Rattlesnakes? Kill or scare away?

[Karrie13]

If I saw a rattler it would no longer rattle. Those snakes scare the crap out of me. I grew up in West Virginia (where for some reason they thought it would be a good idea to release a bunch of them) and my brother and I did a lot of hiking... we ran into several of them along with copper heads and non venomous snakes. My dad only killed them when they came into the yard. Our horses got bit by snakes several times but we don't know what kind. The worst one was when my gelding was bitten on the face... the whole right side of his face swelled up.

When I was pregnant with my second daughter, I was living back in WV with mom and dad after my enlistment was up and while my DH was serving in Korea. My brother and I took the four wheelers up in the mountains and as we were riding along we came upon a rattle snake that was very ANGRY! I had never heard anything like it before. I heard it over the engine... it was a rattle, hiss, and hit at the same time. It struck the four wheeler right in front of my knee. Scared the heck out of me.

Now where I live we don't have poisonous snakes! That is a relief but the tradeoff is being drained of blood a couple times every summer by the mosquitoes.

 

[Liza]

Here in Texas our moto is......if you see a snake kill it! Sorry but they out number us and can kill someone or someones animals.

 

[Equus5O]

I'm told that in NJ rattlesnakes are endangered, and therefore protected. I had a guy tell me that the state embedded some rattlesnakes with GPS or something and that if we killed one they would track us down. That had me LMFAO. I did have a baby copperhead slither its way into my garage. The chickens had a ball with that little guy.

 

[PhoenixAngel429]

Quote:
Pack heat. Carry a shotgun or a revolver with snake shot in it. I've had a few bad encounters with snakes. (In the house even. 100 year old farmhouses in Appalachia are not very snakeproof....) Wear gaiters when you go out too.

I know because I cannot hardly go out in the summer without fearing snakes.

 

[Philidelphia Eagles]

Kill

 

[TigerLilly]

Although I am a snake person, I can't disagree with those of you wanting to kill snakes...to a point. If it's endangered & against the law...I don't know if I'd go that route. If it was putting me in immediate, life-threatening danger, yeah, I would probably kill it. I have, however, "escorted" a water moccasin out of my yard before.
If you are hiking in the woods, ALWAYS wear appropriate footwear!
Also, if you DO get bitten, do not RUN for medical assistance or to call 911--that will cause the poison to spread through your blood stream faster.

 

[chicamama03]

Quote:
So you're saying the day before when I was walking along the trail in my flip flops, drinking a latte and wearing this cute leopard print mumu my mom bought me I was not dressed appropriately?

Pack heat? Oh sweet lord. My dh would never trust me with a gun. I couldn't hit the side of a barn and would most likely shoot myself in some wild panic attack breakdown on the trail.

 

[ChickenAlgebra]

Rattlers who are seen by DH, DSalmost18, DD14, or me get to have a trial held with a judge. A Taurus Judge loaded with handloaded snakeshot. Seen by chickens, they are swarmed and mutilated until chicken snack or the snake flees.

 

[sawmane1]

Quote:
Yep, That that dont kill me, scares the living hel* out of me intead.

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

Non poisonous ones I leave alone.


Poisonous ones, if they are close to the house, get relocated way way out behind the house in the preserve.