Reminds me of the one about the guy in college + his prof asks who has sex once a year + this guy is jumping up + down in excitement. The prof asks him if only once a year, why he's so excited, + the guy says "Tonights the night."

Reason enough!

George

Just read thru the last of the page 1 posts I hadn't seen before.

Wow that's a heavy bodied diamond back.

Gal in Georgia I went to meet back in '04. Had sent me a picture and story about killing a big one like that.

They rode atv's across a shallow creek bed to hunt turkeys on an island. She went over alone and got off, while getting her gear on she heard one buzzing. Looked around and couldn't see anything. Got back on and went home. Told her hubby about it. He said: "I have to work days, you'll have to take care of it. We hunt there at night too and can't have that problem."

Next day she went over and there it was right where she had parked the day before. She blew it's head off about 8-10" down the neck. Bagged it all up and laid it on a 2x12" in the yard for him to see. I asked how big it was. Just over 9 feet and big around as my upper arm.

Damn shame they tossed it off a bridge in the swamp. Wasted a whole lot of fine eating.

What I'd never do and don't understand when others kill 'em and leave the heads on. Those heads are a big danger forever. We chop the heads off with a shovel and bury them where no one will be digging.

Anyone gets a chance to eat rattlesnake meat, do so. That's some of the best eating there is. I have fixed it, breaded in batter and boiled in oil. Skin and cut into 2" pieces, let it all drain over night before breading and cooking. One as big at that in the picture would make nice steaks and provide a lot of meals.

Ann: those are beautiful snakes. Thanks for sharing those pictures.

George

2 cowboys out for a ride when one tells the other I have to relieve myself, so he gets off his horse and goes behind a bush only to come out grabbing his groin, his friend ask what happened and he tells him a rattler bit his thing....and asked him to go back to town and ask a doctor what to do. He agrees meets the doctor who tell him to cut an"X" near the bite and suck the venom

out. He rides back to his friend who is panicking and asked his friend what did the Dr tell him, friend told him he is going to die!

Snake skins are easy to preserve. Soak them 3 days in a mixture of 20 Mule Team Borax and rinse em off. Mix cup of borax to gallon of water. Empty plastic coffee can is a good container to do it in.

When I was hunting eland in South Africa it came time to make a visit to the ladies room in the brush. It was a cold morning too. I grabbed the TP and told the guys I was trotting off to take care of business.

I found a large enough shrub some distance away to hide behind and went on to do my business with the shrub between me and the car. As I was peeing something caught my eye. It was a rather large puff adder coiled up right in front of me at the base of the shrub. It was looking right at me but never moved, never puffed, nothing. I finished and went back to the truck and told the guys. They said where is it so they could kill it. I wouldn't tell them. Not like we were in someone's dooryard, ya know?

I'll have to try the 20 mule team recipe. In the past, I have used a 50/50 mix of glycerin + alcohol

Ann, I can relate. Years ago I was living in an apartment + there was this macrame spider that spun her web across the door jamb. I put up a sign for folks coming in, "Leave her alone, she lives here, you don't!"

quote:

Originally posted by NormanConquest:
Ann, I can relate. Years ago I was living in an apartment + there was this macrame spider that spun her web across the door jamb. I put up a sign for folks coming in, "Leave her alone, she lives here, you don't!"

Good job!

Round 9PM last night I went out to close up the small hen house. Glad I turned the light on to have a look at the chicks. On the floor was an enormous western rat snake. A good 7 footer. She was big enough to eat a few of these juvenile chicks. It was quite a battle to gather it up. Bit me good on the hand. Like getting cut with glass.

Ann:
One time years ago I was sitting next to

a pine over looking a meadow hoping for an elk

to come out. When a lady hunter walked around

behind a bush to do her business about 30 feet away.

I hissed trying to get her attention. She didn't

hear me. When done, she looked around and saw me.

I just waved. She left, I never saw her again.

You never know what or who you will see out in the

woods. Look around first.

George

This Carpet Python was on our front verandah for three days digesting what I suspect was a feral cat a few years back. Funny had no visitors for the whole time she was there.

Pete

I had a buddy tell me out in the field when he was using the slit trench + squatting over it he had a strange feeling of being watched so he looked behind him + saw a copperhead with it's head swaying side to side in cadence with his codsack.

I have a buddy that was a Ranger in Vietnam late in the war. One of the members of his 6 man recon team had to do his business and snuck off from their hide and commenced to squat next to a log....

He was quite surprised when the "log" started to crawl off and really freaked out when he realized what he was seeing. He opened up full auto with his 16! The rest of the team came running to bail him out of the mess they thought he was in, only to discover the huge snake thrashing about.

If I remember correctly, they had to extract the team and re-insert them at another location to continue the mission...

If he had been constipated before, I'm sure that was cured right away.