Best for killing snakes

It was a water mocassin, my neighbor checked it out. It was a little over 4 feet long. I see garter snakes around all the time and could care less about them. Around my area in TN there are a lot. People die from them every year but are usually bitten by more than one.

I like dogs and don't shoot them when I see them but if one somehow got into my backyard and threatened my kids, I'd kill it. Same with the snake. I'm not fvcking around with a stick to try and throw it over the fence or make sure it was 100% venomous (which it was), I'll do that after I kill it.
 
For me, it's this little monster right here,,,,,,,,,,,


snakegun001hf9.jpg


I keep #7 in it when I'm out and about,, those short barrels and the .410 punch are just right from me to you...


I carry it for what I like to call snake control when I'm out frog gigging or fishing around my little slice of heaven.. There are three ponds within shouting distance of my house, and I've had problems with cottonmouths over the years,, and don't even get me started on the copperheads that lounge around on the lawn... I've only seen one rattler,, and I actually leave those huge blacksnakes alone...

Sometimes...
 
My property is a bird sanctuary. And recently it has turned into a snake sanctuary.
I have a pair of Black Racers and a Coral Snake (that I know of). The bigger of the two racers lives in the attic and I watch him once in awhile as he comes out of this quarter size hole in the wood work. I was watching the other smaller one on my front porch this afternoon as she was climbing thru the Confederate Jasmine vines in front of my sitting spot. She was being harassed by a pair of Brown Thrashers that keep trying to build a nest in the Jasmine vines on the other side of the porch by my front door. I keep taking their nest down, but, they are persistent critters.
I've seen the Coral Snake twice. Once I nearly stepped on the little fella and the second time he was under some brush I was raking. I leave him alone because Corals are very timid snakes and will only bite if you try to pick them up or otherwise annoy them consistently.

Now, if only I could get a snake that will eat some of those damned tree rats. :p

If the snake is non-poisonous, there is no viable reason to kill them. I can understand killing the snakes that are packin' as snake bites from one of them could permanantly change your life or end it. I'm not so non-chalant with Diamondbacks or Vipers. ;)
 
I'm a city guy, always have been. I don't really hunt (but I am going duck hunting soon for the first time), I don't camp, I'm just not a real country-boy outdoors type. And snakes freak me out! Plus, I can't tell poisonous from not. Sure, I know they are generally more helpful than harmful, and I don't like killing anything that I don't need to, (which is why I've already found a place to clean the duck if I even get one; if I kill it, I'm eating it), but in my opinion, the best thing to kill a snake with is a hand grenade!:D
 
In the last 8 years I've killed four snakes on my 1.1 acre property here in NC. Only 1 of the 4 was poisonous. It was a baby copperhead I found in my driveway. Stepped on his body and cut his head off with my pocket knife. He was less than a foot long.

Of the other three, two struck at me, even though they were not poisonous.

One was a northern water snake that almost cleaned out my goldfish pond till I took him out with a brushaxe. I had a year long war with this snake. Photographed him three or four times below the water surface in my pond. Could never get him to where I could catch and kill him. Caught him by hand once and he bit me and I let go. Wasn't into shooting him in my pond in my front yard. I watched him swallow one of my fish whole one morning as I was leaving for work. Finally last spring I was moving the waterfall from one end of the pond to the other. As I was picking up pieces of slate and moving them I caught sight of him between two of them. Slipped the brushaxe in between and hooked and sliced him.

Another was a rat snake that I ran across twice in one weekend. I was moving a brush pile and he struck at me. I decided to live and let live. Next day I was moving an aerator and he struck again. Then I struck, with a machete.

Had another rat snake clean out two birdhouses of baby birds. Killed him before he got to the third.

I don't go out of my way to kill them, but I also don't tolerate the ones that become nuisances on my property either.
 
For some reason, when I see a snake my feet can't be controlled. My brain disconnects and my 38 connects with said reptile of any denomination.

A story was told about the civil war in which one of the generals gave the order to kill every person in a town where there were many churches. A soldier reminded him that there were chuch going folks in the town, surely a lot fo Christian folks that would not be of harm to the troops. The general upheld his order to kill them all and let God grade them.

I don't grade a snake as to whether he is a danger to me. I ain't scared of but two kinds: A big one and a little one. In my state it is illegal to harm endangered snakes with a $500.00 fine. Since I won't know he is of said status, I have a shovel handy so that I can bury the evidence. I don't have time to grade him as I have a pretty quick draw as soon as I get a visual. Folks, I am 6'2", weigh 200 lbs, am an ex-cop that ain't supposed to be scared of too many things. But a snake freaks me out. If the Game Warden nabs me, so be it. I take no chances with snakes.

Understandably, they do some good, but they also make my wife extra work getting the stains out of my underwear when I get too close to one before I see him. Call me a coward and I plead guilty. I keep a supply of shot cartridges in my 38 to add to my guilt and a shovel to alleviate it.
 
BEST would be

-10 gauge,
-No. 9 shot

But just about anything will work, from .22lr shotshells on up, though I'd prefer a .38 special or bigger, and 6 shot or smaller. That head with fangs in it is a small target, so you want a lot of pellets sent that way.

I like snakes. I don't kill them unless they are poisonous, and even then I might let a poisonous one get away. I love screwing with hognosed snakes when I run across them, though I haven't in many years.
 
Speer cartridges in 38 have 134 #9's and they scatter quite well in a 2" 38. They are super effective up to 10-15 feet on the critters. Most any hardware store has the CCI Speer medicine for critters like snakes and rats.
 
Read Patrick F McManus' story about snakes. Can't remember the title. Anyone who Knows who that is would know what story I am talking about. Ah poor Retch Sweeny :D
 
Weedwacker- that would be "Never Cry Snake", from The Grasshopper Trap.
I love snakes. I love the way they feel, I love they way they look, I love the way they work, I love what they do. They are incredible animals, worthy of our respect, and get a bad rep because off their association with Satan.
I would shoot on sight if I saw a cottonmouth.
Cottonmouths are agressive SOBs that pose a threat to my dogs and family. They are, I am pretty sure, the second most agressive snake after the black mamba.
Shooting a corn snake, rat snake, etc., is dumb. Snakes are a positive force, and itt is a shame that so many people are afraid of them.
Most of the 30,000 deaths by snake each yar occur in Asia and Africa, in semi-developed and undeveloped areas where people often don't have shoes, much less antivenom.
If I saw a copperhead I probably wouldn't shoot, but I would kill a coral snake.
 
I would kill a coral snake because they are of the same family of cobras, which kill 10,000 a year. I don't want anything like that near me.
Bird shot should work.
 
Re:bigjimp

I read and reread your post here several times. Apparently you believe a .44 magnum revolver with bird shot is more effective then a .410 shotgun. Can you explain how you arrived at that conclusion? Did you pattern both firearms for comparison?

Maybe a revolver would improve my ability to hit dove on the wing.:confused:
 
eButler ---

Is your story alluding to the origing of "kill them all let god sort them out"?

I heard it came from the crusades when a cristian castle was besiged by muslims who were then attacked form behind / flank by another cristian army, the worried archeres on the walls were told to simply shoot for "god will know his own"

As to shooting snakes it's a waste of a good rodent control agent and ammo, if they are poisonous and around the house compound they need to be removed / driven off or whatever but otherwise live and let live...
 
I have a problem shooting a firearm into the ground. I wouldn't want to chance the ricochet or spray from whatever the bullet/shot hit.

I'd suggest a shovel.
 
Off topic ,,,, but unless you're in rocky territory....

Mother Earth is pretty forgiving of a bullet or two,, or some little pellets....
 
I had some good laughs reading some of your posts.:) Thanks for sharing.

I manage a ranch and carry a North American Arms mini revolver 5 shot in SS .22 mag with the 1 1/2 " barrel, first two chambers loaded with shot shells. I does a good job on a buzzworms at 4 or 5 feet.

I was driving in yesterday and caught a three foot rat snake that was crossing the road with my hands. Drove on to the headquarters and carried it to a log cabin storage barn that I'm having a mice problem in and let it go. I better make a note to let my wife know :D

I like snakes and take all the non-poisonous ones I can to the headquarters.:)
 
MS,

You are shooting at an angle away from yourself. You are several feet away from your target. Not to worry about a ricochet or spray doing any harm to you. Careful not to be shooting toward someone as there is always a slight possibility that a richochet could result going away from you, not toward you. Generally, when you are doing the world a favor of deleting snakes, the ground absorbs the load.

Country, I admire your identification practices. Good to have a vermin eliminator in your barn.

I am an old man, got a few degrees, none of them on snake ID so I let God sort them out. You gents that can ID them, I envy you. Since I either can't or won't ID them, I get them to h*** out of my immediate surroundings. I am scared of snakes, big, small, dead, or alive. My weakness and I admit it without prejudice.
 
would kill a coral snake because they are of the same family of cobras, which kill 10,000 a year. I don't want anything like that near me.
Bird shot should work.
Click to expand...


From wikipedia:

No deaths related to coral snake bites have been reported in the United States since coral snake antivenin became available. Before that time, the estimated case fatality rate was 10%.

Coral snakes are not aggressive or prone to biting however, and account for less than a single percent of the number of snake bites each year in the United States
 
Coming home from church today there was a 5 1/2 foot bull snake in the middle of the road. So I stopped and took my golf club that has been transformed into a snake handler and pulled it to the side of the road. I caught it and held its head in one hand and drove the remaining 3 miles to the ranch to let it go. I'll have to take a picture of it, it's a pretty golden brown color. I'll release it around the headquarters to continue to do it's job.

I don't have any degrees, but I enjoy educating myself on nature and wildlife. You too, will appreciate and enjoy them much more.;)
 
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