Desert riders: ever see rattlesnakes?

[Dammit!]

I've never seen a rattler out on a ride yet. Always thought that was kind of strange. I've seen coyotes, roadrunners (heh), elk, cows, horses, tarantulas and all kinds of things but never any snakes.

We had one sneak up to the model home where I work this past Tuesday. Scared the hell out of a mother and her probably 7 year old daughter. It was curled up in a strike position right by the door that leads out to the models. Took me a while to get him out from under the stucco part of the house but I finally got him out in the open and tricked him into a garbage can so I could take him out in the desert and release him.

[Kook]

Odds are good that you won't see one in the middle of the day unless you look inside a plant or under a rock. They don't venture out much. I did use to see a quite a few sidewinders slinking around when I was in the service and either out on patrol or playing "war games" in the desert. They honestly taste like chicken! :D

[mymint87]

i mostly see these white lizards (little reseach would tell me the name of them) running on their hinnies....

funny thing is that you'll be rolling along at a pretty good clip, little ones (3 inch or so) jump from a bush and run along side of you then WHAM...
they bury themselves right in the sand..I CAN NEVER FIND THEM...even when i dig at the end of their tracks..

i've seen them up to about 16"

Sand scorpions are plentiful (never throw a sleeping bag on open sand.....hehe)
ive seen them up to 4 inches..they have a creepy transparent green hue to em'

[TimSr]

I once ran over one on my YZ250. It was stretched out across the trail, and by the time I realized what it was, it was too late. When I turned around and came back, it was gone. During the 4 1/2 years I lived in southern Ca. I had 8 encounters with rattlesnakes, and all of them were while hunting and on foot besides the one I just mentioned. Aside from the one mentioned, I only actually saw one of the others before I heard it. One my dog found, and I heard it before I saw it (and shot it out from under my dog). The other five I did not see at all and nearly stepped on them, until they rattled. They are extremely well camoflaged, and very difficult to see in plain sight, and you are not likely to see them when riding, or even walking! For many years after I left Ca., I could be in an Ohio field, wheer theer are no rattlesnakes, and step on a dry weed or something that rattled and still jump out of my boots. its a hard reflex to kick!

[83200e]

We have a bunch of the timberrattlers here in Arkansas.They're a lot easier to spot than the copperheads which we have most of.I wear full snake chaps when I scout before deer season, and even though I know I know I'm protected, I still jump out of my skin also.And I wasn't going to admit to it,but since Kook already has,we cook the ones we kill and they're good eating!

[YAMAHA_Jim]

We have eastern diamond back rattlers here in NY.I've seen a few in the woods trailprotrailpro and dead in the road. Copperheads also live around here.They are just as deadly as rattlesnakes. I handled a baby copperhead last yr that i found while working.At the time I didnt know it was a poisonous copperhead. Baby copperheads dont look the same as adults.I figured if it was poisonous and I got bit,my boss would have to take me to the hospital and I'd get some time off :) Death didnt cross my mind.

[jeswinehart]

well the only really close encounter with a snake was at silver lake sand dunes in michigan. it very well might have been the very first time i was ever there . we ( the family ) was on one of our 3 week camping trips up one side of the state and down the other side. oldest daughter and i took the long long walk to see lake michigan beside the state park area. she must have been 7 - 8 years old then. on the way back we were both was watching all the buggys + trikes and what have you on the O.R.V. part and all of a sudden we both yelled SNAKE ! we both cleared it and as our hearts beat like crazey tried to figure out what it was. i think daughter named it a hog-nose later ( after consulting her teacher ).
it was big ,,, long + certanly deadly in our minds. i ain't never had no issues with snakes since they eat alot of things i don't much care for ( bugs , mice and the like ). her and i bring that day up often. she is 25 now.
never seen any other ones out in the wild ,,, thank goodness !

john

[Dammit!]

Hognoses are common in Michigan and put on quite a show. They puff up, hiss loud as hell, some of them even do sort of a pseudo cobra stance. They'll scare the crap out of someone that doesn't know what they are (completely harmless). The cool thing is, if Act One doesn't work, they play dead. You can even pick them up. Completely limp.

Edit: here's one in the middle of Act Two. :)
http://spectrum.troyst.edu/~diamond/Fieldvertzoo/pics/hognose.jpg

Cobra impression.
http://www.indiana.edu/~preserve/nature/faunashow/images/hognose.jpg

Back off me man!!
http://www4.ncsu.edu/~krmessen/Hognose.jpg

They're actually pretty cool snakes. I had one as a pet along with a Boa and any number of corn, milk, fox, garter, ribbon snakes.

[smokinwrench]

I ride in sand about 98% of the time. I have seen a couple gardner snakes in the trails. We have lots of prairrie rattlers but I have never seen one while ridng. I agree with Tim on the jumping out of your boots theory.

[Blown 331]

I've seen them where I ride. On the Mississippi river bluff just south on St. Louis. My buddy caught it. We took a bunch of picture of it. He caught it by hand and it was sptting venem. Then he killed it and ate it. lol. He kept the skin and the rattle. Pretty cool. It has a huge one, strong as hell.

[bigredhead]

I would'nt go near one of them suckers..

Spiders and snakes.. 2 things i hate.

[yamaha225dx]

My aunt killed one on the farm here. It was by some of our grain bins. When we took a measurement of it, it was 4ft 6in long and when we cut it open it had a full grown rat in it and a mouse near the tail end (mostly digested and pretty nasty......) skinned it and kept the rattles.... biggest dang snake I have seen in the wild...

[Dammit!]

You know, there's really no reason to kill them. Leave them alone and they'll leave you alone. I had to relocate the one I found because it was too dangerous to leave it there but otherwise I would have just let it be.

Not trying to make a big deal out of it. I guess I just like snakes. :p

[83200e]

You know, there's really no reason to kill them. Leave them alone and they'll leave you alone. I had to relocate the one I found because it was too dangerous to leave it there but otherwise I would have just let it be.

Not trying to make a big deal out of it. I guess I just like snakes. :p

Your right.The ones I see in the woods I leave alone,but if its in my yard,it's target practice.I've got some pics of some that my wife and I have shot around the house.If I can find them I'll post them.(one is as fat as a beer can N.S)

[yamaha225dx]

well I can tell you if you ever have to work around the farm/ ranch like we do you don't want to play with those rattlers. If we turn it loose somewhere else it might end up in one of our combines or striking one of our cows and costing time and money. It just isn't worth it. If my wife were to get bit by one that we let go I just couldn't have that happen.

[250rAL]

I have seen a couple gardner snakes in the trails. .

LOL... were they carrying little hoes?

[83200e]

This was emailed to me.Not sure of it's authenticity ,but it looks real.The caption said it was 89 pounds and nearly 8' long. Killed by a birdhunter in Texas.