Any rattler snake stories or news, please post here.
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Any rattler snake stories or news, please post here.
https://scontent-lax3-2.xx.fbcdn.net...3A&oe=681B02A4
In a study, scientists used a fake leg to simulate a person stepping on a rattlesnake. Out of 175 snakes that were physically "stepped on" by the booted foot, only six bit the leg. The rest tried to get away, froze in place, or wriggled in surprise but didn't react aggressively. It's actually really hard to get bitten by a rattlesnake. They just want to be left alone.
Rattlesnakes also don't rattle before striking. A rattle doesn't mean aggression, it's an "excuse me, I'm down here." They rattle to tell you, or other large animals, that you are about to step on them, since they blend in very well with their surroundings and they'd rather you didn't smush them accidentally. Strikes are generally noise-free acts of last ditch desperation.
Only about 1% of rattlesnake bites are deadly, and those that are generally happen in situations where medical care was delayed. A quarter of rattlesnake bites don't actually involve any venom at all, they are "dry bites" intended as a warning only. As long as you get to a hospital in a reasonable amount of time, you will probably be fine. This is not a situation where minutes count, just move promptly towards medical care. The deadly bites generally happen in very remote areas, when people are hiking alone, or when drugs and alcohol are involved, since all of these can increase the amount of time it takes someone to get to help or result in poor decision-making. First aid for a bite? Just get the person to a hospital, promptly, but safely. There is nothing else you need to do, and anything you might think about doing is just wasting time getting the person to a hospital and potentially complicating things by rubbing germs into the wound or further stressing the currently stressed tissue in the area. Don't ice it, tourniquet it, or suck on it, just call 911 or start hiking back to the trailhead.
The anti-venom products ERs use are combination formulas, which work for multiple North American venomous snake species. One works for multiple species of rattlesnakes, cottonmouths, and copperheads. A second anti-venom product works for various rattlers if you know you heard a rattle but aren't sure of the exact species. Coral snake bites can be identified by looking at the bite itself by hospital staff because the venom works on the body differently and there is a separate antivenom product that works for them. All of this means you don't need to try to take a closeup picture of the snake that bit you, coax it into a box to bring with you, or kill it to bring in and show to the doctors. In the case of rattlers, copperheads, and cottonmouths, they have what they need to treat a bite without knowing exactly what species of snake it was, and in the case of coral snakes, can figure out that one bit you without seeing the snake. Don't waste time or risk a second bite messing with a snake that is already very upset.
My friend and I were out camping. He was taking a dump and a rattlesnake bit him on the balls. He told me to call his doctor on his cell phone. The doc informed me that the venom needed to be sucked out of the infected area or he would die. I hung up the phone. My friend asked: “What did doctor say?”. I replied: “The doctor says you’re going to die.”
I am honestly waiting for a real Druff camping rattlesnake story soon. It will eventually happen for sure.
Quote:
Originally Posted by desertrunner
I hope Druff talks about rattlesnakes on radio.
Same here, should be good.Quote:
Originally Posted by igotnotoeQuote:
Originally Posted by desertrunner
I hope Druff talks about rattlesnakes on radio.
I'm smart enough to live in a country without snakes.
Druff will either find a garter snake or rattler, either way it will make a good and long radio story.Quote:
Originally Posted by zealanddonk
Yep I was playing raquetball w a friend, he's a gun nut so he has a gun. He sits it in the slot on the bottom of the back wall.
We finish he picks up his gun and there's a baby rattler undeir it somehow. It's was at night and just so happens the town mayor and his son were waiting to play
after us. They saw it and killed it w rocks. I was too tired to fuck w a rattler.
The side of the court was pitch black, we must have barely missed stepping on it. That would have been a bad day. I fucking hate them, the way they cammo.
You have to look closely for them, only good thing about winter, no snakes/
I heard somewhere that most rattlers don't even rattle as a warning, since those ones get killed. Thru natural selection the quiet ones are dominant, supposedly.
Speaking of a gun, I would be cautious when pulling a firearm in public. I do also carry snake ammo in my range bag for day outings. The rocks were a good idea, but also consider calling Animal Control. I hate to kill rattlesnakes and will only do so when they are in my immediate living area like a home, etc.Quote:
Originally Posted by Orko
The phrase "coral snakes: red touching black, stay back" is a mnemonic device to help distinguish between coral snakes and their harmless mimics, like scarlet king snakesQuote:
Originally Posted by desertrunner
https://x.com/wsvn/status/1187168163454164992
no rattlesnake story...but had a black snake living in the garage for a while--we'd just moved to rural area after a lifetime in LA...the locals said it was considered a good thing to have the snake there as it controlled mice & lizards. anyway, the snake got too comfortable in the garage & let my wife see it, and she freaked--she ran upstairs and hid under a blanket....so hero that I am i took the snow shovel scooped up the snake and threw it out in the front yard...i went back to the garage get a second shovel (was going to sandwich the snake & carry it down the hillside) but when i came back about a half a minute later the snake was gone. i figured a hawk may have taken it...i found out later is escaped into the basement (when we found its dead body)
It’s the exact opposite in California (as we learned in Cub Scouts): “Red on black is a friend of Jack. Red on yellow can kill a fellow.”Quote:
Originally Posted by garrettThe phrase "coral snakes: red touching black, stay back" is a mnemonic device to help distinguish between coral snakes and their harmless mimics, like scarlet king snakesQuote:
Originally Posted by desertrunner
https://x.com/wsvn/status/1187168163454164992
Druff- you need a rattlesnake story to tell soon.
Shame Splitthis wasnt there with you, she'd still be sucking to this day.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jayjami
Colorado Rattlecam is a livestream of a megaden. I prefer the eagles.
Thanks for the tip...Quote:
Originally Posted by splitthis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYzqe3OGLQY
Scary fuckers; hired a guide to belay me in Sinks Canyon when visiting friends in Lander, Wyoming a couple of years ago.
Had to walk about a half mile to the wall and the guide told me to start stomping as we walked to keepnthem at bay. Two minutes later I hear a hiss and there's one a foot from my ankle.
Scared the shit out of me and was in my head the whole time climbing that we had to walk that way back.
Wyoming is on my to do and see list.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sloppy Joe
Picture taken today in North LA County as lot of rattlers are out now...(not my snake)
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...1e8872f0d1.jpg
In 1977 I was throwing a tennis ball against my house in the backyard, and catching it. I threw it too hard and it bounced next to the rose bush my dad had recently planted.
I was shocked to see the ball sitting next to the head of a very scary looking snake. I abandoned it, ran inside, and told my mom. She asked me what it looked like, and I replied, "It had a diamond on its head."
It was most likely a diamond back rattlesnake:
https://img-aws.ehowcdn.com/750x428p....jpg?type=webp
My mom went out and looked, and there was no snake there anymore. Maybe I scared it?
That thing was big, though.
More recently I have encountered a number of them on area hiking trails, especially in April. It gets cold enough here in the winter to where the snakes hibernate, and April tends to be when they wake up hungry and look for food. It is not uncommon to see them on the sides of trails, ominously shaking their rattles and looking angry.
One year I ran into two snakes fucking on the open trail, which was something I had never seen before. They look like they're just constantly twisting into knots with one another. There is no back-and-forth motion as you see with mammals. Oddly this was in September, which would put the resulting egg hatching date into November or December -- right into winter! Not smart! I would have thought the snakes would have avoided mating so close to when hibernation would typically start, but I guess they don't have a feel for it.
I have a minuite-long video of this in case anyone is interested.
Not my recent pic, but a pretty light tan colored snake out of Yuma, Arizona-
https://scontent-lax3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...tg&oe=6841039B
Just now in Northern California, Sacramento area-
Ben Nuckolls Is the go-to wildlife rescue guy in the region. In this case a few days ago, he rescued the home owner adjacent to the American River Parkway from this Humongous Rattle Snake…. The rattler was so heavy it bent Ben’s grabbers…
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...e80c9eb344.jpg