This for you, Rock...lol

[bci101tractors]

I have been doing a lot of kayaking this summer on our river after the flood, artifacts are tough this time of year, been focusing on fossils and fun, have found some pretty nice fossils though...
Anyway, I feel this Northern Water Snake deserves some attention and respect.
I'm in NE Iowa, things grow pretty big here, with the fertile soil, it all trickles down the food chain. Take a look at our whitetails sometime.
I came across this beauty last weekend, I'd say 5 or 6 feet long?? Non-poisonous, but still pretty intimidating...lol. I'm guessing she would tip the scales around 20 lbs? Just a gorgeous and rare specimen that size. Very rare for them to get that big.
I love snakes, in case you havn't noticed!!
Sounds like I'll be digging again soon.
Later, take care and happy hunting,
BCI

 

[NC field hunter]

I was wading in a creek earlier this summer and walked up on a huge snake shed. That almost broke me from creek hunting. This fat rat most defiantly would break me from creek hunting.

 

[GatorBoy]

I was in the water five minutes before I took this photo.

 

[NC field hunter]

I was in the water five minutes before I took this photo.

<img src="http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=829711"/>

I was born preprogrammed not to creek hunt any further south than where I live.

 

[bci101tractors]

Don't let TV fool you, gators are pretty much harmless. They unjustly get a bad rap. I would welcome them here, if only they were tough enough...

I was in the water five minutes before I took this photo.

View attachment 829711

 

[GatorBoy]

Don't let TV fool you, gators are pretty much harmless. They unjustly get a bad rap. I would welcome them here, if only they were tough enough...

I agree.. they almost always do everything possible to avoid a physical confrontation with a full grown human..people just aren't on the menue...If it happens to be mating season and you get close to a female guarding a nest..then she will puff up and hiss to hopefully further avoid confrontation.

 

[NCPeaches]

I have been doing a lot of kayaking this summer on our river after the flood, artifacts are tough this time of year, been focusing on fossils and fun, have found some pretty nice fossils though...
Anyway, I feel this Northern Water Snake deserves some attention and respect.
I'm in NE Iowa, things grow pretty big here, with the fertile soil, it all trickles down the food chain. Take a look at our whitetails sometime.
I came across this beauty last weekend, I'd say 5 or 6 feet long?? Non-poisonous, but still pretty intimidating...lol. I'm guessing she would tip the scales around 20 lbs? Just a gorgeous and rare specimen that size. Very rare for them to get that big.
I love snakes, in case you havn't noticed!!
Sounds like I'll be digging again soon.
Later, take care and happy hunting,
BCI
View attachment 829694

Dang! Now that's a big snake! We've been making alot of noise and the water snakes are going away from us, so far lol Also, I have a small pond across from one section of the creek and it's full of frogs...thinking that is a good distraction for the creek hunting. What color is her belly?

 

[NC field hunter]

I agree.. they almost always do everything possible to avoid a physical confrontation with a full grown human..people just aren't on the menue...If it happens to be mating season and you get close to a female guarding a nest..then she will puff up and hiss to hopefully further avoid confrontation.

"They ALMOST always do...." Lol! I got a pact with alligators and such creatures. I don't bother them, they don't bother me. Lol! I guess if they were an everyday creature here, I'd learn to live with them. I'm having to adjust to bears at present.



At once they were like gators are. Once in a blue moon one would wander in where I live. Now, they aren't very rare.

 

[bci101tractors]

I got within an arm reach of her and she never did move, normally the bellys of the Northern water snakes here is a dull yellow. This one is by far the largest I have ever came across and I have spent many, many hours hunting snakes around here. State record perhaps, if those were kept...lol. When I say hunting, that does not mean killing. We also have timber rattlers here as well that get pretty big. I have seen longer bull and rat snakes, but never anything with the girth of this one...it was pretty awesome.
They do like to eat frogs, and like the still water of a pond. Even this big one is completely harmless.
Thanks Peaches

Dang! Now that's a big snake! We've been making alot of noise and the water snakes are going away from us, so far lol Also, I have a small pond across from one section of the creek and it's full of frogs...thinking that is a good distraction for the creek hunting. What color is her belly?

 

[rock]

First thing I said was OH LORD! Ill probably have nightmares now. Thanks Steve. I havent seen but 1 snake this yr and it was a Cooper Head. I stayed in my truck and shot NC a pic of it. Other than that none. It is illegal to kill a snake in Ga. I am guessing cause they eat rats which help the farmers and their live stock. I dont enjoy killing any wild life but the snakes I will try to ignore them or go the other way. I was hoping you had a nice arrowhead to show us.

 

[old digger]

Very nice photo of the snake! When I was much younger I was a lot braver in catching them, but as I got older I tend to give them a little more respect. I'm not scared of snakes, it's just that when I was younger I did catch and handle a lot of poisonous snakes (cobra's and vipers) without the fear they could really harm me.

 

[bci101tractors]

Ha, ya I thought of you right away when I came upon it.
Hopefully I will have some nice arrowheads shortly for you...its really hot and the weeds are really tall right now, I'll keep you posted.

First thing I said was OH LORD! Ill probably have nightmares now. Thanks Steve. I havent seen but 1 snake this yr and it was a Cooper Head. I stayed in my truck and shot NC a pic of it. Other than that none. It is illegal to kill a snake in Ga. I am guessing cause they eat rats which help the farmers and their live stock. I dont enjoy killing any wild life but the snakes I will try to ignore them or go the other way. I was hoping you had a nice arrowhead to show us.

 

[GaRebel1861]

Rock,

I've never heard of such a law in Georgia where it is illegal to kill a snake. I don't promote the killing of snakes because they have a job to do too, However, the bad ones can be a hazard around houses and need to be dispatched away from kids. In the fields where I arrowhead hunt, I am in their home, I respect that, and will walk around them if I can. However, a cotton mouth is fair game no matter where that evil s.o.b. is. JMO.

 

[rock]

I agree if it is a bad one. But to tell you the truth I usually just run if I see one.

 

[rock]

Ha, ya I thought of you right away when I came upon it.
Hopefully I will have some nice arrowheads shortly for you...its really hot and the weeds are really tall right now, I'll keep you posted.

Yeah I was going to go tomorrow to the creek but of course it is raining rite now. But I am going trout fishing with a friend in the morning. Never know what I might catch!

 

[Tnmountains]

I am always bumping into snakes on the creeks and rivers. That is one fat happy snake BCI. We have a few timber rattlers that get big and fat like that. It is the copper heads that I do not like. They get in the creeks and water and look very similar to the banded water snake. I have been tagged a few times by water snakes digging out honey holes. I metal detected yesterday and got into a yellow jacket nest. After running and getting the stingers out I started in another area. Not 5 minutes laters got hit by the black and white hornets and they made me run awhile hahaha Oh geez I was done!
Oh well nice snake. Good seeing them. Just not in your kayak!
Good luck!

 

[eppingera]

That snake is HUGE! And the alligator-I don't even know what to say- yikes. Just glad we don't have those here!
Here are a couple of critters I have recently encountered. The water snake actually struck at me but it hit my stick instead of my leg. I didn't see it and almost stepped on it. Not sure which one of us was more surprised! The snapping turtle I saw yesterday.

 

[huntress104]

I am always bumping into snakes on the creeks and rivers. That is one fat happy snake BCI. We have a few timber rattlers that get big and fat like that. It is the copper heads that I do not like. They get in the creeks and water and look very similar to the banded water snake. I have been tagged a few times by water snakes digging out honey holes. I metal detected yesterday and got into a yellow jacket nest. After running and getting the stingers out I started in another area. Not 5 minutes laters got hit by the black and white hornets and they made me run awhile hahaha Oh geez I was done!
Oh well nice snake. Good seeing them. Just not in your kayak!
Good luck!

I know what you mean about the yellow jackets Tnmountains. I found a nice spot to set my up my deer blind at the edge of a field one time. After I got it up and crawled in I heard a low humming sound. the first one got me on the back of the arm. After that it didn't take me long to figure out I had set up right on top of a nest in the ground. I flipped the blind and got out of there fast, just not quite fast enough. Got seven nasty stings before I got to the truck. Even then they kept hitting the windows, sounded like somebody throwing little rocks. I swelled up like a ballon for a couple of hours. They sure do hurt!!!

 

[NC field hunter]

Yellow jackets are my most feared of all harmful critters. I stepped in a nest last summer. Got me over 15 times. Now it's hard for me to focus on artifacts. I'm looking for nest. It's been wet here, so I hope the ground doesn't have as many nest.

 

[GaRebel1861]

At first glance, you would think this old man is just another log. Estimated at ten foot. Last years drought probably made him leave the swamp after it dried up and he followed his source of food. - Lee County Georgia.