Snakebites

[Swamp Rat]

BB, I had an almost identical incident back in about 1992. I was up in a ladder stand looking over a bean field. I kept hearing this crunchy leaves sound, like something was slipping up on the field edge. I looked and looked and just couldn't see it. Finally, my ears got to localize it better and I looked down closer to the stand. A NICE canebrake, maybe 4 feet long, was slipping through the leave litter along the edge of the field. I thought, "cool", and waited for him to pass.

Sumbitch stopped RIGHT at the base of the ladder. And coiled up. All I could think was (A) "Damn, he's RIGHT where I step down" and (B) "the deer are gonna start moving soon".

I thought about it and decided he had to go. I climbed down slowly... got about three rungs from the bottom and he started to sing. I jumped out and away from the ladder and found a chunk of 2x4 from a previous stand. I took a well-aimed swing at his haid and he rolled over, stunned. That's when I stepped on his head, reached down with my folding Gerber, and took his head off at the edge of my boot sole.

Climbed back up and sho' nuff, the does walked out about 60 yards away no more than 10 minutes later.

The funny thing about this was when I took the carcass back to the "barn" where a friend (scared of snakes) got brave enough to want to cut the rattles off. He got his knife and started to cut... (I knew this would happen and watched in anticipation)... as soon as he got started, the stump end where the head used to be whipped around and NAILED him on the forearm.

I thought he was gonna faint. I laughed so hard I almost did too.

That was the last snake I ever killed.

BB, that bit about letting him pop you on the bottom of the boot is, well, braver than I am...

[BigBrother]

Originally posted by Swamp Rat:
The funny thing about this was when I took the carcass back to the "barn" where a friend (scared of snakes) got brave enough to want to cut the rattles off. He got his knife and started to cut... (I knew this would happen and watched in anticipation)... as soon as he got started, the stump end where the head used to be whipped around and NAILED him on the forearm

[img]graemlins/spit.gif[/img] The carcass of mine I put in the back of my truck and took him to work the next day. There was a younger black kid that worked there, good as gold but just jumpy about anything. He always made remarks about the venison or duck or whatever wild game I brought in for lunch. I told him to go and look in my cooler in the back of my truck, (the snake was stretched out in plain view in the bed). He had to stretch across the snake to reach the lid of the cooler and at the last moment, fully extended across the rail of my truck bed he saw the snake. He got about five feet in the air by way of pushing off the bed rail with his belly muscles. I had never seen a black man go white until that moment. Best part of it all, I had EVERYONE in the office at the window watching the event. [img]graemlins/rofl.gif[/img]

The braver part...I dunno...I have always been called a little crazier than most. Shit like that I dont like to think about. Just do and relive/regret later.

[dubshot]

I had one of those pretty orange suckers almost hit me on the hand Saturday planting rye grass at one of my stands. Picked up a dead limb to move it out of the way so disc would not hit it and looked back down, low and behold there he was about two to three feet long(2nd longest pilot I have ever seen)!!! Could have, and should have hit me!!! Yesterday I stepped on one about a foot and half long and the best $100 I spent this year for snake boots. He hit me about the ankle and struck at me the second time but I was a little faster than he was!!! No dout in my mind anymore that the boots work. I have seen more snakes in the past week than I have all year. Whats up??

[SCTIMBER]

Originally posted by dubshot:
I have seen more snakes in the past week than I have all year. Whats up??

Its dry and they are moving. Probably looking for water

[Mergie Master]

Seems they always get more active late in the season. Sorta like skeeters do. I reck'n they're all out fattening up for the cooler weather.