Snake bite

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

Never been bit, but I've been "fostering" bull snakes in my basement since we moved into the place in 2003. I find their skins in the basement periodically, but they can't get upstairs. They do a great job with mice and we know spring has sprung the first time "big momma" slithers on the deck to sun herself. Not certain its the same snake, but she is all of 6'+ and probably closer to 7' stretched. They're never aggressive towards us or the dogs, and I enjoy having them around.

I shoulda mentioned the place was built in 1919 and the foundation was made from field stones harvested around the place.

 

[RockAndSage]

My experience has been the same.

I bird hunted extensively when I lived in MT, and my dogs were snake broke and vaccinated. I was never complacent about snakes, but the ones we would come across were pretty docile unless you messed with them. I also liked to photograph them, and while I could get them to coil up, it was really difficult to get them to strike.

I stopped killing snakes that were out in the prairie, and I’ve come to feel a little bad about the number of snakes I killed before I stopped doing it.

I can appreciate this. My rule is that if they're anywhere near human habitat (ie, my kids, outbuildings, etc), they die. But further out, I'm happy to leave them alone if they're not in an area I expect people or our animals to be.

OP, I'll echo other people on here - they're almost always defensive bites, hugely disproportionate to hands/arms and feet/calves. If you're hiking and making noise, it's a lot like mule deer - far, far more have slipped quietly away from you after detecting you, than you'll ever comprehend.

 

[t_carlson]

I stopped killing snakes that were out in the prairie, and I’ve come to feel a little bad about the number of snakes I killed before I stopped doing it.

I still do it around the house because I have young children (1 & 4) but I feel bad every time.

 

[elkliver]

Not usually aggressive unless you disturb them. The disturbance distance can be as close as stepping on them or they can get very aggressive and if you are within 2-3 feet they might strike. If its cold out for example, they are usually lethargic . I thinks its the Skin shedding that irritates them and makes them aggressive. Growing up on a ranch in snake country and a den nearby, you learn to be careful stepping over rocks, opening the wire gate, etc,. They will usually rattle to warn(not always) Trust me, if you are walking along and hear one go off, you freeze standing on one foot and hold that pose until you figure out where the rattle came from. There are a lot of myths about how far they can strike..... I never test the limits but usually a shovel is long enough to get their head cut off

Never been bit but have come very close, Stepped on one in the yard with my barefeet one time. Not sure how i avoided getting bit

 

[3forks]

I still do it around the house because I have young children (1 & 4) but I feel bad every time.

I would too, and I hope my post didn’t come across as me trying to sound more “enlightened” than guys who would choose to kill a snake regardless of where it was.

My intent was just to post about my experience with rattlers, and not passing judgment on anybody else for what they choose to do.

 

[Ucsdryder]

I’ve had a bunch of close calls. I was trying to get around some cattle that were leaking out to the right when we were pushing them into the corrals. I was running and felt something roll under my foot as I saw a rattle snake strike up at me. I could have been an Olympic long jumper that day. That snake didn’t stand a chance. Everyone thought it was funny, possibly the closest I’ve ever been to shitting myself.

In the frank church there are more damn snakes than any other place I’ve been. It really isn’t fun to hunt when you’re paying more attention to your next step than you are what’s out in front of you.

 

[Roosterstraw]

Ran into a rattlesnake a couple days ago. Got within 4-5’ of it but it never did rattle or get aggressive.

 

[Huntinmechanic]

There is some great knowledge and insight on this forum. I appreciate it. I live in California and the snakes that I have encountered have been pretty mellow. I used to kill every rattlesnake I would come across when working up in the hills of Lake County. I've since gone onto live and let live unless there are kids around. I love seeing a king, garter or gopher snake around. My grandma always said if there are snakes, then the garden would be good. Not sure why. Maybe they kept the pests away. My grandpa, as a kid in Pineville Missouri back in the late 20's, was bit by a copperhead while cleaning out the 3 hole shitter. He used to love telling that story. The aftermath didn't sound pleasant. He didn't have any lasting affect but, from what I remember of the story, he was bed ridden for a week or so.

 

[nettereo16]

There is some thought that rattlers that rattle get killed by humans, so more and more don’t rattle before striking these days.

Hunting pressure got the turkeys and elk quiet, now the snakes are going silent too!

 

[Trumpkin The Dwarf]

Oh FFS, not the thread I needed to read! Now I'm imagining copperheads and water mocs in the tall grass I tend to bust through at 3am on my way to my deer stands...

I turn into some hybrid of high jumper and skeet shooter when snakes surprise me.

 

[elkliver]

PS in regards to killing them, If they live in the rock jack for the gate you open every day... They need to die. If they come into the yard or lay in front of the door, they need to die.

I can understand the "let live" philosophy and agree with it in most cases..... but not when the chance of a bite is increased by location

 

[ODB]

I've known 4 people that have been bitten and they were all different but in a similar area and all locals. One was from picking up a fresh load of laundry off the floor in the house. Second was sitting in a recliner and reached down to grab the TV remote and the snake was under his chair. Third was going to unlock the truck door and dropped keys on the ground and when reaching down to grab them got bit. The fourth was shut in a root seller door and the guy bent down to move whatever was blocking the door and it happened to be a snake. Granted this area is full of snakes but they were all on the hands and arms. I'm not yet to meet anyone bit on the legs or anywhere other then the hands. When chatting with these people about the incidents they all said the same thing that it won't happen when you expect it too.

Man...the laundry story reminds me of a friend's mom... they live in Botswana and the mom was reaching behind the hamper to grab some clothes and she felt something touch her hand - MAMBA!

Here is the result:

 

[Cliffy65]

I stepped on a rattlesnake last year.
I’m red/green colorblind and didn’t see it on the pine needles at all. I stepped dead centre of him curled up and only knew about it when I saw his underside in my peripheral as he twisted around to strike. Made me jump I tell you!
Lucky I stepped on him where I did, because he only had about a 2” reach where he was pinned. He couldn’t clear my boot so he settled for the hem on my pant. I checked him out and his rattle had old damage to it, bent at the base and wasn’t making any noise.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

Killed a Mojave green yesterday evening. They usually never strike unless stepped on or pinned somewhere.

 

[Danomite]

I killed one my deck this morning. The only thing I’d add to the input above is that how aggressive a snake is depends a lot on the temperature and whether it feels cornered, in my experience.

 

[butcherboy]

Dang, I hate snakes. Doesn’t matter what kind it is, I hate them. Only ever seen one rattler while elk hunting. I avoid the higher population areas in NM. I’m surprised I haven’t seen more but I like to hunt high country for elk. There is a reason the ole Devil is described as a snake.

 

[grfox92]

Never been bit, but I've been "fostering" bull snakes in my basement since we moved into the place in 2003. I find their skins in the basement periodically, but they can't get upstairs. They do a great job with mice and we know spring has sprung the first time "big momma" slithers on the deck to sun herself. Not certain its the same snake, but she is all of 6'+ and probably closer to 7' stretched. They're never aggressive towards us or the dogs, and I enjoy having them around.

I shoulda mentioned the place was built in 1919 and the foundation was made from field stones harvested around the place.

I've got to give you credit....because I would have moved already.

I absolutely hate snakes and always have since I was old enough to remember. Best I can explain it is it's a primal fear I was born with. My wife says I was killed by a snake in a past life lol.

In all seriousness, I rather deal with grizzly bears than snakes.

Sent from my SM-G990U using Tapatalk

 

[7mm-08]

Funny rattlesnake story - when I was in the Border Patrol, I was stationed in Yuma, Arizona. I didn't grow up in the desert and I was enthralled with the different animals, reptiles and insects there. We used to screw around with rattlesnakes A LOT, which was not a smart thing in retrospect. I happended to pull a four to midnight shift during the summer (read that hot as hell) and we ran across a large rattlesnake when we were doing afternoon drags in preparation for signcutting operations later that evening after darkness fell and the onslaught (for that time) began. I was holding up the bottom of my boot to this rattler to get him to strike and I was momentarily distracted by one of the other dumbasses in the group when, in fact, the snake decided he had taken enough BS from the morons surrounding him and struck. Well, he caught my pants right in the crotch area (but missed the family jewels by a hair's bredth). If I had a video of the antics I went through with that legitimate 5 to 6-foot snake with the girth of the barrel of a baseball bat holding onto the crotch of my pants with his fangs, I'd be able to sell it today for a good deal of money. They started with me screaming like an 11-year-old girl and spinning in circles to dislodge him? It was pretty clear I wasn't going to have success doing that so finally an older PI who grew up in the desert grabbed me by the shoulder and assisted with getting the snake to let go of my pants with his fangs, which even in retrospect looked three inches long. My savior likely came to the conclusion this was the safest thing to do because at least one or two of the other rocket scientists with me had drawn their duty revolvers. I'll never forget this guy casually saying over his shoulder in the most even tone ever, "Son, that could have really gone wrong..." I never screwed with another rattlesnake although the sidewinders screwed with us plenty when we were laying up beside the railroad tracks waiting for northbound foot traffic.

 

[ScreamingPotato]

I'd go broke buying shotgun shells if I hunted there.

That particular place is federally protected, can't even "harass" a snake, if you do anything other than keep walking you could be fined.

At my fish camp on the coast we carry 22 revolvers with bird shot. Beautiful baseball sized group at snake distance, not messy or loud.

 

[butcherboy]

I think my fear of snakes stems from my experience when I was 5 years old. My two older brothers had found a really long bull snake that was already dead and proceeded to chase me with it. I hid under an old row boat we had. Well, they watched me hide in it and lifted that boat and threw that dang snake in there on me in the dark. Ever see a 5 year old boy lift a row boat 10 feet in the air by himself?