You never know...Snakes Alive!!!!...or dead

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Intheswamp

New Member
Jun 25, 2010
819
South Central Alabama
An old neighbor friend had had some plantation pines thinned out recently and I had been eyeballing the ramp/limbing area. I stopped by this morning and asked if she minded if I got some of the pine that was piled up waiting to eventually be burned. She told me to get all I wanted but of course made the statement "I didn't think you were supposed to burn pine."... :smirk: I commented a little on that and told her I was needing something that would dry quickly. She went on to tell me that there was a lot of oaks on a fence row across the road that I could get if I wanted it....but I'd have to cut it down. This is about 3/4 mile drive for me. I'm really not chomping at the bits to fell any standing live trees, but there again...I'd like to get some more green oak to check the "punk formation". ;)

Anyhow, it's mighty hot down here in Dixie. NOAA is saying 100F for tomorrow, another forecaster is saying 102F...HOT HOT HOT!!!!

It's dry, too, though they're throwing out a 20% chance of rain....I think they're confused, though, and thinking about the humidity which is kind of like it's raining. :eek:hh:

My wife stumbled upon this little fellow this morning as he was drinking out of the dog's water bowl outside. I wanted to let him stay but the wife trumped that....he now resides along the luxurious and scenic Gin Creek. :) Ed

Snake060111_20110601_1210Medium.jpg
 
Looks like you have a friend there Ed.

Good luck on the oak and the heat.
 
I hope he's behind some glass, at the least
 
Backwoods Savage said:
Looks like you have a friend there Ed.

Good luck on the oak and the heat.

Yeah, friendship was shortlived. :( I let him loose beside a little creek that's on the way to our church...I told the wife to wave last night as we rode by. ;)

Yelp, that heat oughta work on getting some of the oak dried. I've still gotta get some pine which is a problem with the heat...it's getting to be man-killin' weather out there! I spotted a nice pine over close to the swamp and a neighbors house. Looked like it blew down and blocked off his driveway or either he cut it down to intentionally block the drive....you gotta know some of the folks around here to understand. :roll: I hope to see him in the next few days...that one tree would be all I need and it would be *really* easy to drive right up to. We'll see...

Ed
 
Three things that scare me,

1 Snakes, of any kind.

2 FAT chicks, I mean FAT.

3 Running out of beer.

KC
 
mine are
1. Running out of beer.
2. Running out of beer.
3. The beer ain't cold!
 
He's a good looking snake, especially with the round pupils! What kind is it?


fv
 
fireview2788 said:
He's a good looking snake, especially with the round pupils! What kind is it?


fv
Rat snake. They're rather nice to have around unless you have chickens in a small scale coop....they can eat eggs and chicks. Other than that they're pretty good to have around...just the wife and MIL tend to not be a fan of them. I've caught several around here and relocated them to more friendly (for them) areas. Cottonmouths, copperheads, rattlers...well, if they're around the house they meet a timely death (sorry snake lovers but I've got two grandbabies, a wife, MIL, and ME). If I run up on any of these poisonous snakes down around the cabin/swamp I pretty well let them slither on away.

The problem with rattlers is that I'm basically deaf to their buzz. :( I found one in the middle of a dirt road a couple of years ago and stopped to check him out. I poked him with a stick till I got him good and mad, all coiled up and shaking his tail. He was only about 3' long so I got pretty close to him and squatted down...if I turned my head a certain direction I could pick up on his rattling a *little* bit, but mostly I couldn't hear that pitch. Ain't no tellin' how many I've walked by or stepped over down in the swamp or the piney woods. I think the fact that I *didn't* hear them kept them from striking me...they didn't sense any apprehension coming from me (because I didn't hear them) so they just laid low till I passed on by. Maybe that's some fanciful thinking, but through my years I have been through some mighty snake infested places.

We also have some fairly good sized green-banded black king snakes, too. Those are beautiful and get BIG. :)

Anyhow, this little round eyed fellow got him a new home...I'm sure there's more around. ;)

Ed
 
Intheswamp said:
fireview2788 said:
He's a good looking snake, especially with the round pupils! What kind is it?


fv
Rat snake. They're rather nice to have around unless you have chickens in a small scale coop....they can eat eggs and chicks. Other than that they're pretty good to have around...just the wife and MIL tend to not be a fan of them. I've caught several around here and relocated them to more friendly (for them) areas. Cottonmouths, copperheads, rattlers...well, if they're around the house they meet a timely death (sorry snake lovers but I've got two grandbabies, a wife, MIL, and ME). If I run up on any of these poisonous snakes down around the cabin/swamp I pretty well let them slither on away.

The problem with rattlers is that I'm basically deaf to their buzz. :( I found one in the middle of a dirt road a couple of years ago and stopped to check him out. I poked him with a stick till I got him good and mad, all coiled up and shaking his tail. He was only about 3' long so I got pretty close to him and squatted down...if I turned my head a certain direction I could pick up on his rattling a *little* bit, but mostly I couldn't hear that pitch. Ain't no tellin' how many I've walked by or stepped over down in the swamp or the piney woods. I think the fact that I *didn't* hear them kept them from striking me...they didn't sense any apprehension coming from me (because I didn't hear them) so they just laid low till I passed on by. Maybe that's some fanciful thinking, but through my years I have been through some mighty snake infested places.

We also have some fairly good sized green-banded black king snakes, too. Those are beautiful and get BIG. :)

Anyhow, this little round eyed fellow got him a new home...I'm sure there's more around. ;)

Ed

All reasons I am glad I live in OH! My mother-in-law is from Winston Cty, AL and she tells me plenty of snake stories. If she see a garter snakes she's in a tree.

fv
 
fireview2788 said:
Intheswamp said:
fireview2788 said:
He's a good looking snake, especially with the round pupils! What kind is it?


fv
Rat snake. They're rather nice to have around unless you have chickens in a small scale coop....they can eat eggs and chicks. Other than that they're pretty good to have around...just the wife and MIL tend to not be a fan of them. I've caught several around here and relocated them to more friendly (for them) areas. Cottonmouths, copperheads, rattlers...well, if they're around the house they meet a timely death (sorry snake lovers but I've got two grandbabies, a wife, MIL, and ME). If I run up on any of these poisonous snakes down around the cabin/swamp I pretty well let them slither on away.

The problem with rattlers is that I'm basically deaf to their buzz. :( I found one in the middle of a dirt road a couple of years ago and stopped to check him out. I poked him with a stick till I got him good and mad, all coiled up and shaking his tail. He was only about 3' long so I got pretty close to him and squatted down...if I turned my head a certain direction I could pick up on his rattling a *little* bit, but mostly I couldn't hear that pitch. Ain't no tellin' how many I've walked by or stepped over down in the swamp or the piney woods. I think the fact that I *didn't* hear them kept them from striking me...they didn't sense any apprehension coming from me (because I didn't hear them) so they just laid low till I passed on by. Maybe that's some fanciful thinking, but through my years I have been through some mighty snake infested places.

We also have some fairly good sized green-banded black king snakes, too. Those are beautiful and get BIG. :)

Anyhow, this little round eyed fellow got him a new home...I'm sure there's more around. ;)

Ed

All reasons I am glad I live in OH! My mother-in-law is from Winston Cty, AL and she tells me plenty of snake stories. If she see a garter snakes she's in a tree.

fv
I guess I don't need to mention the report of a "giant snake" just south of us....some think it's a liberated python that has came up from Florida. Maybe they'll eat the armadillos.

Ed
 
Here ya go, fv. I knew I had a picture of that rattler I couldn't hear. He wasn't a big one...but big enough. ;)

bg_z-9-afterthecrook-a0016.jpg


If you run up on one now while cutting wood, with this temperature he's going to be one quick rude dude. ...and they love to lay along side logs...shady and cool(er) there. Ed
 
We have rattlesnakes in this area of Texas but I've never seen one since we moved out to the country, either around our place or anywhere that I've been out working on wood. We see copperheads occasionally. My neighbor found a coral snake in his garden once and I found a squooooshed coral snake in the road out front once. You have to really be slow and not paying attention to get hurt by a coral snake. I know their poison is real bad but they don't have big, hypodermic type fangs like pit viper (rattlesnake, etc) and they have to kinda chew on you to get you with their venoms. By that time, most people will wake up to the fact that they have a snake nibbling on their ankle and kick it off before they get much poison. They're kinda shy and elusive, too. So, copperheads are the ones that we have to watch out for around here. My wife has killed several around the house with her gardening. I've never seen one in the woods. But I usually wear jeans and boots when I'm working back there... just in case.
 
Dang! Good thing he was in the middle of the road. If I ever head south for upland hunting I will be investing in a pair of snake chaps. A snake bite is not something I want to deal with.

We have the Massassagua Rattlesnake in Ohio and even in one of the marshes I regularly hunt but they are so timid I would have a better chance of seeing on than actually getting bit by one.

fv
 
iskiatomic said:
Three things that scare me,

1 Snakes, of any kind.

2 FAT chicks, I mean FAT.

3 Running out of beer.

KC

+1 ;-)
 
I like to give snakes every chance to get out of my way. When I'm working in the woods I make a lot of noise, kick at high weeds, kick at my wood piles and stacks, Use a long stick to swing into high grass where I'm walking. Every once in a while I'll scare up a Coachwhip. They almost leap out of their hiding places and scare the bejezus out of me. Super fast moving snake.
 
fireview2788 said:
Intheswamp said:
fireview2788 said:
He's a good looking snake, especially with the round pupils! What kind is it?


fv
Rat snake. They're rather nice to have around unless you have chickens in a small scale coop....they can eat eggs and chicks. Other than that they're pretty good to have around...just the wife and MIL tend to not be a fan of them. I've caught several around here and relocated them to more friendly (for them) areas. Cottonmouths, copperheads, rattlers...well, if they're around the house they meet a timely death (sorry snake lovers but I've got two grandbabies, a wife, MIL, and ME). If I run up on any of these poisonous snakes down around the cabin/swamp I pretty well let them slither on away.

The problem with rattlers is that I'm basically deaf to their buzz. :( I found one in the middle of a dirt road a couple of years ago and stopped to check him out. I poked him with a stick till I got him good and mad, all coiled up and shaking his tail. He was only about 3' long so I got pretty close to him and squatted down...if I turned my head a certain direction I could pick up on his rattling a *little* bit, but mostly I couldn't hear that pitch. Ain't no tellin' how many I've walked by or stepped over down in the swamp or the piney woods. I think the fact that I *didn't* hear them kept them from striking me...they didn't sense any apprehension coming from me (because I didn't hear them) so they just laid low till I passed on by. Maybe that's some fanciful thinking, but through my years I have been through some mighty snake infested places.

We also have some fairly good sized green-banded black king snakes, too. Those are beautiful and get BIG. :)

Anyhow, this little round eyed fellow got him a new home...I'm sure there's more around. ;)

Ed

All reasons I am glad I live in OH! My mother-in-law is from Winston Cty, AL and she tells me plenty of snake stories. If she see a garter snakes she's in a tree.

fv

Dont think just because you live in OH that there are no poisonous snakes around. There may be fewer then the south but some are there.
We have had larger numbers of Timber Rattlers and Copper Heads reported in the last few years.
about 6 years ago a buddy of mine was in southern indiana and his boy picked up a Copper Head and got bit in the hand. It was nasty.. thought it was a corn snake.
 
iskiatomic said:
Three things that scare me,

1 Snakes, of any kind.

2 FAT chicks, I mean FAT.

3 Running out of beer.

KC

what do you do when it's 2am, you belly up to the bar for last call, and the FAT chick bartender with the big snake tatoo tells you they ran out of beer?
 
-PB- said:
iskiatomic said:
Three things that scare me,

1 Snakes, of any kind.

2 FAT chicks, I mean FAT.

3 Running out of beer.

KC

what do you do when it's 2am, you belly up to the bar for last call, and the FAT chick bartender with the big snake tatoo tells you they ran out of beer?

I wouldn't buy a Lottery ticket from her if I was him.
 
Wow, I had a treat this morning. I was coming back from my MIL's trailer via the wood pile area when I looked down and saw the absolutely largest green snake I've ever seen. It was well over two feet long...I'm guessing around 32" long. It was the most intense green and almost seemed translucent....BEAUTIFUL!!!! I went back to the house and got the camera but it was gone by time I got back. I'll stay on the lookout for this monster!!!

For some reason my wife just wasn't excited about it when I told her about it...she just wanted to know where I saw it at. We didn't *even* tell my 81 year old MIL (just had her gall bladder out this morning) as she panics *very* badly at the sight of a piece of rope laying on the ground.

I know, if there isn't pictures it never happened...but at least I got to see it! :)

Ed
 
I have the opportunity to scrounge some wood at a local private school, bunch of wood was cut down in a marshy area, the school wants it gone, doesnt know how to get rid of it. Only catch is it is in the marshy area. We have copperheads and cotton mouths, I dont deal well with any snake but the cotton mouths scare the everything out of me! I think Ill be waiting till it gets a bit cooler to get that wood... its not going any where.
 
Remmy122 said:
I have the opportunity to scrounge some wood at a local private school, bunch of wood was cut down in a marshy area, the school wants it gone, doesnt know how to get rid of it. Only catch is it is in the marshy area. We have copperheads and cotton mouths, I dont deal well with any snake but the cotton mouths scare the everything out of me! I think Ill be waiting till it gets a bit cooler to get that wood... its not going any where.
I can't say I blame you for waiting. Most poisonous and non-poisonous snakes will pretty much try to evade human interaction. Cottonmouths aren't simply aggressive, they're plain out MEAN!!!! That's the only species of snake that I've ever encountered that will charge you repeatedly. I've had them charge boats I was fishing out of. With the high heat it just makes them meaner.j

Ed
 
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