our copperhead

was back today. Well, I hope it was the same one, can't bear thinking there's more than one. I went to water the potted peppers and saw him move. This is maybe 100ft from where we saw him last time. I had the baby standing right there with me, and he was less than 3' away. Needless to say I set a new world record in the baby snatch and run! Fortunately DH was on his way home and the bugger hadn't gone far. I'd have taken a picture, but that shovel didn't improve his looks.

tiG, I am glad yall were able to 'do him in'..those snakes really scare me.

Ewwwwwww! I've had to say good bye to a couple rattlers that came into the yard this week. Last year one of my dogs got bit. My sweet dachsie looked like a Shar Pei with ears. ;-) He came through it fine, but I don't want to deal with that again!

Any snake scares me.

tiG and tigerliy -
I wholly sympathize with the actions you took, especially you tiG with a baby - just can't take the chance, much too dangerous.

I wish there was some way we humans could draw a line somewhere and say, "ok snake - you're on that side, we're on this side." As y'all know, they're really good to have around (at a distance, right broots & Lisa? ;)- the more snakes, the fewer rodents.
But when they've got poisonous fangs and bad tempers, there's just no helping it. Shovel or shotgun time.

BTW - my dad claims that during the depression in north Texas, he and his brothers used to bring Grandma home dozens of Rattlers every weekend for what he claims is a delicious recipe for chili. Hmmm...
dad's at that age where his stories get longer and less believable with each telling :)

They have a Rattlesnake Roundup in Texas every year. Haven't tasted snake yet though.

Rattlesnake Roundups are popular here in south Ga also.. Each year there are several.. They have cook offs, which include chili and of course battered and fried, southern style..Most say it's like white meat chicken, but honestly I can't say.. I don't really want to eat snakes, but a lot of folks do around here.. Also. opossum, rabbit, squirrel, gators,turtles, and of couse frog legs..
Larkie

Had froglegs years and years ago on a summer vacation through the Gulf States. Like you said Larkie - white chicken meat, and IMHO not bad really.

Hmm...*real* Rattlesnake Roundups. I'll have to apologize to Dad - thought he was... embroidering... his childhood memories again (but still don't believe the one that used to start: "when I was your age, I had to walk 20 miles in the snow everyday to school... ;)

Larkie -I can understand your feelings about eating things not in the standard supermarket bins - but actually, if you close your eyes and keep an open mind, it's amazing how tasty some things can be.

Hehe - speaking from 20 years experience of living in and travelling around Asia - y'all wouldn't believe some of the things I've been fed... :-D

people that is aweful thing to do to a snake!! I bet you kill friendly ones also just in case!? huh?

shakin my head in shame

mark, mark -

Please, before you get indignant, reread the whole thread, ok?
Nobody's killing kingsnakes - we're talking rattlers here.
In one case, protecting a child, in the other protecting a pet that had been bitten before.
In the case of Rattlesnake Roundups, no one is advocating consumption, but merely commenting on the fact that it happens.

"Most rattlesnakes are peaceable, retiring animals that flee for the underbrush when
they encounter humans. Unless they are hunting rodents, rattlers strike only in
self-defense. But if you step on one, a rattler will retaliate with a
rapid strike that can be debilitating or even lethal. In the United States, about 8,000
people a year are bitten by rattlers or their cousins in the pit viper subfamily, which
includes copperheads and water moccasins. In 1988 two doctors at the University of
Southern California Medical Center analyzed 227 cases of venomous snakebite, covering
more than a decade, and found that 44 percent occurred during accidental contact, such
as stepping on the animal."

Yes Mark,
Please re-read.. We are talking deadly snakes here that in the south are as common as our gnats..LOL..Around our ponds, in the fields, or on our country roads, I would never think of killing even these snakes, but we are talking 3 ft away from children, pets and ourselves..Where I live, you could be dead before you could get to medical help or they could get to you..When they are on your porches, knocking on the door, you have to think about saftey first..Moccasins and rattler's are not particular about what or whom they bite..I am an animal lover and I also rehabilitate wildlife for the DNR.. I just released my oldest Horned owl last week, I have hand fed him since birth. A great experience to watch him fly away.. He likes snakes, LOL..I don't eat snakes, but a lot of people her do(rattlesnake)..The round-ups are mainly for population control here..
Larkie

Larkie -
Wow - raising a Horned Owl by hand!!
Would love to see pictures. Have any?

Going back to your food theme Larkie, i've tried a few on (and off) that list - snails, frogs and alligator, rabbit, reindeer, and my favourite, oryx steak yum.

Bet you've sampled more than a few creepy crawlies then Lopho??

How many Horned owls ahve you got at present Larkie, and what other animals in care?

Only 1 owl left, and it is here to stay..The sibling to the one just released..She has a deformed wing and leg, and cannot fly well..She more hops than flies, so she will be my baby from now on.. I had to get a special permit to keep her..I have raised a lot of animals to be returned to the wild, rabbits, racoons, squirrels, all kinds of song birds, turtles and others..Right now the owl is the only wildlife I am caring for, but I have 5 dogs, all were strays, 7 cats, counting the tiny kitten someone left today on my back porch, hm...who was it? LOL..I have several types of birds, frogs, goats, ducks, geese,rabbits, and a few others hanging around here..We are known locally as the "funny farm"..and we truly are..
Larkie

Mark, please check this out http://davesgarden.com/editgj/viewentry.php?rid=18485 I would never kill a snake unless it is a danger to myself or family. The hyperlink is to my journal, they are the pictures of the snake eggs I hatched. So now, you don't have to hang your head in shame :-)

Lophophora, everything you've mention about eating..except snake and possum, are regulars on my dinner table(yes..lol..i am in the Gulf State..*grin*)..mmmm good fried frog legs..in corn meal...mmmmmm--heck, here tell I've been known to go frog catchin'...;-)

mark, just so you know, we found a huge (DH says 5 ft) rat snake in the shed that's attached to the house yesterday. The snake is still there. But a copperhead is just too much when you have a baby around. I'll kill everyone I find in my yard.

This time of the year here, the rattlers are shedding, and will strike at anything. I've been told that it's because they are blind when they shed, but I don't know if that's true or not. All I know is that they do strike at anything in August, they don't retreat like normal and they don't rattle to warn you. Add to that the drought, when they will come into any place that gets water, (gardens), it's really scary and you have to be on the watch all the time. You never know where they might be, but gardens are a prime place because they are watered.

Please be careful, especially this time of the year and since most areas are in a drought.

There was one on the cement driveway at the motel my son works at a few weeks ago. In town. It struck at a car tire. Even he thought that was kind of strange, and he's used to it happening here since we live in the country.

As for the copperheads, we have had them on our front deck on two rare occasions and am always careful when weeding the bank close to the road as they like to sun themselves on the rocks when they abandon the drainage ditch under the road.
I have a rattle from a snake my dad killed many years ago. I still have the rattle in a case in an old jewelry box cause I never want to forget the one that didn't get away and we ate him. Times were tough back then. My grandparents lived for a spell in Texas and then Tenn. and there was a lot of rattlesnake cooking going on then. I didn't mind eating it years ago, but think my taste buds have changed over the years and now prefer something bigger, like buffalo!

I have no idea how I found this thread when searching for "Poblano peppers", but since I did find it, I read it and I have to add my comments.......

I grew up in FL and CA -- right smack in the middle of "rattlesnake gulch", in the middle of CA. The rattlers there would get to be as long as 12-13 feet and like mentioned earlier in this thread, would get mean as could be when mating season came around or when they were shedding. I've seen the damage that copperheads and rattlesnakes can do, and it ain't pretty (especially when they kill a young child). While I *AM* a wildlife advocate, I do believe in the importance of "thinning the herds" -- whether it be deer, or snakes or any overpopulating animals.

In Magnum, OK, there are annual rattlesnake rounds ups held every year. The snakes are caught, milked for anti-venom, and often many are released. However, SOME are killed and yes, there is a degree of commercialization to it. However, it is not done without state and governmental controls and protection and it is done mostly for population control and the value of these animals for controlling vermin populations is not undermined nor are they unappreciated!


I have to agree with Larkie (whom I've known as a fellow animal lover for years), as well as with tiG, if a venomous snake is nearby and you cannot get away safely (particularly difficult if there is a youngster in tow), then killing it is the safest option.

TiG,
I grew up in Tucker, GA and we had a Copperhead mamma living in our front bushes for years. We never saw her, but every year, my dad or brother would run across a bunch of baby Copperheads. They always got rid of the babies, but they never could find the mother. What about Water Moccasins? I have seen a bunch of them...playing down at the creek. They get HUGE! Once a few years ago, we were laying out in my backyard. My dog started barking and jumping forward and back. We got up and watched a giant Water Moccasin striking at my dog back and forth! Luckily it didn't ever bite her, she was too quick! She was a Good Dog!! Needless to say, it was a long time before I layed out in the backyard again! Take care,
yvana :)

I've already got my eyes peeled. dear granddaughter has a pet snake (daddy does) and she pets it all the time. I'm trying to impress on her that outside snakes aren't like Zeus and that she can't pick them up. Lord watch over her.