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Encounters with snakes

P ptrousdaleMember
RE: http://www.timesdaily.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20...06150339/1011/NEWS01

While there are two types of rattlesnakes in this area, one is not the Diamondback, eastern or western. Eastern Diamondbacks are found in extreme south Alabama, and in no instnace north of a line running from Grove Hill in the west to Eufaula in the east. One would have to go to extreme western Arkansas or east Texas to find the nearest western Diamondback. The rattlesnakes in the area would be the cane-brake -or- timber rattler and the pygmy -or- ground rattler. As mentioned in the article cottonmouth or water mocassins are also found in this area as well as the copper-head, which maybe the most common of the pit-vipers regularly encountered by Shoals residents.
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GuffawGuffawOld Faithful
quote:
Originally posted by ptrousdale:
The rattlesnakes in the area would be the cane-brake -or- timber rattler and the pygmy -or- ground rattler. As mentioned in the article cottonmouth or water moccasins are also found in this area as well as the copper-head, which maybe the most common of the pit-vipers regularly encountered by Shoals residents.


The article stated that there are three different poisonous snakes in the area and all of them were rattlers including water moccasins.

So, are moccasins really "rattlers"?
V vick13Old Faithful
No, no, no. What people usually call water moccasins are cottonmouths. And they usually get water snakes confused with cottonmouths and call them all the same thing. One is poisonous, the other is not. The non-poisonous snake will still bite, though. There are only three poisonous snakes in the US - Rattlesnakes, or any kind; copperheads (which we have here) and coral snakes which are along the coast.
V vick13Old Faithful
Told you about the ex that was a snake hunter. I would get up in the morning to make coffee and there'd be a snake stretched out in front of the fridge; look in the bedside drawer and there'd be a snake; once I gave a baby shower and noticed a snake head poking out behind the bookshelf. No poisonous ones, but still. Once he left a rattlesnake out and I was showing people the snakes in aquariums in the basement. I had bent over to tap on a cage to make the eastern diamondback rattle when I realized the rattle was BEHIND me on the back of a folding chair. I yelled and jumped away. Luckily it was cold in the basement and the snake was moving slowly. The people looking at the snakes were nowhere to be found. Guess you know who your friends are when there's a chance you just got bit on the butt, huh?
Sassy KimsSassy KimsOld Faithful
quote:
Originally posted by outspokenjerk:
quote:
Originally posted by dogsoldier0513:
I saw a photo once, of an Eastern Diamondback that a logging crew killed in southern Georgia in the late '60s-early '70s. It was 10 feet long, had a head the size of a football and weighed 110 lbs.....


Are they sure it wasn't a log? Holy crap.


I personally have seen one from south Florida that was 5'11" from tip of nose to tail. Don't know what it's weight was, but it was big.
dogsoldier0513dogsoldier0513Old Faithful
quote:
Originally posted by interventor:
Agreed, in theory, but no one tells the snakes that. About 40 years ago, someone caught a coral snake -- not supposed to be this far north.


Ditto to a similar experience I had with copperheads in Florida. At the time (mid-80s) copperheads weren't 'supposed' to be in Central Florida...

The last snake I encounterd (18-inch copperhead my wife almost stepped on) had a 'come to Jesus' meeting with my Glock. Cool
S SeaweedPost Master
quote:
Originally posted by vick13:
Told you about the ex that was a snake hunter. I would get up in the morning to make coffee and there'd be a snake stretched out in front of the fridge; look in the bedside drawer and there'd be a snake; once I gave a baby shower and noticed a snake head poking out behind the bookshelf. No poisonous ones, but still. Once he left a rattlesnake out and I was showing people the snakes in aquariums in the basement. I had bent over to tap on a cage to make the eastern diamondback rattle when I realized the rattle was BEHIND me on the back of a folding chair. I yelled and jumped away. Luckily it was cold in the basement and the snake was moving slowly. The people looking at the snakes were nowhere to be found. Guess you know who your friends are when there's a chance you just got bit on the butt, huh?


Until I started reading your exploits I thought I had had an exciting life. But YOU GIRL, well, I just can't compare!
B beternUOld Faithful
The largest eastern diamondback rattler I have ever seen is mounted on the wall of the bait shop at Blue Cypress Lake west of Vero Beach, Florida. It is about 7 feet long and its head is approximately the size of a man's fist. It was found during the construction of the space facilities at Cape Canaveral. It has been at the bait shop for at least 35 years. You can drive there from State Highway 60 on a gravel road that typically has some rough ("washboard") sections, and along the way you will likely see wild turkeys feeding in the adjacent prairie. An interesting and still somewhat wild part of Florida.

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