Ran into this fella at the lease...

I'm not a snake guy and that thing would have freaked me out for a long, long time. I almost stepped on a baby rattler in Wyoming my first trip out West and almost packed in the trip right then. :o
 
I've been around a lot of prarie rattlers, never really got into killing them. They were fairly nice about the whole thing, rattle, rattle, rattle, go away I'm a rattle snake. I only ended up killing a couple and that was because I ended up in situations that left them feeling threatened and me cornered. My rancher buddies felt differently, said they killed the cattle and killed them on sight. I might have been tempted to take a shot at the one you saw though, what an amazing hide/skin on that snake!
 
Damn! Great pic. I ran across a nice 3' Pacific Rattler when I was out hunting wabbits day before yesterday. I was sooooo mad at myself for forgetting my camera phone in he car...
 
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I agree with ricky, they look tastier on those survivor shows than they really are. The taste is not what I would call a delicacy. Problem with giving them their space here is southeastern, Oklahoma is that you are generally on top of one before you see him.

People who don't spend a lot of time in the woods, wouldn't know the rattling sound if they heard it, and for those of us who are a little hard of hearing, the rattle doesn't help us much anyway.

I don't believe in killing every one I see, as they do have a purpose in the eco-system, but it sure wouldn't hurt my feelings if they blew a horn instead of rattle.:D
 
and for those of us who are a little hard of hearing, the rattle doesn't help us much anyway.
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I stepped on one a few years ago. Didn't hear a thing until the guy in front of me said something, then I heard it! If your hard of hearing and not listening for that sound you can miss them. The guy behind me told me" "...that snake must have needed glasses cause he missed by an inch!" I danced out of the way then stopped to look at him. He skedattled down a hole.
 
Kudos for letting him go. Not too many of them around. I have seen a couple of them in the woods of East Texas. First one I encountered was on Corps of Engineers land west of Jasper. I made him rattle just so I might be able to recognize the sound if I ever heard it again. Odd sound in the woods.
 
Barber..I made him rattle too...I have seen them before and they don't seem to rattle readily....He just wanted to get away....
 
Well my grandpa always said "The only good snake is a dead snake". I live by this motto to this day. Eat what I kill though, and they aren't too shabby.
 
Barber..Where is Mud Creek?

Sure Shot..I would not trade this life for any other....Big open spaces..Get away from the rat race..Good clean country livin..Yes..we are blessed.....
 
Pretty snake. Far as I know all we have here is common Western or prairie rattlers. They're usually variation on gray.

No poisonous snake on the West side of the cascades.
 
We have a fair amount of snakes around the farm, I tend to carry a .38 with snake shot when I ride. One of my major problems is not so much with the snakes its with my boarders. Most (95%) are from cities or the suburbs so when they're out here the freak out at slithery things. When that happens the horses get freaked and then rider gets thrown, bad for business, but fun to watch.:D

So snakes around here tend to have short lives when me and my hands see them. And yes, they taste like chicken.
 
Unintended Consequences

Had enough of rattlesnakes from the years I was in the Riverside/Moreno Valley area of S. Cal.
My friend bought a 7 1/2 acre property and home on a ridgetop in Moreno Valley. Very neat place, it had been unoccupied for 1.5 years before they moved in. It had been many years since anyone had really done anything with the land, the former owners just lived in the house.
My friend quickly discovered the place was home to a large number of rattlesnakes, big rattlesnakes.
It was quite routine to stop by his place and see a 5.5 foot plus rattler as big around as your forearm lying dead in his driveway. All were victims of lead poisoning. He was rightfully concerned that his beloved dogs would get bit, so he killed them.
Once the snake problem was gone, the rodent problems began. The rodents especially enjoyed dining on the wiring of his cars.
The rodents were lots more trouble than the snakes ever were.
 
Years ago a friend in NC used to hunt snakes near where I lived (mountains) and this was his cage. He's playing with an eastern diamondback and I've got the camera about six inches from his fangs. It was a cheapo camera. :D

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here they are not protected but you are still only allowed to kill them if they pose a threat to livestock(which in a state that allows free range cattle is a very broad area). we have western diamonbacks in the valleys and timber rattlers in the mountains and my boss is just lucky enough to have both. he caught one in his hay baler and chopped in it half unkowingly he only found the tail but it has 12 buttons on the rattle...that's a huge timber rattler for these parts.
 
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