now i'm stuck in the house. i shot it in the head, so it's dead, but i can't force myself to go tend my figs.

i was hoping it was a bull snake. i had one last year n he kept rattlers n mice away.

but when i see rattles i shoot.

rattlers are scary even when dead. i wish i could find a local kid. he'd dispose of it in exchange for the rattles.

yayks!

I once read a rattlers warning sign in public rest areas on the main highway . Approximately, how many do you see per year? 

sas., i see one or two. when the bull snake lived here, he ate them so i saw none.

when i first moved here i thot i could coexist with them. then i found out that they don't always rattle before striking, so i strike first.

venomous snake are not fun. quick hit with shovel, and chop the head off with the edge. goes straight into the garbage bag and into the dumpster. i see one every few yrs. still that's one too many. 

pete, if you were here, i'd have asked you to hit it with a shovel.

i'd be too scared to get that close. i'm a great shot at ten feet.

Scary stuff.  The hotter it gets the more active they become.  I see them in the desert but I've never seen one by my house.  Stay safe.

thanks joe. i try to be alert.

You go!  What did you shoot it with?  Can you buy a bull snake?

Suzie, you the did the right thing!  And I completely inderstand where you're coming from.  A similar thing happened to me last year.  I did a completely stupid thing though.  I actually touched it to confirm my thoughts!  Here is what happened...

One afternoon, I was rushing to cut the grass and trim around my container garden of fig trees before nightfall.  All of my fig trees on the east side of my property are adjacent to each other in row.  Thirteen trees in 19 rows....Each row is 42 inches apart...just enough for me to rid my mower between them.  After cutting between them, I started trimming around them with my weedeater.  It was getting late.  Iwas loosing daylight fast.  I got 3/4 of the way done when I moved one pot a little to get this thick clump of grass at the base.  When I moved it, something brown and white was sticking out.  I reached down and poked it with my finger and it coiled up under the pot.  I said to myself.....  "DJ, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"   "THAT'S A SNAKE YOU IDIOT!"  Freaked out but what I saw and what I did...I reallize it was time to stop and call it a day.  I went in the house shaking.

The next day, I had to finish the trimming.  I wasn't sure if that snake was still under the same pot.  Guess what?  IT WAS!  I was mad and had to confront my fear!  With weed eater in hand, I popped him almost in 2.  Then I went and got my shovel and picked him up.  It was still alive.  I laid it on my concrete patio in the blazing sun.  Minutes later it died.  I left it there to remind myself of the bone head thing I did by touching it.  After 2 days, there was a nice piece of snake skin laying there.  I showed it to my wife and she freaked out.  I don't know what kind it was.

The moral of my story is to alway expect the unexpected when out in nature.  If you don't know what something it....don't touch it!  Wear tall boots and gloves every time you go outside.  Safety first.

Did you eat it? I hear rattlesnake meat is a delicacy. Probably would be good with figs.

Augh!  Another reason I'm happy right here in the middle of the Pacific.  NO SNAKES!  I can do sharks and man-o-wars, but I go absolutely catatonic when I see or hear of snakes.  Eels even make me freak out.  An occasional snake might hitch a ride from Guam to Honolulu, but the government goons are usually on it real fast.

Susie, go with Bob's advice and buy a bull snake, and stay safe.   

Nate

bob, i shot it with my .22 rifle, that i bot for $25. it shoots great.

i can buy a bull snake online but hand reared.i don't think a tame snake could live here. hawks n owls n coyotes eat the. unfortunately they eat cats too.

yow dennis, i'm glad you're alive. a neighbor got bit n was in the hospital for a week. nate, i followed pete's advice. 2 hours after killing it i wacked off its head with a shovel. it started writhing around as if it was alive. i knew it was dead but my heart almost stopped.

 oddly, i didn't scream. i only scream for mice.

I've been in rattlesnake country working outdoors for 43 yrs. Only once was I struck at but had a hoe in my hand at the time. The snake was dead in about 2 seconds. Most of the time they are pretty easy to spot. The people bit are 9 times out of 10 handling or harassing the snake. There are places where venomous snakes are really thick. I won't want that.

steve, i can't imagine handling a rattler. i'm most afraid of blundering into one that doesn't rattle. if it rattles i go away.

i've been rattled at once.  i ran.

I'll trade you 2 ice crystal cuttings for the rattle ,lol. I'm kidding!!!!

sorry scott. gloria already asked for them. she's weird.

In Scouts we were on a week-long kayaking trip in remote country and one evening took a short hike and came across a rattlesnake.  It became part of our dinner that night but was not much exciting even though it was the only fresh meat in days.  I'd say it was about like the neck of a chicken.

As a kid I used to catch a lot of snakes for fun, but no rattlesnakes.  Fortunately, we don't have any around here.

I remember reading somewhere that a snake will still bite, or at least react, even if its been decapitated.  So I did a YouTube search and this came up...DISCLAIMER: Gore ensues.  Ugh!

Ughhhh, that's just not right ! So scary !

harvey, i can't believe you ate that ick. i've never been that hungry.

n. nate, believe it or not,  my dead snake was more energetic that that.

n, pattee, inreal life there's nothing scarier.

A few years back we had a hunting lease in South Texas close to the Mexican boarder. We would shoot rattle snakes every dove season in Sept around the water tanks. Only one really sticks out in my memory because of the size of this specimen. He stretched out over 6.5 ft and was as thick  as a grown mans leg and a head the size of a mans fist! I couldn't imagine getting bit by that Dude! He would either knock you down or just break your leg in the process. We brought him back to camp to skin him and he wriggled for a good 6 hours after his head was removed! Freaky stuff man!

Just last year in the summer we were in middle of very bad drought in our area of Texas. My mother in laws house backs up to a swampy area right behind her fence. Well, she was watering her lawn daily at that time and the swampy area had dried up completely from the drought. She called me to come kill a snake in the back yard because it wouldn't leave. Every time she would walk out side to see if it left it would just lift its head up and watch her. When I got there the snake had not moved and inch and just as she said, as soon as I walked out the door it lifted up its head and watched every move I made. Got the shovel and as I walked toward it my heart started racing! It was a Cotton Mouth/Water Moccasin and it was huge! Over 4ft long and super thick! Hacked her up good with the shovel and back over the fence she went.

Ive been dealing with snakes every since I was a kid and I don't get shaky around them but those 2 snakes are burned in my memory from the shear size of them. A large poisonous snake like that will put a hurt-in on you. Be care full!

rob, this killing up close with a shovel like you n pete do is purely a male thing. the saner gender prefers to keep a long distance between fangs n

our delicate bods.

Lol, I do appreciate the delicate bods of the saner gender;) My wife cant even kill a bug! She screams and runs to get my 4 year old to take care of it! Delicate yes, saner....thats still in question!