OT - Anyone like playing with snakes

[kimwcook]

Was over at the sister and BIL's this afternoon celebrating Mother's Day and my Mother's Bday. Found a bullsnake. I've always loved playing with snakes. It's hard to beat the adrenaline rush you get picking up a rattlesnake. This one is about four feet long. A bit skinny, but it's early spring.

Oh, it's alive. I don't believe in nonchalantly killing the best pest killer there is.

[gak]

Speaking of great pest killers, in Arizona our bullsnakes (and our California Kings too) are great rattler killers

[J Miller]

I don't mind snakes in general. About the only time they give me concern is when they are rattle snakes sleeping in the flower garden right by the front steps.

We've found two small blackish snakes here in IL. No idea what they are. We caught one, one of our cats caught the other. In AZ we saw a bunch of different ones though.

Joe

[bsaride]

I don't mind snakes in general. About the only time they give me concern is when they are rattle snakes sleeping in the flower garden right by the front steps.

We've found two small blackish snakes here in IL. No idea what they are. We caught one, one of our cats caught the other. In AZ we saw a bunch of different ones though.

Joe

There's a spot here in SoCal that has a black subspecies of rattler

[firefuzz]

I don't mind snakes in general, as long as I know where they are. LOL, we've got a large black snake that I've had to take out of the shop at Mom's several times as he's gotten too friendly with people working on things, Mom's even gotten to where she just throws a floor pad at him. The other non-poisonious one's that Mom doesn't kill get a free ride from me, they're the best mouse prevention there is. Venomous ones are toast, too many kids and small dogs at Mom's to allow them to stay in the yard.

Rob

[Ysabel Kid]

Snakes don't bother me. Now spiders, that's another story!

Mrs. YK, on the other hand, things that anything the size of a fat earthworm and up is a snake, and she runs for the hills if she sees one - over over, through, and around anyone in her path!

[Blaine]

Nothing really bothers me, but I hate surprises (and they always surprise you )

[rjohns94]

I love playing with them and typically don't do anything to them, though I have collected a few rattlers with the bow, but that is another story for a different day.

[fordwannabe]

The only snake I ever liked had already been through the Nocona boot factory, and looked mighty fine at my wedding. I don't like snakes so much I all but regret killin wild hogs, but not quite. Tom

[madman4570]

Playing with Rattlesnakes etc.(ones with venoum)---------Dude, you have to be crazy!(just my opinion)
http://www.rattlesnakebite.org/rattlesnakepics.htm

Here is the problem----even if you have been bitten before and survive it(along with keeping both arms/legs)
The next time the body can react totally different and you can loose an arm/Leg and that could be if your lucky.(like you could croak)
Don't mind non-venoumous ones a bit.
I would rather play with a loaded gun(which I wouldn't)before playing with a rattlesnake!
I like my limbs/life, thank you very much!
I consider myself to be quite fast handed(but not that fast)

[Rusty]

I was listening to NPR Sat. AM and they had a news piece about Taylor, Tx where they were having their annual snake sacking contest. The first two man team to get 10 rattlers in their sack wins.

[brno602]

Spiders and Snakes are good with me,we have lot's of big Rattler's in the Milk River area on the Montana border and garder snakes and some type of water snake that used to live near my home on the Bow River but it has been over 20 years since I seen one of them big snakes in the water. Have know idea what it was but it was big almost black. Now Yellow jackets and hornets that is another story they hate me and I hate them always have a can of brake cleaner to kill them with you. Must be something about me, I know I am a sweet guy lol, but gee they will go right after me and leave my friends alone? No sudden movement or anything I did, they just do not like me! Yet I am good with Bees?

[gak]

Regarding the post about the sacking contest in Texas,
rtsp://v4.cache1.c.youtube.com/CkELENy73wIaOAkMGVvIxFV7nRMYESARFEIJbXYtZ29vZ2xlSARSBXdhdGNoWglDbGlja0xpbmtgkanAqoC0xOhLDA==/0/0/0/video.3gp

These guys are nuts, but a good opportunity to get rid of a lot of rattlers! Hope they don't re-release them. Ugh. Want rodent control, get some king or bull snakes!

[kimwcook]

I don't want to get bit by any snake, venomous or not.

[olyinaz]

Well any snake bit is nasty and prone to infection (get it looked at ASAP) but I agree with the OP that non-venomous snakes are fantastic vermin predators.

Rattlers get the boot around my house (I've got kids) but other snakes are big friends of ours.

Best,
Oly

[new pig hunter]

interesting timing on this topic, my FL pal just sent me this story just an hour ago about a rattler found last October ......

pictures at the website:
http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/most ... ovider=top
ST. AUGUSTINE, FL -- A venomous snake over seven feet long was discovered in a neighborhood over the weekend.
It was an eastern diamondback rattlesnake that measured 7 feet, 3 inches in length. According to the University of Florida, the record size for that type of snake is 8 feet, so this was definitely a large snake.
Homeowner Howard McGaffney saw the snake on the perimeter of his neighborhood .....

more here:
http://www.news4jax.com/news/21162885/detail.html#

Cheers and Chills,

Carl

[Charles]

I don't play with snakes. I don't like snakes. I am not afraid of them, but do avoid them if possible. I don't kill harmsless snakes nor even rattlers unless the rattlers are on my turf. If they are on my turf, they are gonners.

[gak]

That Florida rattler is precisely 7'3" too long!! Brrr.

[Lawyer Daggit]

In Tasmania tiger snakes have mutated to have very big heads so that they can feed on mutton bird chicks.

It is not so much the length of a snake that gets me as the size of its head.

Know what you mean about them sunning themselves on flower beds outside the front door. Have a friend here who ripped up a flower bed because it was attracting tiger snakes to the back door- bit scary as thats where he pulls off his boots.

[Rusty]

I went out this afternoon late to feed the chickens and there was an indigo snake slithering away from the pen. Anybody know if when you see one around the chickens they are always there to steal the eggs?

I've liver here 30 years and never have seen a rattler so I hate to mess with the indigos, but if they're stealing eggs??? I wonder how many eggs one could eat?

[Mike D.]

We have had snakes around for as long as I can remember. All the kids caught snakes of various harmless species, usually garter, gopher, or king snakes. Occasionally, we would find a stray rubber boa, ringneck or tiny sharptail to carry around. Rubber boas will wrap around your wrist and remain there motionless for hours.

[gak]

Don't know about the eggs, but that Indigo may indeed be good anti-rattler defense!

[new pig hunter]

Here's an interesting read about how a photographer can (over)emphasize the size of the snake with photographic techniques, whether intentionally or unintentionally:
http://davidasteen.blogspot.com/2009/07 ... snake.html

Cheers,

Carl

[kimwcook]

Mike, that boa is too cool.

[Markbo]

I have caught and played with snakes since I was a small child growing up in El Paso. Still like to do it at 49. Caught a diamond back to keep it from being run over for no good reason by another hunter on our lease and while I was walking carrying it toward the brush he opened fire with his Glock!

I threw the snake and just hoped it lived and had some not so nice words with Ol George. We got back to the cabin and he told everyone how crazy I was for catching a snake. This from the guy that started shooting at the snake I was holding!

[Mike D.]

Mike, that boa is too cool.

Kim, rubber boas are small, seldom exceeding 2 1/2' in length. They inhabit the cooler regions and our mountain cabin, at 4500' is perfect habitat for them. The kids are always dragging them back, especially at night when they are most active. They are very calm, and even the littlest of out grandkids love them. Seeing the 4 yr old wearing a rubber boa "wristband" into the store is priceless, especially when she explains to the customers what she has is a living reptile.

[gak]

I have caught and played with snakes since I was a small child growing up in El Paso. Still like to do it at 49. Caught a diamond back to keep it from being run over for no good reason by another hunter on our lease and while I was walking carrying it toward the brush he opened fire with his Glock!

I threw the snake and just hoped it lived and had some not so nice words with Ol George. We got back to the cabin and he told everyone how crazy I was for catching a snake. This from the guy that started shooting at the snake I was holding!

-----
Ol George was wrong, that still doesn't mean you're not crazy

[the telegraphist]

In Aus you dont play with any of the snakes, only a very few are harmless, the others all pack a wopping venom, the red bellied black will kill a child and make an adult very sick for a few days. The other common killers are just that if you stumble on them, king brown snakes, tiger, taipan, eastern brown the list is pretty near endless most will give you a half hour or an hour to get help, otherwise your brownbread. The browns and taipan will not always shy away, they can cover two to three yards when angry in a fraction of a second resulting in alot of people who go after them with a shovel ending up in deep poo. Unless you know your snakes walk away if you dont have a 12g at hand. The various pythons are welcome though, they have a lovely habit of turning rats into dung, which is great, not so good if they get in the chook pen though.

[fatoldfool]

Got an "A" grade in a high school science class for 6 weeks by bringing in a live copperhead in a jar. When I walked into the house with the snake in my hands and ask my mother for a jar she went into hysterics and peed on the kitchen floor. I never handled copperheads but twice (lost my nerve in later life) and the only thing that bit me was a 5 ft blacksnake. I was holding him and not paying attention and he nailed me inside the wrist. That was a bloody mess!

[Aussie Chris]

Don't have any snakes Kim, but do have a few blue tongue lizards







Heres a quick video of what can happen when the camera lense may look a little tasty..im just glad my camera was ok!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lafCc2dXGE

Chris

[Whit Spurzon]

Kim, cool picture. Had a few scares from those in the past. Seem to enjoy warming up in areas I like to frequent. Sunny spots on the trail, all coiled up - gets the heart rate racing. Saw a bunch of them last year around my place.

Mike D, found one of those not far from my place. Cool critters. Might try making a bracelet next time.

[kimwcook]

You Oz brothers have it pretty tough down there. I've watched more than enough specials about the most venomous snakes in the world and you guys have quite a few on the list. I used to watch Steve Irwin alot, crazy bloke. Sorry he's not around anymore. He'd lie down face to face with Browns, Taipans, etc.. I used to just cringe waiting for him to get bit.

[Aussie Chris]

Yeah I suppose we have a few nasties! I do worry about the wriggle sticks when hunting sambar during the warmer months. Ive only seen about half a dozen tiger snakes out sambar stalking. Seen a couple of red bellied blacks and taipans. I just watch where I put my feet and hope for the best
Most of the time they are gone before you even see them anyway.
yeah good old Steve Irwin, play with fire you gonna get burned. Shame he is gone though.

[Lastmohecken]

We had lots of copperheads, blacksnakes, and a few Kingsnakes when I was a kid. We raised chickens, so snakes were bad news, in the chickenhouse. I would usually get a Kingsnake on a hoe and take it, out away somewhere and let it go, but we usually killed everything else.

I don't panic when I see a snake, and I usually don't kill them out in the woods, or fields, unless it's a copperhead, and I am sorry, but I always kill them. I don't like snakes, and I don't intend to pick up a live one, but I can kill a snake and then pick it up. So, if anyone wants me to pickup a snake, I can do it, but that is after I send it to it's happy hunting grounds.

[Markbo]

That seems to be very common... that the best snake is a dead snake. I have to tell you... I don't get it. I just don't understand why people fear them so. There are lots and lots and lots of dangerous animals in the world and everyone doesn't go around killing them.

Hey I know! What about a brown recluse spider round up? We could catch all we find, then torture them to death. Won't that just be a gas!

[gak]

That seems to be very common... that the best snake is a dead snake. I have to tell you... I don't get it. I just don't understand why people fear them so. There are lots and lots and lots of dangerous animals in the world and everyone doesn't go around killing them.

Hey I know! What about a brown recluse spider round up? We could catch all we find, then torture them to death. Won't that just be a gas!

------
Because they can either kill you or your loved ones or really, really ruin your day just for walking around and "innocently" stepping in the wrong spot. You might say the same thing about cougars, bobcats, bears and the like, but that's apples and oranges. Other than the increased big cat sightings in some urbanized areas because of draught or territory disruptions, generally most of the four-legged dangerous types are fairly reclusive or avoided by more obvious avoidance behavior on your (or their!) part in their neck 'o the woods. The nasty no-leggeds (talking venomous here) are a different story altogether. Even granting that *most* don't want anything to do with you, their very nature of being on the ground, not in your normal plane of sight and oftentimes hidden from view makes happenstance encounters much more likely. Campgrounds, trails, under bushes, by the otherwise innocent trout creek you're laz'ing the day away at, or under your danged front porch on an otherwise nice springtime day. That's why No thanks.

[41 Redhawk]

That seems to be very common... that the best snake is a dead snake. I have to tell you... I don't get it. I just don't understand why people fear them so. There are lots and lots and lots of dangerous animals in the world and everyone doesn't go around killing them.

14 So the LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this,
"Cursed are you above all the livestock
and all the wild animals!
You will crawl on your belly
and you will eat dust
all the days of your life.

15 And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring [a] and hers;
he will crush your head,
and you will strike his heel."

I try to avoid things God has cursed!

[Markbo]

Well then shouldn't we all just start stringing up Pit Bulls and criminals and start torturing them to death? The fact you don't pay attention to where you are walking in the woods is no excuse in my book to destroy entire populations.
Unless of course the idea is to the round up and torture all the varmints that will inevitably prosper from the snakes' absense.

Just because an animal is dangerous is NO excuse to torture them to death. Hell cows and horses are responsible for human deaths... string 'em up by the light poles and skin them alive!

Under your front porch is an entirely different circumstance that out in the brush. I have been playing outdoors from the deserts of El Paso to the Piney woods to everything in between for 45 years and have never been bitten by a venomous snake even though I handle them.

Because I am not afraid, they get to live. All of God's creatures have a place in His plan and just because some snake fearing Isrealite wrote that the Lord spoketh, doesn't He really did.

[O.S.O.K.]

In this part of TX we have all kinds of snakes - most of them beneficial, non-venemouse types. The bad ones are the rattlers, copperheads (most agressive vipers), cottonmouths and coral snakes. The most agressive snake overall seems to be the rat or chicken snake which rears up, hisses and attacks. I like em The diamondback water snakes are also quite agressive and the coach whips can be too. There are probably 30 types of snakes in this area from little grey blind snakes (live in the detritus of the forest floor) on up to the biggest rattlers.

[gak]

Well then shouldn't we all just start stringing up Pit Bulls and criminals and start torturing them to death? The fact you don't pay attention to where you are walking in the woods is no excuse in my book to destroy entire populations.
Unless of course the idea is to the round up and torture all the varmints that will inevitably prosper from the snakes' absense.

Just because an animal is dangerous is NO excuse to torture them to death. Hell cows and horses are responsible for human deaths... string 'em up by the light poles and skin them alive!

Under your front porch is an entirely different circumstance that out in the brush. I have been playing outdoors from the deserts of El Paso to the Piney woods to everything in between for 45 years and have never been bitten by a venomous snake even though I handle them.

Because I am not afraid, they get to live. All of God's creatures have a place in His plan and just because some snake fearing Isrealite wrote that the Lord spoketh, doesn't He really did.

-----
Hmmm, interesting extreme response. Don't recall saying anyone torture anything. I certainly didn't. Yes, it does sound like a good idea to get rid of Pits and criminals!!--as in entirely away from being able to harm anyone else. But torture? No. If a venomous critter is encountered going about one's normal activities, it is gone, period--no torture involved--and especially if loved ones, including our tail wagging four legged friends, are present. Don't believe in "torturing" anything (national security interests aside). Are you (even remotely) kidding?

You could argue, what are you doing handling them in the first place by the way? (Not my issue by the way, fine with me if someone wants to do that--not my schtick--but you brought it up) Maybe that's "torture" to them. Do you think they like that?

[Paladin]

I have been known to pick up a few. I don’t kill them unless they are in bad locations or there are kids around. I watched a Sergeant Major scream like a little girl when a cobra stood up in the grass one time and it lived through it.
The photo was one found while riding on my farm a couple of months ago.

[Markbo]

-----
Hmmm, interesting extreme response. Don't recall saying anyone torture anything. I certainly didn't.

I brought it up in the context of rattlesnake roundups.

Are you (even remotely) kidding?

Well if you don't know, we are not at all having the same conversation. That whole you can't hear the tone of my voice, etc. Sarcasm often does not translate well in the written form.