Sneaky snake

[captainkirk]

I knew better than to open up a root beer with one of these guys around...

Zoom lenses save lives.

captainkirk

 

[stevemb]

Rattlers like root beer ? Man, if I lived in Texas, I'd get fat eating them things ! Hmmnnn...next time maybe we'll add some root beer to the skillet with the butter and garlic,etc.. stevemb

 

[Boomer8484]

Rattlers like root beer ? Man, if I lived in Texas, I'd get fat eating them things ! Hmmnnn...next time maybe we'll add some root beer to the skillet with the butter and garlic,etc.. stevemb

Hey Steve, I've never eaten snake and you are making it sound pretty good! Can I come over next time you cook'em up?!

 

[doccash]

Captainkirk: He doesn't look like our rattlers, but it is a great head shot of one. Dr.C

 

[captainkirk]

Doc - Yours looks almost like he was mounted. Pretty amazing to even get the tongue out and all. My lighting wasn't the best, and the snake was a bit cold (mid 50s). Here is another shot of him on the road.

As far as the root beer comment, that was sort of an homage of the Tom T Hall song from long ago..

 

[ruggedruger]

Timber Rattlers are most common out here... (though we have Cottonmouths, Copperheads, and Pygmy Rattlers too boot).

the first two pics are of a freshly-shed Timber Rattler near my place of work.

The third pic is of a hoss I saw a year ago. I have video of this bugger slowly getting off the road. I thought he was hurt (his rattler was a little cockeyed). I think he may have had a belly full (of what, I don't know. Ran over one (accidentally) the other night. He was straight across the lane. Head under 1 tire, and tail under the other.

 

[ruggedruger]

...and I'll throw in a pic of a cute little Pygmy...

(that's the white stripe on the edge of the road, nearby, for scale reference...)

 

[doccash]

There are tremendous color variations out there, I saw a pine rattler by Santa Fe that was a vivid green color !! Dr.C

 

[Jeepnik]

A good Pacific Diamond Back.

Didn't actually hit it, I "barked" it with a piece of rock.

 

[AJGUNNER]

I have video of this bugger slowly getting off the road. I thought he was hurt (his rattler was a little cockeyed). I think he may have had a belly full (of what, I don't know.]

I killed a fat one a few years back. When I pulled the hide off I found out it was a she, and she was carrying 8 babies. :shock:

 

[gunsbam69]

Doc,

That's a fine picture. The others are not too shabby either. I've never seen a pygmy except in pictures so far. The only thing I ever take a shot at a rattler with is my Birdshead .45 with snake shot. I did make one exception and use my Beretta Onyx 20 in my back yard a few years back. 61 1/2" with 13 rattles. My pup was getting awful close, and it seemed the way to go at the time. Here's his picture.

I used to hunt snakes hard when I was a kid, not to kill, to catch and haul home. I went around getting them out of water meters in town, turned over rocks in pastures, and in creeks. I kept a log book of how many I caught, along with turtles, lizards, salamanders etc. I had cow tanks full of them I sold to the other kids. These timber rattlers we have down here have permanently decommissioned some fine cat and cow dogs. Luckily, my used to be bird dog turned gopher hound has been faster than he is smart so far. I don't hate em, but I don't like them around the yard, and I like skinning them into something new :mrgreen:

 

[Mike Armstrong]

Great pics, guys! I agree with Gunsbam: I will walk around snakes when I can, except in yards, playgrounds, and campgrounds. There I shoot 'em.

I know people who have had excellent results from "snake aversion" training for their bird dogs. Apparently it works. Wonder if it'd work with my half-beagle? California isn't as snaky as the wet-and-warm parts of the US, but where we have 'em, we have LOTS.

 

[ruggedruger]

I have a book "Reptiles and Amphibians of the Carolinas and Virginia". You know the writers wouldn't suggest killing any animal....yet in this book, under "Timber Rattler" it says "The presence of these and other venomous snakes around homes and farms should not be encouraged".

 

[GasGuzzler]

Another reason for all to own a single six and cheap rat shot.

 

[ruggedruger]

The other day, our janitor at work asked me to identify a baby rattler.... I was sure he had a baby RAT snake, just like ALL the other times someone has shown me a baby "rattler/copperhead".

When he mentioned its tail tip was yellow, the bell went off and I knew he had something.

Surprised to see this little bugger. My thumb for scale.

 

[Joe S.]

to ruggedruger,
thats a tiny one! thats the ones that'll put a hurtin on ya! ha!

 

[David Bradshaw]

Thank you for the beautiful pictures of beautiful snakes. One look at these guys and the menace they project makes it impossible to consider one a pet.

Met, hunting in Alabama over several years, a guy we named "Steve the Snake Man." Steve the Snake Man waded into a pond and caught a rattlesnake. I said, "Are you... crazy?" (A rhetorical question, if ever there was one.)

"You can't hold their head down with a stick when they're in the water," he said.

Steve the Snake Man described the vibration they set up, how they wiggle forward in your grip, which their vibration acts to weaken. The second their head works forward, they turn and strike. One day he fetched me to help drag a deer. That evening, sipping whiskey, Steve the Snake Man says he has a water moccasin and an eastern diamondback in cardboard boxes in his house.
David Bradshaw

 

[Short Barrel]

The other day, our janitor at work asked me to identify a baby rattler.... I was sure he had a baby RAT snake, just like ALL the other times someone has shown me a baby "rattler/copperhead".

When he mentioned its tail tip was yellow, the bell went off and I knew he had something.

Surprised to see this little bugger. My thumb for scale.

That one is actually a baby cottonmouth.Pretty cool.

 

[ruggedruger]

I'll be darned. You know, I never considered to look up what a baby actually does look like for either species. I knew/thought they had the yellow tail-tip, once you mentioned it, the pattern doesn't look Copperheadish, and that dark bar on the side of its head, certainly looks more Cottonmouth.

Thanks!

 

[David Bradshaw]

Where are those banded water moccasins? In the environ of the Atchafalaya, the moccasins we encounter range from slate-gray to flat black, some with gloss black heads. Copperheads are fewer and there is no mistaking one. Don't see rattlesnakes. Have long, very thin "rough green" snakes. Water snakes, which do not handle, as they tend to be feisty.

Garter and ribbon snakes eat mice and baby rats, as well as bugs, so are always welcome. As is the so-called "Texas rat snake" and the most elegant of all, the Speckled King snake. Rat and king snakes are easily handled, and are major contributors to rodent control----important in a pecan orchard. Have been told that the King snake is immune to venom. Snakes eat snakes. I took a roll of film of a rat snake eating a mud snake nearly the size of itself. Have recovered shed King snake skins with fecal matter containing remnants of snake spine and belly scales. Presence of rat snakes and, especially, the Speckled King seems to mean we are much less likely to see a pit viper. Around house, studio, and garden, that is a good deal.

A reptile or amphibian seems to regard an animal in proportion to its ability to swallow it.

Our dogs learned early to avoid all snakes, and to crouch and point----out of range----at a snake. That does not mean a dog cannot be bitten. When a dog points in silence to a log, it is not a possum under there.
David Bradshaw

 

[ruggedruger]

I've never heard 'em called "banded water moccasins". The genus/species is Akistrodon piscivorous I believe.

I would never have confused adult moccasins and copperheads. Most moccasins where I live are quite dark in color, occupying tannin-stained waters and all. Copperheads are an upland snake for the most part. I think I was caught by assuming it was a Copperhead before I saw it, and didn't really take the time to 'think' about it.

Sorry if I hijacked this thread. i really appreciated the rattler photos early on, and wanted to share some of my own pit viper photos.

 

[Rick Courtright]

A good Pacific Diamond Back.

Hi,

That guy looks like most of 'em I see around here, but, depending on time of year and locale, I've seen 'em running from being pretty much green (spring, heavy grass cover) to almost PINK (late summer, light colored rocky desert riverbed background.)

Rick C

 

[Lee Martin]

Ugly little bastard, but great photography.

 

[Jeepnik]

A good Pacific Diamond Back.

Hi,

That guy looks like most of 'em I see around here, but, depending on time of year and locale, I've seen 'em running from being pretty much green (spring, heavy grass cover) to almost PINK (late summer, light colored rocky desert riverbed background.)

Rick C

Well, a green one could be a mojave green (onery devils with both nero and hemo toxins), and I believe down it San Diego or Imperial counties, there is a "red" sub species. Never seen one of the reds, but your pink one's could be that sub species.

 

[Mike Armstrong]

I've seen one Red Diamondback here in Orange County, up near the border with Riverside County, 'way out in the weeds. My impression from talking to snake people at Fish and Game is that they are extremely uncommon everywhere. They are also one of the least aggressive of the family.

 

[Rick Courtright]

Well, a green one could be a mojave green (onery devils with both nero and hemo toxins), and I believe down it San Diego or Imperial counties, there is a "red" sub species. Never seen one of the reds, but your pink one's could be that sub species.

Hi,

Can't say for sure about the range of the Mojave green, but I'm pretty sure where I've seen the green ones we're out of it. Up the hill in the desert, they ARE common, though. I've never seen one in the wild that I know of, but the ones I've seen in pictures and cages seemed to be built a little on the "stubby" side; the green guys I've run into in person were kinda long and thin like most of the rest of those I see around here.

As for the pink one, I dunno anything about a red subspecies. When I saw that guy, a buddy and I were heading back to the truck late in the afternoon after fishing a creek in the bottom of the canyon. The area was new to him, and it told him I wanted to get out while we had adequate light because the area's known to be infested w/ rattlers, and I've seldom been in there w/o meeting one or more.

I was walking along "on point" and Mr. (or Ms?) Pink Snake was lying right across the trail. I stopped dead, took two quick steps backwards, and my buddy nearly knocked me over as he asked "What's wrong?" I pointed out the snake. He said, "Wow, Bob was right!"

Turns out Bob was a fellow who used to go dirt bike riding w/ him, out in the desert toward Lancaster and Palmdale (NW San Bernardino County/NE L.A. County area?) Bob claimed to have seen a couple of "pink" rattlesnakes out there, but my buddy always thought he was seeing things. Again, I dunno about the range of the "red" guys or if our "pink" ones were that subspecies, or just adapting to their surroundings? I can say the guy I could have stepped on WAS pretty well camouflaged even in plain sight. He was also a very peaceable fellow, and let us pass after a gentle nudge w/ a fishing rod, unlike some of the big black Southern Pacific rattlers we've run into higher up that same hill--they can be downright ornery.

For a rough idea of the color of the pink guy, go here and look at the second picture from the left of either the Sidewinder or the Southwestern Speckled rattlesnakes: http://www.californiaherps.com/identification/snakesid/rattlesnakes.html

And here's one of the "ornery" guys: http://www.aquariumofpacific.org/onlinelearningcenter/species/southern_pacific_rattlesnake The pictures of him on the first site don't do justice to what the locals look like; this one does.

Rick C

 

[KLNC]

I congratulate all of you who don't mind, or even like, snakes. You're better men than I am!

 

[Colonel Daddy]

Doc - Yours looks almost like he was mounted. Pretty amazing to even get the tongue out and all. My lighting wasn't the best, and the snake was a bit cold (mid 50s). Here is another shot of him on the road.

As far as the root beer comment, that was sort of an homage of the Tom T Hall song from long ago..

"While we are not lookin', he's stealin' our rootbeer" Tom T. Hall song from long ago.. :D

 

[Colonel Daddy]

All great pics!
Yup, have feasted on fried rattlesnake several times. NO, they don't taste like chicken. NO, they don't taste like fish. They taste like...........rattlesnake 8)

 

[Rick Courtright]

All great pics!
Yup, have feasted on fried rattlesnake several times. NO, they don't taste like chicken. NO, they don't taste like fish. They taste like...........rattlesnake 8)

Hi,

Mmmm, good, too! :)

Rick C