Snakes..

[RGINN]

Here's a couple more bullsnake photos I took in Oklahoma this week, Molly. They're very beneficial, but they will bite, so don't play with them like I do.

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Treasure of Victoria Peak - Grab it through Amazon!

[pgill]

Great photo's Rginn, I am not sure I would play with the snake like that also but hey, as long as you know what you are doing, and of course am willing to take the chance They look like very nicely coloured snakes, nice pattern.

God bless
Peter

 

[RGINN]

Actually, I was chasin a couple of jackrabbits around for a picture when this bullsnake came out and stretched out on the road to warm up. There are still one or two folks in the world that will run all the way off the road into the barrow ditch to hit a snake, so I wanted to move him on and keep him alive. I can handle them. When I worked in state parks I was the official snake catcher and re-locator.

 

[Tnmountains]

Actually, I was chasin a couple of jackrabbits around for a picture when this bullsnake came out and stretched out on the road to warm up. There are still one or two folks in the world that will run all the way off the road into the barrow ditch to hit a snake, so I wanted to move him on and keep him alive. I can handle them. When I worked in state parks I was the official snake catcher and re-locator.

Thats a more Western snake and very good looking. That is not what is called the coach whip is it? I had to move a king snake out of the road about a week ago. He was rattling his tail at me like a rattler. He was very fast..

 

[Monty]

Ok, came back to this topic to tell a snake story. I was in N. Africa in the service in the mid 1960's. Libya to be exact, 80 miles inland in the desert on a U.S. bombing range. It was before Kadafi (that's how they spelled it then). King Idris and family were running the country then. We had two basic types of posionous snakes that were very plentiful to say the least. We had a small horned viper we called the sand viper for lack of a better name. Then there was the Asp, a larger horned viper that moved like a Sidewinder rattle snake. The Asp was the one that did in Cleopatra. The little snd viper just motivated like a common snake moving straight forward. The Asp was mostly out at night and every morning we could see where they had moved across the compound with their awkward side to side motion in the sand. In the daytime they crawled down into rat holes dug by kangaroo rats. The little sand viper was the sneaky one. He'd bury up in the sand with only his nose sticking out to breathe and you couldn't see him until you stepped on him. We wore special issue over the calf length boots that looked like those worn by lumberjacks but came further up the leg. No one was bitten while I was there but several of us had the snakes strike our boots and we stepped on several of those sneaky little sand vipers. I never saw a nonposionous snake the whole time I was there.
We also had an aggressive lizard out there in the sand. He was about 4' long and weighed about 20 lbs, long and skinny. No fangs but a mouth full of small sharp teeth. I don't know what kind of lizard it was but if you came upon one it would chase you and would bite your boots. We had a mongrel dog that hated those lizards and would kill them with one bite all the while avoiding their bite. She was a pretty big dog and it was neat to watch her fight a lizard and always win without a scratch. End of snake story from the Great Libyan Desert. Monty

 

[pgill]

Hey Monty, great to hear from you Hope you are keeping well?

That is a great story, adders of any sort are nasty things...... Where I stay, we get all sorts of snakes, lots of them poisenous...... including all the cobra families...... they are great snakes to see, especially the Egyptian cobra with it's yellow and black. We also get the puff adder, which is a real nasty, as it causes a lot of damage when it bites, people lose limbs from this one..... you can see the effects further up on this topic, of bites from this snake. I love snakes, although I do not know enough about them, so stay well away from all of them There are too many that look similar to others, some poisenous and others not...... Peter does not take chances

God bless and keep well
Peter

 

[naturegirl]

I like snakes too, I love these stories, and I am so glad we have so few poisonous ones here. Even though they fascinate me, my heart still skips a beat when i first see one. Nice of you guys to move them out of the road. Here's a young massasauga, I was above him in my truck, he escaped healthy.

ng

 

[pgill]

Hello naturegirl, glad to have you join us here on this topic. Great picture, is that snake poisenous? it looks like a Puffadder that we get here in South Africa. I must admit, I also get fed up with people who run over snakes on purpose.

God bless
Peter

 

[Tnmountains]

Monty
That was a great story. Thank you for your service.
TnMountains

 

[naturegirl]

Hi pgill, it's a small rattlesnake. this one was maybe 18", Adults get around 3 ft. I just think he's really pretty, and only had one or two buttons. We need snakes, I won't kill them, unless it was a poisonous one near my house, which there never has been. I know too many people who fear them out of ignorance, and kill without reason. I continually preach against it. We NEED snakes.

naturegirl

 

[RGINN]

That's a good swamp rattler pic, as they are also known, ng. They are venomous. Good story too, Monty. If they would import a bunch of hogs over there, they might take care of the snake problem. TnMts, the coachwhip is a different snake and a member of the racer family. They get their name from the fact that the last 12 feet (joking, they're not that long) of their tail section resembles a braided coach whip. Many harmless snakes will imitate their venomous cousins. A bullsnake will vibrate his tail, and if it happens to be in dry leaves it will get your attention. I have a close up pic of one hissing in such a way that it vibrates in his throat and sounds a lot like a rattler. The best one of all though, and I hope to get a picture some day, are some bullsnakes that do a dead on imitation of a cobra. They raise up, flatten the throat, and sway back and forth. Why they picked up this behavior in North America, I have no idea. Maybe I can get my son to do a research project on it while he's working on his masters. And all y'all: Take no chances with venomous snakes, but if possible give them the right of way. And contrary to popular belief, some of them are NOT more scared of you than you are of them. They don't taste like chicken, either.

 

[Tnmountains]

Rginn
When I was a kid I used to catch snakes and sell them to pet stores. I made more money doing that then cutting grass. Anyways I had a hog nose snake. It looks similiar to the local copper head. It was a funny snake.It would curl up in the strike position flatten its head also like the cobra and hiss real loud. I would slowly put my hand in front of it and it would curl up and strike. It would not bite me maybe just bump my hand but would scare everyone to death. If I kept doing that it would stop and take about three minutes to roll over onto its back get comfortable and open its mouth and play dead.
You could turn it over and it would roll back over and play dead. It was a great snake. I let it go after keeping it for a couple of weeks.
The most aggressive snake I have ever seen it the banded or common water snake. They have a nasty bite as well and get pretty large.
I have always enjoyed rattlesnake meat. Very pleasant and fresh tasting.

 

[RGINN]

The hognose is another good imitator, TnMtns. The diamond back water snake is the one they're usually talking about when you here folks in Oklahoma say 'They say they ain't no water mossacins out there, but by golly we seen plenty of em! They come right up on the bank and chased us all the way to the truck!' There are a lot of water moccasins, or cottonmouths, in Oklahoma, but they ain't everywhere. Water snakes are very aggressive and territorial. They will swim all the way across the pond to see what you're up to. Cottonmouths always swim on top; the regular water snake will dive below the surface. Water snakes bite hard and like a bulldog. Their teeth are raked backwards and once they hit, they start pulling back. If they were bigger and stronger, this would slash you like a serrated steak knife. They're mean, but I actually saw my son tame one down to where you could handle it. That was unbelievable. He has a certain way with animals, particularly reptiles. Probably gets that from my ex-mother-in-law. (ha-ha!)

 

[Mental Granny]

You are right RGINN they say no Cottonmouth here! I just wish that stupid ranger was by me the evening one chased me up the bank! like I said before I really wanted some one who knew what was out here instead of a city boy not ever being here before!

 

[Tnmountains]

I was somewhat embarrassed to have one attached firmly to my hand one day. I shook him up and down and he still hung on. I was bleeding bad and a little panicky at that point. I finally got his mouth open and my hand out. This time i gave him a good toss with what little pride I had left.
Banded water snake or common water snake.
TnMountains

 

[Mental Granny]

Ouch!

 

[RGINN]

That's my point, MG! Cottonmouths can be out of their typical range, but it takes an expert, which I ain't, to ID them without catching them. The thing I look for is cottonmouths will always swim on top of the water. Water snakes will swim under water. And pop up next to your fish stringer without fail. I ate rattlesnake once and was disappointed. They look big and fat, but this was like an old squirrel backbone. It don't taste like chicken; it tastes like snake.

 

[Mental Granny]

This was at is the old country club lake in Newkirk thye were swimming all over they had a snake soot to get rid of them there were so many of them! And the one that chased me was swimming on top and followedmy line in and then me up the bank on to the bridge, I thought it had stopped till Jeff yelled at me it was commin after me still and I was clear to the car! Jeff his brother and his wife all were jumpin into the cars!

 

[Tnmountains]

Sorry am bored and watching this topic. I have seen Mocs in Texas on the Brazos and in Swamps in Lousiana and in Fort Smith Arkansas's. They all have diffrent colors but all have the same pattern. Moccasins are pretty lazy most times until riled. I had a horse step on one and it almost walked on its tail getting out of there. The one thing that is always the dead give away is that it is a pit viper and always has the whitest mouth you have ever seen when open and striking.
Rginn you need to have some fresh rattler cooked with a little basil and lemon. Most people want to cook and fry it to death or make it taste like something its not.
Regards,
TnMountains

 

[Tnmountains]

This was at is the old country club lake in Newkirk thye were swimming all over they had a snake soot to get rid of them there were so many of them! And the one that chased me was swimming on top and followedmy line in and then me up the bank on to the bridge, I thought it had stopped till Jeff yelled at me it was commin after me still and I was clear to the car! Jeff his brother and his wife all were jumpin into the cars!

What state was this in??