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These pictures were taken last week, July 7th at the ranch by a cowboy looking for stays. For you folks that are not educated on Rattle snakes, this generally only happens in the spring when they come out of the den and the weather is warm enough for them to sun. The cowboy thinks the drought is so bad in West Texas that they are not going far from the den and returning daily.
Last edited by rangerider7 on Wed Aug 10, 2011 9:57 pm, edited 2 times in total.
I saw some pictures a couple of years ago of something very similar. Don't remember where those pictures were taken. The snakes look in pretty good shape though. If'n you were lollygagging around and not paying attention and came upon that sight you might just have to cape your shorts. I'd love to watch'em and see their interaction.
Looks like a bad place to trip and launch yourself headlong.
Kirk: An old geezer who loves the smell of freshly turned earth, old cedar rail fences, wood smoke, a crackling fireplace on a snowy evening, pristine wilderness lakes, the scent of
cedars and a magnificent Whitetail buck framed in the semi-buckhorn sights of a 120-year old Winchester. Blog: https://www.kirkdurston.com/
My father grew up near Perryton and they hunted snakes when they ran short of jackrabbits. One day they were walking down a canyon and a rattler struck one of the boys in the butt and hung its fangs in the back pocket of his overalls. Too bad they didn't have a timer, that boy set a cross country record with a diamondback tail waving behind him. The rest finally caught up and released him.
I can just see the one with the .22 saying "Now Jeb, just hold real still . . ."
When I was 13/14 we used to hunt jackrabbits on a large ranch in throckmorton county, Texas in the summer. You could walk all day and not get to the other side. We ran across rattlers all the time in or near the sandstone rock quarries. They would rattle and we would just walk around them. If one had jump up and grabbed on to my wranglers, when my buddy caught me and got it off, I would have had to go to the tank and do some washing.
Mmmmm. I see those rattlers and all I can think about is my fryin' pan with a bit of olive oil and seasonings.....
2x22
"Yes, we did produce a near-perfect republic. But will they keep it? Or will they, in the enjoyment of plenty, lose the memory of freedom? Material abundance without character is the path of destruction." - Thomas Jefferson
Regarding another's Mohave Green comment, thankfully they aren't illegal to kill in Az (though we have a variant of rattler that is--in a rare moment of government sanity, by definition at least it is not one of the more common variety like the Diamondback and Mohave are). Not that these others are pussycats by a long shot, there's nothing more lethal among U.S. pit vipers than a Mohave. We lost a 60s-ish gal to one up near Prescott two years ago, and I almost lost a friend to one thirty years ago down toward Yuma. As a signal maintainer for the old Southern Pacific, clearing brush from the track environs one day he got nailed by an unseen (and unheard) one in the finger after he'd killed its partner (flicking it out of the way with a stick). Yuma help was sixty miles away. Complications left him touch 'n go critical for a month, and in the hospital for six plus. Had later/lasting complications as well.
Yes, hat band time for those Texas critters!
When I lived in San Diego, I use to head into the canyons and hunt coyotes and bunnies with my bow. I was spot and stalking bunnies one afternoon and while concentrating on getting close to a rabbit for a shot with my longbow, I wound up in the midst of a nest of rattlers, not with that size, more like little babies a foot or so long. The whole ground I was on was swarming with them. I don't think there were that many and certainly didn't have that size, but it was my first encounter that close with rattlers. I was amidst them for about 15 mins as I carefully chose my footing and got out of the group. I did manage to take the largest one of the group, about a 3 footer, that seemed the most interested in me. My hunting journal notes of that night show I got some bunnies two but I was obviously still excited when I got back home because I "rattled" on and on in the journal about the snakes. But those pictures would have me quite a bit on edge if I came up on them in the same situation i'm thinking. thanks for sharing. very kewl to see how critters get on.
Mike Johnson,
"Only those who will risk going too far, can possibly find out how far one can go." T.S. Eliot
I just read a long report that was available at the San Antonio Zoo about rattlesnakes. It specifically said "snake nests" or "snake pits" do not exist in the wild and are a wive's tale. I'd like that author to walk around the place in your photos.
86er wrote:I just read a long report that was available at the San Antonio Zoo about rattlesnakes. It specifically said "snake nests" or "snake pits" do not exist in the wild and are a wive's tale. I'd like that author to walk around the place in your photos.
Say what? There is a big one in Manitoba that is a major tourist attraction, although it is a Garter Snake nest; no rattlers. Tens of thousands of snakes in that one each spring and fall ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcisse_Snake_Pits ). The author of that report needs to get out more.
Kirk: An old geezer who loves the smell of freshly turned earth, old cedar rail fences, wood smoke, a crackling fireplace on a snowy evening, pristine wilderness lakes, the scent of
cedars and a magnificent Whitetail buck framed in the semi-buckhorn sights of a 120-year old Winchester. Blog: https://www.kirkdurston.com/
86er wrote:I just read a long report that was available at the San Antonio Zoo about rattlesnakes. It specifically said "snake nests" or "snake pits" do not exist in the wild and are a wive's tale. I'd like that author to walk around the place in your photos.
Always amazed how quick some people are to point out that they don't know anything.
Those pictures remind me how much I like living in Ohio. We have a few Poisonous snakes here but they are pretty rare.
jb
jasonB " Another Dirty Yankee"
" Tomorrow the sun will rise. Who knows what the tide could bring?"
Thanks RR7. i would really like to see that in person Todd
30/30 Winchester: Not accurate enough fer varmints, barely adequate for small deer; BUT In a 10" to 14" barrelled pistol; is good for moose/elk to 200 yards; ground squirrels to 300 metres
250 Savage... its what the 223 wishes it could be...!
Dang it. I almost soiled my drawers just looking at those pictures.
One of the scariest moments of my life was being struck at by an eastern rattler. At least 4ft long. Didn't hear or see a thing before feeling a pretty good jolt on the front of my boots. Then heard the rattling. Thought about shooting it but was afraid it'd strike again before I got the gun out. Took off running in the other direction.
To this day, don't think I've ever been back to that spot. That was in '85.
Thanks for the pictures, though. Reminds me to get a new pair of snake boots.
...and I don't think he even knows it...Walks around with a half-assed grin...If he feels fear, he don't show it. Just rides into hell and back again.
While I will freely admit that I kill poisonous snakes around my domicile, I would not kill the non-poisonous species.
If there are that many snakes in one area, they have to have something to eat.... and if they weren't there, you'd have a lot more of whatever they are eating - mice, rats and such.
God put them there for a reason... at least they usually make a noise when you get near - or are they still quieting down? I remember reading a post about that last year?
ETA: The little rattler that was on my doorstep that I dispatched was buzzing like crazy at the cat - definately making a racket but I have no idea what transpired prior to me noticing the cat looking down at the door jamb through the side glass... she saved a family member from stepping on that thing.
Last edited by O.S.O.K. on Sat Aug 13, 2011 2:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
On a late night rabbit hunt, a rattler struck at me as I walked past it in the headlights after finishing off a bunny. It was the return trip, so I had already passed it once. No warning.
Rangerider I have seen old pictures taken on the JA Ranch, with lots of rattler's in them, I think they have been a problem for a long time, I read they are out and about when the Turkey and Dove season's are on.
I don't hunt much in that area of Texas. I hunt a little south of there between Post and Snider, Texas on my nieces 3000 acres. I heard though that if you shoot a dove on the JA, it's a race to see who gets to the bleeding dove first you or the rattler and you dang sure don't leave you gun behind.
My Father grew up in the Oklahoma Panhandle during the Dust Bowl days, and he said that his father once discovered a rattlesnake nest. The hogs were turned loose on the snakes. My Father said that it sure was a strange sight to see a hog eating a snake tail first while the snake continued to strike. The hog apparently was not affected. Has anyone else heard of hogs eating snakes?
D. Brian Casady
Quid Llatine Dictum Sit, Altum Viditur.
Advanced is being able to do the basics while your leg is on fire---Bill Jeans
Don't ever take a fence down until you know why it was put up---Robert Frost
piller wrote: Has anyone else heard of hogs eating snakes?
What Rangerider said. Hogs will eat anything, including you if you lay still long enough. I've seen them eat snakes when I was a kid. I've also seen them eat other stuff i'd just as soon not think of when I'm eating bacon.
"Make yourself an honest man, and then you may be sure that there is one less scoundrel in the world." - Thomas Carlyle
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