Saturday. This was hanging out on the front porch. They called a critter catcher to relocate it. I was a little bummed that the place it was to be released was near a trailhead where we hike and bike. My friend tried to suggest there were plenty of better choices, but the guy said that was is preferred release spot.

[porsche4life]

Snake around or near a hacienda=dead snake.... No relocating deadly critters....

[MarkRobinson]

In Texas our feral pig (wild boar) issue is increasing, & rattlesnake bites are reportedly up 4x over the last few years: Why?

Because the snakes are learning to adapt to the increase in pig traffic: the pigs eat the snakes and the snakes are learning NOT to rattle, allowing people to get too close to the snakes w/o prior warning. Hmmmm.

[Noah930]

What happens when you try to poke one with a too-short stick. This was within 12 hours. And it looked a lot worse before it started looking better. 14 doses of antivenin later.

[5String43]

Not afraid of them? I certainly am. They are without mercy or remorse and can cripple you real good. As noted above, the Mojave greens are the worst because of their venom, which shuts down your central nervous system while it digests your flesh. I give them all a wide berth, destroy them when I can.

[vash]

Originally Posted by 5String43

They are without mercy or remorse and can cripple you real good. .

i think you give them too much credit. i'm pretty sure they dont bite me because they are arseholes.

i talked to another biker near my house. he said i wussed out, because some poor ranger already mowed back the grass a couple of feet on either side of the singletrack. making it safer.

the grass was tall day before yesterday, and it drooped over the trail. i'll try again today. imagine doing the weedwacking? hope he had snake gaiters on. going turkey hunting with a ranger tomorrow..i'm gonna ask.

[red-beard]

Do you have a larger version of the second photo? Red looks like it is touching yellow...

[Hugh R]

My cost to make a belt is about $55. Snake if free, belt to glue it to is about $35, tanning kit is about $10 per skin, having the local shoe repair guy run some stitching on it for strength is $10. My labor is my labor. So far, I've made five belts.

[wdfifteen]

There is a road in southern Illinois that they close in the fall so the snakes wont get squashed when they migrate from the river to a big rock outcropping where they hibernate. My hillbilly ex-inlaws walk the road every fall, they call it "wading in the snakes." I went once but it was late in the season and there weren't many snakes on the road itself, but some kind of snake attacked the tire on my car on the road too the snake road.