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UGADAWG, THERE IS A VERY INTERESTING STORY WITH EACH OF THE BITES I HAVE HAD. THE RATTLER THAT BIT ME WAS DOWN ON PARAIE CREEK RANCH IN DE SOTO COUNTY, WE HAD FLUSHED A COVEY OF QUAIL, THOSE MEXICAN QUAIL, THEY RUN LIKE A RABBIT, I TOLD MY DOG TO FLUSH A FEW BIRDS THAT WENT DOWN IN A CLUMP OF PALMETO BUSHES, SPECK WOULD NOT CHARGE THE BUSH, I TOLD HIM TO FLUSH AND HE STILL WOULD NOT CHARGE THE BUSHES, I KINDA GOT UPSET BECAUSE SPEC WOULD NOT FLUSH THE BUSHES, I DECIDED TO KICK THE BUSHES, WHEN I DID THE BIRDS TOOK OFF AND I ENDED UP WITH A 6'3" RATTLER HUNG IN MY COIL WIRE LEGGANS AND MY LEG WAS BURNING LIKE CRAZY, MY FRIEND RUSSEL HEAD GRABBED THE RATTLER BY THE TAIL AND CUT HER HEAD OFF RIGHT AT MY LEGGAN. WE UNLASHED THE LEGGAN AND SURE ENOUGH, THAT RATTLER HAD CUT MY SKIN AND IT WAS BLEEDING, YOU COULD SEE VENOM OVER THE OUTSIDE OF MY LEG. RUSSEL RAN ME THE 15 MILES IN TO ARCADIA TO THE HOSPITAL AND THEY GAVE ME ANTI-VENOM AND PUT A SUCKING DEVISE THAT SUCKED BLOOD AND VENOM OUT OF MY LEG FOR ABOUT 30 MIN., I WAS SICK FROM THAT FOR ABOUT A MONTH. WHEN THAT COTTON MOUTH BIT ME I WAS DOWN ON U.S. 27 AT FISH-EATEN CREEK CUTTING CYPRESS KNEES TO MAKE LAMPS OUT OF . I HAD MY LEFT HAND ON TOP OF A NICE CYPRES-KNEE AND WAS SAWING THE KNEE OFF DOWN IN THE WATER ABOUT 18 INCHES DEEP, ALL OF A SUDDEN I SMELLED THAT UNFORGETTABLE SMELL OF A COTTON-MOUTH AND ABOUT THE SAME TIME THAT COTTON-MOUTH CAME OUT OF A HOLE ON THE BACK SIDE OF THE KNEE AND BIT ME ON MY LEFT HAND, I MADE IT BACK TO LAKE PLACID TO A DOCTORS OFFICE AND HE TREATED ME, HE CALLED MY BUSINESS PARTNER , LAURIE LINDER TO COME TAKE ME HOME. I WENT TO THE HOSPITAL ABOUT MID-NIGHT THAT NIGHT SICK AS A DOG AND THEY GAVE ME SOME MORE MEDICATION, THE COTTON MOUTH BITE DID ME IN MORE THAN THE RATTLER BITE DID. I WAS SICK FOR ABOUT 2 MONTHS WITH THIS ONE. EVER SINCE THEN I KILL EVERY RATTLER AND COTTON MOUTH I SEE, EVEN IF I HAVE TO STOP AND BACK UP TO DO IT.
PA
SEMPER FI

Pa….I'm with you! The best poisonous snake is a dead one. Somewhat like a rotten potato. It needs to be disposed of.

thanks for sharing those experiences!

Beautiful healthy looking snake. They do their part in controlling the pest population.

Glad to see there's at least one person around that's not an idiot who kills every venomous snake they see. With that kind of logic you should kill every alligator you see, you know, cause "some kid somewhere could get eaten by it". In your yard is one thing, otherwise leaving them be is the smart play.

FUTCHCAIRO, your stories remind me of what my Pappy used to say, Don't go around kicking bushes in rattlesnake country and don't go sticking your hands in around stumps in moccasin country


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Just don't be this guy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hg0dq2V6Qw[/video]

J Holden wrote:Beautiful healthy looking snake. They do their part in controlling the pest population.

Glad to see there's at least one person around that's not an idiot who kills every venomous snake they see. With that kind of logic you should kill every alligator you see, you know, cause "some kid somewhere could get eaten by it". In your yard is one thing, otherwise leaving them be is the smart play.

Include me on your idiot list. Just add panthers, bears, and sharks to the need to kill list. My family goes back over 150 years in this part of the country and we never let a rattlesnake live if we happen to see one. Lots of people today value animals more than they do people. All the snakes in north Florida are not worth the life of one person. I also shoot coyotes and armadillo, I respect all animals but I do not worship them

HEY GRASSHOPPER, SOMEONE MENTION GATORS IN THE POST ABOVE, I ALSO DISPOSE OF ALL OF THEM I COME IN CONTACT WITH, I HAVE A BLACK BEAR BACK IN THE WOODS BEHIND THE HOUSE, HE HAS KILLED TWO OF MY NEIGHBORS DOGS, HE HAS KILLED 3 SMALL CALVES OF ANOTHER NEIGHBOR AND ALL OF THE 40-50 WILD TURKEYS THAT USE TO COME UP IN MY BACK YARD HAVE DISAPPEARED, IF I GET A CHANCE AND CAN GET A GOOD SHOT ON THAT RASCAL I WILL DISPOSE OF HIM PROMPTLY. THE PETA PEOPLE THAT I HAVE COME IN CONTACT WITH HAVE NEVER BEEN IN THE WOODS TO SEE WHAT REALLY HAPPENS. THEY HAVE READ A BOOK THAT WAS WRITTEN BY SOMEONE ELSE THAT HAS NEVER BEEN IN THE WOODS OR OCEAN. AS LONG AS I CAN REMEMBER THIS IS THE ONLY WAY TO BE ABLE TO RAISE ANY CATTLE OR HOGS, OR CHICKENS THAT PEOPLE DEPEND ON FOR FOOD. SORRY IF I HAVE STEPPED ON ANYONES FEET BUT THAT IS THE WAY I WAS RAISED AND THAT IS THE WAY I RAISED MY CHILDREN, NOT BRAGGING BUT MY KIDS HAVE MUCH MORE KNOWLEDGE THAN MOST YOUNG PEOPLE TODAY, THEY GOT THAT KNOWLEDGE THROUGH ACTUAL EXPERIENCE AS WELL AS GRADUATING FROM COLLEGE, THREE OF OUR KIDS WOUND UP BEING DOCTORS.
PA
SEMPER FI

I certainly don't value any animal more than a human, and I'm sorry for folks bad experiences. I've stopped a few times and moved rattlers out of the road, cause I knew folks would run them over. The ones I see don't scare me. The ones I don't are another story. No experience with cottonmouths. If I found either in my yard, I would most likely kill it unless I could find a way to easily move it. My Dad always told me you could throw a rattler in the bed of your pickup and he couldn't get out. Anybody know if its true?

FUTCHCAIRO wrote:HEY GRASSHOPPER, SOMEONE MENTION GATORS IN THE POST ABOVE, I ALSO DISPOSE OF ALL OF THEM I COME IN CONTACT WITH, I HAVE A BLACK BEAR BACK IN THE WOODS BEHIND THE HOUSE, HE HAS KILLED TWO OF MY NEIGHBORS DOGS, HE HAS KILLED 3 SMALL CALVES OF ANOTHER NEIGHBOR AND ALL OF THE 40-50 WILD TURKEYS THAT USE TO COME UP IN MY BACK YARD HAVE DISAPPEARED, IF I GET A CHANCE AND CAN GET A GOOD SHOT ON THAT RASCAL I WILL DISPOSE OF HIM PROMPTLY. THE PETA PEOPLE THAT I HAVE COME IN CONTACT WITH HAVE NEVER BEEN IN THE WOODS TO SEE WHAT REALLY HAPPENS. THEY HAVE READ A BOOK THAT WAS WRITTEN BY SOMEONE ELSE THAT HAS NEVER BEEN IN THE WOODS OR OCEAN. AS LONG AS I CAN REMEMBER THIS IS THE ONLY WAY TO BE ABLE TO RAISE ANY CATTLE OR HOGS, OR CHICKENS THAT PEOPLE DEPEND ON FOR FOOD. SORRY IF I HAVE STEPPED ON ANYONES FEET BUT THAT IS THE WAY I WAS RAISED AND THAT IS THE WAY I RAISED MY CHILDREN, NOT BRAGGING BUT MY KIDS HAVE MUCH MORE KNOWLEDGE THAN MOST YOUNG PEOPLE TODAY, THEY GOT THAT KNOWLEDGE THROUGH ACTUAL EXPERIENCE AS WELL AS GRADUATING FROM COLLEGE, THREE OF OUR KIDS WOUND UP BEING DOCTORS.
PA
SEMPER FI

You might be careful what you post online, it's not always best to admit breaking state and maybe federal law online. I know the Florida FWC uses online postings to catch people braking hunting/fishing laws, our Georgia boys might too.

I never let one go on my deer lease, mostly timber rattlers. I've tried 44 mag rat shot and they were useless. 22 mag is extremely deadly.

I'll never forget several years back there was a family in Monticello that lost all there kids due to a rattle snake den under their mobile home. First, kid went under to get a ball and started screaming, then the other. The next went to get mother and they drug the two out with several bites, she threw the two bitten ones into the car and backed out in panic and ran over the the child that hadn't been bitten and didn't even know it till she got to hospital. That family lost all three kids that day. It is a crucial part of management to keep these critters under control. Especially near urban interface. The idiots are the ones who mess with these snakes or any wild animal. The bible says beware of the serpent. So I stay aware that they are well away from me.

I am also glad you let it go-they live there and were there before us.I have caught,collected and kept snakes since I was 12-they serve a definate function, and should be left alone unless you are in immediate danger. I almost always catch them if I find one around the house and release them back into the woods on my property.