all this talk about spiders. i looked at a car the other day and a gopher snake (non venomous) shot out from under it and went right by me. another time (about 15 years ago) i bought an old 64 bonneville for parts. crawled in the trunk to take all the tools , parts,magazines left behind and found a shedded snake skin. how many of guys have snake stories? i'm sure some of you southern boys have looked at an old car or two in your life and seen your share of copperheads or cotton mouths? lets hear the stories.
No snake story Axle, but.... I was helping my dad move a tear drop trailer a few weeks ago. I was wearing shorts and this nasty looking, cat sized, rat looking thing grazed my leg. Scared the living hell out of me. Turned out to be a possum ( non venemous variety ).
We pulled the front wheel on a 4X4 P/U. A young kid and the boss were waist deep in the wheel well unbolting something when an 18" garter snake fell to the floor. 2 mili-seconds later the young guy was outside the garage looking in. The only thing was...it was in the middle of a summer monsoon. I can still see him standing in the pouring rain looking in to see if we caught it yet. He wasn't coming back in until it was caught. I don't know how he got out of that wheelwell so fast. When I opened my storm door returning from work one day a dead 5 foot black snake fell on the deck at my feet. It scared the **** out of me. Someone had stopped to look at an old car I had for sale and it was sharing space with them under the car. They thought it was funny. I didn't quite agree. The upstairs of my garage was a favorite spot for shedding of what I hope was a black snake. I've found a 5-6 foot skin on several occations over the years. Lots of sharp edges on the parts to catch the skin on. I don't mind snakes and won't kill one if I know it's there. They do shock the **** out of you when you aren't expecting them.
Many,many uears ago a buddy and I were looking thru an old yard at the tin. My buddy had his 3 year old son with him. I kneeled down next to a 40 sedan that was flat on the ground. I was wanting to check to see if it had a Columbia rearend. Well my buddy liked to spook people by yelling snake all the time. When he yelled snake I figured he was just spoffing me. Well when his little boy started screaming and hollering I figured something was up. I looked forward along the side of the car,while still kneeling by the rear fender. There looking me in the eye was the biggest Copper head that I've ever seen. It was halfway down the running board,coming straight at me and it's tail was still under the front fender. My buddy said that I didn't touch the groud for at least 15-20 feet and then I was just skimming the ground a little bit. No I don't have much use for those snakes yet.
HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!!!!!!!! GREAT STORY. it reminded me of something. i know someone who had thier mailbox out near the street in the country of southern virginia. he opened the mailbox one day and stuck his hand halfway in the box when he realised the neighbor put a dead snake in there. he about **** his pants on that one.
Dools forgot to tell about the time he and I were in a yard looking at the cars, he was wearing boots, we paused in a clearing to look around, the owner of the place asked me if my buddy liked snakes. Ol Dools was standing on a five footer! When we told him, he went straight up while the snake went east, both as fast as they could. When Dools came down he was like a Disney cartoon digging out headed the other way.
Last year at the Charlotte Goodguys event this guy comes up to me and tells me I need to shoot a photo of the snake by his car. I tried to blow the guy off, figuring that he was one of the typical photo beggars that I have to endure at every event. I'm guessing he put some lame *** rubber snake on his car and thinks he's clever. Finally, after the guy bugs me for a while I walk over to the car so he'll leave me alone. As he points to the rear wheel I see a REAL snake coming out of the rear brake drum on his Model A coupe. Apparently he had just pulled up, saw it, and then came to me. That means that the snake had to have travelled in or on his car somehow, because we were in the middle of a huge paved lot. The snake just hung out for a while and then slithered off. Not too exciting, but kind of neat.
My first car was a 69 chevy van. Used to go surfing down on the Texas gulf coast. I was on the beach one day and had a u-joint break. I had crawled under the van to see what the hell was going on. I was wearing some of those nylon baggies (think that's what we called em), shorts anyway. A friend of mine who was an avid snake collector, spotted me laying under that van, snuck up on me an let a five foot black indigo snake go up my pants leg. I was concentrating on the work at hand when I felt a tickling sensation going up my pants leg. After a brush or two with my hand, I looked down to see this big black ****in' snake crawlin up my shorts!! Of course I bumped the **** out of my head, tried crawling out from under there as fast as I could. I hear sombody laughing and figured out I had been a victim of a pretty good stunt!! Scared the living **** out of me! Not sure I ever got him back for that one.
It's funny you mention this, I just got back from Arkansas ( I helped a friend move there) while I was there my buddy told me he met a "good ol' boy" that said he had a lot of project cars,..... so we go there and were looking around, my friend was wearing shorts and asked the other guy if there was any snakes around,... the good ol' boy says "nahhhhhh",..... just about 2 minutes later we see a chicken hawk dive down into the gr*** about 20 ft. away and after about 3 or 4 minutes it takes off with a 2 to 3 ft. snake in it's mouth,..... Art says "what the heck was that?",........ the ol boy says,...... that aint nuthin' but a little ol' copperhead,...... Art didn't stick around to hear what he said,.....he was hot footin it to the car.
Not really a snake story but maybe it will help someone. I am absolutely terrified of SNAKES so for you guys that have the parts car setting around. An old wives tale that has worked for me is to put Mothballs out. A couple times a year I throw them in and under my Garage and house under my 55 that sets more than it moves and around the yard. In the 8 years I’ve lived here I have seen only two snakes on my property that was my first month here. The second a couple of weeks ago (I was off my schedule of throwing out the mothballs by over a month) I have killed them on my neighbor’s property a few times a year. 410 Shotgun at a distance but they have to pick them up I will not get anywhere closer than 25 feet dead or alive of them things. I have been told it also will keep mice and some insects out of your stuff. I have seen a couple of mice over the years in my garage but not to many. 36RRC
DUDE, i just read your story and i am literally crying from luaghing sooo hard! ahhh, thats a good one!
Some good chuckles, here, especially those about Dools and his cartoon type antics. Living and working in the desert areas of the southwest for most of my adult lif, I have had my share of "snake" adventures. One time, I was doing an "in ch***is" rebuild of my brother's '57 Chevy 283; had it on stands in my garage, and was under it torqueing the rod bolts. My bride was standing in the door with a cuppa for me, when she yells "SNAKE", and jumps into the car, spilling hot coffee on the floor right next to my head. I asked her what kind of snake it was, because I wanted to know whether to worry about getting "snattlerake" bit, or not, and she just said it was long and slithery. I aked her where it was, and she said she didn't know, it had headed into the garage when she yelled and jumped into the car. So, here I was on a creeper with my feet back under the diff, twisting around to see if I could find the thing. I finally just pointed myself in the general direction of the big door and shot out from under the car and into the driveway. It turned out to be a big King Snake, and I just left him to have free run of the place, because they will usually keep rattlers away, as well as vermin.
Axle, I was working under my '27 Ford sedan, I reached over to get my racket and it felt funny, there in my hand was a five foot racer snake. The snake didn't move so I let go and it took off like a funny car. Snakes don't shake me up at all, I respect there part in nature. My mother can't even look at a picture of a snake without screaming and sweating. Be Cool Cruiser 49
Had a 5' ish Black snake lay up on the cowl of one of the hay trucks on the farm. It was fall and the truck had been driven a couple hours before so it was warm. Guess he thought it was a good place to warm up. Well I walked up from behind the truck climbed in, put the key in started it, look up to shift it in reverse and saw it. Smacked my head on the back gl*** and roof, bruised my knees as they flew up to hit the bottom on the steering wheel. My heart jumped out of my chest. Snakes dont bother me much, but I wasn't expecting to see that view.
We were working on my buddies '67 shortwide one night and had just put the body back on the frame after painting it and the bottom of the cab. We had the truck apart for about a month while he blasted the frame and rebuilt suspension, you know all the normal stuff. So we put the cab on and tighten the cab bolts down and I figure that I will start to install the new wiring harness. I look at the hole where the glove box is and to my surprise, there is a big *** water moccasin curled around the bar built on the dash. I almost ****ped all over my self getting out of the truck (and shop). We argued for the next 2hrs who was going to get it out..................
Ok, I gave my anti-snake remedy earlier so here’s one of my I’m Terrified of Snakes stories. I was on a runway denial exercise at Herbert Field as 50 cal Gunner on a 113 APC I had it a lot better than my Security Police comrades since I got to stay with the vehicle, so no sleeping on the ground and worrying about creepy crawlers. My ***istant gunner and me had just finished cutting small trees and branches to camouflage the vehicle when I got up in the turret to check to make sure that we did not have anything blocking the movement of the gun. When I here some rustling to my left, I look to the left and the biggest black snake I have ever seen is coming up the branch toward me. I FREAKED, spun the 50 around and let loose with 100 rounds of blank ammo at damn near point blank range. For those of you not familiar with this weapon, and the blanks it shoots, it puts out the barrel at least 6 feet of flame. I had people running for cover thinking we were under attack, yelling where is the enemy coming from. I had my Flight Chief run up to me and ask what I saw? I’m SHAKING, my heart is going about 10,000 miles and hour and I can barely talk, I try telling him SNAKE but it comes out as a whisper and more like snneeeeekkkee. He gets this what the hell look on his face, I am frozen with fear and the best I can do is kind of point in the direction of the snake and once again tell him snneeeeekkkee. He climbs up and looks at where I’m pointing and see’s what is now a dead snake with a charred head still squirming on the top of the 113, smacks me in the back of the head! Calls me every name in the book and some I had not heard before or since. I spent the rest of the exercise as the ***istant gunner, with everyone coming up to me with anything they thought might p*** as a snake throwing it at me yelling snake. 36RRC
My dog got bit by a copperhead when we were backpacking on top of a cliff spur at night in Kentucky. It was too dark to try to climb down, so I chased the snake off, touniqueted his leg, and ****ed the poison out, even though you're not supposed to do that (**** poison out) anymore. I released the tourniquet gradually over a couple hours to SLOWLY release whatever poison was left into his system and cauterized the wound with vodka. His breathing got shallow for a couple hours and then it p***ed. I don't know that I've ever been happier than I was when I opened the tent in the morning and he went running out. I used to be afraid of snakes, but after that, I'm not really. I don't know why. We have a snake that lives under our porch. I let him live there on the agreement that he eats whatever mice he sees...
I don't mind the black snakes or the garden snakes or the bull snakes or the red racers. It's those damn rattlesnakes that get on my nerves! I end up shooting at least one or two per year here. Just one of those little things you get use to living in Arizona. Gary 4T950 Chevy Guy
I had the best of both worlds with my '54 Buick. It was off the road for a couple weeks in Florida, and was parked out behind the shop at work. I had it on the lift one night (about 2am), and was putting the brakes together. It started raining baby black widow spiders...hundreds of them, dropping down on those hair-thin silk strands. After knocking the little egg sacks to the ground, they were still everywhere. So I broke out the carb cleaner and started spraying. After the obvious spaces, I started hosing it out everywhere, all the nooks and crannies...I craned around to get a better shot up behind something, unleashed the contents of the can, and scored a direct hit on a baby rattle snake. It shot straight at my head. That was more excitment than I needed at 2am, so I got the little snake out of there, finished with the carb cleaner, and drove home. Brad
My son bought a 53 Ford and when we were cleaning out the air intakes behind the grille there was a dead family of snakes in there dried up in a ball about 6 of them.
I've told the longer version here before, but on April 1, 1979 I was nailed DEEP by a 6 ft Diamondback Rattler while looking through surplus wrecks on an old military base on the outskirts of town.....I promise you, it is not a pretty sight, nor pleasant one....first of all, the poison is a neurotoxin- your throat clamps closed and your lungs tighten up, while your heart races faster...which doesn't exactly work well....the bite area turned black immediately and had to be CUT OUT with a knife sans painkillers....my leg swelled up like a bloated corpse, I threw up until only bright green came out (the sheriff who drove out to check it out turned green and hurled as well)....I started seeing "THE FARM" and the "PURCHASE RECIEPT", no kidding...the old time Doc who finally saw me in town gave me horse antivenin, because even though the Texas Gulf Coast is infested with Rattlers, there was no stock of bite vaccine...... But I never developed a hatred of snakes and don't even blink twice when seeing a rattler.... True story......
Come down to my area I will SHOW you some RATTLESNAKES ... My favorite junk yard has them as large as my arm and 8 to 10 feet long ...
Here's one that got loose a couple of years ago and terrified the neighbors until I grabbed him. He was as gentle as a baby... Hope the pic loads okay.
I can't remember if this was caught in Clay or Calhoun county WV. It was in a local newspaper from down there.Down at my dads in Putnam county Wv all I ever saw was copperheads and black snakes.
Just saw a 5 foot long black snake of some sort about 2 hours ago while helping a buddy cut the front axle out from under his 47 Ford. We ended up smashing a cinder block down on it. I hate snakes!
Rattlesnakes are one of my favorite creatures of this Earth. I have never seen one that big thats amazing. When I poke around some old cars out in the prairie their a common staple. I like sneaking up on them, when its chilly in the mornings and their a little bit numb. I remember in this 55, there was a bullsnake that crawled in one of the holes by the sunvisor, after some mice I reckon, he lodged himself in there but coulnt get back out. You never what treasures you'll find in a old car. Mummified I'll throw in another fine creature I woke up in this old Poncho.
The Jalopy Journal
