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ElAzul

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View attachment 814845 So....almost stepped on this dude when I got out of my car in the garage tonight. I called Lunatic Fringe to help with the ID and he agreed it was a WDB rattlesnake. Suggested I pick it up and throw it in the wash by the house. Got the snake stick, grabbed him and threw him in the wash. Now I am thinking the fucker will be back and I wont see him. WTF was I thinking. I should have killed him. He wants warmth in the garage. Dammit!
Were you really not able to tell he was a bad mofo?
 

Riverfamlee

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Idk man, those bastards can move. Snake meets shovel better not miss or you got a mad mofo
 

playdeep

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Out trail running in the foothills by my house last week and...
IMG_2875.jpg
 

The Prisoner

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Awww man, don’t kill him! I just pet them!:D
 

Shlbyntro

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I believe in keeping them around when at all possible. Best form of pest control. I've come across a couple moccasins work on boats and really all I have to do is chase them away. The scariest part is finding snake skins in bilges that you have to climb into and dont see the snake anywhere
 

DLC

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They are territorial so he might come
Back...

that bad boy would have made a coyote a happy camper, if it’s head got chopped .

buzzards gotta eat also!
 

napanutt

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FB friend of mine runs a reptile rescue and is a huge proponent of catch and release of rattlers. Sites the rodent reduction benefit among other reasons.
 

G. Faulk

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Your getting soft, the ole DILLIGAF would of had its head off in 5 seconds. :)
 

4Waters

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FB friend of mine runs a reptile rescue and is a huge proponent of catch and release of rattlers. Sites the rodent reduction benefit among other reasons.
I can control rodents pretty good with snap traps, and when one of those bites me it just hurts like a SOB and my wife gets a good laugh, if the snake bites me I get a big bill and the wife doesn't get to laugh at me.
 

The Prisoner

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Lol. I stood there and we stared at each other. I was figuring out my best option to deal with him. He was staring at me with those cold eyes. Ha

Sometimes that snake, he looks right into ya, right into your eyes. Y’know, the thing about a snake, he’s got lifeless eyes, black eyes, like a doll’s eyes. When he comes after ya, he doesn’t seem to be livin’ until he bites ya, and those black eyes roll over white, and then – aww, then you hear that terrible high-pitch screamin:p
 

PlanB

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They come into my yard where my dogs are, they die. #8 shot or a shovel. Out in the wild (found one in a cove this year) they live.
 

attitude

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I believe in keeping them around when at all possible. Best form of pest control. I've come across a couple moccasins work on boats and really all I have to do is chase them away. The scariest part is finding snake skins in bilges that you have to climb into and dont see the snake anywhere
I’d be looking for a new job:eek:
 

Lunatic Fringe

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This is DILLIGAF's own damn fault.
If he hadn't listed me as main beneficiary in his will, I wouldn't be trying to kill him off.:cool:


You've been in that house out there for years now and would probably be amazed at how many of those you've walked right by without knowing it.
They don't WANT to bite you. They will but you really have to push it.

You live in a house full of man and child eating Pit Bulls and you're nervous about a little fishing worm?
 

2Driver

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Find the series “ I was Prey” on DTV episode: Backyard Bite. This guy cuts the snakes head off with a shovel, then the head still bites him. His battle to live after that was pretty horrible.

Heard to many accounts of how it goes down after a bite so....LOL my property is no live zone. :D
 
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Wizard29

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Idk man, those bastards can move. Snake meets shovel better not miss or you got a mad mofo

They are fast, but just hit the body hard somewhere. Breaks bones and they can't move as quickly or coil to strike any longer. Then off with the head.

Wizard29 <----- Used to handle rattle snakes when he worked for LA County Parks and Rec many years ago.
 

Get415

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So the big question is, what do you do with the head and body after? Cant just toss the head right
 

PlanB

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So the big question is, what do you do with the head and body after? Cant just toss the head right

Bury the head. I used to skin the snakes I killed, but now they get tossed in the bushes.
 

Wizard29

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So the big question is, what do you do with the head and body after? Cant just toss the head right

Toss the body anywhere. A hawk or coyotes will be glad to have it. I usually crush the head as much as possible (puts the snake out of any misery anyway and takes the edge off the fangs) and either bury it deep where no dogs will dig it up or, if I'm up on the trail, toss it way far off the trail so nobody will come across it.
 

Spudsbud

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Seal the garage????
Mine is air tight !
 

HB2Havasu

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You need to release about a half dozen King Snakes around your property.
 

Wizard29

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Ok. So I have a six foot snake stick. Once I catch them at the end of the stick now what?

A snake stick being the one with the hook on the end or the one with the grabber deal on the end?

If it's the one with the hook, all that's going to be good for is transporting the snake to a safe location where you will either let it go or where you can grab some sort of cutting tool to finish the job. You can sometimes pin them down with the end of the hook, but it doesn't always work.

If it's the one with the grabber, hold that fucker as close to the head as possible and take the head off with what you've got available.

When I'm hiking, I carry a roughly 4' long 1/2" x 1/2" square aluminum stick. When I come across a rattle snake, it gets whacked anywhere on the body I can hit it, but as close to the head as possible. Once it is disabled and moving more slowly, I get in a good head shot. Then I put my boot on the head and detach it from the body.

When I mountain bike, I actually have a machete strapped to the side of the bike. Yeah, I know that sounds crazy, but we live in the hills and I come across all sorts of shit back where I ride. It makes real easy work of rattlesnakes for obvious reasons.

When it comes to snakes, it's all about reach. They need to coil up in order to reach you. If you have a tool that is long enough to put you out of their reach, that's all you need. If they have the option, they will move away from you, not charge you directly. That makes it easy to handle them as they try to leave the area.
 

Riverfamlee

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A snake stick being the one with the hook on the end or the one with the grabber deal on the end?

If it's the one with the hook, all that's going to be good for is transporting the snake to a safe location where you will either let it go or where you can grab some sort of cutting tool to finish the job. You can sometimes pin them down with the end of the hook, but it doesn't always work.

If it's the one with the grabber, hold that fucker as close to the head as possible and take the head off with what you've got available.

When I'm hiking, I carry a roughly 4' long 1/2" x 1/2" square aluminum stick. When I come across a rattle snake, it gets whacked anywhere on the body I can hit it, but as close to the head as possible. Once it is disabled and moving more slowly, I get in a good head shot. Then I put my boot on the head and detach it from the body.

When I mountain bike, I actually have a machete strapped to the side of the bike. Yeah, I know that sounds crazy, but we live in the hills and I come across all sorts of shit back where I ride. It makes real easy work of rattlesnakes for obvious reasons.

When it comes to snakes, it's all about reach. They need to coil up in order to reach you. If you have a tool that is long enough to put you out of their reach, that's all you need. If they have the option, they will move away from you, not charge you directly. That makes it easy to handle them as they try to leave the area.

Oh boy- I feel a Snake stick debate coming on that is going to end with bet and a race :D:D:D LOL its Friday, just fucking with you
 

Wizard29

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Oh boy- I feel a Snake stick debate coming on that is going to end with bet and a race :D:D:D LOL its Friday, just fucking with you

Haha...

That snake stick with the hook isn't built strong enough and isn't up to the task!

What did your snake stick cost versus my snake stick?

My grabber snake stick is built to handle the job, especially at 50MPH+.

My snake stick with the hook is built for "all around" use.

Ah, whatever, you're financially fortunate enough to be able to afford both types of snake sticks.

$500 to the guy who kills a snake with his snake stick first!
 

rivergames

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I've been trying to find a rattler at the river to cook up, but I only get dead ones dropped off in font of my garage!
 

Taboma

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yeah, my rattlesnake stick is loaded with bird shot :p The heads get removed with a shovel (In the dirt, doing that on concrete is really messy), the heads get dropped down a fence post and the bodies get tossed into the grove --- by morning they've disappeared. Some day, after I'm gone, somebody is going to remove that fence post and find a great collection of rattlesnake head bones. :eek:
Dilligaf, I'm going to suggest, like I do with all the newbies to our rural neighborhood --- don't leave your doors open :D I put a sliding screen door on my shop man door, so I can leave it open for ventilation, yet keep the critters out.
 

Lunatic Fringe

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When I'm hiking, I carry a roughly 4' long 1/2" x 1/2" square aluminum stick. When I come across a rattle snake, it gets whacked anywhere on the body I can hit it, but as close to the head as possible. Once it is disabled and moving more slowly, I get in a good head shot. Then I put my boot on the head and detach it from the body.

When I mountain bike, I actually have a machete strapped to the side of the bike. Yeah, I know that sounds crazy, but we live in the hills and I come across all sorts of shit back where I ride. It makes real easy work of rattlesnakes for obvious reasons.

For the life of me I'll never understand what I consider the insanity of this kind of behavior.
If it's in your house, yard etc. and you have vulnerable kids or pets, I understand removing a snake and even killing it if you must.
But come on, while hiking and mountain biking? WTF?
What in the world makes people want to indiscriminately kill things that scare them is beyond me.
 

Wizard29

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For the life of me I'll never understand what I consider the insanity of this kind of behavior.
If it's in your house, yard etc. and you have vulnerable kids or pets, I understand removing a snake and even killing it if you must.
But come on, while hiking and mountain biking? WTF?
What in the world makes people want to indiscriminately kill things that scare them is beyond me.

I should mention that where I ride and hike is also where I walk my dogs and others do the same. Rattlesnakes are a significant hazard. They are not endangered. They do cause my safety and the safety of others in the area to become endangered.

I don't hunt and I never kill things for no reason.
 

Lunatic Fringe

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I should mention that where I ride and hike is also where I walk my dogs and others do the same. Rattlesnakes are a significant hazard. They are not endangered. They do cause my safety and the safety of others in the area to become endangered.

I don't hunt and I never kill things for no reason.

I do hunt but I also never kill things for no reason.
I'm not understanding what is a "significant" threat I guess.
I understand you feel you're doing the right thing but it still boils down to a misdirected fear of snakes.
Hundreds of thousands of Arizonan's enjoy outdoor activities and only 150 to 300 get bitten each year.

The odds of being bitten are extremely slim and as such I don't see a snake in it's own environment as a threat that needs neutralizing.
Just my opinion. I'm not throwing stones. Literally or figuratively.:)
 

Wizard29

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I do hunt but I also never kill things for no reason.
I'm not understanding what is a "significant" threat I guess.
I understand you feel you're doing the right thing but it still boils down to a misdirected fear of snakes.
Hundreds of thousands of Arizonan's enjoy outdoor activities and only 150 to 300 get bitten each year.

The odds of being bitten are extremely slim and as such I don't see a snake in it's own environment as a threat that needs neutralizing.
Just my opinion. I'm not throwing stones. Literally or figuratively.:)

I respect your opinion...no worries. My thought is that if I can prevent even one occurrence of me, my dogs, someone else, or their dogs being bitten and possibly killed, then every rattle snake life I have taken is worth it. I don't feel good about killing them, but I do consider them a safety hazard.

My neighbor got bit earlier this year. 2 nights in the hospital and $114K worth of medical bills that were fortunately covered by insurance. I'm definitely wanting to prevent something like that.
 

PaPaG

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Best way I have found to safely take care of them is to use a hard metal rake not the cheapo flexible ones, secure them then chop their heads off...just going after them with a shovel without securing them is like watching an old western movie where the bad guy makes the good guy dance by shooting the ground......
 

Wizard29

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The snake stick is like the old people deal for reaching high objects. Its aluminum with a clamp and a handle that shuts the clamp shut. its 6 feet long and I think I paid about $70. for it. I have caught a few snakes with it but they were all friendly so I let them go. Well, except for the bull snake in the house which I wasn't sure so I dispatched him. If it was a active rattle snake I don't know how I will deal with him other than let him go away from the house. Once you release the handle it releases the clamp....at that point you have one angry mofo....lol

Yeah, definitely once you've got it clamped, don't let go! Just get it to somewhere good that you can take care of business and it won't be a hazard if it does get loose.

Bull snakes get pissed off and hiss a lot, but don't kill those. They are good snakes.

A good way to tell if a snake is venemous or not is if it has a more diamond shaped head that doesn't really flow with the body. The diamond shape is caused by the presence of the venom glands.
 

2Driver

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I have the same stick.

When I grab them I try to get them about 1' behind the head, that way you have enough of the front of the snake to whip against the driveway or where ever. Just several solid head whacks is enough. Be careful not to whack the snake stick and break it. You can tell when they are done. After that I toss down the property.

It has crossed my mind that, what if the venom was to splash out of the body cavity and get you in the eye, LOL not sure its possible but a thought.
 

Taboma

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Not a newbie....been here in the house for about 7.5 years and then in Bullhead City for about 10-12 years. I did leave the garage door open only while I was on the phone....normally its up/down. When my son is here he likes to keep it open and I tell him not to do that. Maybe it will sink in now when he sees the pic. I have actually caught 4 snakes in the garage over the years....two rattlers and two non venomous.

That fence post thing will have someone definitly take a step back one day :)

Oh I meant that jokingly, I realize you're no newbie to the desert. :p
But newbies up here often don't realize or consider when they purchase, this ain't downtown, leave doors open and discover extremely undesirable critters have slipped into the house.
I think it fools city types new to the area, because we're only a couple of miles from a large mall, but we back up to a river park that runs from the mountains to the sea.
We get deer, medium and large cats, great horn owls that will carry off your purse doggie or outdoor cat --- and of course everything that slithers and crawls.

You mentioned the Bull snake mimicking rattlers, the gopher snakes around here do the same thing. Flatten their heads, hiss, they even shake their tails, with similar coloration, if the tail isn't visible, it can be hard to tell the difference ---- and I make it a point to tell em, if they're going to act like a rattler, they might just get treated like one --- so knock it the fuck off :eek: :p
I've got a large king snake that just loves scaring the crap outta me. The damned thing climbs up a bush, then freaks me out when I turn I find myself face to face with it --- SHIT :eek:

I don't bother them at Havasu, or even up on my ranch. My wife and I have sat watching them swim across a bay, the joining us on the beach by coiling up and sunning themselves, as long as they behave, they're welcome, it's their beach more than mine. Otherwise, we'll go find another beach.

Somebody can claim bite statistics all day, don't care, around here, where I'm the gardener, rattlers if found will die, but I do not enjoy killing them. :(
 

Wizard29

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It has crossed my mind that, what if the venom was to splash out of the body cavity and get you in the eye, LOL not sure its possible but a thought.

It is possible and it has happened. The venom is a hemotoxin (kills red blood cells) and sometimes contains neurotoxins (damages the nervous system), so it is ineffective if it doesn't get into the blood stream.

If you get it in your eye, it'll burn, but you can wash it out and you'll be good.
 

Lunatic Fringe

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LOL.
The way you guys freak out about a snake I can't imagine what it would be like if you saw a grizzly bear.
Complete atomic warfare.:D
 
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