Killed the first rattlesnake of the year

[cragginshred]

Was walking with my lab in between sets and chuck it throws for him to swim last Sat and saw a Rattler near a eucalyptus tree. Pic coming......

[cragginshred]

Have you guys had any unwanted critters at your lake?

[Fatroll]

just wakeboats and tubes,lol

[TEL]

Just this pretty little snake. Almost stepped on it one morning walking down to the boat house

[WBLskier]

3 feet of ice In April.

[dvskier]

@TEL that could have changed your plans if you stepped on it. They have the most powerful venom in the USA.

[TEL]

@dvskier that did go through my mind

[Fehlindra]

omg what crepy things you guys have over there found this regarding the "pretty little snake" 'If red touches yellow, it can kill a fellow.' (Eastern Coral Snake)

 

Harmless look-a-likes 'If red touches black, it is a friend of Jack.' (Scarlet Kingsnake or Scarlet Snake) non poison

[aupatking]

The only ones we’ve run across so far this year have been non-poisonous. That hasn’t stopped my ski partners from killing them. I’ve told them 40 times that the non-poisonous watersnakes are so territorial, they’ll keep away water moccasin. I don’t think they’ll kill them, but the two don’t like being around each other, for sure.

[jhughes]

Enjoying Illinois right now.

[cragginshred]

 

[UWSkier]

He looks well-fed

[ozski]

Seems to be a universal thing that the shovel is the natural enemy of the snake.

[aupatking]

Snakes don't like rat shot from pistols, or much of anything from a shotgun either

[oldjeep]

I dont feel so bad about the 8 inches of snow we got this week. I guess the upside is that we dont have snakes, gators or bugs the size of chihuahuas.

[Orlando76]

@TEL almost stepped on a coral snake barefooted as a kid once in Kelly Park. Might’ve been the only one I’ve ever seen.

 

Has anybody used those CCI rat shot loads on a snake before? They seem awfully light. I keep a 22mag with rat shot in the yard for moccasins. Never had to use it yet. All other snakes have a safe haven here.

[eleeski]

@cragginshred Tasty? I soak them in soy sauce and barbecue them.

 

Eric

[aupatking]

@Orlando76 my dad was a land surveyor for 50 years. CCI rat shot and an old 22 were with him every day. It kills them instantly, but you really don’t see damage. Just a bunch of blood spots kinda “bubble out”. Rat shot in a .45 literally vaporized the head of the last moccasin I shot. Maybe that’s overkill

[Bruce_Butterfield]

Awwww, that's a little one:) Here's one I got a few years ago

 

I did get one of his great-great-grandson's last weekend too, but missed the other 3 as they slithered out of the rocks. Haven't seen a moccasin in a long time, so I hope they got the message.

 

Outside of snakes, 2 otters and a beaver so far this year. Just another typical spring at the lake!

 

[ozski]

Any penalties in the US for smoking native critters? In Australia - It is an offence under the National Parks and Wildlfe Act to kill or remove a snake from its environment, with fines of up to $10,000 and two years imprisonment enforceable.

 

"The only exception is if a venomous snake is posing a genuine threat to life and safety."

 

Drivers that deliberately swerve to run over snakes can also be reported and fined under the legislation.

[WaterSkier12]

Taurus judge, 410 shells work too

[Keith_Menard]

The first water snake I ski with will be the day I sell my ski and pick up competitive bridge at the local senior center

[BraceMaker]

@ozski states set their own regulation, usually pretty easy to claim that a venomous snake in an area where children are frequently playing poses genuine threat.

[jimbrake]

@cragginshred - last October I was flyfishing on a section of the Middle Fork of the Kings River that doesn't see many people. I had moved off the water to get around some brush and I heard this rattling that was so loud it took a second or two for it to register what it was. Fortunately this rattler was a good 10 feet away, but it was comical how my body reacted involuntarily - I basically broad jumped up and in the opposite direction like I was 16 years old then let out a "WOOOOO" that David Lee of Van Halen would've been impressed with. ISYN - this rattler was almost 4 inches thick and his rattle was about the size of my thumb. He was big, old, and pissed. I could still hear him rattling over the sound of the river as I worked my way upstream. Oh, we don't have any bad critters at the lake except this one

 

[slvrbulit]

Hell NO. I don't know how you guys do it. I agree with @oldjeep my crappy weather isn't so bad.

[slvrbulit]

Whats worse a snake or a gator? It doesn't seem like either keeps you guys out of the water.

[TEL]

Snakes and gators are not something we deal with every time we go skiing. For me living in Florida over 45 years I have seen maybe 5 water snakes. While water skiing maybe 3 or 4 gators, but they moved on pretty quickly. Just beware of your surrounding, look before you jump in. Being able to wear shorts and flip flops 10 months and ski year round beats ice and snow any day. Now being a Floridan when the water temp dips in the mid 60's I take a winter break.

[aupatking]

@ozski the regulations exist, but are pretty lax. We’ve got enough of them, that no one really misses them. Out in their own habitat, I leave them alone. In mine, nope.

Gators are big enough that you don’t often step on them, and are size conscious enough that anything under 12 feet (which is 99% of them) doesn’t like to mess with people. So, I’ll take gators all day long

[cragginshred]

@ozski basic rule of thumb is if out on the trail encounters...leave em alone.

If they are in the boathouse or near my home hast la vista mo fo! To answer your question I have never heard of anyone getting in trouble for killing a Rattler in Ca. Nor have I even considered it a law I was breaking.

 

@jimbrake that's great he warned you. Three years ago this July was when the little bugger on my property tagged me on the heel. 99.9% of the ones I've encountered don't rattle. They are so used to critters walking by them due to being so well blended in.

 

@TEL that's part of the problem, the longer you go without seeing one the less you think you will see one and you let your guard down. When I got bit I did not have a flashlight and it was almost dark. I also was not looking where I was walking. He wanted nothing to do with me until I stepped right next to hime

 

I live in rattlesnake country at 3.000' elev in Ca foothills they are where we live, climb, ski and Mt bike

[Andre]

Do you guys living with snakes or gators let your pets out loose outdoor, out of the house in the morning ?

[Taperflex]

About 40 years ago, I was skiing with Russ Stiffler on Lake Osborn. I quit tricking through a narrow part of the lake. After I fell, Russ said “ why’d you stop skiing”? I replied “ all those gators on the bank”. He said “ aw, they won’t hurt you”. All I could think was about those Tarzan movies I watched as a kid. As soon as you hit the water, they all came after you.

[dchristman]

@Taperflex that reminds me of the last time I ever skied in the canals long ago. I was always kind of nervous about skiing in that dark, narrow water, and I insisted I was going to trick up near the airport where it was wide enough to turn the boat at speed. I was just about to slip into the water on my trick ski when Kenny Mead said "there's a gator!". He thought he was kidding and it was an old tire sitting on the bank. No - it was about an 8 footer that slithered into the water at the same time I did. I couldn't have gotten back on the platform any faster.

[OSUwaterskier]

Funny you say that @Andre. Our dogs always just wonder the property down to the lake (Lake Lanier, GA). We have lived there for 8 years and have never seen a snake before.

 

About two weeks ago, our 80lb doodle came back limping one afternoon. Get him inside and he is barely moving, flip him over and his paw is absolutely drenched in blood. Rush to the ER vet. Verdict was four copper head bites on the same paw! Luckily he is a tank and was only down for about a week (damn wound still has not heeled though). Dr said we were lucky it wasn’t our 25 lb mix - he wouldn’t have made it.

[dchristman]

Back at home, a strange encounter. We were putting the course in two years ago early spring. We saw something swimming across the lake and thought maybe a snake. It climbed onto the bank - turned out to be a muskrat. We were idling back to the dock and it ran along the bank following us all the way down to the lake, stopping to look at us occasionally. Surprisingly, it disappeared into a hole right at our dock as we pulled in. I was afraid to get out of the boat. I thought it was going to launch at me like the squirrel out of the tree in the Christmas Vacation movie!

[dchristman]

Yet another thing to be wary of in Florida is venomous caterpillars. I never knew there was such a thing until a friends young son unknowingly picked one up a few years ago in Melrose, FL.

Yes, the cold north really isn't that bad.

[kingshredd]

Ran across this one on a mountain bike ride the other day here in Chico Ca.

[bigtex2011]

My wife, son and both neighbors has been bitten by copperheads at the lake where we live. We usually see then the most in the evenings from about april-sept. My son had to get anti-venom and my wife spent about a day in the ER.

 

We have timber rattlers at the other lake we ski on. I have only seen 2 in about 5 years but they definitely freaked me out.

 

peace and love

 

 

[Ed_Johnson]

In 98 we moved from Hawaii to Carlos Tx, and we were the only house on a Private Ski Lake. Killed 22 Water Moccasins the first week. Welcome to Texas.

 

Quickly upgraded from a 357 with Snake Shot to a 12 Gauge with double 00 buck. It became a sport. You always carried the 12 gauge in the boat.

 

Sometimes if you just hit them mid body, they would turn around and charge the boat.That made for a clear head shot, but these babies were huge and aggressive.

 

Can't even count how many I shot from the tractor while bush hogging the 55 acres around the Lake. Finally figured out to keep all the grass short around the whole Lake since they loved to go after field mice in the tall grass. They never liked being exposed in the open.

 

 

 

 

[Fraser]

Shooting guns and waterskiing! It may not get any better than that. The whole snake thing freaks me out, but I would take managing them suckers for a longer ski season any day. 3 feet of ice, and below 0 still up here in Alberta :-(

[skihacker]

you might be a redneck if there's a shotgun in your ski rack!!

[jhughes]

"It became a sport. You always carried the 12 gauge in the boat." - Hilarious.

[UWSkier]

Haven't seen any here in AZ yet since moving in December. I hear you'll see them if you go for nighttime walks in the summer. Think I'll be carrying Mr. Judge with me on those walks. Fortunately, AZ is a Constitutional Carry state...

[braindamage]

@Ed_Johnson: 0% chance I’d stay on a lake with that many poisonous snakes. I love to ski, but I love to live even more.

[Ed_Johnson]

@braindamage ... This was our only chance to own our own Lake, every skiers dream. No one had lived there in a long time. We made the deal in the winter, no snakes, cold as hell.

Moving from Kauai, a couple months later, picked up our new SUV we ordered in Houston, along with a new MC Prostar, and headed to the Lake. By the time we got there it was dark. Put the boat in the enclosed boat house, and as I was lifting it up, when I was greeted by a Water Moccasin coming into the boat house, who was intrigued by the light. Ran and got my 357 and ended that.

In the morning I saw another on the Lake, went into town an got a 12 Gauge.... Battle was on.... Secret was, they loved to cross the Lake in the morning. I would lower the boat early, sit on the upper balcony in the house, overlooking the Lake, having coffee. Wait to see one crossing the Lake. Wait till it got in the middle, run to the boat, and go out and blast it before it could get to shore. Between the boat and the tractor, I significantly reduced their population in a week.

The grass had grown up about 4 to5 feet high around the Lake. That is where they thrived. Going after the field rats and mice. Bush hogging all the grass down, I shot several of them. Answer was, eliminate their habitat and the problem was solved. I learned they did not like being in the open where they were vulnerable.

After flying Fighters in Combat, this was nothing. We use to have a patch on our flight suits that said, "Patience my ass, I want to kill something." Appropriate in this case.

 

PS: Have to say Texas was the best state we ever lived in. Best people I have ever met !!!

 

 

 

[Fehlindra]

usually ill wear 2/3 mm wetsuit here in sweden but if i would live over there in the sun i would consider use this to survive those reptiles and never walk a step without double supershell on my feet

 

[Calisdad57]

About 15yrs ago I was in Avon Park, FL on business setting up some equipment for a client. His place was on a small lake and he had a pontoon boat that was about 6’ from the water due to drought. Me being the engineer I got it jacked up on some heavy wall pvc pipe and got it to roll back into the lake. There I was staring at this huge gray snake that was under the boat and about 3’ away from me. As I was leaning over trying to get a better look at it while asking “hey! What kind of snake is this?” the client pushed me out of the way and beat the hell out of it. For the rest of the week everyone teased me about being the “snake identifier” from Oregon.

[aspski]

Found a few snakes in the back storage room at my work!

 

 

[klindy]

@ozski I recommend the “triple S” method in your case ... Shoot, Shovel and Shut up.

[klindy]

@Ed_Johnson I’d recommend BBB or F or T shot. Probably better than 00 buck for snakes. More pellets and same wallop.

[Ed_Johnson]

@klindy ... Thanks, as a retired fighter pilot, more firepower has always been a main interest of mine. I was an advocate of shoulder launched missiles for Walley's and wave runners.