OT- Snakes

Mike D. · Post by **Mike D.** » Fri Apr 03, 2009 9:14 pm

This afternoon I drove up to Rocklin to take a gander at an Indian site that a developer friend is gonna wipe out soon, and found these guys. There is a den right where we were screening and they are starting to come out for sun. I laid down nice and close to get these pics.

Post by **AmBraCol** » Fri Apr 03, 2009 9:27 pm

Looks like a good place to release a few blacksnakes...

deerwhacker444 · Post by **deerwhacker444** » Fri Apr 03, 2009 9:37 pm

Nice looking critters, too bad they're ornery.

Sixgun · Post by **Sixgun** » Fri Apr 03, 2009 9:39 pm

oooooooooo, snakes and spiders I don't like. Hey Mike, Is it the picture or are those snakes huge? They look about 3-4" in diameter.

I take it that you did not show them the sixgun slug.

----------------Sixgun

Bob A · Post by **Bob A** » Fri Apr 03, 2009 9:43 pm

We're about 100 miles South of Rocklin as the crow flies. Probably 200-300 miles by car.
It is the season here in the Sierra Foothills. Every spring the rattlers come out till it gets too hot.
One of them bit one of my carriage horses yesterday. Right on the nose. Poor guy is feeling pretty sorry
for himself with his nose and lips swollen.
I've got a pretty good idea where he was and I'm going snake hunting tomorrow at dusk.

Bob A

Jason_W · Post by **Jason_W** » Fri Apr 03, 2009 9:49 pm

They're a vital par of an ecosystem, but I'm still glad we don't have 'em around here.

Bob A · Post by **Bob A** » Fri Apr 03, 2009 9:53 pm

Jason_W wrote:They're a vital par of an ecosystem, but I'm still glad we don't have 'em around here.

Jason,
I completely agree. I've got no problem with rattle snakes doing their thing as long as they stay away from the house and barn and don't bite my horses (or me).

Bob a

JReed · Post by **JReed** » Fri Apr 03, 2009 10:22 pm

Cool pics. Couldn't tell ya how many of those I ran into in scouts and trecking around Camp Pendleton. For the most part I leave them alone and go about my way but every now and then one ends up in the old cast iron fry pan.

Warhawk · Post by **Warhawk** » Fri Apr 03, 2009 10:41 pm

Those things are the reason god gave us the shotgun!

J Miller · Post by **J Miller** » Fri Apr 03, 2009 11:13 pm

Mike D. wrote:This afternoon I drove up to Rocklin to take a gander at an Indian site that a developer friend is gonna wipe out soon, and found these guys. There is a den right where we were screening and they are starting to come out for sun. I laid down nice and close to get these pics.

What are they gonna put in, an apartment complex and a Wal Mart?

Nice snakes, to bad they are gonna be homeless soon.

Joe

Mike D. · Post by **Mike D.** » Sat Apr 04, 2009 12:28 am

Actually, this site is slated for a custom home. I hope that a full disclosure is given to the couple that want this piece. It's within the Rocklin CL and no shooting is allowed. We do have permission to take turkeys with arrows or pellet rifles, though. The snake den is on the edge of the property and partially within the lot itself. They are protected and don't bother anyone unless they are messed with. The site is a 1/2 acre parcel on a gentle slope with large oaks and plenty granite outcrops. The big negative is the close proximity to the freeway that is visible in the distance. Lotta vehicle noise.

Mike D. · Post by **Mike D.** » Sat Apr 04, 2009 12:41 am

Sixgun wrote:oooooooooo, snakes and spiders I don't like. Hey Mike, Is it the picture or are those snakes huge? They look about 3-4" in diameter.

I take it that you did not show them the sixgun slug. ----------------Sixgun

No, they are rather small, maybe 4-5' in length, tops. 3" in diameter is a big one, and they can be evil tempered buggers, specially when antagonized. When not upset off they are easy to handle and can be approached without alarming them. I never bother with them unless they cruise into the yard. Occasionally we will kill one if it's big enough to grill, but mostly I give them a ride out to the "edge of town".

Gun Runner · Post by **Gun Runner** » Sat Apr 04, 2009 2:10 am

Mike, your talking Rocklin down Below Loomis right? Have ran over a few of them on the freeway going to Sac from G.V.

Gun Runner

jdad · Post by **jdad** » Sat Apr 04, 2009 7:38 am

I used to live farther up the hill, in Applegate. Rattlesnakes were the least of our worries. Coyotes, BIG cats, and worst of all were the turkeys that flew across the road at windshield height.

The Black Widows, in the wood pile, used to freak me out a lot too.

Mike D. · Post by **Mike D.** » Sat Apr 04, 2009 8:19 am

It's 0615 and we are headin' out to Georgetown to screen more Indian artifacts at a property where we have the big permish to do so. Hope to score some nice points, but no snakes. Black Widows are everywheree in N. CAL, but not around here. I've never seen one in the yard in 35 yrs of livin' here.

kimwcook · Post by **kimwcook** » Sat Apr 04, 2009 8:28 am

If it weren't for snakes and other critters eating the rodents we'd be overrun with them. We have rattlesnakes around here, but they don't get real big. I don't mess with'em unless their around the house. Then I'll move'em out a ways. Always watching when moving stuff on the ground.

Blackwidows are rampant here as are almost all makes of spiders other than the brown recluse. They have a job to do too, but they die if they're in the open around the house.

AJMD429 · Post by **AJMD429** » Sat Apr 04, 2009 9:36 am

Bob A wrote:
Jason_W wrote:They're a vital par of an ecosystem, but I'm still glad we don't have 'em around here.
Jason,
I completely agree. I've got no problem with rattle snakes doing their thing as long as they stay away from the house and barn and don't bite my horses (or me).

Bob a

Yep - same way I feel about the ones where I live.

rangerider7 · Post by **rangerider7** » Sat Apr 04, 2009 10:05 am

We have a lot of rattlesnakes on the ranch. Since we have cattle and new calves I have more of a tendency to kill them. When I was a kid I use to run into them all the time on a ranch in Throckmorton County, Texas. We would just go around them. Like y'all say if you don't bother them they will go on and do their thing. Water Moccasins are the most aggressive snakes I know of and will dispose of them when I can. I would be interested in knowing what other ranchers fell about rattlesnakes around new curious calves. We have lost a few due to bites as well as full grown cattle, not many just a few. I have always killed the ones in the barn. Does anyone know about a rattlesnake's habits. Will they return to old haunts if removed? I always thought they would and have seen evidence of this.

Modoc ED · Post by **Modoc ED** » Sat Apr 04, 2009 10:07 am

I haven't seen a snake this year yet (still pretty cold here) but it won't be long before they'll be out. I don't bother them unless they come right up to the house. Here's a shot of our place from the rear of our property. A perfect environment for snakes and all manner of other wild life. There is a creek just behind where I was standing when I took the picture -- a great watering hole for game, snakes, and such.

They (the snakes) just love the sagebrush and sawgrass.

KirkD · Post by **KirkD** » Sat Apr 04, 2009 10:56 am

It's those Brown Recluse Spiders I don't like ..... they leave a very nasty aftermath. Before you decide to stick your hand somewhere you can't see, take a look at this http://www.emedicinehealth.com/spider_b ... e11_em.htm and this http://www.ascendedhealth.com/brown-rec ... icture.htm

P.S. Enjoy yer lunch!

BAGTIC · Post by **BAGTIC** » Sat Apr 04, 2009 11:56 am

[quote="I've got a pretty good idea where he was and I'm going snake hunting tomorrow at dusk.
Bob A[/quote]

Better check your Kalifornia Fish & Game regulations.

lever-4-life · Post by **lever-4-life** » Sat Apr 04, 2009 6:43 pm

The only time I've ever came close to getting bit was in rocklin. I was doing a riparian study on miners ravine creek just behind sierra college and was trying to scoot around a black berry bush along the creek when i felt something hit my foot. The little fella was about 14" long and his small fangs couldn't get through my wesco's. I made it across the creek in one jump with all my cruse gear on but dropped my compass, It was a cheap one and he is more than welcome to it.

J35 · Post by **J35** » Sat Apr 04, 2009 10:07 pm

I have seen to much needless misery and suffering from both man and beast due to venomous snakes in my life.

I kill everyone I see. And will continue to do so for the rest of my life .

To do other wise is darn stupid and uncaring as far as I'm concerned.

Have fun

Post by **Ysabel Kid** » Sat Apr 04, 2009 10:31 pm

KirkD wrote:It's those Brown Recluse Spiders I don't like ..... they leave a very nasty aftermath. Before you decide to stick your hand somewhere you can't see, take a look at this http://www.emedicinehealth.com/spider_b ... e11_em.htm and this http://www.ascendedhealth.com/brown-rec ... icture.htm

P.S. Enjoy yer lunch!

Not going to look - I'm pretty sure I've seen these pictures in e-mail, and don't need to see them again!!!

Mike D. · Post by **Mike D.** » Sun Apr 05, 2009 6:07 pm

Besides the occasional black widow, old crotalus viridis is the only seriously poisonous critter around these parts. There are no brown recluse known to live in N CA, despite the rumors you may hear. L4L, this site is along Secret Ravine, just west of Sierra College.

mklwhite · Post by **mklwhite** » Mon Apr 06, 2009 6:49 am

With rattlesnakes the trick is to bite them first!

SOUTHERN FRIED RATTLESNAKE
1 egg
salt to taste
1 tsp. minced garlic (optional)
1 tsp. seasoning salt mix
3/4 cup milk
1 tsp. pepper
flour
1 rattlesnake

Cut snake meat into 4 inch lengths. Beat egg and milk. Mix spices with flour in a separate bowl. Preheat deep fat fryer with cooking oil. Dip snake into egg mixture and then in flour mixture and place it in hot oil. Cook until golden brown and crispy like fried fish. Serve with french fries and slaw.

Mike D. · Post by **Mike D.** » Mon Apr 06, 2009 10:50 am

Don't misunderstand me, I like rattlesnakes, they taste just like "chicken". Not really, they have a flavor of their own, but are mighty tasty and we have devoured many of them. My preference is grilled.

Streetstar · Post by **Streetstar** » Mon Apr 06, 2009 3:03 pm

I am an insurance adjuster and as such, get to meet all types of people. One was a contractor who found a little button rattler on my client's property. This "coon butt" (common local term down in Louisiana --- no offense) thought he was gonna play Steve Irwin or something and "get the snake out of the yard" with a stick

--- he was talking to it like someone would a puppy ----------"C'mere baby --lets get you out of here!" -- when all of a sudden he loses total control of the situation and the snake bit him on the hand and slithered on its merry way !

It was all i could do to suppress my laughter. Thankfully, the guy's "crew" were there to take him to the hospital where he spent the better part of a week.

All i could think was the expression - "Yep, that'll learn 'ya !"

Jacko · Post by **Jacko** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 4:14 am

http://www.reptileallsorts.com/deadliest-snakes.htm

Sorry folks - American snakes ar wimps

- all of the top 10 deadliest are Australian

I have had a near miss with the Inland Tiapan when I was 15 , I was walking around a saltbush while Bowhunting and stood on a 5 foot long Fierce Snake or Inland Tiapan several hours walk from the vehicle . When it struck me one fang hit about 1/2" from the top of my mid calf length boots and dribbled venom and the other fang failed to penatrate the loose leg cloth of my army fatigue trousers . I would have been dead hours before help arrived , I buy lotto tickets every week but I've had my lifes good fortune back then . Taipans , Browns and Death Adders are common where I live and hunt , they keep me scanning the ground in front of me . The Easten Brown in particular is a nasty customer when disturbed and I give them a very wide berth . Come out folks , if the snakes don't get yah , the sharks , Crocs or Funnel Web spiders will

I could extend the list to how many of the top 20 deadliest snakes are Australian but I'd be boasting then

regards Jacko

GoatGuy · Post by **GoatGuy** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 11:23 am

rangerider7 wrote:We have a lot of rattlesnakes on the ranch. Since we have cattle and new calves I have more of a tendency to kill them. When I was a kid I use to run into them all the time on a ranch in Throckmorton County, Texas. We would just go around them. Like y'all say if you don't bother them they will go on and do their thing. Water Moccasins are the most aggressive snakes I know of and will dispose of them when I can. I would be interested in knowing what other ranchers fell about rattlesnakes around new curious calves. We have lost a few due to bites as well as full grown cattle, not many just a few. I have always killed the ones in the barn. Does anyone know about a rattlesnake's habits. Will they return to old haunts if removed? I always thought they would and have seen evidence of this.

Haven't run across any rattlers on our place, ... yet. But we do seem to have an over abundance of Copperheads and a few Cottonmouth Moccasins. I have stock here, a "livestock guardian animal" (big, big, big DOG) and many little kids running around with their mommies, so I don't abide slithery, venomous creatures in the same environment. Needless to say, I carry a 38 spec. loaded with CCI shotshells whenever I am out and about our place late spring through 1st freeze. Seems to work out really well.

Oh, and mklwhite - from one Ozarker to another, thanks for the recipe. It'll come in handy when/if I run across one of the area's rattle creatures.

jeepnik · Post by **jeepnik** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 4:47 pm

KirkD wrote:It's those Brown Recluse Spiders I don't like ..... they leave a very nasty aftermath. Before you decide to stick your hand somewhere you can't see, take a look at this http://www.emedicinehealth.com/spider_b ... e11_em.htm and this http://www.ascendedhealth.com/brown-rec ... icture.htm

P.S. Enjoy yer lunch!

Man, till you been bit by one, you have no idea. Those pictures are worst case scenarios, but they do make you fell like hell, and take quite a while to heal. Infection is just as big a danger as the bite itself. I kill black widows when seen. Brown Recluse should be nuked.

jeepnik · Post by **jeepnik** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 4:50 pm

Jacko wrote:http://www.reptileallsorts.com/deadliest-snakes.htm

Sorry folks - American snakes ar wimps - all of the top 10 deadliest are Australian

I have had a near miss with the Inland Tiapan when I was 15 , I was walking around a saltbush while Bowhunting and stood on a 5 foot long Fierce Snake or Inland Tiapan several hours walk from the vehicle . When it struck me one fang hit about 1/2" from the top of my mid calf length boots and dribbled venom and the other fang failed to penatrate the loose leg cloth of my army fatigue trousers . I would have been dead hours before help arrived , I buy lotto tickets every week but I've had my lifes good fortune back then . Taipans , Browns and Death Adders are common where I live and hunt , they keep me scanning the ground in front of me . The Easten Brown in particular is a nasty customer when disturbed and I give them a very wide berth . Come out folks , if the snakes don't get yah , the sharks , Crocs or Funnel Web spiders will

I could extend the list to how many of the top 20 deadliest snakes are Australian but I'd be boasting then

regards Jacko

Tell you what, come on over to the California high desert and get nipped by a Mojave Green. Might not be one ot the ten, twenty or even fifty deadliest snakes, but you sure as heck don't want to tangle with one.

Oh, and by the way, just why do think God put Austrailia way out in the middle of nowhere, and populated it with such critters. There's just some places man isn't meant to live.

Travis Morgan · Post by **Travis Morgan** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 7:53 pm

Sixgun wrote:oooooooooo, snakes and spiders I don't like. Hey Mike, Is it the picture or are those snakes huge? They look about 3-4" in diameter.

I take it that you did not show them the sixgun slug. ----------------Sixgun

In those ROCKS? WTH are YOU smokin'?

Travis Morgan · Post by **Travis Morgan** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 7:55 pm

Bob A wrote:We're about 100 miles South of Rocklin as the crow flies. Probably 200-300 miles by car.
It is the season here in the Sierra Foothills. Every spring the rattlers come out till it gets too hot.
One of them bit one of my carriage horses yesterday. Right on the nose. Poor guy is feeling pretty sorry
for himself with his nose and lips swollen.
I've got a pretty good idea where he was and I'm going snake hunting tomorrow at dusk.

Bob A

In the future, take those hard plastic things syringes come in, cut the ends off, and stick 'em in the horse's nostrils, so he can breathe better. Else, their nasal passages can close up!

Travis Morgan · Post by **Travis Morgan** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 7:58 pm

rangerider7 wrote: Does anyone know about a rattlesnake's habits. Will they return to old haunts if removed? I always thought they would and have seen evidence of this.

Not if they're dead!

lever-4-life · Post by **lever-4-life** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 10:40 pm

Mike D, It could have been secret ravine I was on. Miners ravine might be in roseville? Anyway I still can't belive I grew up in the foresthill area and was never close to being bitten and then I go down to work in the flatlands and there he was

Jacko · Post by **Jacko** » Wed Apr 08, 2009 3:31 am

There is a show on pay TV called Venom ER that I really enjoy watching from time to time , the effects of any type of snake venom on the human body is serious stuff . I wont be taking you up on your invite your jeepnik , can't say I want to tangle with a Rattlesnake but I do like the idea of mklwhites recipe

regards Jacko

slimster · Post by **slimster** » Wed Apr 08, 2009 11:56 am

GoatGuy wrote:
rangerider7 wrote:We have a lot of rattlesnakes on the ranch. Since we have cattle and new calves I have more of a tendency to kill them. When I was a kid I use to run into them all the time on a ranch in Throckmorton County, Texas. We would just go around them. Like y'all say if you don't bother them they will go on and do their thing. Water Moccasins are the most aggressive snakes I know of and will dispose of them when I can. I would be interested in knowing what other ranchers fell about rattlesnakes around new curious calves. We have lost a few due to bites as well as full grown cattle, not many just a few. I have always killed the ones in the barn. Does anyone know about a rattlesnake's habits. Will they return to old haunts if removed? I always thought they would and have seen evidence of this.
Haven't run across any rattlers on our place, ... yet. But we do seem to have an over abundance of Copperheads and a few Cottonmouth Moccasins. I have stock here, a "livestock guardian animal" (big, big, big DOG) and many little kids running around with their mommies, so I don't abide slithery, venomous creatures in the same environment. Needless to say, I carry a 38 spec. loaded with CCI shotshells whenever I am out and about our place late spring through 1st freeze. Seems to work out really well.

Oh, and mklwhite - from one Ozarker to another, thanks for the recipe. It'll come in handy when/if I run across one of the area's rattle creatures.

GoatGuy, in my experience, once any pit viper (i.e. rattlesnake, cottonmouth, or copperhead) is skinned and cooked, there really isn't much difference. All are good eating. If you want to try fried snake, and don't have a rattler handy, his cousins work good too!

kimwcook · Post by **kimwcook** » Wed Apr 08, 2009 7:34 pm

I agree with our Australian brothers that the land of Oz is the land of big fangs. More venomous snakes and biting insects than I'd like to be around.

BAGTIC · Post by **BAGTIC** » Sun Apr 12, 2009 10:53 pm

Rattlesnakes can turn up in the dangdest places. I once opened a bale of peat moss purchased at the local nursery and lying right on top was a little rattler about 12-14 inches long and he already had a button.

jjames · Post by **jjames** » Mon Apr 13, 2009 8:42 pm

I have a truce going with rattlers. They were dead on sight when I was growing up in the back-country behind Del Mar. Too many dogs and small siblings around and they were known to enter houses. Annually, Dad and I would flip over rocks, wood, etc around the place looking to send them back to Satan. My Dad loved snakes and rattlers in particular. When he was in his late teens one of his "pets" bit him. Dad forgave him, I would have cooked him. I am now more "enlighten" than in those great days in the '60s so I let them be. Truce is off though if one of my German Shorthair Pointers ever gets bit.

Mike D. · Post by **Mike D.** » Mon Apr 13, 2009 9:13 pm

Our not so smart Blue Healer was bitten 3 times, but still went after snakes. Died of old age, not snake bite. No vet trips for him, he'd just lie low for a few days with a swelled head and come out fine.

Jacko · Post by **Jacko** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 3:12 am

A few years back over a meal with the owner of a property we bowhunt on he was lamenting he had just lost his best dog and 4 others [ Kelpie's ] to Brown Snakes in the previous 2 years . Later that weekend after we had finished laying a Peeble and Asphalt floor in his shed the Cocky realised that now he could not see the tracks the snakes left in the red dust as they come into the shed looking for mice . So we carried in and scattered bucket fulls of red dust again . Originally we offered to do the job for him as he was saying how if he put anything on the floor the dust swallowed it - Ah Well

regards Jacko

the telegraphist · Post by **the telegraphist** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 6:37 am

Looks to me like a 12 gauge is just what they are waiting for. Lever action of course!!!

2571 · Post by **2571** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 8:43 am

Stopped in I5 freeway rest stop outside LA. They had rattelesnake warnings signs. Took picture of sign but don't know how to post it here.

Live in Mi where I have only seen local, Massasagua rattlers twice in my 60 years. Rarely lethal, but apparently will make you pretty sick for 1-2 days.

Indie Jones is right.

Mike D. · Post by **Mike D.** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 10:16 am

2571 wrote:Stopped in I5 freeway rest stop outside LA. They had rattelesnake warnings signs. Took picture of sign but don't know how to post it here.

Live in Mi where I have only seen local, Massasagua rattlers twice in my 60 years. Rarely lethal, but apparently will make you pretty sick for 1-2 days.

Indie Jones is right.

Is your handle a steam locomotive number? Several roads had 2500 series engines.

the telegraphist · Post by **the telegraphist** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 6:34 am

Mike D. wrote:Our not so smart Blue Healer was bitten 3 times, but still went after snakes. Died of old age, not snake bite. No vet trips for him, he'd just lie low for a few days with a swelled head and come out fine.

Gday Mike D
Have read alot of your posts sir, you make alot of sense. I have owned healers for years, both red and blue, currently have three reds on the property, would never be without them, they can smell a snake yards away, when they latch on keep well away, theres bits of snake going everywhere. Funnily enough if they do get hit by one of our friendly neighbourhood browns, taipans, swamp tigers etal they will usually head for a dam and get into the water up to their necks and stay there for several days, they will not come out for a feed or anything. Vets claim that the water is cooling there system and slowing the flow of venom which in turn allows their bodies to deal and survive. Not being a veterinary scientist I am unsure, but I have witnessed this phenomena and the dog survived. Whereas have also witnessed a bull weighing well over a ton fall prey to an eastern brown snake in less than half an hour. The dog that survived Ben lived to a great age, I buried him at 17 years. To see him work cattle was something to behold, the three I have now are all his offspring, the mother dog is still alive although she is now 16 and showing her age, but she still enjoys life and has taught all the youngsters "dog" manners. They are a joy to behold and so easy to train, working is their nature, they are not yard dogs . When not being worked they love just racing over the paddocks just for fun. On a stinking hot day they will head for the dam for a swim and relax in the shade, they show alot of common sense some of us humans miss or have forgotten. Good guard dogs too, loyal to a fault. Not gunshy either. Hear tell that large doses of vitamin C applied intrevieniously in the scruff of the neck, 20ml will also help a dog although cannot vouche for that. Others have.

Rgds