Snakes SUCK, kILL THEM ALL AND LET SATAN SORT OUT HIS OWN CHILDREN.  

The story about the great white shark in NJ is true... It is the story upon which the movie Jaws is based on... The History Channel did a special on it a few years back...one of their more interesting specials...

there's also 2 books about those attacks from a few years ago, the 1 I read was "close to shore"
to many details about the era make it really slow, but interesting accounts about the attacks.

Snakes are cool but poisonous ones I'm not overly cool with.


The non-poisonous ones are fun to play with though, even if they are super mean angry as hell gopher snakes(rarely have I ever laid hands on a nice one).

Here's a picture of the biggest snake I've ever had/caught.

Measured a little over 7 feet long, person in the picture is 6ft 2in tall.    Snake's head is above my dad's head, does a 1/2 coil mid length, and the tail curls over my hand at the bottom.




Son of a bitch was STRONG and mean as hell.   Probably what allowed him to get so big, nothing wanted to fuck with him he put up such a strong front.

Quoted: Here's a picture of the biggest snake I've ever had/caught. Measured a little over 7 feet long, person in the picture is 6ft 2in tall.    Snake's head is above my dad's head, does a 1/2 coil mid length, and the tail curls over my hand at the bottom. home.bak.rr.com/varmintcong/snake/Snake2.jpg Son of a bitch was STRONG and mean as hell.   Probably what allowed him to get so big, nothing wanted to fuck with him he put up such a strong front. home.bak.rr.com/varmintcong/snake/Snake1.jpg

KILL IT WITH FIRE.

Quoted: vthokieshooter, no offense taken neighbor, you seem to know what you're talking about, could be my friend is simply wrong, I'll never know. I'm still gonna say "you "100%" certain" it was a water moccisin" when I'm over there whenever, though. But that said, still a believer that things can show up somewhere where they shouldn't be. But who knows. Anyhow if you enjoy snakes, along the ridges and up high on the longer mountains here on the southern side 20 some years ago dens of rattlers were common, and I'm talking about dens of hundreds of them. They've said thousands but I don't know if that's an exxageration or not. They've been dynamited or whatever they do for those though. As much as I'm out in the woods I rarely see any snakes, might be because my dogs run interference and scare snakes away and make a lot of noise. I did see this really beautiful "timber" ratler in fall of '05, it was almost black it was so dark.... Really beautiful. i16.photobucket.com/albums/b6/barkleya/ratler.jpg Andyeah if you go up on the ridges above burkes garden lots of beautiful trees. In fact in the northwest corner just on top of the tallest mountain in the area up there at 4,700 there's a spongelum sp? bog, really unique and fun to explore and a somewhat different envinronment than anywhere else in sw region aside from the highlands of mt. rogers. Hardly ever anyone up there either. Lots and lots of bears and wildlife.... No moccisins though............. I have an album with some photos from up there....... community.webshots.com/myphotos?action=viewAllPhotos&albumID=138519687&security=SkpBpY

That is right I remember your thread about the timber rattlesnake.  As much as I am in the woods (Just about everyday) I rarely see poisonous snakes.  I see a lot of garder snakes and blacks snakes and an occasional king snake but that is it.  Keep in mind vipers get their prey by ambush.  They stay coiled up and wait for a mouse or squirrel to walk by.  I have seen  just about every rattlesnake before he rattled.

It is a  shame what is happening to the timber rattlesnake.  People are needlessly killing off a snake for really no good reason.  To me anyway the rattlesnake is as much as a symbol of America as the bald eagle is.

Quoted: It is a  shame what is happening to the timber rattlesnake.  People are needlessly killing off a snake for really no good reason.  To me anyway the rattlesnake is as much as a symbol of America as the bald eagle is.

And unlike letting the Bald Eagle off the endangered species hook, we should finish the job with the rattlesnake.

All you guys who have this irrational fear of snakes are nothing more than a big bunch of wussies!

Here's a cool pic of my (then) 10 year old son holding a 6 foot water diamondback cottonmouth moccasin rattler snake.  Don't look if you're scared of snakes, you might wet your pants!

You wussies have been warned!

6 foot water diamondback cottonmouth moccasin rattler snake



Merlin

he he he

I've unloaded a 12 gauge on a garter snake in northern MN, so I guess I top the wuss scale when it comes to snakes!  he he he

I have heard several reports of timber rattlers in central MN, although the biologists all claime their range only extends into MN along the Mississippi valley to about the mouth of the St. Croix...

As climate fluctuates ranges of animals fluctuate.  I would not discount a report of a WM in Virginia quite so easily...

These snake threads just kill me...(Pardon the pun)

Big Bad Hunters

Snakes in the wild are doing what they do. They're intersting as hell and a shitload cleaner than the dirty little disease bombs they eat by the truckload. Snakes in my immediate homestead either get relocated, or in the rare instance of a poisonous species that get real aggressive, killed. So, I ain't  totally against killing one in certain circumstances, but anyone who sees one in the woods and kills it for no good reason, i.e it's attacking you (And unless you're fucking with it it ISN'T going to do so) is just a douchebag, akin to those hunters that kill every fucking deer they see regardless of size or sex.

Can't count how many Copperheads I've run up on in the woods here in Alabama, nor the number of Timber Rattlers I've seen just laying in the litter. Better damn camo than ANYTHING man has come up with. Really Fascinating Critters to sit and watch.

Cottonmouths are naturally curious and have an aggressive side that is part of their defense mechanism, so I do give them a shorter "LMTFABYD" (Leave Me The Fuck Alone Before You Die) time, but they're it.

Rattlesnakes, Copperheads and Coral Snakes (Yep, found a few of those in South Alabama years ago) are very shy and will haul ass to get way from you.

Anyone who kills any of  them just for fun or out of fear is just plain ignorant.

JMO.

SG

im totaly happy with killing shit out of ignorance.

Quoted: These snake threads just kill me...(Pardon the pun) Big Bad Hunters Snakes in the wild are doing what they do. They're intersting as hell and a shitload cleaner than the dirty little disease bombs they eat by the truckload. Snakes in my immediate homestead either get relocated, or in the rare instance of a poisonous species that get real aggressive, killed. So, I ain't  totally against killing one in certain circumstances, but anyone who sees one in the woods and kills it for no good reason, i.e it's attacking you (And unless you're fucking with it it ISN'T going to do so) is just a douchebag, akin to those hunters that kill every fucking deer they see regardless of size or sex. JMO. SG

When it's deer season, it's time to shoot deer.  If it's legal, I kill it.

I've heard all the arguments about natural breeding behaviour, buck-doe ratios, healthy herds, blah blah blah. Of all the people I've discussed this with, I'd say at least ninety percent of them are simply antler hunters. All that other stuff is simply the argument trying to convince everyone else to go along with their quest for glory.
 I'm with you on the snakes, but not the deer.

After a positive ID on a snake near water as a cotton mouth, I will kill it until it is dead, dead, dead without a second thought.

I cant stand Water Moccasins, I had bad experience as a child.

I was about 8 or 9 years old and fishing off a dock, in a pond outside of Charlotte NC, with about 3 other kids. I had a floating Rapala tied on and was reeling it in when this snake starts chasing my lure. I reeled   as fast as I could but the snake still managed to get my lure.  I had to pay for my fishing gear myself and since I made $0.50 for a days worth of work there was no way I was going to let that snake have my lure. So I got him up on the dock, he had one treble hook in his mouth and because of all his twitching he had one in his side, and I got out a pair of pliers that I had in my tackle box and went to work. WIth one foot on his neck and a friend holding the rod I ripped the hooks out of his side and manged to wiggle the hooks out of his mouth and kicked him off the side of the dock. As the snake hit the water and started swimming off one of the other kids fathers came up and identified the snake as a Water Moccasin and told us how dangerous they were I got scared shitless. I havent been fishing at that pond ever since.

James

I'm in agreement they have their place in the scheme of nature, I wouldn't harm 1 either.

I have two good snake stories.  One involves a lady friend and the other involves an old coworker.  Both took place in Africa, which happens to have some nasty snakes.  They have one that spits its venom at you, because apparently biting isn't good enough for it.  But that is a digression...

Anyway, I worked with an older gentleman who was an aeronautical engineer, but before that he flew Spits in the war.  A British guy, he didn't know much about snakes so I'm not sure he got the type identification correct, but this is what he told me.  He climbed into his airplane and took off on a patrol.  As soon as he was airborne, he noticed a black mamba slither out from somewhere underneath the seat into the floor of the cockpit.  Obviously he couldn't get out of the airplane or get rid of the snake in any way, so he climbed very high and froze the snake.

Another story involves a younger and more attractive lady friend from South Africa.  She was walking through Jo'burg and a boomslang leaped out of a tree at her.  It didn't bite though and slithered between her feet and into some bushes.

I hate snakes and kill them preemptively.  Identification comes later, if at all.

Quoted: im totaly happy with killing shit out of ignorance.

I like your attitude!

For all you little babys that are Sooo scared of snakes, Please turn in your "MAN CARDS"!

For all of you that kill snakes because you are to dumb to know better SHAME ON YOU

I'm holding back what I realy think
Invisiblesoul


don't ask what I realy think

Quoted: For all you little babys that are Sooo scared of snakes, Please turn in your "MAN CARDS"! For all of you that kill snakes because you are to dumb to know better SHAME ON YOU I'm holding back what I realy think Invisiblesoul don't ask what I realy think

what do you really think?

I got no problem with snakes. Kinda like it when I know I have a few Kings or Bulls hanging around the place - if I happen to run into one I'll check him out, take a pic if I have camera, and wish him luck in his pest killing ventures.

Rattlesnakes? If I happen to run into one I'm content for us to just go on our seperate ways.

Cottonmouths? If I happen to run into one, I will unleash the holy wrath of God with whatever weapon I have at my disposal, withdraw, and call in an airstrike on that evil, stinky, water nesting, people chasing, boat dropping into venemous spawn of Satan. (If I'm not armed, I'll simply run away like a scared little girl.)

Sorry, snake lovers, but not all snakes are created equal. I'd love to see your attitude on 'em when Cotton Mouth or three drop into your boat in the middle of the night.

In general, if I can identify a snake as harmless, it get's a pass...The exception will be if I find one while I'm under the house...Hell, I'd end up killing myself trying to get away from it anyway if I didn't...Poisonous ones around my house or where I frequent? Sorry, they get shot if I can manage it.

For my own two stories. Was walking through the woods as a kid and for some weird reason I stopped and a moment later looked down...my foot was immediately beside a snake that was lying parallel to the path...as in .25" or less from it. I just froze and tried to find where the head was...A few weeks later (or so it felt) the snake slithered on away and I got a look at it...I'd swear it was a Moc but possibly could've just been a REALLY dark water snake...Took me awhile to stop shaking anyway.

Another time, a big construction project was going on a few miles away upriver from my folks place, as a result we were seeing a LOT more snakes around...their habitat was being disturbed so they were hunting a new home. We were sitting outside when my mother asked 'is that a snake?'...Damn thing looked like a large branch lying on the ground about 75 feet away...When we eventually killed the mocassin it was OVER 8 feet long..I know that for sure because we hung it over a 4x8 sheet of plywood leaning against a tree (long side up) and the head and tail hung below midway on the board...It stayed there for a couple of days before it vanished...We figured an owl family ate pretty good on that.

Quoted: Sorry, snake lovers, but not all snakes are created equal. I'd love to see your attitude on 'em when Cotton Mouth or three drop into your boat in the middle of the night.

I would probably have the same attitude as the time when I was crawling through the ti-ti, briars and saw palmetto and ended up about 20 inches face to face with a rather large eastern diamondback.

As others have stated, I'll give non-poisonous snakes a free pass. However, I'm not that generous where vipers and coral snakes are concerned. Around here, all poisonous snakes get killed. Period and end of story. If the choices are either (a) getting criticized on the internet for some anti-snake phobia or (b) ending up in an emergency room, due to snake venom wounds,  because I tried to be kinder and gentler with my local vipers then I'll choose option "a". I can handle to criticism. Dealing with a poisonous snake bite, on the other hand,  is a bit more complicated by comparison.

12 ga with 4's, The best cure for all those cotton mouth's.

We saw some of those bastards in LA. last Sept. Haaa, give's me the willys just thinking about it.Then the locals down there start screwing with us northern'rs, telling us how these snakes will chase you and all that shit. Yaa Thanks, here's your releaf stuff i'm going back NORTH. I like SNOW and COLD. WHY? Because snakes DON'T.  

Oh but sweet JEEBUS do I hate a fuckin' snake.  Good on ya, kill 'em the fuck ALL!

I've argued with people about "moccasins" before, while standing near a creek looking at the snake. I actually had to catch the snake and let it bite me to show them that there are no fang holes, just a nice horseshoe shaped line of tiny teeth holes.

telling the diffrence from cotten mouths and water snakes is not that hard. the head is diffrent, a water snakes head the eyes are raised a lil kind of like a frogs or a gators and the harmless snakes pupils are round instead of dimond shaped,. Also a cotten mouth's head has distinctive kinda golden color on the side of its head with whiteish stripes across and is bulkier looking due to the venom glands. The coloring is diffrent cotten mouths are dark with very little obvious pattern a water snake you will see possibly red along the sides with distinct bands with a few variations. They also swim diffrent a venomous snake will swim with its head up out of the water, water snakes swim head in the water thats what the raised eyes are for.
"http://fwie.fw.vt.edu/VHS/Eastern%20cottonmouth%20%20(Agkistrodon%20piscivorus%20piscivorus)002.jpg"
http://www.kingsnake.com/louisiana/pics/broadbanded_water_snake1.jpg

Quoted: Quoted: These snake threads just kill me...(Pardon the pun) Big Bad Hunters Snakes in the wild are doing what they do. They're intersting as hell and a shitload cleaner than the dirty little disease bombs they eat by the truckload. Snakes in my immediate homestead either get relocated, or in the rare instance of a poisonous species that get real aggressive, killed. So, I ain't  totally against killing one in certain circumstances, but anyone who sees one in the woods and kills it for no good reason, i.e it's attacking you (And unless you're fucking with it it ISN'T going to do so) is just a douchebag, akin to those hunters that kill every fucking deer they see regardless of size or sex. JMO. SG When it's deer season, it's time to shoot deer.  If it's legal, I kill it. I've heard all the arguments about natural breeding behaviour, buck-doe ratios, healthy herds, blah blah blah. Of all the people I've discussed this with, I'd say at least ninety percent of them are simply antler hunters. All that other stuff is simply the argument trying to convince everyone else to go along with their quest for glory.  I'm with you on the snakes, but not the deer.

Nope. I do not hunt antlers.  Period. I have no heads on my wall. I will have no heads on my wall. I hunt for food, because I like deer meat. My wife does not. And I can't possibly eat more than one or two, nor give away more than that to family.  I fail to see the "GLORY" behind shooting a spike or a button or a doe that has a fawn, or a fawn just out of spots...I'd rather let them grow.  But hey, more power to you. I couldn't tell you what the hell a "buck-doe ratios" is.

Some of us just think that there's a certain amount of responsibility that goes along with hunting, hell,  with the outdoors in general. Which is why it's just plain ignorant to kill a snake for no reason.

SG

B+S,
  You know that, and we know that, but there's like a jillion people who refuse to learn facts about snakes. They know all the folklore stuff though;

Joint snakes, that break up into sections about three inches long, then reassemble themselves when the threat is gone, Hoop Snakes that bite their tail and roll away like a Hula-Hoop, snakes that won't die until sunset, etc.

Quoted: Don't forget the teenage boy who was killed by a juvenile great white at the small fresh water simming hole at the end of matewan creek, nj in 1914.

Off to find out more about this...

Off to find out more about this...

a quick yahoo showed these results, these were also the attacks mentioned in "jaws".

www.geocities.com/Area51/Realm/1877/

www.njhm.com/matawanmaneater.htm  

Quoted: Quoted: There's no mistaking a viper from a non poisnous snake. I agree that animals have a way of turning up were they "shouldn't" be. Besides, winters have been warmer in recent years it seems, maybe they are moving further north with longer warm months, who knows. Maybe it's only a few I don't know, but nature doesn't surprise me. There's a volcano shaped geographical formation known as burkes garden maybe 20 miles as the crow flies from here, www.virginia.org/uploaded_images/17968.jpg cool place anyhow, very productive and beautiful farmlands in the bowl, with some of the most remote land in the state of va. on the sw side outside of the bowl.  Back in the '50s those farmlands were terrorized by a large predator that killed 50 some thousand $s worth of sheep over months. They couldn't catch it or trap it, but had some hunter from eurpose bring some special dogs over and it was eventually shot, it was a western cyote, and was much bigger than those in the east. They don't know how it got here. It's known as the varmint. Never say never about wild life. Don't forget the teenage boy who was killed by a juvenile great white at the small fresh water simming hole at the end of matewan creek, nj in 1914. I can tell you about anything you want to know about Burkes Garden.  I wrote a nice three credit thesis on it for my senior year of College. Not a Volcano, It is a breached dome shaped anticline and formed by diffentrial erosion.  The rim is a Silurian Sandstone known locally as the Clinch as well as the Medina and Tuscarora in WV.  The same stuff makes the cliffs at Seneca Rocks WV.  The high point in the northwest corner is over 4700 feet in elevation and is the highest point in the entire ridge and valley physiographic provence that runs from Alabama to New England.  It makes up part of the Beartown Wilderness Area and includes a Cranberry Bog as well as is capped with Red Spruce trees.  The Appalchian trail runs along the southern rim and climbs to a height of 4400 feet at the top of Chesnut Ridge on the southwest corner. The inside is an Ordivician limestone that is full of big sinkholes.  It is similar the the limestone that makes up Germany Valley (Near Seneca Rocks). The small forested strip inside is know as Banks Ridge and is a small anticline.

I knew it wasn't really a volcano but that's the best way to describe it. Actually there's another oval shaped mountain that connects to burkes garden's eastern rim directly, that's round mountain. Smaller, but it seems as though burkes garden hollwed out, round mountain didn't.
Anyhow, round mountain is another cool place to get away, and you can drive right across the top of it on a dirt road, and never anyone up therer hardly either. Of course all the upper elevations of burkes garden and beartown require considerable hikes, except for chestnut ridge, which has a moderate climb up from the souther rim along the at trail.
The upper elevations of beartown are a very cool place to explore.
Interesting knowledge you have of it, must have been an interesting report you wrote.
A few more facts about it for ya, there's some type of ground beetle up there that is not known to be anywhere else. It's known as "beartown" for a good reason.
In the '50's, a mustang fighter plane from the michigan air guard flew to low at night and skimmed the high point and crashed into the thickets up there, it's stripped, but the body of the plane is still intact somewhere up there, but in the rhodadendrun that is so thick few people have ever located it or look for it.
the eastern divide goes along the western high point and then along the northwest rim slightly, and all water that falls to the west along that ridge flows west, all water that falls to the east flows east towards the new river.
The mill pond in the gap, which also likely formed the gap is the head of wolf creek and was known as wolf creek because of the vast # of wolves that lived there back in the days of longhunters.
It was also an eden of the east for wildlife back in the frontier days and indian tribes used to have major battles over this area in tazewell county. Lots of cool indian stories from this area.
A good 1 tells of 2 guys who slept in an old cabin in burkes garden, and had off loaded some 100 bags sacks of potatoes inside with them. At night an indian raiding party looked in the window in the dark and decided not to attack becuase they thought all the big sacks of potatoes were men, and thought they were vastly out numbered.
Some legendary longhunters cherished hunting in this region.
The entire geographical region in tazewell county is very unique and beautiful, not 15 miles west of burkes garden and beartown is "the cove" and clinch mountain wilderness which are very unique in their way.

Quoted: The entire geographical region in tazewell county is very unique and beautiful, not 15 miles west of burkes garden and beartown is "the cove" and clinch mountain wilderness which are very unique in their way.

Tazewll county reminds me of some alpine area in Germany.  It is really one of those unique areas though there are also some, less than scenic areas.  The Jewel Ridge area where you get into the coal fields. for example........

Quoted: telling the diffrence from cotten mouths and water snakes is not that hard.

Tell that to 97% of the population who ALWAYS scream water moccasin when they see a dark/brownish snake in/near/10 miles from water.

Quoted: Anyhow, round mountain is another cool place to get away, and you can drive right across the top of it on a dirt road, and never anyone up therer hardly either. Of course all the upper elevations of burkes garden and beartown require considerable hikes, except for chestnut ridge, which has a moderate climb up from the souther rim along the at trail. The upper elevations of beartown are a very cool place to explore. Dude, If I had another nickle for every time I have driven out the back of Round Mountain. Not to mention the time I found what I think was mountain lion spoor up there. I have been to Chesnut ridge up to the shelter and have some nice pics of the inside of the Garden, from up there that I will post sometime soon as they are not where I am today.  I also have pictures of Morris Knob and both Mount Rogers and Whitetop from the same spot. How did you get into Beartown Wilderness area?

I cruised a BIG tract of timber for The Nature Conservancy in that general area.  Some of you locals might know the tract.  It is/was owned by Smily Ratliff and was what used to be the old Governor's Mansion near Brumley Gap.  I was able to hike the the firetower on top of Clinch Mountain.  The view was amazing.  If I am correct, Beartown Wilderness would be north east and 5 miles from the property I was on.

Quoted: Smiley Ratliff still alive?  He was old twenty years ago! Here is a pic from the Kimberling Creek Wilderness Area I took.  KCWA is covered on the ridgetiops with American Chesnut sprigs. photos.ar15.com/ImageGallery/Attachments/DownloadAttach.asp?iImageUnq=28021 He played possum when I poked him wiht a stick.  He was sunning himself.

From what I have heard he his pretty senile.  He was talking about buying an island and creating a master race or some shit like that.  He sold that particular tract to The Nature Conservancy to further his legacy.


That timber rattler has a really neat color scheme.  Where is the Kimberling Creek Wilderness area?

Quoted: I think you are confusing Beartown Mountain near the Clinch WMA with Beartown wilderness.

Took a look at my maps, your right.  It is Beartown Mountain/Clinch WMA

I saw a huge cotton mouth just the other day.


I'll be here all week!  Try the veal and don't forget to tip your waitress.

Quoted: Quoted: I saw his cousin last spring. Lucky for him I wasn't packin' at the time. img.groundspeak.com/cache/log/f8463685-c869-4476-9868-d05a531fcea7.jpg Thats no snake , its the Locness monster !!!!

No shit!!!
I actually remember that pic. I think I spend too much time here

Quoted: no reason to fear rattle snakes or copperheads in my opinion, moccisins are agressive though. I saw some discovery channel show years ago about africa, I kid you not they showed this snake that must have been 15 feet long and black going through the tall grass in the plains, said it was poisionous and aggressive.  It raised it's head up about 2 feet off the ground to look at them. We have it made it the u.s.., except for florida and some of the southeastern states with their gators.

Most likely a Black Momba (the green ones get big, too) or Boonlsang (sp).  Very narrow snakes, but can be 15-18 feet long, I think, and poisonous as hell.  Saw some green ones move from tree to tree when I was in Africa for an exercise.  So long I thought there were like three 5 footers playing follow the leader, but nope, just one big one.  Scared the living hell out of me.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Smiley Ratliff still alive?  He was old twenty years ago! Here is a pic from the Kimberling Creek Wilderness Area I took.  KCWA is covered on the ridgetiops with American Chesnut sprigs. photos.ar15.com/ImageGallery/Attachments/DownloadAttach.asp?iImageUnq=28021 He played possum when I poked him wiht a stick.  He was sunning himself. From what I have heard he his pretty senile.  He was talking about buying an island and creating a master race or some shit like that.  He sold that particular tract to The Nature Conservancy to further his legacy. That timber rattler has a really neat color scheme.  Where is the Kimberling Creek Wilderness area? He has been trying to buy that island since I was in high school. Kimberling Creek is in the middle of Bland County. You have proabally driven past is a 100 times and never knew it was there.

Found it  I see it is east of 77 near Bastian.  Never been in that area of Bland before because it is lacking in any sort of timber.  Sadly my new job doesn't take me west of 81 any more (kinda good, kinda bad).  I had a landowner a few years ago ask me to look at his property that was on the southwest side of Hogback Mountain ( right above the 77 Rest Area actually)  took one look at it and said no thanks.  6 months later it is cut all to hell.  I wonder how much timber I missed.

One of the most rattlesnake friendly places I have been to is the Bottom Creek Gorge, south of Poor mountain in Roanoke/Montgomery county.  It is rough, nasty and steep.  I have just about typed mapped all 15 square miles of that mountain.