just a heads up for spring time hunts....

[bravowhiskey]

Ya'll gettin' ready to get out and get after it? Moving around in the outdoors, over logs, poking through rock piles? It might very well be time for a refresher course on...

class - reptila
order - squamata
sub-order - serpentes

snakes man, snakes.

Here ya go. Now is this a snake you could just grab up, no worries?

Or is it in fact a venomous type?

No fair looking it up. Just try to remember the old adage. Red and black, red on yellow Don't pick it up unless you are certain.



And watch where you step and reach, dig or sit.

HH

BW

 

[eastTNJoe]

Ya'll gettin' ready to get out and get after it? Moving around in the outdoors, over logs, poking through rock piles? It might very well be time for a refresher course on...

class - reptila
order - squamata
sub-order - serpentes

snakes man, snakes.

Here ya go. Now is this a snake you could just grab up, no worries?

Or is it in fact a venomous type?

No fair looking it up. Just try to remember the old adage. Red and black, red on yellow Don't pick it up unless you are certain.

View attachment 756498View attachment 756499

And watch where you step and reach, dig or sit.

HH

BW

my adage is: "I don't care what color it is...I'm not picking any of them up!" Thanks for the reminder, although I have nightmares that involve copperheads and that does quite a job making me cautious!

 

[Tnmountains]

Hhaha Now you had me saying it backwards. I do not have that one here. Just big ole timber copper rattle heads It's almost turkey season also.

 

[old digger]

Been catching em since I was knee high to a grasshopper, just have to be smarter than them.

 

[rock]

I wear snake boots. But I still dont want to try them out to see if they work.

 

[GaRebel1861]

"Have gun, will shoot" a poisonous snake if given a chance especially cotton mouths. Rattle snakes ain't that bad as long as they ain't in my yard. In the woods, they are in their home. I just a have a hatred towards any water snake. They can make you soil your wet suit!

 

[bci101tractors]

EASTERN MILK SNAKE??
RED ON BLACK, STAY BACK
RED ON YELLOW ...FELLOW? NOT SURE, BUT YOU KNOW I DIDN'T LOOK IT UP, LOL...
I LOVE ALL SNAKES AND PICK THEM UP OFF MY ROAD ALL SUMMER LONG AND SET THEM IN THE DITCH,
THANKS FOR POSTING SUCH A FINE SPECIMEN.

JUST HAD A THOUGHT, "SAVE THE FELLOW" MAYBE

 

[gwhitson]

red on yellow kill a fellow

 

[bci101tractors]

WE CALL THEM MILK SNAKES, DOWN SOUTH MOST CALL THEM KING SNAKES.
I'D PICK IT UP...
I DONT THINK ITS A CORAL SNAKE

 

[Tnmountains]

Grobb do not call members names or you will loose posting privileges .

 

[Tnmountains]

I pick them up and move them from roads as well. Water snakes are just mean. I had one stuck on my hand once and bled like a stuck pig. Looked like I was cracking a whip trying to get it off me. I used to catch snakes to feed my other snakes. Ahh the indiscretions of youth.

 

[DizzyDigger]

Been around rattlers most of my life, and never yet have I had to kill one because
it was actually threatening my safety.

Just something to consider: Unless he's wandered into your backyard, that rattler (or
any other snake) is not there to try and harm you or your family...he's looking for food, shelter
and perhaps warmth. Unless pursuing a food source (rat, mouse, etc.) a snake is only going
to strike in self-defense. Otherwise he's just doing his own thing, and doesn't want to be bothered.

Why fear a snake that's 10' away when there's no chance of it harming you? IF it is in your
way, then MOVE THE SNAKE. A long stick (I use my walking stick) to pick them up (middle is best)
and then just walk to where they can safely re-enter the shrubs/cover and let 'em go. No more
snake worries. You live, the snake can go on living his life too.

If you walk up some distant desert wash and find a rattler, you are walking around in HIS HOME.
You are going to detect the wash, take the goodies and then leave...likely not returning for some
time (if ever), and if you kill the snake, then it's dead...forever.

What a waste of one of Ma Natures best rodent killing machines!

Please, think before squeezing the trigger..that snake does not want to
harm you, and if given a chance to escape the threat you pose, it will.

And no, I'm not a snake lover..I just see no reason in taking a critters life
just because it's present.

 

[eastTNJoe]

Been around rattlers most of my life, and never yet have I had to kill one because
it was actually threatening my safety.

Just something to consider: Unless he's wandered into your backyard, that rattler (or
any other snake) is not there to try and harm you or your family...he's looking for food, shelter
and perhaps warmth. Unless pursuing a food source (rat, mouse, etc.) a snake is only going
to strike in self-defense. Otherwise he's just doing his own thing, and doesn't want to be bothered.

Why fear a snake that's 10' away when there's no chance of it harming you? IF it is in your
way, then MOVE THE SNAKE. A long stick (I use my walking stick) to pick them up (middle is best)
and then just walk to where they can safely re-enter the shrubs/cover and let 'em go. No more
snake worries. You live, the snake can go on living his life too.

If you walk up some distant desert wash and find a rattler, you are walking around in HIS HOME.
You are going to detect the wash, take the goodies and then leave...likely not returning for some
time (if ever), and if you kill the snake, then it's dead...forever.

What a waste of one of Ma Natures best rodent killing machines!

Please, think before squeezing the trigger..that snake does not want to
harm you, and if given a chance to escape the threat you pose, it will.

And no, I'm not a snake lover..I just see no reason in taking a critters life
just because it's present.

I agree...killing them is not an option for me...I will move on to somewhere it isn't...I figure each time I do this I build up good snake karma for future outings!

 

[rock]

I was in my yak last yr and saw a few non threating ones. Then one day I was going around a bend letting the wind push me and looked at the rocks maybe 3 ft away and there was a cotton mouth looking rite at me. I didnt move and hoped he wasnt mad. The wind blew me away from it thank god. But that is the only one I saw all yr. I dont care for them cause they will chase you.

 

[Tnmountains]

I was in my yak last yr and saw a few non threating ones. Then one day I was going around a bend letting the wind push me and looked at the rocks maybe 3 ft away and there was a cotton mouth looking rite at me. I didnt move and hoped he wasnt mad. The wind blew me away from it thank god. But that is the only one I saw all yr. I dont care for them cause they will chase you.

They really will. I had one in Texas come out of a puddle at me when I stepped out of the stirrup. Craziest thing I ever saw.

 

[Brandiwine]

Like old digger, I've tried to be smarter than the snake. Grew up with a father and grandfather that would reach down and snatch up a rattlesnake as if it were a worm. Married one too. My flippin' stick is also what they'd all call a "snake stick". One sides for flipping and the other is end is a fork - perfect for trapping their heads before they can strike. I'm not one for picking them up and proving my masculinity, lets face it...I am a girl. But they don't bother me unless they sneak up on me. With 50 acres of mountainous terrain to brush hog we always "run into" about 10-20 copperheads or rattlesnakes a year. On a bad year...lol.

 

[DizzyDigger]

They really will. I had one in Texas come out of a puddle at
me when I stepped out of the stirrup. Craziest thing I ever saw.

Never messed with a Cottonmouth, as we don't get those up here, but in the
N. Nevada country there's rattler's-a-plenty..so it's best to keep ones head
on a swivel. I'm especially careful as I can't hear them buzzing any more,
so anytime I'm out there it'll be 2 min. of detecting then 2 min. checking
the environment (in all directions...don't forget "up").

If a snake was to pursue me, then I'm afraid from that point on we're on
different terms. Rattlers that are shedding skin are the crankiest *******s
I've had to deal with, and with those I just leave them be and hike around
them at a good distance. The goal is for both the snake and I to walk away
from this in an undamaged state, so if a snake was to chase me the best
move I could make is to back away and give it space, which is what it's telling
me by it's actions. If continued after me aggressively, then it's life is in serious
danger as I wouldn't hesitate to kill it if there was little choice otherwise. Gotta
draw the line somewhere.

Sure, I could kill it and not "give in" to some snake, but then I'd be very soon
be thinking to myself..."I killed this snake...which I could have easily avoided and wasn't
bothering me till I pissed it off, just so I could detect a single, 10' patch of ground??"

If that piece of ground really looks that promising, I'll just come back later when that snake
has done his thing and has headed off to different pastures.

Different strokes, I guess.

 

[rock]

Is there alligators in Tx? I always wondered.