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ELB wrote: ↑Wed Aug 07, 2019 9:34 pm I’ve searched every day for “Texas man snakebite“but all I get are stories about the guy who cut off a rattlesnake head and still got bit.

Yeah. That story has been around awhile. It made him famous.

03Lightningrocks wrote: ↑Wed Aug 07, 2019 9:37 pm

ELB wrote: ↑Wed Aug 07, 2019 9:34 pm I’ve searched every day for “Texas man snakebite“but all I get are stories about the guy who cut off a rattlesnake head and still got bit.

Yeah. That story has been around awhile. It made him famous.

and nearly dead.

ELB wrote: ↑Thu Aug 08, 2019 10:19 am

03Lightningrocks wrote: ↑Wed Aug 07, 2019 9:37 pm

ELB wrote: ↑Wed Aug 07, 2019 9:34 pm I’ve searched every day for “Texas man snakebite“but all I get are stories about the guy who cut off a rattlesnake head and still got bit.

Yeah. That story has been around awhile. It made him famous.

and nearly dead.

I learned something. I am afraid the OP is really sick or worse. His last lost was on August 5th at 2:10AM. He posts several times everyday. Still praying.

My grandpa used to keep a fruit-jar full of rattles. He showed me how to "snap" the rattles off the body of the snake.
Do NOT try that or pick up a rattler you think is dead without first totally removing the rattler's head from the body.
I keep an old garden hoe in the back of my pickup for just such a purpose.
As noted above a "dead" rattler can still strike causing severe injury.

When we lived in East Texas we bought a house. I still own it and it sets on Lake Palestine. Because of the copperheads and water moskins my wife kept a shovel at the front door and back door. Back then I had a .410 Snake Charmer just to be a help.

carlson1 wrote: ↑Thu Aug 08, 2019 11:37 am When we lived in East Texas we bought a house. I still own it and it sets on Lake Palestine. Because of the copperheads and water moskins my wife kept a shovel at the front door and back door. Back then I had a .410 Snake Charmer just to be a help.

I've used a hoe to deal with copperheads I have a lot of them where I live, but if I encountered a rattlesnake, I think I'd want something with more stand-off capability than a hoe or a shovel. The .410 sounds better.

Many moons ago when I was a boy scout back in Indiana, we had a talk by an conservation officer who was a snake nut. He brought bags of snakes, both poisonous and non-poisonous, and laid them on a table, then pulled them out one at a time and talked about them. This was in the middle of the winter, and he explained that the snakes would be pretty sluggish because of that.

He of course saved the poisonous snakes for last. He dumped a copperhead out on the table and toyed with it a bit with a reach pole, and it struck at the pole a couple times. He then reached around behind it and grabbed it just below its head, brought it around so we could see the fangs and eyes. Then he put it back in the bag and tied it off.

He then dumped the water moccasin on the table, waived the reach pole around in front of it while it struck a couple times. Then while distracting it with the pole he reached around behind it and grabbed just below its head, brought it around where we could see its open cottonmouth, etc.

Then next bag was different. It was making rattling sounds. He dumped the rattlesnake out on the table but noticeably gave it more "clearance." He put the reach pole out there and it struck several times. I was amazed at how much FASTER and FARTHER it struck than the other snakes. He did NOT reach around behind it while distracting it with the pole -- he clamped it to the table, THEN he moved in and got ahold of it just below the head. We could see the fangs just fine from where he was standing. He made it pretty clear that in terms of danger the rattlesnake was in his own class.

I have crossed paths with many a rattler while out hunting. Most of them survived, a few did not. Rattlers have always been the snake I feared the most but truth is, all but one of them was trying to get away as I approached. That snake did not survive the encounter. I have known as long as I can remember that even a dead rattler would still strike, head on or off. I therefor have never tried to pick one of them up.

The OP of this thread did not see the snake until after it bit him. The one you don't see is the one that usually gets you.

When I was around 10, my brothers and I went with my mom to my grandmother's place in Iredell. My grandmother had around 100 acres at the time. My brothers and I were playing horseshoes in the front yard. There was a poured concrete walkway from the dirt driveway up to the steps of the porch. My brothers were on the far end of the front yard while I was near the walkway. My mother came out on the porch to smoke a cigarette. She watched as we were playing and then she called my name with a tone of extreme terror in her voice. I froze in place, not knowing what the issue was. I jumped backwards what seemed like 5 feet in a single leap to the walkway, then walked up the stairs to my mother. I asked what was wrong. She pointed to where I had been standing. What I had not noticed, was a 2 foot long western diamondback rattler that was coiled up, and had been only inches from my ankle. It never made a sound. We waited hours for that critter to slither away before we were ready to leave.

As we were leaving, we drove over to the windmill to turn the water pump off. Mom found another snake there and decided "nope, the pump can just stay on". I believe we ran over 2 snakes on the road out as well. That story STILL gives my mom chills.

Praying for Narcissist. I had a three foot rattlesnake in the yard yesterday. It was standing up to the shepherd but I managed to get the dogs to safety without incident. Then the snake decided to stand up to me. That was the snake's last decision.

At a rattlesnake show in Florida this guy is in a pen with a bunch of rattlers. He tells the audience to get ready to take a picture of the snake when it hits a balloon that he is about to throw. He throws the balloon and instantly it explodes and nobody has been fast enough to take a picture. Unbelievable at how fast they can strike.


Hope the poster is doing well.

My lawn guy killed a 3 footer about a month ago. I put it down in the garage to take a picture before putting it in the trash. My Boston Terrier just walks by that spot with no problem. My Corgi was afraid to go in the garage. Had to bleach the concrete before the Corgi would even go near the spot.

Growing up in the South Texas brush country, one thing you always did was keep at least one eye open for rattlers. Knock on wood I have never been bit but have had them hang up in my shirt cuff, pull strap of my boots, and chaps. It gets your attention real quick.
I hope the OP is OK. Not much more to say.

I am a bit concerned for him. He made this post four days ago and has not posted since.

We were shooting skeet one Sunday afternoon at the Pampa Gun Club, circa 1990, for some reason I turned around and saw a ~30" rattler right behind us on Station 7. I shot it, someone skinned it for a hatband or belt or something. I lost the rattles when I traded that Dodge Dakota. They don't all rattle a hello.

Oldgringo wrote: ↑Fri Aug 09, 2019 9:10 pm We were shooting skeet one Sunday afternoon at the Pampa Gun Club, circa 1990, for some reason I turned around and saw a ~30" rattler right behind us on Station 7. I shot it, someone skinned it for a hatband or belt or something. I lost the rattles when I traded that Dodge Dakota. They don't all rattle a hello.

No they don't. I was dove hunting up in the pan handle several years ago. I was sitting in a bunch of sunflowers. My hunting buddy called out from the sunflowers so I stood up and started walking at him. He drew down and fired about 2 feet from where I was sitting. It was a 6 foot long western diamond back. Who knows how long that snake was right there beside me. He never rattled once.