Interesting game camera photo

[Byron Quick]

A friend of mine sent me this picture taken by a game camera placed at one of her favorite stands. Deer season already started in SC. Might be a good idea to use a flashlight walking to your stand in the dark.

I have always preferred fall and winter hunting. But it was just personal preference. That's a solid reason to avoid hot weather hunting.

 

[wdlsguy]

What kind of snake is that?

 

[armoredman]

Big.

 

[Byron Quick]

That is a rattlesnake. I can't quite see the tail to be absolutely sure but it appears to be a timber rattler and a a real big one for the subspecies, if it is indeed a timber rattler. The proportions are wrong for an Eastern Diamondback. It's too slim.

 

[Frog48]

What kind of snake is that?

The kind I stay away from.

But seriously, it looks like a rattlesnake.

 

[Johnny Guest]

Byron, I hate to be a skeptic, but - - -

- - - Are you certain your friend is not pulling your leg, just a leeetle bit?

Does anyone else think that the snake's posture is entirely too straight? I mean, most photos of LIVE snakes show them with more flowing curves. Also, that deer is plenty close enough to cause some sort of reaction by the snake, even it was pitch dark before the flash.

**** An aside to the rest of the world: Mr. Quick is a personal friend. We've visited in one another's homes and we've shared meals a score of times. The above question in no way impugns his truthfulness. ****

Johnny

 

[JShirley]

It looks a tad straight, maybe, Johnny. The relative position of the two can make the snake seem larger than it actually comparatively is.

 

[Byron Quick]

Johnny,

The flash is immaterial. The rattlesnake can strike accurately in complete darkness due to the infrared sensing capabilities of the 'pits' which give name to the class it belongs to: pit vipers.

It's position is consistent with timber rattlers I've seen in the daytime that are trying to rapidly change positions to avoid a larger animal,i.e, me. Looks to me as if the snake was caught by the flash trying to get out of the way of the deer.

Allison is certainly not above trying to pull my leg completely off not just a 'leeetle' bit. However, I'm having to help her with the computer literacy. Given my relatively sparse computer literacy, I don't think she's got the ability to photoshop something. It's certainly possible she's got access to a stuffed snake even though I've never seen a mounted rattlesnake that wasn't coiled.

Woman's a bit unusual even for us hunters. Her favorite hunting picture of a buck she's killed was taken just after she finished gralloching it. She's covered in blood to the point that I thought her hunting buds had drenched her in deer blood. When I asked her about it, she replied that she got that bloody while gutting the deer-and munching on its heart

To look at her at work or in town, you'd think she was more at home at the theatre or such. Get to talking to her and you shortly realize that this is a rural farm gal-and the rural goes deep.

As far as size goes, timber rattlers aren't huge rattlesnakes. Four and a half feet is a big one.

 

[swampdog]

I believe the picture. They only coil up when you aggravate or corner them. Most of the ones I've run into have been stretched out just like that, sometimes in the middle of a path. I'm more scared of them in cooler weather when they're chilled out and they will wait for you to almost step on them before they move. When it's warm, they will usually beat feet at your approach. I came across a 2 footer early one morning last year during bow season. I actually had to hit him with an arrow to get a reaction. He sure woke up then, though. Yeah, I know it would have served my right if he'd bit me. I didn't kill him, either. I guess I'm just a redneck.

I've seen rattle snakes out in the middle of October in NC. I wear knee high "snake boots" when hunting, BTW. A warm afternoon will bring them out to sun, usually in the middle of a warm, sandy trail.

 

[Byron Quick]

As a teenager, I was quail hunting one warm fall afternoon. There had already been several hard freezes at night and all of the leaves had fallen. I wasn't thinking of snakes.

Back then, there were actually enough bobwhite quail in this part of Georgia that I didn't hunt quail with a dog. Just flush coveys by walking. I had stood in a opening under some oak trees for a minute or two, then I took a couple of steps and stood still again. While standing still, I saw movement in my peripheral vision. In the dead oak leaves where I had just been standing. I turned around and the biggest copperhead, I've ever seen was crawling away. It might have been two and a half feet long. I looked down at my Browning boots and there were three pairs of droplets of a cloudy yellow fluid running down my boots. Venom. Apparently, I had inadvertently stepped on the snake's body close enough to his head that he couldn't quite strike above my boot tops. I was using a Browning Light Twelve that day. I put the muzzle about 18 inches from the snake's head and pulled the trigger. I was shaking so hard that I missed the first two shots.

 

[Gord]

Dad tells a story wherein he and his sister, as young children, are leaping back and forth across a concrete walkway in the front yard of their home...

Grandfather: What in hell are you kids doing?
Dad: We're jumping over the snake!...
Grandfather: Snake?...

Gramps ran out, grabbed a shovel, and popped the head off a four-foot timber rattler that had been sunning itself on the walkway.

 

[Dr.Rob]

I ran over a bull snake that looked very much like that in Utah back in may. I skinned him out for my buddy Dan to make a hatband.

Thing was 5 feet long before I stretched it.

My first thought was... wow somebody's Boa got loose, but to me it looks like a bull snake... non venemous constrictor that feeds on mice.

 

[Byron Quick]

Dr. Rob,

I'm not familiar with bull snakes but the articles describing it after a google search say the range is mainly the central states-mainly in prairies-from Canada to Northern Mexico. I've never heard of one here in Georgia or just across the Savannah River in South Carolina.

I lived next to a guy that was a collector when I was a kid. Big gallon jars with pickled snakes. Cages everywhere. I've caught timber rattlers alive. The pattern of its skin, its proportions, and the shape of its head all look like a timber rattler to me. The pictures I've looked at online of bull snakes-the pattern of the skin is different and the proportions of the body are different. The head of the bull snake does look a great deal like a rattle snake's head.

There are some non-venomous snakes in this area who look much like rattle snakes except they don't get as big as the one in the photograph.

 

[Fred Fuller]

Yep, canebrake or timber rattler, and right good sized too. Not stuffed, crawling along on its belly scales sorta like a giant inchworm. Doe and snake appear to be trying to avoid each other to me.

Neat picture. Most people are too heavyfooted to ever run up on a snake in the woods, they feel the vibrations of a person walking and flee before the person ever comes in sight. I'd be real careful to look where I put my feet if I was still hunting in that area though...

lpl/nc

 

[duck911]

Uhhhhhhhhhh................

Me thinks this PHOTOSHOPPED picture has been circulating the internet in various forms.

I recently received this one via e-mail:

 

[Dr.Rob]

I know not to pick up a snake I'm not sure about... I've never seen a yellow rattlesnake before.

 

[Grumulkin]

First of all, it would have taken a LOT of work to Photo Shop the snake in the photo. Secondly, the snakes posture is normal for a snake just cruising around a night looking for food. Thirdly, I don't think the snake is a rattlesnake at all but most likely a reticulated python.

Maybe it's the snake of mine that got loose in West Virginia. I got it when is was a little over a foot long. When it escaped about 3 years later, it was about 5 feet long and capable of eating full grown rats with no problem. I still miss "Ricky."

 

[Byron Quick]

Dr. Rob,

The snake doesn't look yellow to me. It appears to be the color I would expect a local timber rattler to be if exposed to a flash in the dark.

However, the two does and the surrounding flora in the two pictures appear to be identical.

I've emailed the tiger photo to Allison with the caution to be careful out there

 

[Cindog]

I saw this posted on another site and here is what is purported to be the original photo:



According to that other site, the picture was taken in Carol County, Mississippi and, as someone else already said, is a Timber Rattlesnake

 

[dfaugh]

Sorry guys, but that's a red-tailed Boa. Very distinctive markings. Common as pets. I used to have one, along with a Burmese Python and a Reticulated Python. So, either someones pet snake is out cruising around, or has gotten loose, or the picture has been photoshopped (well).

 

[Trip20]

That's a solid reason to avoid hot weather hunting.

Maybe for you. For me, it’s just a solid reason to be more attentive when strolling through the woods. Thanks for the reminder. I won't forego part of a season for something like this.

 

[HighVelocity]

Ok, with the help of paint shop, I've uncovered the truth. Here's what the camera REALLY captured.

 

[jbirds1210]

LOL, old Elvis did get around. These are some awesome photoshops...I really need to learn a bit more about the program. The last image did spark some interest...I did a bit of reading about Elvis and his shooting...he did a great deal of it, but ofr the most part it was inside of his home! Take care.

 

[XavierBreath]

I agree with dfaugh. It's a red-tailed Boa. A rattlesnake head is shaped entirely differently, like an arrowhead. He doesn't look to me like he is crawling properly either. Dollars to donuts this is a fake.

 

[countertop]

Im no snake expert but I was at the pet store with my son today looking at snakes and that sure does look like the boa's we were looking at.