Snake Shot

[Snakeman721]

As a person that has a few snakes as pets (yes, I really do), if you have time to draw your weapon and blast away at a snake, you have plenty of time to walk away from the "threat". Rattlesnakes across the country are becoming more rare becsause of "the only good snake is a dead snake" philosophy. Rattlesnakes do more good than harm to the enviorment. They eat rodents....lots and lots of rodents. They also wish you no harm. The people that have been biten by rattlesnakes were bitten either because they messed around with the animal, stepped on it, or stepped very, very close to it. Leave them alone and they will leave you alone.

BTW, unless you get a clean headshot with several pellets entering the brain, you will just piss off the snake making it much more dangerous, and if it crawls away, you will have resigned it to a slow, painful death. Deer hunters have a code of ethics about clean kills and no wanton waste....shouldn't this apply to other animals as well? Sorry for my "rant" but snakes aren't "evil".

[yukonjasper]

They may not be evil, but they are tasty................

[Snakeman721]

They may not be evil, but they are tasty................

So I've heard.....taste like chicken, though I've never tried fried rattlesnake.

[cobb]

Fixed it on the grill when we have been out shooting prairie dogs. Seems like the highlight of the trip for the kids we have taken with.

[JJ]

Sorry for my "rant" but snakes aren't "evil".

But their skins make for great holsters

[xd ED]

I'm not sure 'evil' can exist in the animal world, but if one was to shoot every Burmese Python in the Everglades, they'd be creating in the ecosystem a big improvement by eliminating these things...not to mention the cool belts, boots, holsters, and trophy heads you'd have.
Granted, these are an invasive, not indigenous creatures.

[Snakeman721]

I'm not sure 'evil' can exist in the animal world, but if one was to shoot every Burmese Python in the Everglades, they'd be creating in the ecosystem a big improvement by eliminating these things...not to mention the cool belts, boots, holsters, and trophy heads you'd have.
Granted, these are an invasive, not indigenous creatures.

Yeah, that IS a big one. Now those folks got it right...more sport wrasslin with it than just shooting it.

edit...I don't think a .22 shell loaded with #12 pellets would do much to that monster.

[yukonjasper]

i doubt they wrestled that one. I'm sure there was some sort of weapon involved in making that snake inert. I wonder how it tasted and whether they had it made into car upholstery........that would be cool in a vintage muscle car- snake skin seats. I always wanted a snake skin sport coat.............doubt it would be very practical, but neither are my snake skin boots.

[BigDog58]

Wrestling with it using several people isn't that bad. Prior to moving here to MN in 2002 I had a 13' Albino Burmese Python. She was quite timid and that is their normal mood. The one in the picture is most likely one that escaped someone's cage or escaped after their last big hurricane several years ago. Once they are accustomed to people, they tend to remain fairly docile when approached by humans.

In 1986 I lived in Miami (I grew up there spending too many hours to count in the Everglades) and caught a wild Reticulated Python alongside US 41 (Tamiami Trail) and it was about 8' long. It was a male and it too was very docile.

As a footnote: I made most of my spending money during high school and college, catching poisinous snakes in the Everglades and selling them to Bill Haas at the Miami Serpentarium, where he used them to develop and produce Anti-Venom. My dad was deathly afraid of snakes and knew that if he saw burlap bags in the bed of my truck, not to touch them. He once grabbed a bag that began to wiggle and rattle and when I told him it contained a Diamond Back Rattle Snake about 6' long, he nearly peed himself. Needless to say, he never touched another burlap bag

I also had several pairs of beautiful rattle snake skin boots that I had hand made during my trips to Lima Peru working on airplanes. I would bring the tanned skins and they would custom make me a pair of boots for about $5 U.S.

I miss the "Good Ole Days"

[xd ED]

Wrestling with it using several people isn't that bad. Prior to moving here to MN in 2002 I had a 13' Albino Burmese Python. She was quite timid and that is their normal mood. The one in the picture is most likely one that escaped someone's cage or escaped after their last big hurricane several years ago. Once they are accustomed to people, they tend to remain fairly docile when approached by humans.

In 1986 I lived in Miami (I grew up there spending too many hours to count in the Everglades) and caught a wild Reticulated Python alongside US 41 (Tamiami Trail) and it was about 8' long. It was a male and it too was very docile.

As a footnote: I made most of my spending money during high school and college, catching poisinous snakes in the Everglades and selling them to Bill Haas at the Miami Serpentarium, where he used them to develop and produce Anti-Venom. My dad was deathly afraid of snakes and knew that if he saw burlap bags in the bed of my truck, not to touch them. He once grabbed a bag that began to wiggle and rattle and when I told him it contained a Diamond Back Rattle Snake about 6' long, he nearly peed himself. Needless to say, he never touched another burlap bag

I also had several pairs of beautiful rattle snake skin boots that I had hand made during my trips to Lima Peru working on airplanes. I would bring the tanned skins and they would custom make me a pair of boots for about $5 U.S.

I miss the "Good Ole Days"

Interesting story.
When I was a lad of 6 -7 yrs, my dad was stationed @ Ft Bliss/ El Paso TX.
We lived at the edge-literally of the desert. I could walk across the street with my forked stick and go rattlesnake hunting- very eager to collect a set of rattles; never once saw an alive one in the wild, but they were commonly seen by others in/ around the school and post playgrounds, RR trax, etc. Schools all had snake bite kits, gave regular classes on treating snake bites...
Over the years, for reasons I don't understand, I became afraid of snakes- to the point that the first time in several decades I've touched a wild snake was about 2 yrs ago when I caught/ picked up a pencil- sized ribbon snake. I thought I might be working my way through my fears, until this past summer when a larger ribbon/ garter snake crossed my path, and I could not convince myself to try to catch it.

The python situation in Florida is intriguing. Seems to get better / worse as the weather kills many of them off, then they reproduce at an astonishing rate.

[Ironbear]

I don't think a .22 shell loaded with #12 pellets would do much to that monster.

What would you suggest for Titanoboa?!

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/How-Titanoboa-the-40-Foot-Long-Snake-Was-Found.html

[Countryfried Frank]

I don't think a .22 shell loaded with #12 pellets would do much to that monster.

What would you suggest for Titanoboa?!

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/How-Titanoboa-the-40-Foot-Long-Snake-Was-Found.html

Thermal detonator

[Snakeman721]

i doubt they wrestled that one. I'm sure there was some sort of weapon involved in making that snake inert. I wonder how it tasted and whether they had it made into car upholstery........that would be cool in a vintage muscle car- snake skin seats. I always wanted a snake skin sport coat.............doubt it would be very practical, but neither are my snake skin boots.

Yeah, they DID wrestle with that one. Notice the firm grip just behind the head. If it was dead, that would be unnecessary. Also, I don't think it's quite inert. Dead snakes are limp...this one looks like it's got some muscle tone still. I believe FL law states that you cannot release a wild Burm once caught. You can keep it (one that size would make an interesting specimen at a zoo) or you HAVE to kill it. So, if they killed it later...yeah, you probably could upholster an entire car.

[Snakeman721]

I don't think a .22 shell loaded with #12 pellets would do much to that monster.

What would you suggest for Titanoboa?!

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/How-Titanoboa-the-40-Foot-Long-Snake-Was-Found.html

A very good pair of running shoes!

[MissouriDave]

Back on the original subject..... I use the CCI shotshells and have shot many snakes and tested. 22 cal are worthless. 38 and 40 work good. 44 and 45 work best. If you are using a revo you can use anything. the 38 spc. loads are good. 9mm and 40 usually do not cycle your gun properly and you will have to train to cycle the slide manually. I could not get them to cycle dependably in Sigs, M&Ps or glocks. 45's seem to be the only one with enough power that will cycle the slide dependably. My personal opinion is carry a 45 auto or 38/44 revo. I usually use the j-frame or 45 auto. I have found that fast draw and point shoot with a 45 by an experienced shooter has very good results. I have been using the j-frame more so I can get wet and feel a bit safer about pulling the trigger if I just went above the waist through a stream. There are lots of cottonmouths and copperheads around here.