Sabre52
Cave Dweller 
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,497
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Post by Sabre52 on Apr 28, 2014 12:25:42 GMT -5
Yeah, watersnake stench is pretty persistent *L*. Folks here on the ranch are always reporting water moccasins too and they always wind up being big fat Diamondback or Blotched watersnakes. Constantly have to stop folks from killing them. Last time I noosed a diamondback he squirted me all up and down the arm and chest and folks sniffed and looked at me funny for about a week.....Mel
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Post by sandsman1 on Apr 28, 2014 13:40:51 GMT -5
nice fish man i gotta get medicated and get my butt out this summer and catch some walleye - good eatin fish
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39don
starting to spend too much on rocks
https://www.etsy.com/shop/DonsLapidaryArts
Member since February 2012
Posts: 225 
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Post by 39don on Apr 28, 2014 14:15:36 GMT -5
In Clebourne County Alabama, about 100 miles west of Atlanta. It looks like a timber or cane break. Maybe Scott can tell. velvet ?? All I know is it is a badma55s ksnake. The guy said this was not the biggest he had found in the area. If he is a cattleman he most likely will kill them all. Wish they would relocate them instead. The biggest snake I ever saw was a timber or cane break rattler right here on my property just S.W. of Atlanta. It looks like a cane break to me........The timbers close to here are more lightish yellow. Small copper heads are common here. I have never seen a 48" though more like 36" would be the longest. We have 2 neighbors who we call to come and get them to relocate. They will usually strike only if you get too close then if they hit or miss they are gone. If you have ever smelled a rattler' musk usually you can pick up on the odor if he's close around. 39don |
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
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Post by jamesp on Apr 28, 2014 22:49:46 GMT -5
They(canebreaks and timbers) may cross Don. Their areas often overlap.I caught a copperhead 25 years ago that seemed the longest of all of them. I relocated it. Never knew till
visiting this forum that they were rarely so large. Wish I had taken it to the county agent to have an official record made of it. I found all those big ones the first few years I moved here.
It's been over 20 years since seeing one of the big ones.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 29, 2014 22:45:59 GMT -5
canebrakes and timbers are both Crotalus horridus
That is to say they are the same snake.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,612
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Post by jamesp on Apr 30, 2014 7:03:13 GMT -5
Never heard of a velvet rattler Scott. Must be another name for the same snake as the cane break/timber.
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39don
starting to spend too much on rocks
https://www.etsy.com/shop/DonsLapidaryArts
Member since February 2012
Posts: 225
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Post by 39don on Apr 30, 2014 7:11:32 GMT -5
canebrakes and timbers are both Crotalus horridus That is to say they are the same snake. Why the vast color difference?  ?? Some have been out in the sun longer or habitat/location? 39don |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 30, 2014 9:40:42 GMT -5
canebrakes and timbers are both Crotalus horridus That is to say they are the same snake. Why the vast color difference? ?? Some have been out in the sun longer or habitat/location? 39don Mostly the color changes are elevational. Lowland specimens are lighter and perhaps brighter. The higher elevation ones and the ones farther north are darker so they can heat up faster to aid metabolism. Lowland animals do not need this. Generally from south to north they will be lighter in the south. And also from lowland to montane they will be darker higher up. |
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Apr 30, 2014 19:50:58 GMT -5
Cool beans. Solar heated. Odd how cold areas have lighter skin people and hotter areas darker skin. Never made sense to me from the solar gain standpoint.
I guess the darker skin defies burn better, but it seems bass ackward.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 1, 2014 11:53:57 GMT -5
Cool beans. Solar heated. Odd how cold areas have lighter skin people and hotter areas darker skin. Never made sense to me from the solar gain standpoint. I guess the darker skin defies burn better, but it seems bass ackward. I have had this discussion with evolutionary biologists on three occasions. They all said the same thing. The explanation here is darker skin in hotter places had greater survivability. Evolution is about who makes more babies who make more babies. Light skinned Homo sapiens on the african continent died of skin issues and reproduced less. Comfort has nothing to do with evolution. It seems backwards to me too. |
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bentiron
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since September 2011
Posts: 85
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Post by bentiron on May 3, 2014 20:05:20 GMT -5
I helped a friend with snake rescue here in the Phoenix metro area for awhile and generally relocating rattlers just doesn't work all that well, you are just putting a rattler in another snakes hunting ground and now you have two snakes competing for the same limited prey. I guess it could be different in the lush farm land of the Southeast portion of the USA but here in the parched Southwest things are a bit tougher. Kingsnakes are sure tough on other snakes, my friend put a Western Diamondback in with a California Kingsnake and it didn't take long at all for the King to kill and swallow that rattler. We have Coral Snakes too but they are wee tiny things about as big around as a #2 yellow pencil and eat Blind Snakes which eat termites. I think we have a lot more species of rattles than most places do, within ten miles of the house here I have seen Mohave, Western, Black Tailed, Speckled, Sidewinder, their ranges all seem to converge here. We have all our dogs trained for snake avoidance, if your dog gets bit you have three choices, leave it alone and see if it survives, give supportive care from the vet or go whole hog with antivenin. There is now a vaccine for snake bit but it is not a cure all it only allows you to get you dog to the vet if you are out hunting birds and you dog gets struck by a snake. Going with antivenin can cost as much as six grand depending on how many ampules of it they need to use. Snake avoidance training runs around $75.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,612
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Post by jamesp on May 3, 2014 20:50:46 GMT -5
I helped a friend with snake rescue here in the Phoenix metro area for awhile and generally relocating rattlers just doesn't work all that well, you are just putting a rattler in another snakes hunting ground and now you have two snakes competing for the same limited prey. I guess it could be different in the lush farm land of the Southeast portion of the USA but here in the parched Southwest things are a bit tougher. Kingsnakes are sure tough on other snakes, my friend put a Western Diamondback in with a California Kingsnake and it didn't take long at all for the King to kill and swallow that rattler. We have Coral Snakes too but they are wee tiny things about as big around as a #2 yellow pencil and eat Blind Snakes which eat termites. I think we have a lot more species of rattles than most places do, within ten miles of the house here I have seen Mohave, Western, Black Tailed, Speckled, Sidewinder, their ranges all seem to converge here. We have all our dogs trained for snake avoidance, if your dog gets bit you have three choices, leave it alone and see if it survives, give supportive care from the vet or go whole hog with antivenin. There is now a vaccine for snake bit but it is not a cure all it only allows you to get you dog to the vet if you are out hunting birds and you dog gets struck by a snake. Going with antivenin can cost as much as six grand depending on how many ampules of it they need to use. Snake avoidance training runs around $75. I was amazed at the cost of anti-venom. I have supplied a few big moccasins and coral snakes to the Tennessee Aquarium and they spent big money to maintain anti-venom for their employees. Yes, you guys have many rattlers. I think the pygmy rattler is way more responsible for poison injections in the deep south. It is small but common and able to deliver the goods. There was a bulldog that hung around a rock hunting spot i frequented. it was there for about 2 years and had 6-8 scars where it had been bit over the years. I am sure it was attacking the snakes. It was scarred bad. Who knows, maybe it had developed a resistance of some sort. There is a chipmunk under about every rock and a squirrel in about every tree down here. Field mice and rats, voles, moles are heavily populated. Guessing the food source is more than adequate. |
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jollyrockhound
spending too much on rocks
Member since March 2013
Posts: 409
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Post by jollyrockhound on May 3, 2014 22:04:30 GMT -5
Love them use to play when littler catch the mojave greens and rattlers behind the heads it was a game to us lol.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,612
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Post by jamesp on May 4, 2014 5:22:28 GMT -5
Love them use to play when littler catch the mojave greens and rattlers behind the heads it was a game to us lol. Snakes are easy to catch. People often get bit when they catch/handle them. Like letting their guard down. It is human nature. As kids they can be irresistible to catch and contain. |
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
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Post by jamesp on May 5, 2014 5:27:52 GMT -5
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 5, 2014 12:12:45 GMT -5
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jamesp
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Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,612
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Post by jamesp on May 5, 2014 13:12:52 GMT -5
Seems like they put Mongoose to kill the snakes in Jamaica and then had rodent issues.
Snakes are good. the possible alternative....back yard Willard movies
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Post by gingerkid on May 5, 2014 14:31:41 GMT -5
In Whigham, Georgia, they hold an annual Rattlesnake Roundup, which has been an event for 40 years. Whigham is in the same county in south Georgia where I grew up. I attended the roundup each year until we moved to LaGrange. At one time, 'hunters' were allowed to gas the holes where the rattlers were found, but it is no longer permitted due to concern for killing tortoises found with the snakes. The snakes are sold to a research organization for antivenom although I read they have been sold for their meat and skins. www.caironet.com/rattle.htmThe largest Eastern Diamondback captured for the Whigham roundup was found on my grandfather's farm in Cairo, GA. The snake weighed 15.2 pounds and was captured by my ex-husband's uncle in '76. I've never seen an Eastern Diamondback nor a cottonmouth living in middle Georgia, but have seen plenty in south Georgia. The only snakes I've encountered here are the copperhead, ring-necked snake and water snake. In most places, wildlife rescue folks will relocate animals, although we had an injured buzzard on our roof that no one wanted to help. Thank goodness he finally flew off. Poor guy only had one good leg to stand on. I believe he was injured by firecrackers in our neighborhood. |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 5, 2014 14:53:43 GMT -5
This map will explain why you have never seen an eastern diamondback in central georgia. They don't live there!  And the georgia map for cottonmouths.  |
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Post by gingerkid on May 5, 2014 15:25:25 GMT -5
Thanks for your expertise, Scott. Guess that explains why there aren't any Eastern Diamondbacks around here (duh moment), although we are fairly close to the range they inhabit. Moccasins are within our range. I don't believe in killing snakes, even venomous ones...just carefully walk away--the snakes usually give a fair warning to back off.
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