quote:

Originally posted by jdollar:
i am worried enough about Obummer getting re-elected. i don't have time to worry about getting snakebit again....

quote:

Originally posted by jdollar:
i am worried enough about Obummer getting re-elected. i don't have time to worry about getting snakebit again....

quote:

Originally posted by jdollar:

quote:

Originally posted by Upton O. Good:

quote:

Originally posted by Mike70560:
Reading the first post my initial reaction was snake bites are so rare it is nothing to worry about. I then read an email from one of the shooting clubs outside of Houston. A member was cutting grass at the range, ran over a snake, decided to pick it up, and was bit. He is in the hospital and will recover, although a water moccasin bite has to be painful. Not so much to do with Africa, just a coincidence.

BTW your tracker will see a snake long before you will be near it.

Every single snake bite on a human that I have knowledge of happened when someone was messing with the snake. I remember a radio public service announcement in Vietnam on AFVN radio:

"Leave snakes alone. If you leave snakes alone, they will leave you alone. So leave snakes alone."

Pretty accurate.

the one that bit me crawled in my garage and climbed up 4 steps, then curled upon the welcome mat at night. i stepped on him when i walked outside at night through the garage and stepped on him. he never had a chance to rattle and i never had a chance to react. this year my wife and i have killed 44 so far( with at least another 1 1/2 months to go in the season)around the house, in the garage, in the barn and the dog kennels- all within 50 yards of the front door. we have killed 2 in the house itself- 1 in our jaccuzi tub and 1 at the doorway to my home office. i have no idea how they got inside but there you are. believe me, i don't mess with them- i just take a pair of snake tongs, catch them, take them to a safe area, AND SHOOT THEM, AS DOES MY WIFE. don't think for a second that if you leave them alone, they will reciprocate. they ain't that smart. i have also had 4 dogs bitten and all 4 were you cruising around their kennels and stumbled on them. luckily we witnessed all 4 bites and got them to the vet in time. 3 times this year alone i have had rattlers strike at me as i bent down to pick something up and each time i caught the motion and jerked back in time to miss getting bit. what looks good on paper often doesn't stand the real world smell test.

quote:

Originally posted by akpls:

quote:

Originally posted by jdollar:

quote:

Originally posted by Upton O. Good:

quote:

Originally posted by Mike70560:
Reading the first post my initial reaction was snake bites are so rare it is nothing to worry about. I then read an email from one of the shooting clubs outside of Houston. A member was cutting grass at the range, ran over a snake, decided to pick it up, and was bit. He is in the hospital and will recover, although a water moccasin bite has to be painful. Not so much to do with Africa, just a coincidence.

BTW your tracker will see a snake long before you will be near it.

Every single snake bite on a human that I have knowledge of happened when someone was messing with the snake. I remember a radio public service announcement in Vietnam on AFVN radio:

"Leave snakes alone. If you leave snakes alone, they will leave you alone. So leave snakes alone."

Pretty accurate.

the one that bit me crawled in my garage and climbed up 4 steps, then curled upon the welcome mat at night. i stepped on him when i walked outside at night through the garage and stepped on him. he never had a chance to rattle and i never had a chance to react. this year my wife and i have killed 44 so far( with at least another 1 1/2 months to go in the season)around the house, in the garage, in the barn and the dog kennels- all within 50 yards of the front door. we have killed 2 in the house itself- 1 in our jaccuzi tub and 1 at the doorway to my home office. i have no idea how they got inside but there you are. believe me, i don't mess with them- i just take a pair of snake tongs, catch them, take them to a safe area, AND SHOOT THEM, AS DOES MY WIFE. don't think for a second that if you leave them alone, they will reciprocate. they ain't that smart. i have also had 4 dogs bitten and all 4 were you cruising around their kennels and stumbled on them. luckily we witnessed all 4 bites and got them to the vet in time. 3 times this year alone i have had rattlers strike at me as i bent down to pick something up and each time i caught the motion and jerked back in time to miss getting bit. what looks good on paper often doesn't stand the real world smell test.

You've killed 44....SO FAR? Yikes...I'll take my chances with the big critters here in Alaska!

quote:

Originally posted by pagosawingnut:
The late Owain Lewis wore them faithfully.
Looks weird with shorts but it is not a fashion contest.

quote:

Originally posted by Matt Graham:
Buffalo Chaps??

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Originally posted by LR3:
I used to live in an area in the Lowveld which had one of the highest concentrations of snakes and for pocket money I would sell snakes. The poisinous ones are virtually never in swamps unlike moccasins. Mambas clear off if not cornered and anyway they are likely to be at chest height with there heads when they travel in the grass. Leg gaiters have no real role. But at night when walking around camp always use a flashlight (torch!) to check for puff adders that come out to lie on warm paths and patches. If you are in a thatched hut, check the ceiling for snakes. Check sleeping bags and shoes more because of scorpions. Don't tease cobras, could be a spitting cobra.

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Originally posted by gunslinger55:
Buff hide chaps would be pretty tough....

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Originally posted by Matt Graham:
Buffalo Chaps??

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Originally posted by jdollar:
i may have to start wearing chaps around the house/yard after all. we killed 7 rattlers this past weekend and had 1 dog get bitten- luckily by a baby rattler. dog is ok after large doses of steroids, benadryl, and prophylactic antibiotics but the wife is about to have a nervous breakdown