Strange find

If its poisonous, and I see it, Its dead. Black snakes are the only ones with a free pass for me.

Hardwood said:

If its poisonous, and I see it, Its dead. Black snakes are the only ones with a free pass for me.

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Just because it is not a black snake doesn't mean it is a copperheadedrattlemoccasin and should be killed. I let lots of others go too but have caught enough and had enough for pets when I was a kid to know the difference.

germag said:

As far as the religious aspects...well, I am a man of faith. I believe in God. And, I have heard many, many times the scripture being used to justify the wanton destruction of snakes, venomous or not....but you have to bear in mind that the scripture has also been twisted and used on many occasions to justify the killing of whole populations of people too. And...on the other side of that coin, there are churches in the northern part of this state that use venomous snakes in their Christian worship. It's all a matter of interpretation, isn't it?

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theres idiots in everything, does that mean i want to hug a rattler? nope. The constitution itself has been twisted by many idiots also, do you agree with all the screwed up laws that have been made by trampling it? nope. see the pattern?

bulletproof1510 said:

Dead snake

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If it it within 8 feet of me,the family or the dog and it is not hightailing the other way, I'm with ya Bro! When hiking the first shot in the tube is snake shot for a reason. I am not taking any chances.

stepped on many poisonous snakes never been bitten. i kinda believe in karma when it comes to snakes. the person going around killing everything that slithers will get bit before the guy who lets them be. most snake bites happen after the person has seen them and well after they have had the chance to leave it be.

RJY66 said:

Germag,

A question about cottonmouths. I don't usually hunt in swamps or near rivers so I have no real first hand experience with them, but you hear and read a lot of stuff.

I saw a guy on tv once come up on one and aggravate it to make it open its mouth and show the "cotton". I saw one do the same thing for me when I was a kid. It is a scary sight! Anyway the guy kept aggravating the snake and it had its mouth open but the whole time was trying to back up and get away from the guy. The cottonmouth never did strike at him even though he kept messing with it. He said that the whole thing that they do with the mouth open was a warning and a defensive posture that people misinterpret as aggression or the snake "standing its ground".

I have heard different people talk about cottonmouths "chasing them". Do they really do this or are they trying to get away and people, being scared to death of snakes to start with, let their imaginations run wild?

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I know this is an old thread....but you are right in the last part of your statement. I had an experience this past week with an individual I know who says cotton mouths chase people. I said no they don't. He said I will prove it, I have pictures of one I killed this summer that chased me. He considers himself an outdoors man and says he grew up in swamps, he is my age, in his mid-50s. He showed me a picture, it was what I thought it would be, a banded water snake. They are aggressive, and will chase you. I literally live in a swamp on the Flint River in South Ga. I have cotton mouths in my yard all the time, they open their mouths and that is it. It almost takes an act of congress to get them to strike and the DO NOT CHASE YOU. I catch cotton mouths all the time to remove them from my yard or the road leading to my house so misguided people won't kill them. I am seeing people posting in this thread that if they see a snake, they will kill it. If you are that scared of snakes, stay out of the woods, you belong in the city. I have taken away permission from people who hunt on some prime property I own on the Flint river in Mitchell Co because they killed a snake...they are forever barred from my land, simple as that. My attitude is if you do not take the time to learn and appreciate all creatures whether you hunt them or not, you need to take up another pass time.

By the way, in GA it is illegal to harm a non-venomous snake. I have seen people prosecuted for it too. Ironically, I am a defense attorney who is in high demand and I will not represent anyone charged with harming a snake, just like I won't represent a person charged with child molestation or shooting a dog. The very first pet I ever had that was all mine was a green snake when I was around 6 years old...I have a soft spot in my heart for snakes.

I have noticed that it seems like the irrational fear or hatred of snakes is a learned behavior. As most irrationality is.

Killing a venomous snake in one's house or yard isn't irrational. I can understand someone doing that, but I wouldn't do it myself. I would relocate it to the woods. Because I have the means to do it, and I am not one to kill something just because it is trying to live.

Killing a venomous snake out in the wild is just wrong. Unless you are fast enough to kill it as it is striking you. Nobody is that fast. No snake in the SE (or probably this entire country) is going to attack a person. Defending and attacking are 2 different things. And no, cottonmouths do not chase people.

Killing non-venomous snakes is very wrong, for many reasons.

I find them fascinating creatures too. Not cute or cuddly. Just interesting.

It doesn`t happen much, but ever once in a while you can change the mindset of a someone who feels snakes need to be killed.

I miss ol` Gerald.

Usually, you can't change ignorance. It is a learned behavior. People have an irrational fear of things, and that is something that is very hard to change. "Snakes will kill you!", and so they spread that fear to others. Yes, some snakes can kill you, but so can cars, guns, and of course, other people. It is more reasonable to fear people, because they don't always act rationally.

On 2nd thought, I didn't go about trying to change some people's minds in the right way. I will edit my post above to take out my insulting words.

Capt Quirk said:

Usually, you can't change ignorance. It is a learned behavior. People have an irrational fear of things, and that is something that is very hard to change. "Snakes will kill you!", and so they spread that fear to others. Yes, some snakes can kill you, but so can cars, guns, and of course, other people. It is more reasonable to fear people, because they don't always act rationally.

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Along those lines, the reason I always have a sidearm on me while in the woods isn't really because some animal might try to kill me (even though I irrationally tell myself that). The odds of that are infinitesimal. It is about 100x more likely that a person would try to kill me in the woods. And about 1,000x times more likely than that on the street.

Josey said:

Along those lines, the reason I always have a sidearm on me while in the woods isn't really because some animal might try to kill me (even though I irrationally tell myself that). The odds of that are infinitesimal. It is about 100x more likely that a person would try to kill me in the woods. And about 1,000x times more likely than that on the street.

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I started carrying in my woods, when I first heard a big cat. Since that time, I have seen what folks refer to as a panther (NOT black!), and yes, I do have an irrational fear of them. I know I wouldn't likely stand a chance against one unarmed, and my odds are slightly improved with a gun. Would one attack me unprovoked? Not likely, but I don't want to find out. Snakes on the other hand, don't scare me. I have literally walked by many Rattlers, and half of them didn't even rattle, none of them struck out at me. One of them I had to shoot, because it found it's way to where my dogs were chained up, and there was too much commotion to try and capture it safely. I put 5 rounds into it, and it still didn't strike once.

On the other hand, a friend of mine was attacked by a fox once, but it was likely rabid. That is a different story.

Capt Quirk said:

I started carrying in my woods, when I first heard a big cat. Since that time, I have seen what folks refer to as a panther (NOT black!), and yes, I do have an irrational fear of them. I know I wouldn't likely stand a chance against one unarmed, and my odds are slightly improved with a gun. Would one attack me unprovoked? Not likely, but I don't want to find out. Snakes on the other hand, don't scare me. I have literally walked by many Rattlers, and half of them didn't even rattle, none of them struck out at me. One of them I had to shoot, because it found it's way to where my dogs were chained up, and there was too much commotion to try and capture it safely. I put 5 rounds into it, and it still didn't strike once.

On the other hand, a friend of mine was attacked by a fox once, but it was likely rabid. That is a different story.

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I have spent time in woods where Grizzly Bears, Wolves and Mountain lions live (Alaska, Montana and Idaho, along with the Olympic Peninsula, lots of lions there). Never really been afraid of one killing me or attacking me. I do pay attention to my surroundings though. I have come across Grizzly Bears and I did have a gun, but it never entered my head to point it at the Bear or get ready to shoot. Same with Black Bears. I will be heading to lion country next week for some fishing, if the weather permits....the point is, I respect everything in the woods, I do not fear them. Just pay attention, and be aware, that is what an outdoors man is supposed to do anyhow. Were I in need of food, yeah, I would harvest a rattlesnake...but I know enough how to get food where it will probably not be ever required...and I like eating rattlesnakes, there just are not that many now in my neck of the woods.

I'm with you Redneck, I don't think it likely I'd be attacked... but if'n it did happen, I know that cat would have the upper paw. And I am aware of my surroundings, mostly. I do tend to get caught up in thought while enjoying the beauty and peace in the woods. But no, I'm really not afraid of many animals, most of them are just doing what they are supposed to do. As long as they aren't disturbed, they would really rather not interact with people. Of course, I have also never come across a bear either.

Capt Quirk said:

I'm with you Redneck, I don't think it likely I'd be attacked... but if'n it did happen, I know that cat would have the upper paw. And I am aware of my surroundings, mostly. I do tend to get caught up in thought while enjoying the beauty and peace in the woods. But no, I'm really not afraid of many animals, most of them are just doing what they are supposed to do. As long as they aren't disturbed, they would really rather not interact with people. Of course, I have also never come across a bear either.

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I have shared the woods with bears all my life, they don't bother me. I respect them, but I don't go around afraid of them. Same with venomous snakes and other critters that I might encounter out there. The main reason I tote a pistol in the woods is critters like Gary Hilton.

I'm not realy scared of anything in the woods but I'm wary of them I know things out there can put a hurting on you but they usualy don't set out to do you harm you just could be in the wrong place at the wrong time with a person or an animal I worry about walking up on a group of hogs or a sow with piglets in the dark more than anything just because it's surprising

But I don't kill snakes unless there somewhere around the yard or where they could bite sombody else I usualy try to play with the non venomous ones and then send them on the way I did watch the farm cat stand off with a big black snake the snake escaped after a few traded blows with the cat