2021 Snake Spotting

[KJQ6945]

 

[KJQ6945]

Look at the size of this lizard!

 

[Younggun]

This thread is why I keep multiple shoguns handy and got a nice easy to throw on holster for the Ruger Blackhawk.


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[Sasquatch]

View attachment 251059

harmless water snake in the center of the pile with his head up and mouth open? Looks like a snake skin covered egg just below that. Or is it something / somewhere else?

 

[Sasquatch]

Look at the size of this lizard!

View attachment 251060

He looks cute. You should name him Cuddles

 

[satx78247]

This thread is why I keep multiple shoguns handy and got a nice easy to throw on holster for the Ruger Blackhawk.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Younggun,

you will NEVER go fishing UNARMED again IF you get a cottonmouth as an uninvited guest IN the boat with you. == TRUST ME ON THAT.

I've had that EXCITEMENT more than a few times in NETX & in south LA, too. = I keep a S&W Model 65 loaded with shotshells for that event.

yours, satx

 

[KJQ6945]

harmless water snake in the center of the pile with his head up and mouth open? Looks like a snake skin covered egg just below that. Or is it something / somewhere else?

It’s just a Ribbon Snake. He was searching for frogs. Completely harmless.

 

[Axxe55]

Pistol shotshells are almost useless for larger snakes unless you are really close to them. As in close enough to get bit distances, because snakes can move very fast. Their striking speed is miiliseconds.

How fast can a snake strike?
And like all snakes, their first weapon is not size or strength, but sheer speed. According to research published in March 2016, an average snake strike lasts somewhere between 44 and 70 milliseconds. To put that in perspective, it takes humans around 200ms to blink an eye.

A person would be better armed against venomous snakes with a shotgun, or a pistol like the Judge or Governor using 410 shells than a pistol with shotshells.

 

[Sasquatch]

Pistol shotshells are almost useless for larger snakes unless you are really close to them. As in close enough to get bit distances, because snakes can move very fast. Their striking speed is miiliseconds.

How fast can a snake strike?
And like all snakes, their first weapon is not size or strength, but sheer speed. According to research published in March 2016, an average snake strike lasts somewhere between 44 and 70 milliseconds. To put that in perspective, it takes humans around 200ms to blink an eye.

A person would be better armed against venomous snakes with a shotgun, or a pistol like the Judge or Governor using 410 shells than a pistol with shotshells.

Probably better yet - a long stout stick you can either prod them to move with, or wack 'em on the head with that keeps you out of bite range.

 

[KJQ6945]

Your best defense against snakes, or thugs, is situational awareness. Look, and know what is going on around you at all times.

 

[satx78247]

Younggun,

you will NEVER go fishing UNARMED again IF you get a cottonmouth as an uninvited guest IN the boat with you. == TRUST ME ON THAT.

I've had that EXCITEMENT more than a few times in NETX & in south LA, too. = I keep a S&W Model 65 loaded with shotshells for that event.

I killed one in my jonboat at OLIVER LAKE in NETX in 2010 that weighed 16 POUNDS & was 55" long. =BIG/FAT & ANGRY was he.

yours, satx

 

[Axxe55]

Probably better yet - a long stout stick you can either prod them to move with, or wack 'em on the head with that keeps you out of bite range.

That is entirely a personal choice. If we find venomous snakes, they are dispatched because of the dogs, us and the cows. A cow can die from a snakebite to the face or head area. And guess where a cow's head is when they are grazing grass? Right there at the ground!

 

[Axxe55]

16 pounds? Really?

Although larger ones have purportedly been seen in the wild,[17] according to Gloyd and Conant (1990), the largest recorded specimen of A. p. piscivorus was 188 cm (74 in) in total length,[18] based on a specimen caught in the Dismal Swamp region and given to the Philadelphia Zoological Garden. This snake had apparently been injured during capture, died several days later, and was measured when straight and relaxed.[19] Large specimens can be extremely bulky, with the mass of a specimen of about 180 cm (71 in) in total length known to weigh 4.6 kg (10 lb).

Agkistrodon piscivorus - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

So that 16 lb. snake would probably be a record sized snake!

The Largest Cottonmouth

Also called water moccasins, the cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus) is a large, venomous pit viper native to the southeastern United States. This semi-aquatic reptile comes by its name because of its distinctive behavior of coiling and widely opening its mouth -- which is white -- when it...

animals.mom.com

 

[Sasquatch]

That is entirely a personal choice. If we find venomous snakes, they are dispatched because of the dogs, us and the cows. A cow can die from a snakebite to the face or head area. And guess where a cow's head is when they are grazing grass? Right there at the ground!

They'd be more of the "wack 'em on the head" type then. My mom hates snakes. All snakes. She doesn't live in an area with dangerous snakes, but she kills every snake she sees. She keeps a hoe handy (and I'm not talking about my little sister, that's a whole 'nother train wreck!) for killing snakes.

 

[Axxe55]

They'd be more of the "wack 'em on the head" type then. My mom hates snakes. All snakes. She doesn't live in an area with dangerous snakes, but she kills every snake she sees. She keeps a hoe handy (and I'm not talking about my little sister, that's a whole 'nother train wreck!) for killing snakes.

I don't kill any non-venomous snakes anymore. Venomous snakes are dispatched for the reasons I previously mentioned. A lot of people have a fear of snakes. All snakes. Personally, I'm not a snake person, even with non-venomous types either, but those I just relocate away from me!

 

[Sasquatch]

I don't kill any non-venomous snakes anymore. Venomous snakes are dispatched for the reasons I previously mentioned. A lot of people have a fear of snakes. All snakes. Personally, I'm not a snake person, even with non-venomous types either, but those I just relocate away from me!

Same. I used to be a "kill 'em all and let God sort 'em out" type - now I'm of a 'you leave me be, I leave you be, unless you're a danger to others' mind. Venomous snakes near the house will probably meet their maker. They may or may not also wind up coated in corn meal and tossed in a pan, I kinda want to try fried snake after watching Bob Hansler's videos on it. Venomous snakes encountered away from the house will get to live unless they're aggressive, and they might be relocated if I can safely do so. So far of the dangerous sneks I've come across here, we all left the encounters alive and intact.

Of course we have dogs now - we added a third pupper to the pack last Saturday - and I'm hoping that if (more likely when) they get bit, they don't wind up dead or disabled from it. Newest pupper is only about 5 weeks old. The red neck lookin dude who sold her to us claimed 7, but there's no way in hell she's 7 weeks old. Her & her 10 siblings were all too small, especially for medium-large breed dogs. I'd hate to think of her getting bit, she probably wouldn't make it. Our other two are going on 7 months old, one's already 50 lbs, the other is 30-35ish. They could probably survive a hit at this point.

 

[Axxe55]

Same. I used to be a "kill 'em all and let God sort 'em out" type - now I'm of a 'you leave me be, I leave you be, unless you're a danger to others' mind. Venomous snakes near the house will probably meet their maker. They may or may not also wind up coated in corn meal and tossed in a pan, I kinda want to try fried snake after watching Bob Hansler's videos on it. Venomous snakes encountered away from the house will get to live unless they're aggressive, and they might be relocated if I can safely do so. So far of the dangerous sneks I've come across here, we all left the encounters alive and intact.

Of course we have dogs now - we added a third pupper to the pack last Saturday - and I'm hoping that if (more likely when) they get bit, they don't wind up dead or disabled from it. Newest pupper is only about 5 weeks old. The red neck lookin dude who sold her to us claimed 7, but there's no way in hell she's 7 weeks old. Her & her 10 siblings were all too small, especially for medium-large breed dogs. I'd hate to think of her getting bit, she probably wouldn't make it. Our other two are going on 7 months old, one's already 50 lbs, the other is 30-35ish. They could probably survive a hit at this point.

"Susie" got bit when she was just a wee pup. Got bit on the leg, and from the size of the bite marks, it was probably a smaller copperhead.

Any venomous snakes I see within 100 yards of the house get killed. Most of my dogs have been bitten at least once, and all have survived.

 

[Axxe55]

Most of the water moccasins or cottonmouths I run across here at the farm, are usually in about the 24" to 30" range in size. A three footer is not common but I have seen a couple that large over the years around here. Thing is with cottonmouths, they are very large bodied snakes so their size and girth can be misleading making a person to think they are larger, and heavier than they are.

Most copperheads around here are less than 24" and a two footer is a large copperhead for this area. Longer than 24" are rare around here, and that's a very decent sized snake for our area.

 

[TEXAS "All or nothing"]

Most of the water moccasins or cottonmouths I run across here at the farm, are usually in about the 24" to 30" range in size. A three footer is not common but I have seen a couple that large over the years around here. Thing is with cottonmouths, they are very large bodied snakes so their size and girth can be misleading making a person to think they are larger, and heavier than they are.

Most copperheads around here are less than 24" and a two footer is a large copperhead for this area. Longer than 24" are rare around here, and that's a very decent sized snake for our area.

I usually see sidewinders and diamondbacks. I had seen 1 that looked like the dark patterened rattlesnakes in AZ, but couldn't confirm?

 

[TEXAS "All or nothing"]

I don't kill any non-venomous snakes anymore. Venomous snakes are dispatched for the reasons I previously mentioned. A lot of people have a fear of snakes. All snakes. Personally, I'm not a snake person, even with non-venomous types either, but those I just relocate away from me!

When I relocate them, they are in several pieces!