Rattle snake tips.

packmule

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Jun 21, 2011
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TX
I am more afraid of a creepy mouse in my camp than a snake near my camp. For being a bunch of bad asses, we sure can be wusses sometimes with little critters!!
Im more concerned with black widows than mice. Never fails I find them under the tongues of trailers that I haven't used in a while. Found one this afternoon under the angle iron on my 4wheeler trailer. Decided to check it for wasp before just grabbing it to lift up onto the ball and was glad I did.
 

Sawfish

Very Active Member
Jun 9, 2011
767
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Peoples Republik of Kalifornia
Im more concerned with black widows than mice. Never fails I find them under the tongues of trailers that I haven't used in a while. Found one this afternoon under the angle iron on my 4wheeler trailer. Decided to check it for wasp before just grabbing it to lift up onto the ball and was glad I did.
We have those along with the brown widow, and brown recluse spiders. Why they love barbecue pits is a mystery to me. Anyone have another interesting snake story?
 

tdcour

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Feb 28, 2013
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Central Kansas
Well, my only other snake story is when I was about 13 or 14, I was helping my grandpa out for the summer in NW New Mexico. I got out of the truck to open a gate that was on top of a cattle guard and about the time I unlatched the gate, I heard the snake start to rattle. If you ever want to see a chubby white kid jump like MJ, put a snake under a cattle guard! I ended up hopping on top of the gate and "riding" it across the cattle guard. Of course, my grandpa was wondering what was going on at that point. I motioned him to come across, but he insisted I cross back over, not knowing what trouble was waiting at the cattle guard. Again, chubby white kid long jumped the cattle guard, which was a feat in itself for me. I grabbed the .22 rifle my grandpa always had with him and searched for the snake. He never rattled again, but I finally saw him about 6 inches away from the barrel of the gun when I was staring into the cattle guard. If I remember right, the snake was almost 4 foot and had a bunch of rattles. I actually still have the rattles today packed in a box full of keepsakes from hunts.
 

packmule

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Jun 21, 2011
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TX
We have those along with the brown widow, and brown recluse spiders. Why they love barbecue pits is a mystery to me. Anyone have another interesting snake story?
Have the brown recluse too...got bit by one when I was 13 and it was not a fun experience. Someone shoving an industrial size q-tip with alcohol elbow deep into your arm then packing it with a softball size deal of gauze will scare you for life.
 

packmule

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Jun 21, 2011
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TX
Buddy decided to take his ranch truck into the city one day and had a rattler crawl out from behind his dash and into the floorboard while doing 75 down I-10. He claims he like to have wrecked.
 

tdcour

Veteran member
Feb 28, 2013
1,100
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Central Kansas
Buddy decided to take his ranch truck into the city one day and had a rattler crawl out from behind his dash and into the floorboard while doing 75 down I-10. He claims he like to have wrecked.
HA!! Yeah, that wouldn't be cool. That reminds me of a time I was in college and stopped at a gas station in town. There were a bunch of guys gathered around the front of a truck with the hood open looking at the engine compartment. All of a sudden it sounded like a bunch of high school girls started screaming. I looked over and saw a rattle snake crawling up over the grille of the truck. I guess that happens pretty often when its starting to get cool.
 

packmule

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TX
It seems to guessing bc it's the warmest place they can find. Best case scenario is they keep squirrels from getting in there and chewing up your wiring.
 

Hilltop

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Feb 25, 2014
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Eastern Nebraska
I work for an industrial fan manufacturer. In the desert south west we have 100s of claims of rattle snakes climbing inside generator sets to try to stay warm. The generators kick on and the snake is turned to a bloody mess...usually causing damage to the radiators, fans, or other equipment. I would always check my truck and any other equipment while in snake country...
 

packmule

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Jun 21, 2011
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TX
Yeah, I've seen a big o' chicken snake found in a snake boot (ohh the irony) that was left out on the porch. A month or so before that I was across the rd on a porch in the pitch dark taking pics of lightning and had one crawl up under my feet. When the lightning lit up everything I noticed it. He got beat with a grill brush.
 

packmule

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Jun 21, 2011
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TX
I have to go kill them off the ponds, creeks and sloughs in the lower pastures this weekend so the cows will actually use them instead of the store bought water once the heat gets here.
 

Sawfish

Very Active Member
Jun 9, 2011
767
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Peoples Republik of Kalifornia
HA!! Yeah, that wouldn't be cool. That reminds me of a time I was in college and stopped at a gas station in town. There were a bunch of guys gathered around the front of a truck with the hood open looking at the engine compartment. All of a sudden it sounded like a bunch of high school girls started screaming. I looked over and saw a rattle snake crawling up over the grille of the truck. I guess that happens pretty often when its starting to get cool.
When I lived in Louisiana, I walked outside of the local discount store, and saw a few folks milling around a pickup truck with the hood up. They were all keeping their distance, so I looked closer and saw the head of a pretty good sized water snake hanging down beneath the truck. Two girls had driven in from a rural area about 30 miles away to shop. When they stopped at the store, someone told them about the snake. They opened the hood hoping he would leave, but he liked his toasty warm perch under the hood. Someone had called the police dept., and the two guys from animal control were not too enthused about the task. They had a catch noose around the snake, but he was pretty long, and was wrapped tightly around the truck suspension, etc.. Not being one to mind my own business, I walked over to the two exasperated guys, and the unhappy snake, and told them I did not think that was going to work. This did not gladden their hearts, and they wanted to know what I would do. I suggested they get a can of starting ether and a piece of PVC pipe from the store, and gas the snake. That would put him to sleep, and he would relax his hold on the truck. They gave it a try, and the snake promptly went to sleep and relaxed his grip. I do not know how, or where, that snake hid to make the thirty mile trip without injury.