Snake Season is Here

I have little kids and animals I dearly love.
Call me irrational but I don't care to have poisonous snakes anywhere near my property.

If you haven't witnessed the speed and aggression of an irritated, angry water moccasin leave the boo hoo for the snakes opinion to yourself.
Mamba snakes aren't the only poisonous critters that can attack with amazing speed.

This thread is about effectively and humanely dispatching potentially deadly vermin, it isn't about getting in touch with our prehistoric love for all things living.

I have little kids and animals I dearly love.
Call me irrational but I don't care to have poisonous snakes anywhere near my property.

If you haven't witnessed the speed and aggression of an irritated, angry water moccasin leave the boo hoo for the snakes opinion to yourself.
Mamba snakes aren't the only poisonous critters that can attack with amazing speed.

This thread is about effectively and humanely dispatching potentially deadly vermin, it isn't about getting in touch with our prehistoric love for all things living.

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I think this thread is about snake season being here and how different people deal with it. You have every right to deal with these snakes however you feel is necessary and so does everyone else. Myself, I prefer to move them to a new location as apposed to dispatching them - that is my choice and I am just as entitled to it as you are to yours. Everyone has an opinion and something to say about it. If you don't like others opinion then move on to another discussion. Everyone of our opinions/thoughts matter just as much as yours or the next guy's.

/*If you haven't witnessed the speed and aggression of an irritated, angry water moccasin leave the boo hoo for the snakes opinion to yourself.*/

...and what if we have? Can we have an opinion, same as you?

How did the snake get irritated and angry in the first place? Someone hit it with a hoe or take a potshot at it?

As I said, poisonous snakes don't belong in yards, gardens, or houses, and should be dealt with according to your own personal comfort level. My comfort level would be to kill it. However, killing one a half mile out in the woods or along the river isn't justified at all.

Would you condone me killing every deer I see because it might jump out in front of a car on the highway and kill someone? More people are killed and injured by deer than snakes in this country.

Killing every snake in sight just because one can is wrong.

My point in all this is that the wholesale killing of rattlesnakes because they are some kind of a perceived danger is misplaced fear. There are plenty of ways of dealing with them which have been covered here.

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You obviously do not have children, or pets.

What if a family dog gets bit my a Rattler... Is he going to drive himself to the hospital? Will he write a quick note stating that he needs help?

How about a small child?

There is nothing, NOTHING wrong with killing rattlers, especially on ones own property.

You obviously do not have children, or pets.

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I have both, and I still would limit my killing of poisonous snakes to those in the immediate vicinity of the house and yard. Killing every poisonous snake one seee still doesn't protect them from those one doesn't see.

If you think the only safety with poisonous snakes lies with getting rid of everyone you come across, would you agree that the only way to safety with guns would be to get rid of everyone you come across?...

...same difference.

bowfin said:

I have both, and I still would limit my killing of poisonous snakes to those in the immediate vicinity of the house and yard. Killing every poisonous snake onw see astill doesn't protect them from those one doesn't see.

If you think the only safety with poisonous snakes lies with getting rid of everyone you come across, would you agree that the only way to safety with guns would be to get rid of everyone you come across?...

...same difference

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You sir, are silly! Guns are inanimate OBJECTS.. It is hilarious that you would compare guns to poisonous snakes. Guns do NOT have feelings, they do not have instincts. They do NOT "try" to do anything... Guns are NOT alive... Guns will NOT sneak out of the nightstand in the middle of the night and reach out and bite you while you lay asleep You have obviously bought into the anti-gun agenda that tries to convince people that guns are more than just objects and have "evil" intentions in and of themselves... you are wrong.


For me... I would MUCH rather protect my children and my pets in the areas we frequent, than protect the rattlers.... but you and I obviously disagree on this. You are entitled to your opinion, as am I.

Which would YOU rather stick your hand in???


Or

I have seen this argument before on other boards as well as in person. I personally do not like to be around snakes and I have dispatched a few over the years. I probably would be more considerate of them in the future than I have been in the past as long as it wasn't close to my house.

I used to fish a pond that was litterly crawling in snakes. I carried a .22 revolver with shotshells until I noticed that when shooting them on the water they would just fold up, but later on would "come to" and swim off.

I had a gunsmith cut the barrel down (legal length) on an single-shot .410 shotgun that I had. Snakes didn't "come to" after using that on them!

When we owned our dredging company, I'd kill water mocs on a daily basis with a single shot 410. I also killed a few with a Single six with .22 snake shot

Here in TN it is illegal to "dispatch" any snake. good, bad, or ugly. Never stopped me, my wife is so afraid of snakes she made her first husband move them out of a house when they found on inside.

Guns will NOT sneak out of the nightstand in the middle of the night and reach out and bite you while you lay asleep

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So, how many rattlesnakes have ever sneaked out of your nightstand and reached out to bite you while you lay asleep? One? Six? Dozens and dozens every night? How about Copperheads or Water Moccasins?

My analogy was not that a real Diamondback resembles a Colt Diamondback, it was that thoughtless, kneejerk reactions concerning snakes resembles thoughtless, kneejerk reactions towards firearms. Both can be deadly in the worst case scenario, but that hardly justifies eradicating either from the face of the Earth.

Your fear of being bitten in your sleep unless you eradicate all snakes has illustrated this point far better than I could ever hope to on my own.

You sir, are silly!

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Well if that's so, then we are certainly a pair to draw to, let's see if we can get a full house going.

Which would YOU rather stick your hand in???

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I don't stick my hands under steamrollers or into a pile of rattlesnakes. That makes me pretty safe when either is around. However don't you think that in the interest of absolute safety, that guy walking in the street should pick up a gun and shoot the steamroller to prevent himself from being crushed?

Kill them all (venomous ones). At least the ones on your property.

You are missing the point Bowfin... NO rattlers are IN my night stand... a GUN is... the GUN will NEVER sneak out, but the Rattler surely would. Rattlers are ALIVE.. guns are not.

I have NO fear of being bitten.. I happen to enjoy snakes.. i own 4 Ball Pythons at the moment, I have owned, and been bitten by MANY snakes... I do however know that Rattlers WILL bite what ever stumbles upon them, including my children and pets... If I see them in an area (my home, our property, our farm land) that we frequent I kill them, and there is one less rattler that has the ABILITY to bite my family or pets... Once the snake is DEAD... it becomes more like your analogy of Snakes and Guns being "same difference".

I don't stick my hands under steamrollers or into a pile of rattlesnakes. That makes me pretty safe when either is around. However don't you think that in the interest of absolute safety, that guy walking in the street should pick up a gun and shoot the steamroller to prevent himself from being crushed?

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You are STILL missing the point... Let me help you...

You are ALL Alone in a room with 2 boxes... Box 1 has a live Rattler in it. Box 2 has a Glock 23 in it... Which Box would you prefer to put your hand in???

C'mon.. I know you KNOW the answer. Guns are not ALIVE, and thus have NO intension's... good nor bad... they are just objects.

Growing up we were taught to kill any poisonous snakes we came across it may not be PC today but with pets and kids running around better safe than sorry.
Around the house .38 or better .44 snake shot loads, outside any shotgun will work.
A good .22 pistol also fills the bill if neighbors are not close.
Anything from a shovels and machetes to 2x4's have worked whatever you have handy if nothing else do it for the children.
I once had a buddy dispatch one with an M1 Garand
We were going to the range to sight our rifles in and he went to check the back door to make sure it was locked next thing I heard was a loud shot.
He was standing next to his rural houses back porch looking at a very dead 5 foot rattler that was sunning himself on the patio deck the one his wife & young girls would go running out on later on that saturday morning as cartoons would be over within a few minutes.
IMHO the only good poisonous slithereen is a dead one.

I kill rattlesnakes. I kill mosquitos too, but maybe I should just relocate them instead

Annual Deaths in the Outdoors, U.S.A.

Drowning: 3,308
Accidental Shootings: 700
Hypothermia/Exposure: 700
West Nile (2004): 264
Deer-Automobile Collisions: 150
Lightning: 88
Poisonous Snakes: 10

So, for those of you who kill every poisonous snake you see to avoid being one of the unfortunate ten, what draconian measures would be justified to prevent the other, much more deadly incidents listed above it? For example, killing every deer on sight to save lives would be fifteen times more justified than killing every rattler, wouldn't it?

As for a rattlesnake in a box, it is FAR more likely to crawl AWAY from a human being than towards them if it gets out. Ever see a Colt Diamondback crawl away from an idiot trying to play with it, as nice as that would be?

Thanks for the great debate, RIDE. I feel that here I debate WITH people, and not AGAINST them.

Truth be told, I have uncontrollable kneejerk reactions when I am with anyone near a place where one of us could fall to their deaths. I believe that my wife and kids surely don't understand how close they are, and holler at them if they get closer than from where I could tackle them and drag them away if they suddenly went insane and started running to throw themselves off. I came close to punching my wife's nephew one time in the Rockies when he wanted the boys to go out on a rock with him on the sheer face of a slope. It's dumb, sometimes embarassing, can't explain it, and I can't seem to help it. I would be okay with the heights if they weren't there, so I just stay out of sight of them when we get to a scenic overview somewhere, since none of us could enjoy it when I am around, even though people spontaneously flinging themselves into Niagra Falls or the Grand Canyon are also a very rare occurrence.

If any of you feel this way about snakes, then I can certainly commiserate with you in trying to deal with them.

Drowning: 3,308 <---- KNOW Swim Safety
Accidental Shootings: 700 <---- KNOW Gun Safety
Hypothermia/Exposure: 700<---- KNOW weather conditions
West Nile (2004): 264 <--- Not much you can do... EXCEPT kill ALL mosquito's
Deer-Automobile Collisions: 150 <--- KNOW vehicle Safety
Lightning: 88 <---- KNOW weather conditions
Poisonous Snakes: 10 <----- Kill any poisonous snakes

So, for those of you who kill every poisonous snake you see to avoid being one of the unfortunate ten

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Mebbe the reason that number's so low is that we do kill every poison snake we see.
Besides, Indiana Jones doesn't like snakes, so why should we?

You have every right to deal with these snakes however you feel is necessary and so does everyone else. Myself, I prefer to move them to a new location as apposed to dispatching them - that is my choice and I am just as entitled to it as you are to yours. Everyone has an opinion and something to say about it. If you don't like others opinion then move on to another discussion. Everyone of our opinions/thoughts matter just as much as yours or the next guy's.

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Very well said and I agree 100%......I'll make every effort to relocate them....Snakes play an important role in nature.

GhostCat,

It is a shame but some people just don't realize that every part of nature plays a role in life.

GhostCat said:

Very well said and I agree 100%......I'll make every effort to relocate them....Snakes play an important role in nature.

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You may want to rethink "relocating" a Rattlesnake.... If you just can't bring yourself to kill it (not that there is anything wrong with that) I would suggest just getting away from it.... Don't "relocate" it.

Simple Man said:

It is a shame but some people just don't realize that every part of nature plays a role in life.

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You are 100% correct!!!! EVERY part... don't forget us humans... We ALSO play a role. You wouldn't suggest letting the Mountain Lions just eat us humans, so as to not disturb "Nature" would you?

Oh geeze.