I just killed a 4 1/2 foot rattle snake! (Pic Inside)

That still leaves your business unattended and I would still be at the mercy of an insurance company whose sole purpose is to profit. They might even refuse to pay because they don't cover "rattle snakes".

Wow, that would be so scary. Good for you for staying calm and taking care of the beast - eeeewww!

When we were travelling a couple of years ago there was a poisonous snake in the caravan park and the owner wouldn't do anything about it because they are a 'protected species'. Then another guy that worked there came along with a shovel and killed it - his view - protected species or not, there are kids running around the park and kids lives are more important than a snakes. With 3 of my own kids running around, I agreed with him, I'd rather the snake dead than one of my kids.

You got pretty close to take that pic!

Pigmy rattlers are a big problem here in NW Florida. I see one of
them almost every week :-)

I have insurance, wills and written out instructions.

Many of my projects are also corporations, meaning
they will live on after I do anyway :-)

Willie

@Sheryl Polomka I agree - too big of a snake to have here on property. We have tons of animals on these parts including protected turtles (which my son feeds all the time) deer, hawks, eagles, snakes and I have never seen any as dangerous as this one on my property.

@Jack Bastide East orlando - 50 / Colonial drive towards Christmas.

@arepb I had already shot the snake.

@Willie Crawford Hey Willie, nice to see you again, it's been a while. Yeah, you have hit the big times and looks like you have your business completely covered.

Quick question, do you open a new company for each venture or just one big company for all ventures?

Just to tell you buddy if their is one their will be always more and more... get someone to check out your garden is dangerous...

@Bryan Zimmerman Yeah, they have been out a lot because of the rain too. We had 1/2 of water all throughout the property.

@Ivancho I have a little more than a garden 2 Acres of "unincorporated land" that includes some endangered species of turtle.

For those that sent PMs. I am not a "gun" type of person, that thing has been there for years in an old shed. I'm surprised it worked at all.

I'm seeing subliminal alien heads similar to your avatar all over your driveway surrounding the snake. Anybody else seeing that? Look carefully!

George

anyone else uneasy at their desk today, after seeing that photo?

We were in Orlando a couple weeks ago (Actually at a the Beach Club Disney World resort) and my son was on our balcony and noticed a huge snake on the ground close to the building. The thing was gray in color so I guess it asn't a rattle snake.

I wasn't going t go close to the snake. Them scare the &%* out of me.

Gary

@George Sepich Lol, you mean the shadows on the floor?

I hate snakes. Thank God there're none in Ireland (Thanks, St. Paddy! )

@Versus I've been uneasy all day for some reason

@Gary Killops Most snakes do not bother us as both my son and I can distinguish them and leave them alone. This one happened to be too big and ready to strike so I had no other choice.

It is very seldom that we see a snake & most snakes we see are garden snakes 2-3 feet in length.

Now you got me thinking about the cotton mouth I killed in our pool. That thing terrified me (I'm in N.E. Fl)

We have garden snakes and a few fair sized rat snakes but they run off when you encounter them. This moccasin leaped (for lack of a better word) into the pool, swam to the side I was on and came about 1/2 way out of the water hissing at me as I was walking down the deck to the pool.

It challenged me when I tried to get it with the pool net. So I shot it 3 times with 22lr rat shot before it retreated then 3 more times to finish it off. I had never believed they were that aggressive as the Fl site on snakes dispells this. Felt under gunned with the 22 lol but I got it so it wouldn't damage the pool deck etc.

I am a believer now. Still have a look around before letting the kids go in. Gives me shivers.

Tom

Where were all you Orlando folks when I tried to do a few Warrior meetups a year or so back?

G

Wow you are a real tough guy.

@Tom Dean Moccasins are wild, they WILL attack you. It is the only snake I've ever seen that comes after you.

When I first arrived in FL I had the great idea of opening a aqua scape company (like landscape but underwater) and the business did really good because there are only 42 companies in the whole state of FL.

The very first mocassin I saw just came after me!!! Just imagine, a latin kid (back then) running / swimming like a little girl because the snake was going to 'eat me'!

Those are some evil snakes that I kill on sight.

Wow, the famous water moccasin, great memories!

PS. To kill an evil moccasin nothing short than a 20 guage shotgun.

@Gary_The_Ace I don't remember any meet ups - we should have one!

@Rich Struck I didn't want to kill it, but I also didn't want it to be around my son. Nothing tough about it.

Ewwwww!! That is scary!

And what a great way to get the mind going and see exactly how you can setup your business to keep going when you're gone. I'm glad (not really glad but hope you know can't think of a better term) that you were the one who came upon that snake and not your son.

This would make a great WSO! ;-)

@Rich Struck You don't even know me so how would you know my true intentions? True intention from here is: ANYTHING that can harm my son I will neutralize by any and all means necessary.

We have many animals / critters around these parts and I have never had to hurt any until today.

@Teresa_C I am glad that he wasn't here but out with his mom for the day! I already told him that he can no longer play in the woods and must stay close at all times. I tell you, something like this changes the way you look at things.

@ FormerWageSlave lol, the rattle snake method: How a brush with "death" put me on a path to millions!

I live in the Stl. area and recently used a lawn mower to kill a copperhead snake. With three little ones running around, it kind of freaked me out. BTW that rattler was huge ... yikes!

The best thing you can do is teach your familiy proper first aid and how to deal with snake bites - you won't need to worry about carking it then A properly bandaged snake bite will give you a lot of time to get proper care.

My favourite snake encouter was when I was was knee deep in a creek and a red-bellied black decided to swim over and say g'day. I walked on water that day!

oh man ! you've scared me now ! Do you live in Australia or something ? It's good I don't have a kid, YET

Hmm, I look at that picture and all I can think is... hey cool, snakeskin floormats!

what you wrote here got me thinking... without an automated business means no income for the family after my death.. great point dude!

Well here in AZ where allowed to carry guns all the time.Yes,private citisens.
When i go out beyond the safety zone,whatever that is,i carry a snake gun.
410 shotgun but its the size of a single shot pistol
Or a .38 with rat shot.
Nothing less than a .22 mag with rat shot.
I used to live in St Pete.
You ought to see some of the rattlers here.
Matt

Wow, my first time on this forum and I see this big, ugly snake! Glad you took care of business, especially with a child around. I wouldn't hesitate at all if one was in my backyard or front yard for that!

Actually, killing a rattling rattlesnake is bad for us.

Since a large number of snakes who rattle in warning are killed, we're removing that trait from their gene pool. A rattlesnake that stays silent has a much higher survivability and hence has more offspring. They're already rattling much less then they used to. In another 200 years people might wonder why rattlesnakes even have rattles.

If you have a small child or dog, kill them. If not, take care of your rodent problem and the snakes will move on.

I'm not a snake lover, I just prefer practical solutions.

(I believe Rich the snake guy is in Scotland, SD.)

I lived in Tampa for almost 20 years and Orlando for 2. I know the area where you live and I'd say you will have to be vigilant from now on. There was this one time I was working at these people's house north of Tampa (they lived next to the golf coarse).
I had parked my van out back under some pine trees. When I went back to get my tools there was a "rattler" about 6' long at the edge of the yard. I took a long handled shovel out and persuaded him out onto the golf coarse. I was lucky,he was willing to leave, and I figured those golfers had the balls to deal with him.

This is a topic that I have discussed a few times, but always avoid because hopefully I have many more years yet so no need to worry.
But it is worrying to think that I could die tomorrow, and everything I have worked hard for will probably go with me...

There are a lot of snakes in the news around here lately (florida). A huge python just killed an infant about a month ago, and i think that there is now open season on pythons. If you look around the internet, there was a python found in the everglades last year that basically exploded because it had killed a gator and was trying to swallow it whole.

YIKES. I am deadly allergic to venom from most anything, from spiders to bees to snakes. I could not imagine seeing one that big, and I think you did the right thing, I have 5 little ones and would not want a snake anywhere near them, SURE...I could bandage them up and take em to the hospital if the snake bite them, but I would rather NEVER have to do that. Uggh, you got me all creeped out now. Please tell me it's not all over Florida right now the snakes are out in masse, I have plans to go there in two weeks and I don't like snakes...

I think in n. florida its not so bad. mid/south florida there are stories just about once a week of some ridiculous sized python being found or killing a child or something. I think in the last month or so there have been a couple 15ft+ pythons in the news. One was a 'pet' and killed an infant in lakeland (about 20 mins from tampa), one was pulled out of a toilet in a house. Big mofos too, about the diameter of your thigh

Hate to tell you this - but size isn't a factor in poisonous. Those baby snakes can carry twice the venom of an adult - nature's way of protecting the small and innocent. Same goes for scorpions.


We are seeing that now here in Idaho. It used to be that you couldn't get within 30 feet of a snake without it telling you to back the heck off (other than if the morning was chilly, they are lethargic in cold) and now you can almost step on them and they don't utter a sound. It gets a little spooky rockhounding in the sage now because they are too quiet.

Another thing you have to watch out for is season - if they are molting sometimes the skin will form a hood over their eyes and pretty muchly blind them and then they will strike at anything that moves near them - and they don't always tell you they are there.

Otherwise a rattler won't strike unless it feels it has to -- remember, when they spend their venom they are defenseless for awhile until it rebuilds so the only time they will strike is to eat and if they think they are in danger. I've been in striking distance a few times but did nothing to alarm them and got away with no real problems (other than a need to change my pants, lol).


I would suggest that if you are going to live in areas where there are poisonous life forms you need to start teaching your kids how to survive around them - how to avoid them, safety around them, how to get away safely if they get too close - and how to watch out for them. You aren't going to be there 24/7 and the animal is not likely to notice whose property line it has crossed. And you can't kill ALL of them.

A kid can handle acting right around them if they know how. If they stay over a body length away from a rattler it can't strike them. If they know to look out, they aren't going to get closer than that. Kids aren't stupid if you give them a chance not to be.

And if you have to kill one -- for cripes sakes, don't waste it. They are excellent food. There's no excuse to kill something edible and not eat it.

I was calling BS on his assertions. I'd want to see proof that rattlers are losing their propensity to rattle when they feel endangered.

John

maybe its not that they would loose their propensity to rattle. Maybe through some kind of genetic winds of fate, their rattlers arent as loud, or dont rattle as easiliy. But others rattle loud and easily. It would seem to be logical that sooner or later, the loud ones will get killed off and those that through a fate of nature just dont makes as much noise will be whats left?

I might buy into some of that if the majority of rattlesnakes lived amongst humans but the fact is that the majority of rattlesnakes go through their entire lives never seeing much less getting to rattle at a human.

John

rattlesnakes have predators other than humans...

yes they do, but like a tree falling how do we know how they behave when there are not any humans around. Ever see any of the Far Side cartoons?

Did it drop any loot?

I visited Orlando 2 years ago and was hoping to see some type of snake or other dangerous creature. The scariest thing I saw was a squirrel..lol

Rich

Snakes .....Give me the creeps... shudder....

I'd love to come out there. I was just in SW Montana in the Beartooth wilderness area and only saw one snake. Here is an interesting article on timber rattlers:

Rattlesnakes in New Jersey

Here is the quote I found most interesting:

John

I discovered we have a black rat snake living around the area here. Of course I leaped up a flight of stairs the moment I saw it, but heard later that black snakes are good to have around -- they actually eat other snakes eggs? Maybe even rattlesnake eggs so the snakes will go elsewhere.

We have bull snakes here Sherice - they eat rattlers too. But they get up to 10 feet long and are ferocious looking things. I stopped by one who was stretched almost across the road I was on so I could get a good look at the head - almost like a dragon's snout on them. It raised up and looked straight in my window and at least 5 feet of it was still on the ground. Talk about an intimidating thing.
They are grouchy but not poisonous, but more people die from their bite than a rattler because of what they eat and the bacteria in their mouths. One ornery little non-poisonous creature I don't want to cross.

Congrats - you get to say "I killed a rattlesnake by shooting it
twice with a shotgun!" to your friends now =)

I would kill it in a heartbeat as well. Funny how I saw a comment
about how this would be a harmless animal minding its own
business.

If you were minding your own business on a picnic and
mama grizzly and her cubs were nearby, she ain't caring if you're
minding your business. You're potential danger/food to the cubs
and you'd better get out!

Not that I've been near one... but I ain't going to try.

So, if a snake like that's near a place with kids, what's wrong
with wanting to protect the young and blow that thing to
smithereens?

Show me a movie where a man dies for an endangered species
versus someone dying to save another and I'll show you which
one makes more sense. B)

Asher

I probably would've done the same but it's never
nice having to kill something in my opinion.

Will