Rattlers awakened EARLY!!

[Hoser John]

Amazing fat smelly ol'boy was suning himself when dispatched yesterday afternoon. Absolutely amazing as over 60+ years in the boonies and NEVER seen before april fools day wow. Poison oak awake too with lizards hungry and scurrying around also. 75 here in Shasta county yesterday and even warmer today. Err on the side a caution detecting as was NOT being very cautious as in winter mode of alls well--well now I'll put on the open headphones to hear them buzztails---John

 

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[TerryC]

Terry it is true that the "babies" do in fact have venom, but I don't think that it is any stronger, BUT they can be deadly!!

I see MANY rattlers in AZ and CA. My knowledge of the venom is all written word so you must rely on the more experienced on this net. Sounds like good info. DON"T TOUCH WITH BARE HANDS would be my advice! Check out www.tongs.com for SUPERB snake handling gear. I have bought some of their stuff. TTC

 

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[bdubnca]

just spent a beautiful weekend just outside Quartsite AZ. highs in the mid 70s lows 40s at night, saw no lizards or snakes, but did find some yellow color in the pan, and still have 3 more buckets of cons to process....a GREAT WEEKEND!!

 

[blindpig]

Dear John ,.. It wasn't your fault what happened ,.. but of my own doing ...
My own failure to promtly read your writting here ,. as of Feb 15 2013 at 2:54 P.M.
I will let you know ,. Fri Feb 15 was the most lovely of days down here in So. Cali ,. sunny and 83 . At the time of your writting here [apx. 3:00 P.M. ] ,. I was just returning home with a load of stone . Upon my arrival ,. my old neighbor boy came over for a chat . Being my senior and,. my guest,.I gave him the tailgate of the trailer ,. I took a pile of coblestone for my own ass. As are chat ended and the old boy headed home . I started moving stone ,. organizing the stone which had been on the ground for about a year ,. and the same stone I had just sat my ass upon .
And yessss,.. this Southern Pacific was coiled up between a few coble ,.. not more then 6 in.? from my ass! the whole time ! Butt ,. believe he was quite content being there as he never sounded his alarm of his situation ,.. Allthough ,. he was soon to lose his head.
I do feel ,. well,.. a bit of a fool relating this too you now . But ,. I do realize that staying current ,. regarding your writtings here ,. may just save my ass ,.. one day !!!
Sincerely ,. Mr. B. Pig

 

[KevinInColorado]

One good thing- they do keep the rodent population down

 

[kuger]

Yep,they are out....I ran into a whole den of em last weekend.They were in a Rock wall,three were sunning,and I dont know how many more were in the wall

Terry,Calisdad,what did yall think of that snowstorm yesterday?Took me 4 hours to get home.....boy,there are some real stupid folks these days!

 

[pat-tekker-cat]

If'n ya never tried it, fried rattlesnake is quite tasty!
says the kitteh smacking her lips

Ya'll do be careful out there.

 

[Oakview2]

We are not known for having much snow, but Tuesday night and Wednesday morning we got a dusting. Would have accumulated, but finally turned to rain and melted the most of it....

Yep,they are out....I ran into a whole den of em last weekend.They were in a Rock wall,three were sunning,and I dont know how many more were in the wall

Terry,Calisdad,what did yall think of that snowstorm yesterday?Took me 4 hours to get home.....boy,there are some real stupid folks these days!

 

[calisdad]

Yep,they are out....I ran into a whole den of em last weekend.They were in a Rock wall,three were sunning,and I dont know how many more were in the wall

Terry,Calisdad,what did yall think of that snowstorm yesterday?Took me 4 hours to get home.....boy,there are some real stupid folks these days!

We got almost a foot of snow. It snowed pretty good all afternoon. Good thing it was later than predicted as my wife had to bring one of our 'boys' back from the vet in Twain Harte yesterday. He's pretty amazing- he won a tournament near Woodland on Saturday and Tuesday he's having stem cells harvested for injection into his hips later this week.

 

[kuger]

We got almost a foot of snow. It snowed pretty good all afternoon. Good thing it was later than predicted as my wife had to bring one of our 'boys' back from the vet in Twain Harte yesterday. He's pretty amazing- he won a tournament near Woodland on Saturday and Tuesday he's having stem cells harvested for injection into his hips later this week.

,and he is doing it to please you,and like I tell people wondering about paying a big Vet bill...."That dog would for you"

 

[calisdad]

,and he is doing it to please you,and like I tell people wondering about paying a big Vet bill...."That dog would for you"

Yes they would. No hesitation at all. Bodie (aka: Bodacious) is the little guy in my avatar. That was 3 years ago and he's punched up to 62 pounds of muscle.

 

[Skinsfan]

Dang...don't like snakes. If I had come across this,,two things would have happened:

1. I would need to take my pants to the cleaners
2. I would need to find another hobby....

 

[NeoTokyo]

Thanks for the heads up John, we noticed that Spring is coming up quick.

I have already seen a few Bumble bee's, butterflies, Moths, frogs, lizards and a couple squished snakes on the road.

I am all for an early Spring, more time to snipe.

 

[spillercanyon]

Off subject but we got about 10" near Soulsbyville. I love the snow and my dog just learned how fun it can be, he started sliding down the hill accidentally, found out he liked it and slid down a couple dozen more times and running around like a maniac. Lots of fun!!!

 

[63bkpkr]

Spiller, dogs are great and like most all of us they like to have fun too!

Baby rattlers are just that rattlers, they do have poison and I've been told they just dump it all at the first strike and that is the bad part as a person gets a good sized shot of it. The poison attacks nerves and skin, hurts like a bad son of a gun and leaves a person wishing they'd never gotten out of bed on the day they got bit. I've has some close calls with them and used to just kill any I came across. I wised up one season a long time ago that they keep rodents, bugs and the like from getting out of hand. Some snakes also eat the trout and that I do not like. .22 birdshot just calms a rattling snake right down though it does NOT kill them, just gives you time to empty your pants and drop a rock on the snake to end its misery.......63bkpkr

Of course a .45 Colt bird shot round does a whole lot more than a .22 so that's what I have chambered when I'm out and about.

 

[419GottaMinute]

Hey neo: what thickness suit do you normally wear, and do you have another suit for cold water?

 

[NeoTokyo]

I dont have one yet and did not wear one last season, I was just fine in the water till things got chilly.
I would like a 7mm Farmer John style and my size is probably around a 5x-6x as I am a big guy and 6'2", but I have not been fitted for one yet.

The deerper holes on the creek I snipe are very cold and I am not sure about the American, when I was a boy it seemed warm during the summer but that was a long time ago.

 

[spillercanyon]

Between prospecting and spelunking, I've seen dozens of rattlers but none of them have ever been agressive towards me. The only one I killed was near camp where my dog kept running back and forth by it. Other than that, I like to get a stick and make them rattle just for the fun of it. Keep an eye out and remember a rattler can only strike 2/3 the length of it's body. Some people crack me up, they'll stay 10 feet away from a 3 foot rattler, as if they're going to jump through the air and grab them on the neck (enter scary music sounds). Be safe but be rational, they are not actually pursuing you.

 

[63bkpkr]

Couple of comments here Neo up till the late 70's the North Fork of the American was ~ 72 F by 12 noon in June but by the early 80's till today in June it is 55 F. I believe the NF of the Middle fork of the American is a touch cool as well though I've not carried my thermometer for several years, trying to cut down on the weight of my pack. Terry C did you just spill your coffee?!

Spiller I agree 'most' rattle snakes are reasonable as they know we are way to big for them to eat but they know we are so big that we could damage them so they rattle at times and at times the do not. Being within striking distance of even a mild mannered rattle snake is just asking for a whole lot of shock and pain. However, I've personally known of one rattle snake that stood up and hissed and rattled at us when we were 15 - 20' away from it, it made a real big thing of it as it stood up in the air!! Needless to say those genes are no longer in the pool. One I did not see but my brother had this happen to him, he had a good sized rattle snake chase him. My brother came back armed and with a shovel and the snake came at him again, he shot the snake several times, it dropped to the ground and rolled onto its back, my brother touched the body with the shovel and Bam the snake struck the shovel and flopped over onto its back again. Needless to say several more .22 Winchester rounds were used to deflate the snakes ego.

Oh, and yes rattle snake meat does cook up real nice and tastes nothing like what a person might expect a snake to taste like. That is it is tasty!.............63bkpkr

 

[spillercanyon]

63bkpkr, I've never seen them stand up but if I felt threatened in any way, I'd blast them too. Sure would have liked to have seen the snake chase your bro, I know I'm a bit off but I would have been laughing so hard I would have had trouble getting out of the way. It's things like this that keep me coming back for more, I love the adventure as much as finding the gold.

 

[Kingsnake]

I guess I'm the odd man out in this thread, being a big fan of snakes. Anybody ever try just going around the snakes? It's really not that difficult. just sayin . . .