Snake bite

[Crowmangler]

From my experience, I would say that they don't WANT to bite you. They just want to be left alone.

 

[rtkbowhunter]

Story from a few years back on Bowsite. Bottom line? You don't want bit.

https://forums.bowsite.com/tf/bgforums/thread.cfm?threadid=477900&forum=36

 

[Fatcamp]

I don't kill them. Typically they are just as scared as I am.

About once a year I do a full on Rattlesnake Boogie!

 

[Shō[t]gun]

One of the places we hunt down in South Texas is flat out infested with snakes, fattest healthiest rattlers I've ever seen and I've seen a lot. About half of them will rattle and the other half hide quietly, and a LOT of guys have had close encounters, but they don't seem eager to strike. I think generally speaking, depending on the snake, they tend to avoid defensive bites unless they think you're trying to get after them. I can't speak to mountain rattlers, never seen one and hopefully never do.

I did a Nilgai hunt down there last year. It’s no freaking joke! I saw 4 rattlers a day, so was probably in range of 10x that. Only one rattled after I shood it off the trail. Not a chance I’ll ever walk around in the weeds down there again without snake boots or chaps.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

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?

You're lucky there wasn't another snake chilling under the boat! LOL!

 

[CorbLand]

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?

I think mine came from my mom letting me watch Anaconda when it first came out. I was like 6-7 year old at the time.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

I think mine came from my mom letting me watch Anaconda when it first came out. I was like 6-7 year old at the time.

Jaws had the same impact on me. LOL! I'm terrified of the ocean, even though I know how low the risk of getting bitten or killed by a shark are. I'd be that guy amongst hundreds or thousands of people that got hit.

 

[Beendare]

I killed a rattler in a tree at eye level a couple of years ago. Was wet and sometimes they climb, but my guess is a hawk dropped it in tree.

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

My farm has a bunch of them.

I’m seeing that more and more…..them staring at me and not rattling….damn that evolution!

 

[Kyle C]

That freaking place is crawling with snakes as is the entire Hells Canyon complex.

Truer words have never been spoken. It's baffling how many snakes come out of those canyons.

 

[Fireflyfishing]

Ask anyone in the medical field, and they’ll tell you a bite is typically caused from folks messing with a snake. Not always, but a huge margin of strikes.

 

[t_carlson]

Ask anyone in the medical field, and they’ll tell you a bite is typically caused from folks messing with a snake. Not always, but a huge margin of strikes.

The last person I can recall who died in MT was somebody from the South who thought he had handled snakes enough. Got out of his car and started messing with one way out in the middle of nowhere. Snake bit him and he didn't make it to the hospital in time.

 

[CorbLand]

Jaws had the same impact on me. LOL! I'm terrified of the ocean, even though I know how low the risk of getting bitten or killed by a shark are. I'd be that guy amongst hundreds or thousands of people that got hit.

Ive never seen Jaws but I could see how that could do it to you. Only been to the ocean twice.

My biggest fear of rattlesnakes is that I generally cant hear them. I just walk right past them, even when they are rattling. We have these little rubber boa snakes here. They are harmless but they blend in with the dirt really well, so you are walking and all of a sudden, the ground moves.

 

[Silver Wings]

There are so many variables that go into snake behavior that you can’t really make any blanket statements on it.
Biggest factors: time of year, time of day, ambient temperature
Secondary factors: INDIVIDUAL PERSONALITY, if touched/stepped on…accidentally or otherwise
A snake’s body temp, metabolism and general activity is ruled almost entirely by the ambient temperature and their use of shade or cover to warm up or prevent overheating. Keep that in mind when hiking/hunting.

Yesterday evening I left my house at 7:30 to meet a buddy and shoot the CBC. I knew with a good deal of certainty that I’d probably see a couple snakes because of the time of year and temperature…and I did. I saw 2 Gopher snakes on the road within 4 miles of the house. Found another one walking into the spot and then stepped over a baby Rattlesnake on a heavily grassed up trail. My buddy saw it after I passed over it, I never would have known he was there.
Just be aware of your surroundings and be particularly careful around rock piles if you stop for a break or something. The chances of being bitten are slim and none.

@willfrye027 video from last night’s CBC

 

[butcherboy]

You're lucky there wasn't another snake chilling under the boat! LOL!

Yeah, no kidding! That dang snake hit me and wrapped around my arm.

I give all snakes of any variety a wide berth. I would kill poisonous ones though without any remorse whatsoever.

 

[COJoe]

Thankfully, I've only seen a couple rattle snakes in my 24 years of living in Colorado.Can't imagine how many I've walked by though. Once, my father-inlaw led myself and him into a canyon off the Shelf Road to fish for little brook trout. After walking up the canyon a while, he decided he wanted to climb straight up a couple hundred yards to the road. It was about 100+ degrees and the canyon was called Rattlesnake Gulch! I was upset with him for sure and scanned all around us and the rocks as we slowly climbed up the 60-70 degree angle. He was in his seventies so if he got bit I'm not sure he could've made it out... Never seen any that day though. I've adjusted where I hike for training now because of the high grasses. Neighbors around the block keep reporting seeing a large rattle snake when they walk.
I grew up in SE PA with Copperheads, never realizing how dangerous they are too.

What protection do you all wear while hiking? Any good lightweight snake gaiters?

 

[croben]

Never been bit or seen anyone get bit, but we’ve had a few close calls with rattlesnakes. Not once has it been from someone stepping on one, but just being too close to them.

 

[def90]

I've never seen a snake while hunting in Colorado. That includes early archery season mountain elk hunts and eastern plains mule deer hunts.

I've heard a couple rattles while on climbing trips off of the shelf road climbing area near Canon City..

This guy was on the road in to the Boulder Rifle Club one summer day.

 

[MuleDeerMike]

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.

Sounds like a horror film. How does a rattlesnake get into someone's laundry or under their recliner???

 

[elkliver]

Sounds like a horror film. How does a rattlesnake get into someone's laundry or under their recliner???

We had a Baby Rattler wrapped up together with the phone cord one time. No idea how he got in. And have had them laying in front of the door between the matt and door jamb. Finding them in those types of locations scare the heck out of you.

 

[bluemaroon]

I’m seeing that more and more…..them staring at me and not rattling….damn that evolution!

In Texas where we have tons of them, the thinking is that rattlers aren’t rattling because of the massive hog population. Apparently the hogs eat them so they learned to stay quiet.

There’s a lot of debate on how true this is but I’d love to hear biologists thoughts on this theory.