This isn't the first... won't be the last... not the smallest... no where near the biggest. Now... not every snake we kill is a rattlesnake. Some are eastern hog nose snakes... which just happen to look a lot like eastern diamond backs. But when you've killed a few big rattle snakes... and I mean big... like... 6 feet long and big around as your calf.... not like those wormy little girls you call rattlesnakes out west... well everything that looks like a rattlesnake is a rattlesnake until its dead. Classification comes after... and is generally done with out the head...because they can't bite you if you've shot them in the face.
God I hate snakes. I mean I really... hate snakes.
For those interested this one was dispatched with a .357 federal hydroshok head shot from about 6 feet away. Taurus Tracker... 6 inch barrel. Head was mostly gone.. just totally smashed. I loaded up one round of snake shot and put that into it too... just on general principle. Mostly... because I hate snakes. This one got off easy. Last one got chopped up with a shovel after it made the dire mistake of being with 100 feet of Rami. Papa doesn't handle that kind of aggression very well and basically went Freddy Kruger on the rattlesnake.
Just another day up on Rattle Snake Ridge.
16 comments:
Ya know, they say that everything's bigger in Texas.
Except the rattlers.
anyone impressed with a texas rattle snake has never seen an adult Eastern Diamondback.
something akin to damned dragon.
To be fair, the record biggest of each type isn't that far off...96" for the Eastern, and 92.5" for the Western. But the average size for the Eastern is bigger, and it typically weighs more, too.
But they're both out of range up here...all we've got is the little ol' prairie rattler.
Damn snakes.
I think with the eastern its more the weight than the length. The one we had out here a couple years ago... thing was probably 5.5 feet long... but it was literally 6 inches in diameter. And if that doesn't sound big... think about a boa that you've seen in the snake store. That's what this son of a bitch looked like.
Funny. I love snakes. Saw a coral snake last year and just let it go.
The diamondback rattlesnakes and moccasins are danged dangerous, though. And I almost stepped on a pygmy rattler the other day. Let it go as well. I like things that eat rodents.
I actually held a diamondback by the neck once. The fangs were scary as heck. I didn't let go until I could get a good throw.
The eastern is the biggest on average. They grow faster and live in an environment that is best suited for snakes. I've seen big examples of western snakes but they are a lot rarer than the big eastern ones. IF there is a big western rattler around there isn't likely to be a lot of other ones, but out east you can have lots of big snakes in the same area.
I almost forgot, how many buttons?
We want a pic of the buttons.
I've got half a mind to start trapping them and milking. I believe anti-venom is in very short supply.
I've never seen a rattler in the wild. I live in an area where we have nothing venomous, except black widow spiders, and I think I have only ever seen one. We only have garter snakes, with will bite if you screw with them, but are harmless.
Out west they have them but I'm usually there in November so the snakes aren't out.
I've got half a mind to start trapping them and milking. I believe anti-venom is in very short supply.
You are a braver man than me.
I actually held a diamondback by the neck once. The fangs were scary as heck. I didn't let go until I could get a good throw.
How did you manage to get one in your hand? I'd have to be pretty drunk to attempt such a thing.
Snakes...why'd it have to be snakes?
Knew a guy in Boulder who had a room mate that caught a rattler and pulled the fangs out with a pair of needle nose pliers and went out to the bars with the snake in his coat pocket. He'd order a beer and then reach in his pocket and pull out the rattler and put it on the bar and watch everyone run. He hit a few bars, had his fun, then went home and put the rattler in a cage. A few weeks later he thought he'd do it again so he grabbed his snake. That was when he learned the fangs grow back. He we t to the ER instead.
Nate,
I tried to get a hold of you late last summer to send you an experimental snake attractant. My e-mails to you kept on bouncing back to me.
Let me know if you are still interested. I will brew up a batch and send it.
sincerely
cheddarman
Size is interesting but it is the venom dose I am afraid of. Immature rattlesnakes will dump their whole load on average while mature rattlesnakes will sometimes hold back or inject nothing at all. Either way, as poisonous snakes go I will take the rattlesnake, western or eastern any day over a mamba or cobra.
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