What a day

[Tman]

My wife asked me to set up the table outside so we could have a meal on the patio. I needed to move the umbrella. I tipped it at an angle and started to move it out of the way and heard a bizarre sound. Looked down and have never in my life moved so quickly backwards. I fell down. I looked like one of those people in the movies shaking so badly they couldn't put the key in to start the car. I ran into the house and took this photo through the screen as I couldn't stay out there. What a hero. My wife was laughing until she saw it and screamed.

 

Then I went into the bedroom 30 minutes later and found my cat Lily on the bed with this mouse. I thought the mouse was napping. It is dead. I guess Lily wasn't hungry, usually she just leaves the kidneys for some reason, this time the whole thing. We live in the wilderness.

[milod]

Hey, you had snattlerakes in Arkansas too...

 

All kidding aside, don't care much for prairie rattlers around here either. As the old saying goes, don't put your hand down a prairie dog hole...

 

m

[Rosemarie]

I gotta say, Tman, I would have pooed myself on both counts - especially the snake!

 

I am skeeved out just thinking about it!

[buliwyf]

When I was a kid in Mass. our Siamese cat used to bring us dead Garter snakes all the time but a live rattler next to the house holy s#%t would have scared me to death.Our 14.5 year pitbull in her much younger days used to have a ball ambushing possums and tearing them apart unless they played possum and just lied there dead.I found out about this when there was a possum lying in the middle of her living room doggie bed. Figuring it was dead I went to find something to pick it up with and put it outside and when I went back to pick it up I saw it's little possum butt heading out the doggie door as fast as it's little legs could carry it so she was faked out and lost her prize.3 or 4 more were brought into the house over the years by her through the dog door and i put on gloves and took them back outside where she couldnt get to them and behold about 15 to 30 min later they were gone under there own power.BTW what did you do about the rattler?

My sweet little girl who likes to cuddle more than cause trouble.Meet Hazel

[Tman]

Hazel looks great! Our dog is half boxer and half pit bull (we think).

 

What I did with the snake was this - watched it slither away!:

 

I'm afraid now I don't know where it is. It is a relatively young snake so I'm sure the rest of the family is around. We are getting our dog vaccinated today and I'm definitely going to watch where I step!

[quapman]

 

Then I went into the bedroom 30 minutes later and found my cat Lily on the bed with this mouse.

 

 

Lol,, I feel your pain brother. The other day our cat also had a mouse on my daughters bed.

Except it was one he puked up... I love animals but sometime they test your love. This was one of those times.

 

 

oh ya,, and yes do watch your step. No snakes here other than garters. I don't have a fear of snakes at all but poison I do fear.

[Tman]

Lol,, I feel your pain brother. The other day our cat also had a mouse on my daughters bed.

Except it was one he puked up... I love animals but sometime they test your love. This was one of those times.

 

 

oh ya,, and yes do watch your step. No snakes here other than garters. I don't have a fear of snakes at all but poison I do fear.

 

 

Healthy fear I'd say Quapman.

 

 

The vet told us that the vaccine for Brynn would save her life but if bitten, she'll get, pardon the expression, sick as a dog and we'll have to bring her in.

[Mike1412blue]

Nope, I live in Chicago, plenty of two legged threats here.

[Tman]

Nope, I live in Chicago, plenty of two legged threats here.

 

With their own type of venom.

[RowdyMoon]

With their own type of venom.

...and they like to feed on their own kind.

[rct]

We have no rattlers in NJ, and my cats do nothing more strenuous than pat a bug to death, if they can even remain interested in it enough. If the door is left open by accident they just look outside and meow at me to close it because it is too hot/cold/dry/wet out there.

 

So no, not that kind of day. I'm glad you recovered!

 

rct

[Bender 4 Life]

shoulda killed that timber rattler before it slithered away, so you and yours don't risk a bite every time you step outside.....they don't go far and it's likely in a hole or under something close by.

 

make a trap w/a box leaning on a peg w/a live mouse tethered near the back of the box....keep watch.....snake slithers in after the mouse, pull the string attached to the peg dropping the box over the snake.

get close, gun ready, kick box away and shoot the snake....at which time skinning and eating it is always an option !

[Tman]

shoulda killed that timber rattler before it slithered away, so you and yours don't risk a bite every time you step outside.....they don't go far and it's likely in a hole or under something close by.

 

make a trap w/a box leaning on a peg w/a live mouse tethered near the back of the box....keep watch.....snake slithers in after the mouse, pull the string attached to the peg dropping the box over the snake.

get close, gun ready, kick box away and shoot the snake....at which time skinning and eating it is always an option !

 

Bender great advice. Honestly though I think I'll skip steps 1-4 and go right to the gun. I know pretty much it must be which is on the same side of the house where it was. I ordered a pellet gun and am going to go a hunting. I've eaten snake before - tastes like chicken and is especially good grilled.

[Tman]

Showed up again.

 

I was moving our smoker and lifted it and the same thing happened. It was there and it tested the integrity of my cardiac musculature (actually blood flow). You can see it's pretty small with the plug in as a comparison.

 

My wife and I tried to figure out how to kill it. We sprayed it with raid (I know but it felt like the best idea at the time), in hopes of anesthetizing it. Threw some acidified water on it. Then I went to look for some rocks and came back and my wife had a shovel (we initially decided not to try because we were plain scared) and she killed it. She is awesome. Probably would have taken me another half an hour.

 

The arrow is it's command center.

[Kelvinator]

Then I went to look for some rocks and came back and my wife had a shovel (we initially decided not to try because we were plain scared) and she killed it. She is awesome. Probably would have taken me another half an hour.

 

Better keep that shovel loaded and close to the door - there may be more!

[rocketman]

When I lived in Texas the guy who was mowing my lawn came up to my wife and said "Well, just ran over a baby Copperhead, hate to see where the momma is." My wife never went in the back yard again.

[Flight959]

My cat is all to happy to bring in living mice. He then likes to drop them in the lounge and the hunt is then on to catch the little blighter!

 

The damage that just one of those things can do is immense!

 

Regards

[Tman]

Walked out to the garage last night with a head lamp on. Saw a stick and it took me 3 minutes to figure out it was a stick. I need to figure out something. I did order a "snake shot" firearm. That and keeping the shovel handy now that I know they can't fly through the air like the bunny on Python's Search for the Holy Grail. (Python was unintentional).

[crust]

Only garter snakes here, so far

[crust]

When I was a kid in Mass. our Siamese cat used to bring us dead Garter snakes all the time but a live rattler next to the house holy s#%t would have scared me to death.Our 14.5 year pitbull in her much younger days used to have a ball ambushing possums and tearing them apart unless they played possum and just lied there dead.I found out about this when there was a possum lying in the middle of her living room doggie bed. Figuring it was dead I went to find something to pick it up with and put it outside and when I went back to pick it up I saw it's little possum butt heading out the doggie door as fast as it's little legs could carry it so she was faked out and lost her prize.3 or 4 more were brought into the house over the years by her through the dog door and i put on gloves and took them back outside where she couldnt get to them and behold about 15 to 30 min later they were gone under there own power.BTW what did you do about the rattler?

My sweet little girl who likes to cuddle more than cause trouble.Meet Hazel

Good looking dog.

Mine

 

 

 

[crust]

woof

[Tman]

 

 

 

I need your dog here. She/he looks like it has supernatural powers in that photo.

[Kaiser Bill]

I found a Western Diamond back in our garage in Anaheim California. Dummy me thought it was a pile of dog crap from the neighbor's pooch. I went to get a shovel, and when I got back it was gone. I called animal control and they sent a young female officer out to get it. She cornered it while I lowered a shovel on it She cut off the head, and I cut off the rattlers. Win-win.

[retrosurfer1959]

Yep it's gonna be a bad year for rattlers for us in the southwest warm dry winter and no rain so there coming up to the houses and garden for the water. Ive killed three this month already at the Cabin Outside of Payson where my new Art Studio is being built. I don't play with rattler I've seen to many bites and don't need to add that to al the dad **** Ive had in my life. Wish they were Garter snaked but there not the last one was right at seven feet long and about the width of my wrist. You have a brave wife mine would have run screaming she's had a few strike at the jeep even and she's convinced if they'll try to bite her jeep she's not going near them. Be careful with them though especially big ones they can strike a whole lot faster and a whole lot farther then you would think. I don't play with them I usually carry a Bond 2 shot derringer in a cross draw holster and it's loaded with 410 shot shells so I don't need to poke at them I just blow there heads off if it's visible if not I'll blow them damn near in half then walk off till there good and dead.

 

We have scorpions and centipede and tarantula's as well as a few other poisonous snakes so boots and guards are damn near a must hiking or fishing. luckily the scorpions are the only ones that get inside on a regular basis and my wife hates those enough that I'll here a scream and then 30-40 smacks with a shoe and I know she found a scorpion. Then she'll come get me wanting me to clean it up still don't know how I'm supposed to do that after she's smashed them into a grease spot but I rub a paper towel around after all the old saying happy wife, happy life is there for a reason.

[Tman]

Well here it is. The whole story is that my wife asked me to get some rocks. As I came back, I heard her screaming and she said, "I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna do it!". I grabbed the phone and video'd it.

Yes I know, what a hero. There was no stopping her.

 

These were the real screams, etc. I added a tune by whitesnake (for obvious reasons) to the background.

 

http://youtu.be/06kKdImfMMI