Monday, May 14, 2012

Rattlesnake

My neighbor showed up this morning with this snake in the back of his pickup. It was in the open in his driveway so needless to say you have to be careful in clearings just like in brush. Of course they are a lot easier to spot in a clearing (especially when the background color is different than the snake).

This one was actually a little over 36 inches long, but the nerves kept making it move when stretched. I'd call that a pretty good sized snake. You can't really determine the age of rattlesnakes by the number of buttons, but I counted 11 so its likely a pretty old snake.

15 comments:

  1. Those snakes are beautiful but deadly.

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  2. Looks like someone did the same to that snake that RMan did to the Cape Cobra :)

    Not mad about any of those beasties - at all...

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  3. DD, I've never seen any beauty in rattlesnakes, but do in red racers and a few other brightly colored snakes. I don't bother the rattlesnake eating snakes though.

    Dani, he shot it in the head with a 22 and the bullet went out and back in the snake 2 more times. He said the tail went up and rattled for a split second and that was it. It was still moving around some when we tried to stretch it out.

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  4. From the stripes on the tail I would assume this is a Mojave rattlesnake. Ya don't want to get bit by a Mojave....they can be deadly. Any others....just so so.

    Myself, I wouldn't kill a rattler unless he was up on "da porch" or in "da house" eat'n the dog food. Sidewinder is my favorite rattler....absolutely beautiful. But then, they all are. Fascinating creatures.

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  5. BB, as near as I can tell its a western diamondback. I plan to build me another snake catcher and capture any I find up here alive. They go for $5 a foot in Alpine. That was a $15 snake.

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  6. I hate snakes, luckily only ran into one this season so far. Watch for them, they could be anywhere, even in Wal-Mart, heard a fella was bit in one of their stores over the weekend.

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  7. SUERTE, I've yet to see a rattler on my property, but did see a fairly large red racer. Maybe that's why I haven't seen a rattler? Could be that the red racer eats them.

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  8. Tastes like Chicken and makes a nice boot.

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  9. Matt M, I like mine marinated with Teriyaki sauce. It sure doesn't go far though.

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  10. Have seen red racers and whip snakes so far, no rattlers.

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  11. Denese, it really don't bother me not having seen one on this property other than I'm not afraid of the ones I can see. Its the ones I can't see that worry me.

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  12. "I'm not afraid of the ones I can see. Its the ones I can't see that worry me."

    Very true statement.

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  13. A red racer is a coachwhip snake. They are pretty snakes and they eat rattlers and rodents as well, but you don't want to corner one. They WILL bite!!! They aren't poisonous, but I'm sure getting bit by one wouldn't be at all fun.

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  14. BTW, got a call earlier from a friend in Alpine saying he heard that the Wild Horse Station between here and Study Butte had burned to the ground. I was that way this morning, but either didn't notice or it was after I came back here.

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