I came up on another Rattlesnake this evening. You'd think I'd be used to it by now (I do live in the desert after all,) but every time I run across a Rattler I react in about the same way . . .Holy Shit! My shop is like most everybody else's (full of 'stuff') but this is it for me; it's time to clean out some of my 'prize' stuff before my luck runs out. This guy struck AND HIT my gloved hand before I spotted him curled up next to my '35's Front BFG. Second one inside the shop this season. I may be gettin' too old for Hot Rodding at this rate (Ha Ha.) Let's hear some of your 'close calls' with whatever!
Can't you go out and buy King (Chicken) snakes and let them cut loose on your property? They're not poisonous and they're immune to all venomous snakes in North America, I believe. They don't harm anyone, either....toss some scraps to em every once in awhile to keep em on the property. We used to keep them to kill and eat all the copperheads and water moccassins in West TN. Great creatures, I tell ya! Honestly, I don't think I could handle living somewhere that has rattlers, though :/ You're a far braver soul than me! My worst story involves finding black widows and brown recluses in my junk.
I left the windows down on my truck one night and a racoon climbed in, not as bad as a rattle snake but not what i was expecting at 5 am!! Tryin to get the coon out was a major pain in the A$$!!!!
Along long time ago, when I was a youngster, I lived on a farm in central Texas. There was a lot of old oil well slush pits on the land that periodically held water. I was squirrel hunting one day and walked out into one of the pits. Grass was over knee high. I heard something over to my right and looked at a big Cottonmouth a few feet away. Shot him with my trusty .410. Got to hearing more slithering and looked at more of them all around. I gingerly got my ass out of there without getting struck.
I have a couple of black snakes around my barn but rattlesnakes is a whole different thing..... Wow Good luck with them........
Get some cats,they will keep poisonous snakes cleaned out. Florida has lots of snakes but my cats clean them up and the rodents,etc the snakes eat.
A couple summers ago, outside the garage I had a fender on the ground, I reached down to pick it up and there was rattlesnake under it....the shotgun ended that encounter. I've been luckier than you though, I've only had a bat and a couple lizards get into the garage.
my brother who travels the world with the US Airforce came home one night a few years ago and wanted to see my 51 buick that was parked in the back yard. i tried to tell him to wait till morning, but he really wanted to check it out. as were walking out back, through the dark side of the yard i got bit on the ankle by a damn copperhead. those lil basterds hurt!!! my foot was the size of a football for a week. no sooner than that healed, i was in the shop polishing some ss trim when i turned to get something off of my back shelf. lo and behold there was another copperhead coiled up on one of my tool boxes. as soon as i spotted him he struck at my chest. missed me by maybe an inch. scared the hell out of me. i have several cats outside now. even though the lil assholes crawl all over my cars and trucks, i rarely see snakes anymore.
We don't have snakes down here, and im real glad about that. Heres a thread about critters in your shop. A great read and funny as hell. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=343723
One time I left a muffler & tailpipe sitting outside of the shop for a couple of months. When I finally picked it up to move it I found it full of Wasps!!! sting, ouch, sting, swat, ouch, sting, run, ouch!!! Not the same as rattlers, but damn they still hurt!!
Oh i can relate - just killed another rattler this week, this one was next to the pool. Did yours rattle at all or just strike? I hear that they are becoming smart and use their rattle less now. .
Not poisoness but one night this summer I came home from my gf's house and heard this horrible squawking coming out of the fire place. An owl and his old lady flew down the chimney and into the fireplace. As I learned in FFA the owl is a sign of knowledge and wisdom but man are they noisy critters. We've only had one rattler around my parents house in the 15 years we've been here.
Is that a 'King Snake'? A 'Chicken Snake' here is a 'Rat Snake'. A 6 footer came out from under my truck one morning. Also watched the biggest Copperhead I have ever seen go across my yard one evening. Have you ever seen a 'Texas Indigo Snake'? That's the most awesome rattler eater I have ever seen.
This one just struck. I used to have a big yellow Tabby Cat that would 'mix it up' with any snake alive; had to fight him for a 6 footer when we first moved out here some 20 plus years ago. We have Bull snakes (very similar markings) that help keep the rattlers at bay. The Barn owls and Hawks help some too.
Lived in an apartment down in Ingelside, TX with my ex. One night she gets the bright idea for us to take a midnight swim in the apartment pool. So, we're trekkin' down the sidewalk and I see something dark ahead of us. Now, me being the man, I step closer for a look see. It was a damn snake all coiled up! Don't know what kind and didn't care. I turned to tell the ex and she had already abandoned me! I step back and make a smooth retreat. When I got to the apartment, to grab a weapon, the ex wants me to chase him into the water! Kindness to Gods creatures and all that crap. Did I mention she's my ex?
Well, we kind of share the name for them here. Technically, chicken snakes look kinda like copperheads. We have several different variations of true Kingsnakes...ones that have the white stripes and the more common black ones with yellow specks. Those things are like the Honey Badger, they just don't give a sh*t. <iframe width="420" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/4r7wHMg5Yjg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Holy crap. Rattle snakes and copperheads lurking in the dark corners of the shop. Maybe 6 months a year of frigid darkness aren't that bad after all.
Not nearly as bad as a Rattler.... I jumped in a M151A1 Jeep with a hard top on it, it had been sitting all weekend with the windows open at TTR, I was all ready in second when a bat with at least a 6 foot wingspread woke up and wanted out. I got out before he did, rest of the guys were laughing their ass'es off. I swear it had fangs at least 8" long.
Holy S#%t....Rattlesnakes , Copperheads and Bats. I will stick with the Coon that keeps wanting in at night.
I use to keep all of my power tools in a a big cabinet just kinda thrown in there all a helter skelter like until one day I grabbed a grinder that had a snake next to it. Now all of the power cords get neatly wrapped around the tools prior to putting them to bed.
Thanks to poboyross for that great Honey Badger Video! We've actually got Badgers out here as well; a Game and Fish guy brought out a trap a couple weeks ago for one that's 'toying' with the idea of moving in between the shop and the house. The funniest thing about that is that Badgers are a "Protected Species" because of their fur; I'm thinkin let him keep his fur, I'm sure as hell not gonna be the one that tries to take it away from him!
Haven't seen any snakes (much less a rattler) on my property, but we have tons of black widows. For the most part they stay out of the garage, but I have killed a few inside over the years.
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