Those mamba pics chill me!

Not disputing the research, Blue Dog, just my experience has been on several occassions the cotton-mouths advanced on me. Could smell them, too. Almost caught unawares. Agree that the copperhead will continue to strike repeatedly.

Dutch

Had a text from my son today in Namibia. He has been there filming for 5 weeks, and living the dream. Covering both the conservancy up North by Etosha and the ranches around Windhoek. Said they had their first "serious" snake encounter. His mother was not impressed!!!!!!!

A large Namibian coral snake (type of rodent-eating snake, similar to cobra, as it will flatten out like a hood) dropped off the roof of the lapa at their feet on the patio. Was quickly brushed off into the grass and dispatched with a shotgun! They are neuro-toxic. He said he was really caught off-guard and he may have "screamed like a girl".



You can check out some of his hunting and scenery pics at the Facebook link below.

http://www.facebook.com/FluidPeakFilms

Here is another picture - our tracker wanted nothing to do with it - even dead



It was about 9 feet long - long enough in my book.

I had an interesting snake encounter a few years ago. I was walking up from the river into our back paddock with our two dogs after having spent a few hours down there practicing with my recurve. The two dogs were in front of me, one just in front and the other older dog about 3 or 4 meters ahead. Then I saw a snake stick its head up out of the grass, a few meters ahead of the old dog, right in his path. It was an eastern brown which are one of our most deadly snakes (not as venemous as the Taipan, but responsible for more deaths). I called the old dog back but he didn't respond, (he was quite deaf). The only thing I could do was nock and arrow and have a go. I got the snake through the neck at about 7 metres only about a meter before the dog would have been right on top of it. The arrow pegged it into the ground so it couldnt go anywhere. Problem solved, and the old dog lived about another 6 months before old age got him.

When I used to live in Rhodesia (as it was called at the time) we had a few horses kept in the stables at Redcliff near Que Que, and the stable hands killed a Black Mamba there one day and left it stretched out in the car park for all to see. It would have been about 8 feet long, similar to the one the guy above is holding up. I did a bit of taret practice on it with my air rifle, but any shot that hit along its body just bounced off. They have quite a thick hide. Most snakes I have shot have been with an air rifle, but if you have a go at a big Black Mamba with an air rifle you will need a head shot or you will just make it mad.

Machete 1; Cottonmouth 0

Almost stepped on this guy on Sunday in the yard and trust me he was aggressive. I hit him a little too far back. I believe that's a Florida King Snake he had for breakfast.

It's not a cobra, mamba, adder, or any of those Australian snakes, but it would have made for a bad day if it had bitten one of the kids.

I feel if one goes on safari, and does not come back with a snake story or two, then he has been missing something.

quote:

Originally posted by sandyhunter:
PSmith,

It looks like you got on a roll and killed a milk snake, too. Just a mistake, or do you kill all snakes?

He said it was the cottonmouth's breakfast, so I reckon it was inside it when the machete was applied.

Not sure how I missed that. Pardon the mistake.

sandyhunter, yep it's unfortunate the little snake got eaten. Probably the prettiest snake we have in north Florida. I don't kill any snakes except cottonmouths or rattlesankes when they are in the yard. In fact later on Sunday we caught a three foot long gray rat snake on the front porch the kids and I played with it for about 30 minutes.

I've run into one cottonmouth and one coral snake in the last 4 seasons of scouting for deer season in the East Texas Piney Woods. Neither was aggressive. I only got a photo of the cottonmouth which cooperated with me picking it up with a stick:

Snakes are no danger to anyone! That is, as long as I dont have a full clip and the weapon isnt on full auto when I spot them! Yes there is a story behind that statement. It isnt actually so much when I spot them except from being startled. That happens all too often because they are too damn close. It is then at the juncture where at that close range I loose sight of them my voice goes up in both pitch and intensity!