Just how dangerous are Timber Rattlers?

[Vern Humphrey]

It's my understanding that a snake can strike 2/3's the length of it's body.
If that's true, a 6 footer can bite 4 feet up, and boots wont help.

The strike distance is measured horizontally, not vertically. Most snake bites on a standing man are on the calves.

 

[buck460XVR]

The strike distance is measured horizontally, not vertically. Most snake bites on a standing man are on the calves.

We have an outhouse on the hunting property my oldest son owns. I always make the joke to new folks there about what to do if they hear a rattle when they sit down..........

 

[CraigC]

...and suggest to others they do the same.

Nowhere in this thread or any other have I suggested anyone do anything about snakes. I only state what I do and why.

As for the rest of this rhetoric, we'll see how self righteous you are about it when it's you or one of your family in the hospital, fighting for life & limb from a snake bite.

One point he always made to me was that folks that readily feel they are above one game law/regulation, feel they are above all of them.

So you take this to mean that a person who kills venomous snakes around their home or property to protect themselves, family, friends and livestock is a reckless poacher with no regard for game laws? Is that what you're trying to imply? You feel the need to insult people and question their character over a few copperheads??? Can I just send them to you from now on?

In my state it is legal to kill any animal that is an immediate threat to self, others or livestock. Snakes to need protecting and shouldn't be killed indiscriminately. I've saved enough non-poisonous snakes from those who think the only good snake is a dead one to get pretty hot under the collar over this exchange.

How about we hear from a snake bite victim?

http://statebystategardening.com/state.php/newsletters/stories/a_wake-up_call/

 

[buck460XVR]

How about we hear from a snake bite victim?

http://statebystategardening.com/state.php/newsletters/stories/a_wake-up_call/

The most important thing I got from that article is that the author took the bite lightly and refused immediate medical attention even when it was offered to her.

Another thing was her statement,

Legal issues aren’t going to prevent anyone from killing a snake if they are so inclined. I can hear people now, muttering that the only “good” snake is a dead snake! They probably think I am crazy to still disagree, even after my painful and debilitating encounter.

....kinda what this discussion is all about. Even after she was biten and suffered what she did, even tho you try to use her scenario to justify your argument, she disagrees with you. Then there was this....

So, what you can do is make your yard and home less snake friendly? Snakes are attracted to coverings, such as woodpiles, and to plentiful prey, such as populations of mice or frogs.

Same thing I posted earlier. Seems she agrees with me more than you. Thanks for the link

So you take this to mean that a person who kills venomous snakes around their home or property to protect themselves, family, friends and livestock is a reckless poacher with no regard for game laws? Is that what you're trying to imply? You feel the need to insult people and question their character over a few copperheads??? Can I just send them to you from now on

As for inferring you are a " a reckless poacher with no regard for game laws", I never said that, only that my warden friend said it. Odds are he knows more about poachers than you and I put together. I am not the one getting argumentative trying to defend my illegal activities, as I said before, every criminal has their own justification for breaking the law. Being afraid of snakes and having one being a immediate threat are two different things. If one has time to recognize a poisonous snake and go get a gun or some other instrument of death, hard for me to believe there is a "immediate threat". The idea that at some point in the future that snake may become a threat is merely grasping at straws and making excuses for unfounded fear. Kinda why I doubt very much if you'd ever capture and send me any snake......

 

[Vern Humphrey]

I am reminded of Edward Abbey, author of Desert Solitaire. He was a summer ranger at Arches National Monument many years ago. The summer ranger lived in a trailer many miles from a paved road.

One morning he came out of the trailer, sat down on the steps and started to put his boots on -- and saw a rattler between his feet! He jerked his feet out of the way, ran to the tool shed and got a shovel. You’re not allowed to kill anything in a National Monument, so he scooped the rattler up, took it a quarter of a mile out into the desert and dumped it.

The next morning he came out of the trailer and there was the rattler. He got the shovel again, took the snake a half mile into the desert and dumped it.

The NEXT morning he came out of the trailer and there was the rattler again! He got the shovel and chopped the rattler into little pieces.

The moral of this story is, you can only cut a rattler so much slack.

 

[IWAC]

I was raised in So. Florida, and don't generally like snakes! One evening, I was crawling through the bushes (don't ask!) and I think I got struck and probably not envenomated. It stung like someone had put a hot coal on my elbow, and I still have a dry, raw patch there, 60 years later. I crawled into my tent, and waited to die, but next morning, there I was!

I think the rattling thing is probably genetic, but some do and some don't.

Over the decades, generally, more of those that rattled got killed than the quiet ones. Now, more quiet ones have lived and procreated, so it is not as sure an indicator as it used to be!

I knew a guy who was hiking with a group of scouts in California, and several had crossed a log that was lying across in the trail. He stepped over it, and was hit behind the knee...no rattle.

Long, painful recovery. They all can be dangerous, so, like in Boxing...Protect yourself at all times!

 

[Jim NE]

Not aggressive in general, no big deal unless you step on him. Just back up slow and smooth. Snake boots and chaps should be plenty.

This seems to be accurate. I have a non-hunting herpetologist friend, and he insists that Timber Rattlers are almost never a threat. Most are killed because they're so big that they startle people who happen upon them.

 

[CraigC]

I never said that, only that my warden friend said it......every criminal has their own justification for breaking the law.....edited so as not to offend criminals........

Passive-aggressive snark is still snark.

Odds are he knows more about poachers than you and I put together.

There you go assuming again.

If one has time to recognize a poisonous snake and go get a gun or some other instrument of death.....

Not everybody lives in the suburbs.

The idea that at some point in the future that snake may become a threat is merely grasping at straws and making excuses for unfounded fear. Kinda why I doubt very much if you'd ever capture and send me any snake......

That's one way to look at it.

 

[TarDevil]

Cottonmouths are the only poisonous snake that I've encountered that are aggressive. I have had them try to ambush me by crawling into palmettos and then coming at me when I got close.

I watched a nature talk... The guide laid on the ground less than a foot from the gapping mouth of a cottenmouth while educating his class on the non-aggressiveness of the species and how they won't strike unless handled. Through with his talk, he safely stepped within an INCH of the snake. His talk gells with what I've heard from every other nature specialist.

I amused every time this discussion arises at how some people defend killing of snakes as "defending home/family." I can't think of a scenario where retreat isn't sufficient and safer. If retreat isn't possible you or family most likely have already been bitten, and thus prudent action would be seeking medical attention rather than taking time for a revenge kill.

 

[Barry the Bear]

I watched a nature talk... The guide laid on the ground less than a foot from the gapping mouth of a cottenmouth while educating his class on the non-aggressiveness of the species and how they won't strike unless handled. Through with his talk, he safely stepped within an INCH of the snake. His talk gells with what I've heard from every other nature specialist.

I amused every time this discussion arises at how some people defend killing of snakes as "defending home/family." I can't think of a scenario where retreat isn't sufficient and safer. If retreat isn't possible you or family most likely have already been bitten, and thus prudent action would be seeking medical attention rather than taking time for a revenge kill.

I won't kill one the lord's creatures and not eat it (with the exception of pests) with that said Water Moccasin in good eating, that's my excuse for taking them.

 

[CraigC]

Cottonmouths non-aggressive??? This is 100% opposite of my experience.

I amused every time this discussion arises at how some people defend killing of snakes as "defending home/family."

I'm amused by the number of people who think anything about this subject is "amusing". That venomous snakes are simply misunderstood and unnecessarily demonized.


Statistics and studies usually only focus on deaths and the ramifications of getting bitten are trivialized. Here's a discussion about long term effects. I wonder how many snake huggers here would be so charitable if their child was fighting long term effects from a snake bite.

http://www.venomousreptiles.org/forums/Experts/52738

 

[MCgunner]

Fried rattler is pretty tasty. We have western diamondbacks down this way. Good break from eating wild hog, venison, and chicken.

 

[orionengnr]

My daughter is a nurse at a local hospital, they get about 1 copperhead bite a month during warm weather. Rarely any problems. We get a rattlesnake bite once every 5-6 years. I don't recall any survivors.

Anecdotal, yes. But revealing.

Just leave him alone and he will do the same for you.

Sounds a lot like the people who say "you didn't need to shoot him...you should have retreated" or "you didn't need to kill him...you should have shot him in the leg" or "if you carry a gun, the BG will just take it away and use it against you".
In a word...rationalizing.

Simply killing a rattler, or any snake for that matter, just because it's a snake is obscene and inhumane,

Opinion...stated as fact. Lot of that going around in this thread.

Snakes in the wild are beneficial, where as the ones in Washington are not.

So...if we send all the rattlers to DC, our troubles are over? Where do I sign? And should I ask my Congressman to introduce this legislation?

 

[H&Hhunter]

A'ight fellas. The danger of the timber rattler has been established. We've turned the corner from info about the OP's request to a strike fest.

Hasta la vista and may your snakes rattle before you step on them.