Log pile Rattlesnake

[SAnVA]

Was cleaning up ( tractor & scraper blade ) around my hunting cabin Saturday and as I was passing by a pile of pine logs which I never got around to sawing I spotted a rattlesnake sunning on top of the log pile. I had a .22 pistol in my truck and after 4-5 quick shots I finally managed to kill it, raked it off into the grass and noticed a baby coming out of a big hole in it's belly! I ended up killing 7 baby rattlers and they were 10 inches to a foot long and crawling and striking! Old log piles attract mice and mice attract snakes, should have sawed those logs a couple years ago when I cut them! Be careful out there!

[drobertson]

SanVa,, I will just say it like this,  two years ago, my best rat dog was hit by what the vet suspected as a pigmy rattler, in the log deck,  it was a brutal sight, but one that seemly was over a few months later,, we just lost Our Dixie this evening, and although she was close to 13 yrs, she was so vibrant, It was only after this bite that things began to turn against her in regards to her vibrancy and motivation.  Beware of the snakes for you, family and pets, it's no joke,    david   

[m wood]

SanVa, nice to at least find them all in one place at one time, no rattlers around my adopted home anymore.  David, you've had a rough couple of days man.  Good luck buddy.
mark

[dboyt]

Dave, sorry to hear about Dixie.

[Magicman]

Yup, in 13 years they become family.  Sorry for your loss.

I have found one rattler under logs.  Scary.


 
It was a pigmy rattler with 5 tiny rattles.

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

I will not take part in this post. I HATES snake! 

[terrifictimbersllc]

  : :


 

[goose63]

No rattlers here but will go out of my way to kill any snake after nam I HATE SNAKES

[MRowsh]

The last two years I have killed over 10 snakes. They come and steel the eggs from my chicken coop. One time one of them had 7 eggs in it's body.  None of them was broken. But the 410 shots of the Judge did a job!  Love the Judge with number 8 shots for snakes.

[hackberry jake]

Might be careful about who you tell. Rattlers are protected animals in a lot of areas. Of course im sure with all of you guys it was in self defence. Also if you have a livestock issue its a different deal. And if I see a poisonous snake around where my loved ones might be, its a gonner.

[celliott]

Man, this is why I'm glad I live up north where it snows and freezes. We don't got poisonous snakes or spiders or pretty much anything natural besides the weather that wants to kill you, and tornadoes are very rare here. Around me, flash floods are probably the most dangerous, we're all used to big snow and ice storms.

[pineywoods]

MRoush, put a golf ball in each nest. Snake will die from extreme belly ache  ;D

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

MRoush, put a golf ball in each nest. Snake will die from extreme belly ache  ;D

I play golf. That ain't funny!  But it is a good recommendation.  smiley_sick

[Al_Smith]

Actually I like big snakes .They make wonderfull belts and western style boots .

I have nothing against constictors like black snakes.If there were any rattlers around here and I saw one it would be one of those belts and that's the way that would go .

[SAnVA]

Thanks for all the replies, wish I had my camera with me, she was an average size Timber Rattler, black phase, 36-40 inches and pretty big around till I got all the little ones out! I usually run across 1 or 2 a year and a Copperhead or two. So far this year just one of each, don't like either one but would rather have the rattlers than a stinking old Copperhead! When I was younger I used to kill a lot of each but don't spend as much time in snaky places anymore!

[bandmiller2]

Thankfully poisonous snakes are rare up here.Biggest we have is a black racer I've seen them 5 and 6' long and their adept at climbing trees.As kids we hunted them with BBguns when hit they would chase us. Frank C.

[najumcju]

Uggh, killed 9 copperheads in month and a half period this summer within 50 feet of front door.  All were yearlings with a couple of two year olds.  Hadn't seen but one in the last few years.  Had to start taking dogs out on leash for their evening walks.

Don't want to run across any mommas or poppas looking for their brood!

[maple flats]

I also hate snakes. For a long time I thought there were no rattlers near me, but then I saw a nest (?) of baby ones (2 rattles) a few years ago, only about 3 miles from my place. Luckily I didn't see the momma. This year we had loads of snakes (no rattlers) in the garden, paid a girl ( who liked catching snakes) to catch and re-locate them. They seemed to be grass snakes and a few were Northern water snakes,( not poisonous but their bite is real nasty).

[cutterboy]

My father told me a story that happened when he was about 10 years old. (1932)  He and his brother killed a large snake but they didn't know what kind it was. They sent it to the science dept. of a local collage for identification. A few days later they got a note in the mail saying the snake was a milk snake and it was completely harmless. Well, to an adult that note meant the snake wasn't poisonous, but to a kid it meant the snake wouldn't hurt you. Sometime later my dad saw another big milk snake, caught it, picked it up and was shocked when the snake gave him a nasty bite on the hand.           Cutter

[oklalogdog]

You know it's strange but where I live there are no rattle snakes - only copperheads.  Go 50 miles North of me and they have a rattle snake roundup every year.  70 miles west and there are more rattlers than you can shake a stick at.  South 50 miles down around Witchita mountains and it's seething with rattlers.  But, none here - zero...go figure.

I personally think it has to do with the kind of rock around here.  In all the rattler areas mentioned above there is granite rock in the hills and mounds.  Where I live we have red rock or sand rock but no granite rock.  Just something I have always thought.

[bandmiller2]

Cutter,when I was in the navy a bunkmate was from western Ma. and was hopping from stone to stone in a brook as a kid and a copperhead bit him on the ankle.He remembers grabbing the snake and climbing the embankment to the road and he passed out from the venom.He woke up in the hospital said a woman was driving by and took him and the snake to the hospital. Frank C.

[PC-Urban-Sawyer]

... He woke up in the hospital said a woman was driving by and took him and the snake to the hospital. Frank C.

Frank,

Did he say if the hospital managed to save the snake?

(Sorry, can't help myself...)

Herb

[cutterboy]

I didn't know there were copperheads in Massachusetts.

[LaserZX]

I hate to kill any wildlife but consider the what if    and what this lady endured

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/woman-snake-bite-treatment-costs-55-000-article-1.1424383

A snake gun looks like a good solution.

[LeeB]

Actually I like big snakes .They make wonderfull belts and western style boots .

I have nothing against constictors like black snakes.If there were any rattlers around here and I saw one it would be one of those belts and that's the way that would go .

Lindy killed two big black snakes a couple months back while I was gone. Pitched em in the trash. I was mighty upset she threw away a couple good pair of boot skins. That big would have made some nice ones and I would have been willing to pay for a custom pair. Need some new boots.

[bandmiller2]

Cutter,I have never seen a copperhead but I'am told and have read its the only venomous snake that's common in Ma.There have been many reports of rattle snakes in the blue hills just southwest of Boston.A friend of mine said many years ago he saw a rattler on a farm he worked on in Millis Ma.I was walking up rail birds in a marsh on the herring river in Harwich on the cape and almost stepped on a snake I swear was a cottonmouth.I cut it in half with birdshot but didn't want to fish the pieces from under the edge of the ditch.I asked a doctor friend a sportsman that grew up on the cape he said they are very rare but some exist.I asked a state biologist he said none in this state,guess I should have pulled the pieces out of the bank. Frank C.

[bandmiller2]

Herb,the snake came upon hard times and is now homeless he would like to come and live with you,he promised to be good. Frank C.

[WH_Conley]

Seems like state wildlife people know less about animals than anyone else. I recently had a Game Warden tell we had no Bears in my part of the state. Also that Coyote's won't eat sweet corn out of the garden.

[PC-Urban-Sawyer]

Herb,the snake came upon hard times and is now homeless he would like to come and live with you,he promised to be good. Frank C.

Frank,

I shore am sorry to hear about that snake's predicumnet. Unfortunately, my wife has a one snake house rule and currently I'm the only snake allowed in our home...

Maybe the poor feller will find a home somewhere else. I hear tell a young lady named Eve is looking for a snake over in Eden...

Herb

[Solomon]

Anyone thought about introducing a big black snake or two.  They are not poisinous, they keep the vermin down and will kill Copperheads, rattlers and most other snakes.   I've got two big ones living under my house and a few out back around my shop and under my drying box..  I have no rodents or other snakes . I get real  PO'd if anyone messes with my black snakes!

[cutterboy]

Frank, I checked a website that showed the distribution of copperheads in the US. Massachusetts has them in the Blue Hills area outside of Boston. Of course we all know there are plenty of snakes in the statehouse.

[bandmiller2]

Myself I have nothing agenst snakes,the folks I bought my property from loved them and they were everywhere.Felt bad but the Gravely 40" mower got a lot of them.My little wife is from the phillipines and can't even watch them on TV.So unless I wanted to pick all the strawberries and bean I had to have a viper reduction program. Frank C.

[5quarter]

Frank...you would think, being from the Phillipines, that she would think nothing of them. more snakes than people in that part of the world. ;)

[bandmiller2]

5Q,not when their all poisonus and medical help is spotty to nonexistent.Snakes are one of the big three killers of kids in PI. Frank C.

[DR Buck]

Myself I have nothing agenst snakes,the folks I bought my property from loved them and they were everywhere.Felt bad but the Gravely 40" mower got a lot of them.My little wife is from the phillipines and can't even watch them on TV.So unless I wanted to pick all the strawberries and bean I had to have a viper reduction program. Frank C.

Mower Deck is my favorite snake elimination method.   I also use bird shot load in my 9MM Ruger.   ;D  Works just as good and not as loud as the 20 gage.  :D     Before my Jack Russell passed away we never  had snake issues.   Now I see them all the time.   Mostly black snakes, but occasionally Rattlers.   Have I mentioned I hate snakes?

[bama20a]

I was bite by a copperhead once, That is not any fun.
Now I've created a allergic reaction to them. When I see them my legs jump,& I can't quit running, ;D ;D

[bandmiller2]

Was just reading only one person has ever died in Massachusetts from a snake bite and that was 200 years ago. In fact copperheads and rattlers are protected, fish and game dept. gets really fissed if you shorten their life expectancy. Frank C.

[dovetails]

The way I see it, if it is in MY yard, it is mine to do with as I want!
And that means if poisionus,it's a dead snake, do'nt care who don't like it.
You want to protect them, catch them before I see them.

[thecfarm]

Not saying I do it,but SSS. ;D

[5quarter]

Frank...true enough. good reason to fear them.

   Not many Rattlesnakes around here...they have been all but extirpated by landowners in this area. They are more numerous as you go further south and/or west of here. Rat snakes predominate around here. about the best snake you could have around as their main diet is mice. also, they are very even tempered and don't mind being handled, as long as you're gentle. The biggest one I've measured was 67", but I have seen a couple that I suspect were even bigger.