Sidearm for snakes - CO2 OK?

J

joeranger

New member
South Dakota has a lot of snakes, but only the Western Rattler is dangerous. So this is probably a moot point. Everyone giving me advice for my prairie dog shoot tells me to bring a side arm for snakes, but I can't bring a handgun onto tribal lands.
I have a very nice semi auto CO2 .177 and a drop holster for it. With lead bbs it has a nice punch at close range with limited ricochet.

Two questions;
1. If it can kill a small bird, it can kill a snake right? Especially with 10 rapid fire shots.
2. Why kill the snake in the first place? I've never known a snake to come after me and usually they can't get away from people fast enough.

Have you ever had to shoot a snake?
 
I'd leave the snakes alone....

The only time I kill a snake is if it's in my yard where my dog or my kid can run afoul of it.....otherwise, I just give them a wide berth.......
 
Snake Killer 9000
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I always live by the age-old rule. The ONLY good snake is a DEAD snake. How about one of the NEF snake charmer .410's?
 
I can still remember the look on the faces of the staff at an outdoor bbq one night in Phoenix when a young lady and I decided to sit on my shirt that I laid on the ground on outskirts of the clearing so we could be alone and talk (just talk, I swear).

They told us "uh, that's not a good idea...snakes & scorpions."

We were both from cities (NY and CA) and laughed, thinking they were just joking with us.

And then the looks on their faces and a repeat of "snakes & scorpions" made it quite clear they were not joking in the least, so we got up post haste.

And I was in a pool in Costa Rica last month when a snake came swimming right by us at the swim up bar (damn alcoholic snake!). It scared the bejeezus out of us - someone said "lookout guys, there's a snake!", my wife and I looked left and holy cow, I never thought the human body was capable of such a quick reaction & able to move back with the speed we did.

Those incidents, and the fact that my mom was bitten by a viper in Italy when she was 17 and almost died, would make me not hesitate to shoot any snake I come across.
 
No need to kill a snake unless it's a threat (as in deanadell's description) or you're hungry. Rattlers are not aggressive towards humans and not particularly fast movers, so the real concern is inadvertently cornering or stepping on them.
 
A stick works well for me, but for the most part I don't kill any snakes unless they are in my yard, bite me, or they are water moccasins. I hate those aggressive snakes. One wack behind the head and they are dead with a stick and you don't have to pepper them with holes hoping to kill the snake.

BB gun/pellet gun is plenty in the US except maybe for the big snakes that have escaped from captivity in places like South FL.
 
bb gun

I would say no.
I only shoot cottonmouth, copperheads and rattlers. AND snakes that look like cottonmouth, copperheads and rattlers. And sticks that look like snakes like cottonmouths, copperheads and rattlers.
Killed a four foot rattler last year. He was about 9 foot away and coming toward me, We were both on the ground. I don't know his intent but he sufffered from my fear of snakes.
 
Reptiles are pretty tough and most CO2 pistols are a little light on performance/punch. I'm not sure I'd rely on one for snake duty.
 
Snakes aren't really worth bothering with, out in open country. They don't go to chasing people to play Poisonous Pete just for the meanness of it.

When you're dealing with tribal-land rules, why do ANYTHING which might get you crosswise with the bureacratic mind? And, Lordy, you already have a rifle, right?

Easiest to just move off by four or five feet and keep on with your primary business...

Around the house or barn? Sure, a ruined snake is a good snake. That's logical. Out in the boonies? Why bother?
 
The only snakes I kill are water moccasins because they can be aggressive. I leave the rattlers and copperheads alone b/c that's what they want to do to you. just watch where you're walking and don't try to catch them and play religious radical.
 
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