Grandsons about got into a small rattlesnake tonight (15 inch great basin). We have some trout in a farm pond and feed them every night. They went to feed the fish with their dad. Little snake went off about two feet away. Luckily the only one hurt is the snake. I asked if they cut the head off with a shovel. Nope, no shovel available. Their dad whacked it with a golf club! Man were the boys ages 6 to 12 wound up to tell me all about it. It's their first snake! My dad taught me how to deal with them and now they are learning. I've been warning them to be on the lookout for snakes and we've had discussions about telling the vipers from the others.
I know people have different attitudes about this. I've posted about snakes before. If they are out in the wild away from people I leave them alone. If they are on my property and pose a threat to my family they are dead snakes.
If there was such a thing as a good snake, it would be a dead snake.
Not A Rattlesnake....
We found this little fellow hanging out on the front porch recently....
If I find the snake, I relocate them, but if the wife sees it first.... well.... it's dead snake walking.....
Not A Rattlesnake....
Just a word to the wise, if you make it a habit of re-locating rattlesnakes, it is not a matter of if, but when you will be bitten.
Just last fall, my dad's friend (who was suffering from malaria), attempted to capture a small rattlesnake to re-locate it away from his house (something he had done many times).
He paid the price with a nice snakebite. Treatments are not cheap, he recieved the anti-venom and walked out the door to recover at home. They wanted to keep him for a week.
He's a tough guy and recovered from the malaria and the rattlesnake bite.
