Snakebite

[Mike6158]

RIP to the hunter and condolences to his family.
This very sad post came up and it reminded me of something.
I was hunting down in South Texas with some friends and family last weekend thru Tuesday. It was a late season hunt, on a small ranch, and we were the 2nd to the last party on the place so game was scarce. Out of 6 people only one shot something and that was the last night. We hunted during the day and with thermals at night. Up about 16 hours a day.

Nilgai was the primary target. It was a tiring trip lol. I didn't take my snake boots because they didn't fit. I'm glad that my age is still increasing but I could do without the side effects. So, I walked back from the stands, day or night, in hiking boots and jeans. I think 3 people of 6 people had snake boots. The moon was full so I could see fine. We wandered through the cat claw looking for the Nilgai the night it was shot.

Here's why that was a bigger deal than I realized.

My son in law killed this on the same ranch about 6 weeks ago. Maybe less. The missing section is from the effect of a .308 bullet impact. He said it stretched from one side of the road to the other. He saw it crossing and when the head was off the road the tail was still off the road.

Look at the head... especially the eye...

 

[memtb]

Mike6851…….that's one healthy rattlesnake! Well…..it was healthy! memtb

 

[Mike6158]

Mike6851…….that's one healthy rattlesnake! Well…..it was healthy! memtb

A long time ago, 78/79-ish, I was headed down to a job site near Eagle Pass. I saw a rattlesnake start to cross the road. When his head reached the striped line in the middle the rest of it it was still coming (left to right). I literally swerved to the shoulder to keep from hitting it. Not out of "kindness for the snake". Dang thing scared the crap out of me. That's the only other time I've seen one that big.

 

[Turpentine21]

That one could knock your feet from under you!

 

[scooter1954]

As we often say, everything is bigger in Texas. And THAT, is one formidable snake! I hunt a farm here in Tejas, often walking into a stand at night, and this is one of my greatest concerns. Fortunately, the path to the stand thru the woods is wide, and pretty well cleared, but it would be easy to stumble upon Mr No Shoulders, in the dark.

 

[Varmint Hunter]

We have an inordinate number of rattlesnakes at the club in PA. It got to the point where they put a sign on the portable toilet that said, "Beware of Snakes - Open Slowly".

 

[K.E.C. Darkside]

RIP to the hunter and condolences to his family.
This very sad post came up and it reminded me of something.
I was hunting down in South Texas with some friends and family last weekend thru Tuesday. It was a late season hunt, on a small ranch, and we were the 2nd to the last party on the place so game was scarce. Out of 6 people only one shot something and that was the last night. We hunted during the day and with thermals at night. Up about 16 hours a day.

Nilgai was the primary target. It was a tiring trip lol. I didn't take my snake boots because they didn't fit. I'm glad that my age is still increasing but I could do without the side effects. So, I walked back from the stands, day or night, in hiking boots and jeans. I think 3 people of 6 people had snake boots. The moon was full so I could see fine. We wandered through the cat claw looking for the Nilgai the night it was shot.

Here's why that was a bigger deal than I realized.

My son in law killed this on the same ranch about 6 weeks ago. Maybe less. The missing section is from the effect of a .308 bullet impact. He said it stretched from one side of the road to the other. He saw it crossing and when the head was off the road the tail was still off the road.

View attachment 724931

Look at the head... especially the eye...


View attachment 724932

That has got to be a record book size. That's unbelievable.

 

[Bob Wright]

That monster must be part anaconda. Terrifying in fact.

 

[Veteran]

RIP to the hunter and condolences to his family.
This very sad post came up and it reminded me of something.
I was hunting down in South Texas with some friends and family last weekend thru Tuesday. It was a late season hunt, on a small ranch, and we were the 2nd to the last party on the place so game was scarce. Out of 6 people only one shot something and that was the last night. We hunted during the day and with thermals at night. Up about 16 hours a day.

Nilgai was the primary target. It was a tiring trip lol. I didn't take my snake boots because they didn't fit. I'm glad that my age is still increasing but I could do without the side effects. So, I walked back from the stands, day or night, in hiking boots and jeans. I think 3 people of 6 people had snake boots. The moon was full so I could see fine. We wandered through the cat claw looking for the Nilgai the night it was shot.

Here's why that was a bigger deal than I realized.

My son in law killed this on the same ranch about 6 weeks ago. Maybe less. The missing section is from the effect of a .308 bullet impact. He said it stretched from one side of the road to the other. He saw it crossing and when the head was off the road the tail was still off the road.

View attachment 724931

Look at the head... especially the eye...


View attachment 724932

See posts 75 and 76 in this thread.

This one looks a tad bit bigger than the one from Floresville, but it had 3 piglets inside.

 

[Turpentine21]

That has got to be a record book size. That's unbelievable.

What amazes me is that the actual record for an Eastearn or Western Diamondback is around 8'3". But I think that there are certainly larger specimens out there that have been killed or seen and not recorded. I think the same is certainly true with alligators as I have seen some huge gators, actually got one that 11'6" (I pulled a measuring tape on him) and I'm sure some of you have seen or done the same. A friend and I saw a gator years ago in full broadside completely exposed sunning on a mud flat 25' away that would absolutely dwarf 11'6". His or her girth was unreal. Back then I fished there all the time but that was the first and last time I ever saw him. He had a large acreage of Government reserve and Kings Grant marsh to live in surrounding the area which I guess kept him safe and secluded. Just comparing it to the length of my boat we estimated 14.5ft plus. We ran into 11 and 12 footers on that river regularly as they were protected and could not be hunted but this one was much larger.

For a long time after 1973 the Eastern Diamondback record I believe was 7 ft. Or just under. Yet in 1973 one was killed and put on a display plaque in the office of the timber company I worked at years later. He measured 7ft 3".
The largest I have ever seen that I could put my hands on were killed right across the road from my house on a hog farm on a sandy bluff on the edge of the river swamp. It belonged to my best friends family. As we had a farrowing house and topped out hogs as well I helped out there occasionally. Plus we hunted often around there. Two Easterns were killed together inside the hog house at the same time. The swamp would flood occasionally and push snakes up onto the hill. I guess the farrowing house had everything they wanted. They both hung off both sides of a full sized 1979 Chevolet truck tailgate and hung down from each side. Neither were measured officially or unofficially.

 

[Mike Matteson]

RIP to the hunter and condolences to his family.
This very sad post came up and it reminded me of something.
I was hunting down in South Texas with some friends and family last weekend thru Tuesday. It was a late season hunt, on a small ranch, and we were the 2nd to the last party on the place so game was scarce. Out of 6 people only one shot something and that was the last night. We hunted during the day and with thermals at night. Up about 16 hours a day.

Nilgai was the primary target. It was a tiring trip lol. I didn't take my snake boots because they didn't fit. I'm glad that my age is still increasing but I could do without the side effects. So, I walked back from the stands, day or night, in hiking boots and jeans. I think 3 people of 6 people had snake boots. The moon was full so I could see fine. We wandered through the cat claw looking for the Nilgai the night it was shot.

Here's why that was a bigger deal than I realized.

My son in law killed this on the same ranch about 6 weeks ago. Maybe less. The missing section is from the effect of a .308 bullet impact. He said it stretched from one side of the road to the other. He saw it crossing and when the head was off the road the tail was still off the road.

View attachment 724931

Look at the head... especially the eye...


View attachment 724932

That's the largest one that I have ever seen. Killed on over 6' a very long time ago. Most were under 4' after that.
I don't think it missed many meals!

 

[DMP25-06]

Dogs may instinctively know to avoid snakes, my Labs have never demonstrated that trait.

Years ago, while visiting friends in Santa Fe, we took our Labs to the big dog park on the north side of town.

We ran into an indigenous North American training two dogs. I was not familar with his training so inquired. He was teaching them to avoid snakes and rattle snakes in particular.

He trained my dogs for three days.

Several weeks later, while hiking near Payson, AZ (I was not wearing hearing aides at the time) the Lab I was walking along the trail instantly froze and started backing up. I looked further uphill and there was a rather large timber rattler crossing the trail.

The money I paid to that gentleman was priceless!

I had a Labrador Retriever in 1981 that I took to a "Snake-Proofing" training day that was hosted by the North Texas Pointer Club (name might have been "Lone Star Kennel Club") and held in the Arlington/South Grand Prairie, Texas area.
All dogs were welcome to be trained for a fee of $20.
The dog handler put my Lab on a 20 foot long leash, fitted a shock-collar around his neck (shock intensity was based upon the weight of the dogs, and my Lab weighing nearly 100 pounds, the collar was set to Maximum Shock Intensity), and asked me if my dog had been around snakes previously.
I replied that the Lab had killed 3 garden snakes in our backyard within the previous 2 weeks.

The dog handler said that the Pointer Club had a course through a native grass/weed field that had 8 stations where live Diamond Back Rattlesnakes, that had been de-fanged, were set-out by snake handlers who were there at each site to oversee and maintain control of the snakes, as the dogs were walked through the course.
I was told to walk 25 feet behind the dog handler, and observe my dog's actions as he approached station #1.

Hank (my dog's name) was working into the wind, and began "stalking" forward towards a low bush where snake #1 was lying , coiled-up and buzzing. Hank got within 2 feet of the snake (a big Rattler, about 4' long), and it struck-out toward my dog. But Hank dodged the strike and launched his own attack upon the snake.
Just before hank grabbed the snake, the Dog-Handler shocked Hank with a full-intensity shock from the collar, causing Hank to leap backward at least 10 feet, and let out a sharp yelp !!!
Hank was headed for me to protect him, when the Dog-Handler pulled him back with the leash .
The Dog-Handler tried to drag Hank back toward the snake, but Hank was dragging the man away from that snake.

The Dog-Handler then said that he would continue walking Hank through the course, for the remaining 7 snake stations, and that it might take 2-3 more shock/encounters to fully train my dog to avoid snakes, and that I should closely watch Hank's actions as he approached the next snakes.
As the Dog-Handler led Hank toward the 2nd snake station, Hank caught the scent of the snake, and immediately made a wide arc around that snake, and the Dog-handler could not drag Hank back toward the snake.
He continued leading Hank through all of the remaining snake locations, and Hank avoided all of them.

The Dog-handler said that Hank was a "Fast Learner", and that most Pointers had to be taken through 6 or more Snake/Shock encounters before they learned to avoid the snakes .

During the remaining years of Hank's hunting career, I could always tell that a snake was near, whenever Hank would make a sudden arc/change in directions on a retrieval.

If my memory serves me correctly, about 3-4 years later, a dog was bitten by a supposedly"de-fanged" Rattlesnake at the "De-Snaking Event", and died immediately.
The snake was killed, and upon examination, a 2nd smaller set of fangs was found inside the snakes mouth.

After that incident, I never read/heard about these dog-training events being conducted in our area .

 

[yote406]

I hate snakes, I kill them whenever i see them.

 

[Turpentine21]

I had a Labrador Retriever in 1981 that I took to a "Snake-Proofing" training day that was hosted by the North Texas Pointer Club (name might have been "Lone Star Kennel Club") and held in the Arlington/South Grand Prairie, Texas area.
All dogs were welcome to be trained for a fee of $20.
The dog handler put my Lab on a 20 foot long leash, fitted a shock-collar around his neck (shock intensity was based upon the weight of the dogs, and my Lab weighing nearly 100 pounds, the collar was set to Maximum Shock Intensity), and asked me if my dog had been around snakes previously.
I replied that the Lab had killed 3 garden snakes in our backyard within the previous 2 weeks.

The dog handler said that the Pointer Club had a course through a native grass/weed field that had 8 stations where live Diamond Back Rattlesnakes, that had been de-fanged, were set-out by snake handlers who were there at each site to oversee and maintain control of the snakes, as the dogs were walked through the course.
I was told to walk 25 feet behind the dog handler, and observe my dog's actions as he approached station #1.

Hank (my dog's name) was working into the wind, and began "stalking" forward towards a low bush where snake #1 was lying , coiled-up and buzzing. Hank got within 2 feet of the snake (a big Rattler, about 4' long), and it struck-out toward my dog. But Hank dodged the strike and launched his own attack upon the snake.
Just before hank grabbed the snake, the Dog-Handler shocked Hank with a full-intensity shock from the collar, causing Hank to leap backward at least 10 feet, and let out a sharp yelp !!!
Hank was headed for me to protect him, when the Dog-Handler pulled him back with the leash .
The Dog-Handler tried to drag Hank back toward the snake, but Hank was dragging the man away from that snake.

The Dog-Handler then said that he would continue walking Hank through the course, for the remaining 7 snake stations, and that it might take 2-3 more shock/encounters to fully train my dog to avoid snakes, and that I should closely watch Hank's actions as he approached the next snakes.
As the Dog-Handler led Hank toward the 2nd snake station, Hank caught the scent of the snake, and immediately made a wide arc around that snake, and the Dog-handler could not drag Hank back toward the snake.
He continued leading Hank through all of the remaining snake locations, and Hank avoided all of them.

The Dog-handler said that Hank was a "Fast Learner", and that most Pointers had to be taken through 6 or more Snake/Shock encounters before they learned to avoid the snakes .

During the remaining years of Hank's hunting career, I could always tell that a snake was near, whenever Hank would make a sudden arc/change in directions on a retrieval.

If my memory serves me correctly, about 3-4 years later, a dog was bitten by a supposedly"de-fanged" Rattlesnake at the "De-Snaking Event", and died immediately.
The snake was killed, and upon examination, a 2nd smaller set of fangs was found inside the snakes mouth.

After that incident, I never read/heard about these dog-training events being conducted in our area .

My dog, like yours was pretty quick to train on an E collar. However, I've seen several dogs however ruined by owners in a hunting situations where indiscriminate use actually "proofed" them against the very game that was being hunted. It's a fact that the dog owner needs to be at least as smart as the dog, or smarter. But sometimes that just ain't the case. I put my collar on my arm when I first got it before I ever put it on a dog. Yep, it was an attention getter but I've tested electric fences with bare hands all my life. An older black gentleman that worked with us at the hog farm showed me how. Anyway, Thank the lord my wife never got her hands on the transmitter. And for some reason I can't get my wife to try it on!
I was at a dove shoot last year and a relatives dog started acting very strange, timid, and finally jumped in the truck and went under the toolbox, shaking. hadn't seen the collar on the dog but started suspecting that was the problem. So I got the owners attention. Turns out his 9 year old son had snuck around and gotten the transmitter and thought continually shocking the dog at long intervals was funny. After a quick trip around the truck with his belt dad got the point across but the dog was ruined. I would have loved to have put the collar on the kids ankle for an hour or so for a life lesson. That's kind of how Daddy trained me and believe me you don't quickly forget. No Time Out training at my house. The sound of Daddy's belt being "stripped" through his belt loops still haunts me.
Where I ran the sporting clays course we had a lot of Alligator Turtles. My dog would bay them. She always got real close. Well she caught one crossing the trail one day and started in. Next I know she yipped. I looked and she was trying to shake him off her nose. I could see the blood but the turtle was a little fellow so I just let things continue. She finally shook him loose and back to me she came. I never saw her mess with an alligator turtle after that.
I've run on too long but some of you might find this useful. I do not like for my dogs to snatch food or aggressively bite food while it's in peoples hands. I'm around kids a lot and a dog ripping a piece of chicken out of a young child's hand is just rude and can be dangerous. By accident I discovered a trick that will cure that quick. Daddy fried cube steak one night and as he transferred a very hot piece from the pan to the plate the dog grabbed it. Didn't do it but once though. After that it's ease up to the meat in hand or fork, smell it first, and gently take it. But I'm not cruel. I use a much cooler piece of meat. Just enough to get the dogs attention. It works. My dogs will nibble chicken gently from between my fingers.