Beware Rattlers out on the NF American

[goldenmojo]

Ran into my first rattler of the season today. It was near the waterline in loose cobble. I will now be more careful working under suspended boulders...

 

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[goldenmojo]

Most of my life I have always been in areas where rattlers were plentiful. I have seen lots of rattlers nearly stepping on more than I care to count. I even stepped over a mating pair one time in Trinity County. I worked locally for 10 years at a place near Sacramento where we encountered over 50 rattlers in the course of the season so I have some experience with them. I have studied their movements for hunting squirrels around 5pm in the evening which is interesting to watch. I know they will try to get away any time they can and after any danger has passed they stop rattling and uncoil as I have witnessed that many times. That was not the case with the specific snake I referenced above. When I stepped out of my car and up to the rattler that got under my tire my intention was to check it out and then put it out of it's misery. I did not expect to have to get away from it but this rattler went on the attack. I moved to the edge of the road to find a large rock none being found I picked up a handful of gravel and sprayed it. It continued to advance and I found some small stones and tossed them then more gravel spray. I finally was able to find a rock large enough to stop it. If interested here are the coordinates of where it happened 40°32'4.87"N 121°55'55.48"W and where it got buried.

 

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[roadrunner]

That had to have been a Mojave Green if I where to take a guess.
I have heard they would chase people. Never had an encounter with one though.

 

[AU_Solitude]

I grew up with prairie rattlesnakes; the few pacific's I have seen out here seem to be fairly mild mannered. I caught a baby one last year and kept it in a 5 gallon bucket for a few hours.

 

[bedrock bubba]

I have encountered Western Diamondbacks on the American River, on the Bear River at the campground, and above Folsom Res. on a ranch. They are there because all the rattlers got loose from the old snake farm at Colfax around WW II !I certainly know what a Dback looks like being from AZ and Texas!

These "experts" on snakes and spiders are comical! They try to claim there are no brown recluse spiders in N. Cal. Heck, I had a major infestation of them in a trailor I had in Nevada City. I have a scar bigger than a quarter on my leg from a recluse bite that occured in Mammoth Lakes, CA, in the Sierras. I had bought a trailor from a hippie girl that came from San Gabriel, CA....the same place that the first brown recluse occured in Cal, back in '71. The spider bit me that was hiding under the bed!

I have also been nailed by two black widows TWICE! Man, that is painful!
And attacked by a Bull Shark in Corpus Christi Bay, and barely got away from it.
I have had a lot of Bear encounters to, including Grizz!

 

[H&F909ORO]

I have encountered Western Diamondbacks on the American River, on the Bear River at the campground, and above Folsom Res. on a ranch. They are there because all the rattlers got loose from the old snake farm at Colfax around WW II !I certainly know what a Dback looks like being from AZ and Texas! These "experts" on snakes and spiders are comical! They try to claim there are no brown recluse spiders in N. Cal. Heck, I had a major infestation of them in a trailor I had in Nevada City. I have a scar bigger than a quarter on my leg from a recluse bite that occured in Mammoth Lakes, CA, in the Sierras. I had bought a trailor from a hippie girl that came from San Gabriel, CA....the same place that the first brown recluse occured in Cal, back in '71. The spider bit me that was hiding under the bed! I have also been nailed by two black widows TWICE! Man, that is painful! And attacked by a Bull Shark in Corpus Christi Bay, and barely got away from it. I have had a lot of Bear encounters to, including Grizz!

. You have had some painful adventures. I'm really surprised your still walking after all that mess. Really glad you made it out of all those near death experiences. Hope you never encounter something worse than all of those. Lol anyway thanks for sharing your little stories, they will definitely make me look twice around the NF American.

 

[cazisme]

Rescue California 4 footer in the road yesterday! Beware Snattlerake season is on!

 

[Carolina Tom]

I know that you have to protect your kids from danger. I just do not like to see people go into the snake's natural habitat and kill them. The snake did not choose to be poisionous... it is not an "evil" animal. It is just doing what nature intended. Education has been shown to enlighten the ignorant. Perhaps a little learning might dispell some of those irrational fears. Think about it.

 

[Rawhide]

I have been chased by a rattler. It was a large one, in the hills of Riverside as a young boy. I couldnt find a big enough rock to kill it, and man are those things fast. But last year I stepped on two of them. Here in New Mexico I have only found small ones. As with anything in this desert I give it its space. I dont eat snake, and have found no need to kill one yet. I am very surprised as they have no fear of us humans. As for them rattling to let you know they are there, well here they move then rattle. I carry a walking stick and I have been lucky to not use it yet.Snakes are a good sign, never found anything without seeing one.

 

[63bkpkr]

NorCalSteve,
Most rattle snakes will not chase you and I've walked right by rattlers (northern Cali ratts) that most certainly were not interested at all in me and I've had them crawl by me in camp maybe 3' feet from me and they did not mind me sitting in their backyard. However I've had one NorCal rattle snake run at a group of us so a few will chase a person And it is not a pleasant sight or feeling to have happen to you.

The North Fork of the American River area is loaded with rattle snakes and I've witnessed the last three feet of one going under the cap stone to their den, have no idea how much longer it was. That was in the Beacroft Trail area upriver from where the trail comes down to the river valley. Green Valley has also shown me quite a few and in GV I found Scorpions, some good sized ones and they will come to a flashlight in the dark of the morning.

Euchre Bar showed me the first baby rattle snake I'd ever seen and that little cus had an attitude for something only 7" long!

Sailor flat and Mumford Bar have all produced rattle snakes so in general one could choose any spot along the NFAR drainage and it is likely you will find them there. Oh, and the snakes swim and catch fish underwater.

Also, be very careful around one when it is molting its skin, they get just a bit more than testy! And yes, all of them eat bugs, rats, mice and the like. The attic of the cabin in Green Valley could use a couple dozen snakes in it just before dark.

63bkpkr

 

[PaulieNoNuggets]

I've never met one, and I'm quite happy about that. I'm fairly certain I'd scream like a girl if I ever came face to face with one. Where I'm from the most dangerous thing you're likely to come across is a hedgehog.

 

[huntsman53]

Snakes will NOT chase you. The reason they have a rattle is to tell you hay I'm here stay away from me. They will bite if threatened or provoked. But, like I said that do not want to waste venom on something they can not eat. Again, they will NOT chase you down.

Try to tell that to a Copperhead that is chasing you and you are running for your life! They are one of the most aggressive snakes on the Earth and if you dare enter one's territory and come across it, then you will probably have to outrun it or kill it. Also, tell that to a Blue Racer while running as fast as you can because you have no idea what kind of snake it is. They are not poisonous but their bite can make you sick. However, they are just trying to remove you from their' territory but if you stop and turn toward them and stare them in the eyes, they will stop and then turn and flee. When I was about 9 years old, I had one chase me across a pasture field until I remembered what my dad told me to do and that was to stop, turn around and stare them down. Once that happened, it fled across the field to it's hole.


Frank

 

[Oregon Viking]

I wear these. https://www.sportsmansguide.com/net...boots-brown-mossy-oak-break-up.aspx?a=1671239
And when prospecting, my dog will warn me of rat-lers.
I don't shoot them unless I have to, and I warn others the area I discovered the little fanged ****!

 

[LM]

My place is in serious snake country and to boot, a lot of it looks like this.

(We're in the "Primary Bear Range" for Florida Black Bears)

I carry one of these.

Guns are swell and all but they're not always the right tool for the job with kids, houses and animals around. When a 5' diamondback makes its presence known in such a way that warrants killing it, I can do so 100% of the time with that two handed machete (with absolute effectiveness) whereas with a firearm, if he's pointed in a certain direction, I might not have a shot at him given what lies beyond.

Bears, just holler at 'em, they run away. If it decides to tangle, that two handed machete would keep it at bay and kill it graveyard dead if need be.

 

[Hoser John]

Swing away as I just unleash a .357 mag snakeshot and job done. That thang ain't near long enough to keep ya at a safe distance and them rattlers will strike much faster than you can swing-John

 

[bedrock bubba]

I have lots of rattler and hairy bear stories.

When I was a kid in San Antone, there were always vicious dogs on every block attacking me.

If I was riding my bike, I had a long chrome choke chain I would beat them off with.

If I was walking, and they came at me, I would stop, bend over like I was picking up a rock to throw at them, and stare them down. It always worked! They back off!

The chain was good against the other gutter punks as well!

 

[Hangtowndiggins]

A shovels length is close as I'm willing to go. It's one thing on the creek or river but around the house.. kill em all! I caught this creep on my front porch this time last year. Measured twice and cut once..

 

[LM]

Swing away as I just unleash a .357 mag snakeshot and job done. That thang ain't near long enough to keep ya at a safe distance and them rattlers will strike much faster than you can swing-John

I think a lot of people have an irrational almost Hollywood-like fear about just how far and fast they strike.
A shovel, a golf club, a brush ax, you can kill them with 100% effectiveness whereas shooting at (and hitting) a snake on the move is a lot easier said than done and things get very complicated when there are people, animals or buildings around and the snake is 'inconveniently positioned'.

My 3 'critical' encounters with very large Florida rattlers, two involved the presence of people/animals/buildings that precluded taking a shot. My most recent one: I'm the red dot, the two blue dots are kids,the brown line is a 3'-4' diamondback that suddenly made itself known and the brown dots are the direction it started traveling.

I just went over and chopped it in half.

What do you do there with a firearm that doesn't wind up with a kid who has a leg full of snakeshot?
Guns are tools but sometimes, they're hammers that cause people to view all problems on the trail as nails.

 

[goldenmojo]

That looks like it could have been dangerous to the others. The machete is a good idea, one fairly clean chop and they are close to done. They can take a pretty good hit though. I stuck a four footer at work right through the mid section with a piece of conduit and because of the close quarters I had to hold it down with the conduit and my feet spread as far away as possible waiting until some came to help me finish it off. It took them more than ten minutes to get there and the rattler was still fighting a good fight. Where I worked we were not allowed to carry fire arms just tools. We made the best of the situation.

 

[RaduTepes]

New Mexico has it's share of rattlers. In my 23 years here I've encountered four. Largest was about three feet. I tried to grab it since it was heading for the front door of my store in Santa Teresa but it slithered behind the front door which was open and coiled up, so no go there. Called the fire department and they came to get it. Damned firemen were sticking their faces directly into the snakes striking area looking at it. I'm like hey guys I wouldn't do that, just a second later the snake struck out and missed one of their faces by inches. They killed the snake which was unnecessary I could have picked him up and released him out back near the canal. The only reason I didnt do so to begin with was the snake was coiled. I may be brave but I'm not a dumba$$. I just wanted them to straighten the snake out of a coil so I could grab it. I didn't have a stick or I could have done it myself. Instead I had to stand by the door and advise people that a rattler was coiled so no one was bitten. The second was a beautiful baby sidewinder with tan color and wonderful violet markings. He slithered into my store and set up shop in the corner of the building. I coaxed him into a large box and took him outside and released him unharmed into a field by the shop. The other two encounters were in the Organs, I left them alone they left me alone.

Regards
Allen

 

[RaduTepes]

"Try to tell that to a Copperhead that is chasing you and you are running for your life! They are one of the most aggressive snakes on the Earth and if you dare enter one's territory and come across it, then you will probably have to outrun it or kill it. Also, tell that to a Blue Racer while running as fast as you can because you have no idea what kind of snake it is. They are not poisonous but their bite can make you sick. However, they are just trying to remove you from their' territory but if you stop and turn toward them and stare them in the eyes, they will stop and then turn and flee. When I was about 9 years old, I had one chase me across a pasture field until I remembered what my dad told me to do and that was to stop, turn around and stare them down. Once that happened, it fled across the field to it's hole."
Frank


I've handled copperheads, definitely a snake you don't want to mess with, and they don't need to coil to bite. They just bite, no warning at all. I never knew that about racers though, found the best place to go was straight up a tree until the racer left when being chased by one. Damn those things are fast. Been chased by a few cottonmouths too. In water they're greased lightning although on land they're very slow.

Regards
Allen