Things in Texas Will Bite You

[WDH]

I am working with a Forester partner to develop management plans for some property my Company owns in Texas.  We were riding down a tract road today when my partner said, "We just drove over a snake.".  A snake?  It is December 5th.  Monday morning it was 26 degrees!!  There ain't supposed to be snakes out and about.  I left my snake leggings in Georgia .

I said, "Is it still there?".  He said, "Yes, and it seemed to be a colorful snake.".  I said, "Stop!.  I want to see it.".  So I got my camera out and humped it back behind the vehicle to look for a colorful snake.

Then a realization came over me....Red on black, friend of Jack.........Red on yellow, kill a fellow

Red on yellow kill a fellow      .

Is DanG a cussword?  Is Tom wise?  Can Woodbowl play a Banjo?  Can Radar67 and DonK turn a beautiful pen?  Can the Boss deer hunt?

DanG is the Official Forestry Forum Cussword.  Tom is a Supernumerary.  Woodbowl is a Banjo playing, log sawing, fiend.  Radar67's and DonK's pens are gorgeous.................The Boss has venison hanging from the meat pole.

It was the most poisonous snake in North America.  A Coral Snake.  Beautiful!  And ina hurry to get away.

 

Box up this one and send it to the Boss .

[Warbird]

Wow.  At 26 degrees?  That's pretty remarkable.

Glad you didn't get bit!

[Jeff]

I'll make granola out of it

[WDH]

OK.  It is on its way FedEx.  Open the box carefully .

[Jeff]

Tammy opens all our mail.

[Radar67]

I've seen snakes laid up in water in December, with ice forming around the edges. I'll admit they were moving slow, but still very much alive and ready to protect themselves. I watch for them year round.

Nice picture WDH. And thanks for the good words.

[isawlogs]

 Ya know ... I knew it would be a shnake pic in ther ... I just knew it .....     I hate shnakes ... just hate um .

[brdmkr]

WDH, that is pretty cool.  In all my years in coral snake range, I have never seen one.  I hear  you about have force them to bite you.  They don't have fangs in the traditional sense.  The 'fang's are oriented toward the back of their mouth.  They almost have to gnaw on you to envenomate (SP?) you.  BUT, if they get you, it will be bad.   

[WDH]

It was only later that I thought about picking it up by its tail for a close-up pic. 

Probably a good thing that I did not.  They are better left alone .

Coolest snake that I have ever seen, and I have seen a pick-up truck load of snakes .

[Dave Shepard]

I see a garter snake about once every three years, that's enough for me.


Dave

[stonebroke]

I knew there was a reason I lived up here in the frozen north and now I have seen it.

Stonebroke

[Don K]

Danny,  I don't even have a decent picture of that pen. I took one before I mailed it, but it didn't turn out good.    Thanks for the compliment.

Don

[tcsmpsi]

It was clear and sunny yesterday, and the little darlin' was taking advantage.  Those little red and yeller fellers have a tendency to move around every chance they get.  The biggest one of those I ever skinned out was just a little over 36" long.   

Did your forester buddy tell you of his trip to the shop?   

And, speaking of trips to the shop....

[Qweaver]

On our deer lease in southwest Texas, the popular saying was,  Everything out here will sting ya, stick ya, cut ya or bite ya.

[TexasTimbers]

It was not 26 degrees yesterday but me and my customer were riding down the road and seen two black snakes. We both commented that it seemed unusal to see one much less two about 3 miles apart.

[limbrat]

I have lived in ther range most of my life and have never seen one in the woods. That is a pretty and rare find.

[sgtmaconga]

i too have never seen one in the scales as it be. i see a lot of the king snake brand. my wife's albino king is around 3 feet long now. she loves them and i've been around snakes all my life so we never pass up a chance to save one. some are on watch list and a few are endangered now.

[Texas Ranger]

Just proves the point that to be in Texas ya gotta be able to tough it out, snakes -freezing weather, talk all ya want about your snow snakes, that there is tough.

[Furby]

-freezing weather,

You folks call 60° freezing.

[beenthere]

Well, I been hearin of a few getting bit by the snow snakes up here this year....I almost did today...just in the nick of time I reacted and only took a glancing blow...but I don't want to get any closer than that..they'll lay ya up big time...knees swell up, back and arms hurt and ache....they are bad this last week.

[Furby]

Yeah, I got bit by one yesterday...... INSIDE!
Had wet feet from the snow and slipped/fell down my parents steps.
Still alive though.

[asy]

Tammy opens all our mail.

Well, WDH, it's been real nice gettin' to know ya...

Nice Snake, but, compared to what Tammy would do if ya REALLY sent it on to her, I'd cuddle up to the snake. Coz yer in TRUBBLE!

asy

[WDH]

Asy,

Not nearly as bad as those King Browns you have.  No cuddling with those; the wrath from Tammy would pale as compared to those BAD Aussie snakes .  And those Browns are not even the worst .

[Texas Ranger]

Furby, 28 Degrees in Texas is the same as 28 degrees up nawth, freezin.

[asy]

Nope, they aren't...

There's also Death Adders...  And the piece de resistance...  The Taipan...

We have death adders theoretically on our farmy, although thankfully we haven't seen any sight of them... yet...

VERY thankfully we don't have the Taipan in our area. Well, OK, Technically we "could" because we're right on the very southern tip of it's distribution, but realistically, not likely.

Anyway, this is the Land of Oz, you always assume any snakey is a bitey snakey. Unless they're a green tree snake, and they's preeeeety distinctive.

asy

[customsawyer]

Great pic. there WDH. I am glad it was you that found it since I wouldn't have even been looking for one at 28 degrees.

[WDH]

We saw the little rascal in the afternoon after it had warmed up some.  The morning before, we had to scrape the frost off the windshield, that was when it was below freezing.  A day later, I would have never imagined that I would see that snake.  Just goes to show that one must be vigilant and not make too many assumptions .  At least about snakes and Texas .

[ely]

i think like jeff does when it comes to snakes, i know i read somewhere on here about his definition of a good snake.

[WDH]

Making it a "Good Snake" never even entered my mind.  I was too excited about seeing such a beautiful creature.  It was just trying to make a living, like we all do .

[Tim L]

I'll take the snow . If I lived in your neck of the woods I'd carry my 12 gauge 24/7 ! The only good one is a dead one ! The same goes for Florida gators , I'd stack em like cordwood ! Can I get an Amen from my northern brothers ?

[isawlogs]

Is there a time of year when they are outsomewheres and not around ... like here in winter .   
 Not having any around while growing up ( well other then those little garden snakes and some brown ones that swim .. )  I guess makes me worry 'bout them some scares the [I have typed a profane word that is automatically changed by the forum censored words program I should know better] outme is more like it . I sure would would like to enjoie them more , but I only really enjoie them once they stop movin' !!!

  Maybe with the global warmin It da freeze down there and then I could go down and visite for a short spell .

[asy]

The snakes here go into hibernation when the daytime temp gets under about 25C.

Soooooooo winter is a good time to visit.

asy

[WDH]

Asy,

I had the wonderful opportunity to visit your beautiful country to benchmark logging systems in 2003.  I was out in the woods with some of the State Forest Foresters of New South Wales (in the Snowy Mountains east of Wagga Wagga and south of Tumut), and naturally I gravitated away from the group to the native forest to look at those beautiful natural eucalypts.  I was cautious, having grown up in the Southern US, and it was instinctual to look for snakes.  I had read up some on Australia, and I had discovered that of the approximately 160 of snakes native there, there were about 120 venomous species!!!  We have only 4  .

Anyway, after leaving the group and looking at all those gorgeous trees, I came back and asked them why, in the safety orientation, that they never mentioned snakes.  One of the foresters was even wearing shorts (no snake leggings).  They said, "Oh yeah, this is King Brown country."  It was Old Hat to them to know about the snakes, like knowing how to walk and to breathe.  So, this forester said that he had even been bitten by a King Brown .  I paid even closer attention to the ground after that . 

We even saw brumbies (sp?).    I had the best beer that I have ever tasted, had mutton shank and mashed potatotes, meat pies, and the best hospitality known to mankind. 

But, I never forgot about those King Browns.  Some other time I will have to tell you about the kangaroo chasing incident .

When I get to my other computer, I can post some pics (sorry, no pic of a King Brown ).

[Tom]

Well, it's just plain dangerous down here.  We've got all kinds of animals that will eat you for dinner.  To make it worse, we've had an influx of environmental wackos come in here from somewhere that have installed rules and regulations making it against the law to mess with the wildlife, and then they left.  We don't see as many around here as we used to.  Most of'em got 'et and the rest ran for their lives.  Those of us that were raised with the snakes and gators find them an annoyance but most of us appreciate them as long as they stay out of the house.

There's still a bunch of marketing carpetbaggers that are trying to get folks to move down here and play at Disney or live in the big cities they are creating.  Don't fall for it.  It's a trick.  They just want your money.

[WDH]

Well said Tom, its a trick .  Too hot anyway and the grits are not very nourishing.  Snakes in the house really get the women cantankerous and fractious. 

[Tim L]

Im going out in a few minutes to work on my old plow truck . Its a fairly safe bet that when I crawl under there I'll be alone !