My shotgun saved my life.

Status
Not open for further replies.
"I don't want to seem rude, but I don't really believe that. That suggests that an entire breed of creature has changed their nature in the past few hundred years or less"

EvolvING means that it is an ongoing process. There are still plenty of rattlesnakes that give warning but at an increasing rate specimens are being identified that fail to.


"I don't think an entire population of animal is going to change it's survival traits"/"It almost implies they're communicating and telling eachother, "hey, don't rattle at people, because they'll shoot you." "

It implies no such thing. Many actions of animals, more so with lower ones, are hard wired and not learned. Rattlesnakes do not learn to rattle. It is an ingrained response just like jerking your hand away from something hot. Most up to date research indicates that many evolutionary adaptations do not always take as long as many believe. It often happens in quick spurts with the speed mostly dependent on environmental pressures. Considering the awful practices of rattlesnake roundups there is a huge pressure on rattlesnakes to adapt.

The link below is not where i first learned of this or the most informative but it was the first to turn up on my search.

http://www.kltv.com/story/13324196/...r-tune-strike-with-no-warning?redirected=true
 
Last edited:
I kill poisonous snakes and leave the others alone. A copperhead will usually lay there and hope his camouflage works. A rattler will rattle to try to get you to leave him alone. A cottonmouth will try to bite you just because. No experience with coral snakes - thankfully. I usually use a 22 handgun or a 357 or 44 handgun loaded with a shotshell. Using a full sized genuine shotgun is like quail hunting with a 10 gauge, but if it makes you happy, blaze away.
 
my Alaskan Malamute, Tala, got bitten by a copperhead on the muzzle

We've got some weiner dogs,a lot smaller than yours,had several get bit and what works great and no trip to the vets is this.just get some over the counter Benadryl tablets crush them up mix with a little water,we keep a small syringe around for this. then squirt the liquid into their mouth.most times the swelling was gone next day and no fatalities.

That's basically what the vets give them,and this way is a whole lot cheaper.
 
Sounds like a senseless killing to me, So if I see an animal that is considered dangerous in its natural environment and It's doing no harm to me, I guess the best thing to do would be go inside my house get my gun and kill it..

I mean you didn't kill it in the heat of the moment that would of been a different story, you left and came back to do it.

So I don't see that as your shotgun saved your life, more like you took the life of some poor critter.

Heck we might as well kill every animal out there, because of the potential for them to cause us harm.
 
Last edited:
Sounds like a senseless killing to me, So if I see an animal that is considered dangerous in its natural environment and It's doing no harm to me, I guess the best thing to do would be go inside my house get my gun and kill it..
Click to expand...

I think if you re-read Noob's posts, he explains why he did what he did pretty well. If a copperhead bit my dog, I would be sure to make them extinct any time I saw one. Might not make sense to you, but it does to me.
 
I don't need to re-read any posts, I read them clearly the first time and like I said it's a senseless killing.

If you want to apply the logic that because a snake bit your dog you need to kill every snake that you encounter, Then why stop there.

I was attacked by a pit bull when younger but I don't go around killing every
pit bull I see, I just chalked it up to wrong place at the wrong time, nothing more nothing less.

And I didn't hold any kind of grudge toward the dog that did it.
 
Copperheads, while poisonous are seldom deadly to an adult. Rattlesnakes are truly bad news though as are cotton mouth moccasins. The last person I know of to get bit by a rattlesnake required 22 vials of anti-venum, 2 weeks in the hospital and still might lose their leg or foot. Cost just for the anti-venom is over $3,000.00 per vial.

Dogs are not near as allergic to snake poison as people are. The big danger with a dog is if they get bit in the head their windpipe can swell shut. Also small dogs are in more danger than large dogs.

In many areas rattlesnakes are getting to where they almost never rattle. In the Rio Grande Valley where I live I've had 5 or 6 encounters with rattlers in the last several years and can't remember the last one that I heard rattle.
 
Last edited:
"Forgive me if this is hard to understand, I'm still shaken over this entire ordeal.

first and last words out of my mouth were "GUN, GET A GUN!!!"

If it weren't for quick thinking, I wouldn't be here to tell you guys this...it scared me half to death...I'm still shaking."

The more i read this post the more i think the OP is either too immature or to prone to extremely strong emotional over reactions to own a gun. It's scary to me that he's over 18, has a gun and acts as his post says (or has the kind of parents who let their minor smoke which might explain things). The other thought i have is that this thread is just a joke. I don't mean to sound harsh but this thread doesn't exactly help maintain an image of responsible gun ownership.
 
Being a snake lover I guess I should chime in here.

For one thing, not trying to be a stickler here but copperheads, rattlers and so on are venomous, not poisonous. Venom only acts when in the blood stream, poison is ingested.

Also, a lot of times, a defensive bite from a venomous snake is a dry bite anyway, if they even bite. That basically means they may bite but not inject any venom. It's precious to them and they don't waste it.

If you have kids or elderly around I understand removing a venomous snake with whatever means you have from your immediate surroundings but they DO serve a very important purpose. I understand that people act in the moment and sometimes there is nothing that can be done but this is still something I think we should all remember. If you make your presence known and are smart, you'll really never have an issue with a snake.
 
Stupid post

I beheaded a Copperhead with a 7.62x25 while it was on a asphalt highway.
I probably hit the road a bit below the snakes head.
Did it more as a stunt and a excuse to shoot the T-33 then anything else.
A shovel would have been as effective, or the truck we were in.
Most snakes are a benifit to humans. Funny how ingrained fear shows itself.
 
Seems to me after you ran in the house to arm yourself the threat had passed. The shotgun didn't save your life at all. You merely hunted the snake down after it tried to get away.

ETA: You should be charged with Snake Slaughter :)
 
In parts of the South feral hogs are a possible reason that some rattlesnakes do not rattle. Its by no means all snakes but ones repeatedly exposed to feral hogs do not rattle as much because if they rattle at a hog it can be life and death for them.

Hogs are omnivores and the snakes having a tell like a rattle can cause them to die. The ones that are rattling are killed and eaten by the hogs (and some by farmers/people, but a lower percentage) and the ones who are not so quick to rattle pass on their genes to the next generation and the cycle continues.

Thats what I have heard could be a possible reason for the snakes not rattling as much as they used to.
 
I've heard the same hog theory but I can't verify if it's true or myth. As far as killing a snake because of a dog being bitten all I can say is this....my best friend of 10 years disappeared tonite and i'm positive it was coyotes. I'm getting a dying rabbit call tomorrow!
 
And as far as cigarettes.....my wife's been smoking for 40 years, ain't hurt her a bit. She coughs horribly, but is still just as mean as ever. More so, actually.
 
Bigguns81 said:
So I don't see that as your shotgun saved your life, more like you took the life of some poor critter.

Heck we might as well kill every animal out there, because of the potential for them to cause us harm.
Click to expand...

I agree with you on most points, but most people buy firearms for hunting, and most game animals are far less dangerous in any setting, and we literally seek them out to kill them for sport. The only difference is it's regulated, but since this story hasn't been followed with "I did the same last year, and every year prior," I think the numbers here are lower than those for an average game animal.

Bigguns81 said:
I was attacked by a pit bull when younger but I don't go around killing every
pit bull I see, I just chalked it up to wrong place at the wrong time, nothing more nothing less.
Click to expand...

Well, those pit bulls belong to someone. If you killed every rabid, stray pit bull you crossed, on your property or elsewhere, you might be a bit more justified.
 
I'm confused. You say your shotgun saved your life, but you had already gotten away from the snake when you ran in the house to grab it.
 
carolina - it all depends on circumstances.

Like I said earlier, I have a very young daughter, 17 months. To be envenomated by a copper head would probably kill her. I don't see full grown ones here, but the little green tipped tailed ones usually do envenomate when they bite. They don't learn control until later than that. I'll let a non venomous one go, they keep the frogs and mice down. The ones that can pose a danger to my family get treated in a very inhospitable way. There are 3 children under 7 on my block, soon to be 4. I don't need them catching one by suprise. I live on a pond, so the snakes will come back given the chance.
 
carolina - it all depends on circumstances.

Like I said earlier, I have a very young daughter, 17 months. To be envenomated by a copper head would probably kill her. I don't see full grown ones here, but the little green tipped tailed ones usually do envenomate when they bite. They don't learn control until later than that. I'll let a non venomous one go, they keep the frogs and mice down. The ones that can pose a danger to my family get treated in a very inhospitable way. There are 3 children under 7 on my block, soon to be 4. I don't need them catching one by surprise. I live on a pond, so the snakes will come back given the chance.
 
The ones that can pose a danger to my family get treated in a very inhospitable way.
Click to expand...

Why not shoot passing motorists too? They represent a greater danger to children.
 
black butte - your analogy is seriously flawed for several reasons

1. You know where the cars are (the road), theyare extremely easy to see, and they are being controlled by someone whose first reaction to a chance encounter with a kid is not to bite (unlike the first surprise encounter with a baby copperhead).

2. Whenever you encounter a car, your usually strapped into one yourself.

3. My kid doesn't play un supervised, I'll see a car from a distance, especially if it's entering my back yard. I might not see a 6-8 " baby copperhead, even if I step right next to it....those suckers are camof'd very well.

4. The nearest hospital is 20 minutes away, amd probably doesn't have anything to counter copperhead venom... I guarantee an ambulance can handle most anything a car wreck can do.

I only kil copperheads inside my fence, because that is where my kid(s) play...
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

D
  • Locked
311a
Replies
5
Views
608
jerryd
jerryd
L
  • Locked
Father & Son shotgun outing
Replies
4
Views
649
ACP230
A
ScrapMetalSlug
  • Locked
Pump shotgun ID
Replies
10
Views
875
Ironhand54
Ironhand54
DeepSouth
  • Locked
Antique Shotgun
Replies
6
Views
3K
Big Bill
B
DM~
  • Locked
My Old Remington Double Shotgun
Replies
6
Views
385
huntershooter
H
Back
Top