Be Careful! Look at what i found...

[centaur]

I haven't been bitten, but it wasn't for the lack of trying of several prairie rattlers. Deer hunting one year, I was climbing hand over hand up some rocks when Mr. Buzzworm took a swipe at my hand, and somehow he missed. Once when bowfishing, I was knee deep in water when a rattler comes swimming along, headed right towards me. I pushed him away three or four times with my bow, and when he kept coming he got a fish arrow in the head. Hiking along the Sweetwater River one day, I surprised a rattler who not only lit up and scared the crap out of me, but he aggressively came at me, and got a 230 grain hardball for his trouble. Now maybe rattlesnakes aren't supposed to be aggressive, but these forgot to read the manual. I don't kill non poisonous snakes, but rattlers are meat if I see one.
My brother did get bit by a prairie rattler, but the snake hit his boot and didn't get flesh. They are nasty little suckers and need killing, as far as I'm concerned.

[Swamp Pygmy]

I think most people from the south have had their boots bitten. Probably not punctured.

I just don't think some folks from colder climates really understand snakes is the problem. Cotton mouths are a very slow snake. So they try to just lay still. A good strategy but not for humans. They are clumsy and climb up palmettos and such right to face level. And fall off at your feet when you rustle brush. They've fallen out of trees onto my kayak numerous times.

The small ones are almost undetectable, innumerable, and the most poisonous. I'll tell you snake boots or not its tons of fun to walk every step in high grass shaking a stick. You can only see a few inches of the snakes moving in front of you and it takes a seeming eternity to finish crossing your path.

Respect for life? I'm sure when you have mosquitos on you that you let them fill up the tank and fly away. No, I don't think. There are millions of them and so you don't hesitate to kill them. Well that is what cotton mouths are like in my neck of the woods.

@ ISHI. cotton mouths just aren't that pretty. Small young males are pretty and banded red/black. They make good arrow wraps but too small for anything substantial.

[Walt Francis]

I was bit by several snakes while growing up in the high deserts in southern Ca, but they were all non poisonous snakes, usually gopher (the meanest I dealt/played with) or red racers: most of the time it was because we were playing with them and were not careful enough.  On three occasions while hunting rabbits or chucker in the desert I was struck on the leg (once) or boot (twice) by Mojave Green’s, one of the most toxic snakes in North America.  At that time (the early 1970’s) nobody had lived after being bitten by one; from what I saw last year on the discovery channel there is now anti-venom.  None of the strike’s by the green’s were provoked other then my walking too close to a bush they happened to be under.  Luckily the strike on the leg did not fully penetrate my cowboy boot and the strikes on my cowboy boots hit the heel.  My brother Gary was struck twice on his boots by greens while hunting during high school too.  Luckily, none of my friends or me were struck by a green while catching them to sell to the researchers at UCLA, who were working on the anti-venom.  Not the norm, but on several occasions friends and I were chased by different types of rattlesnakes, most often sidewinders, but also diamondbacks and greens, while looking for greens on paved roads late at night (The snakes would move from the desert onto the blacktop when the temperature dropped because the black top retained the heat longer after the sun went down.).  Now days, let’s just say, the only snakes I like are on the back of a bow.

[knife river]

All the snake talk makes me scratch my head (maybe that's why I'm bald).  A lot of us (most of us?) pee down our hind legs in anticipation of a bear hunt with a skinny little pointy stick.  Wild hogs?  Bring us the biggest and baddest -- day or night, doesn't matter.  Bull elk or moose, rutted up and full of fight, lots of long daggers on their head -- can't get enough of 'em.  And a lot of us would give our left testicle for a shot at either a cape or water buffalo, the kind of critters that would happily turn us into toe jam.

Kinda see where I'm going?  We intentionally put ourselves in harm's way.  Might even exaggerate the danger at times -- that might just be part of the fun.  But when it comes to snakes, what happens to us tough outdoorsy types?  
 
I looked at the National Weather Service's website.  On average, there are 62 deaths from lightning each year.  Coincidentally, tornadoes account for the same number of deaths.  There have been 27 fatal bear attacks since 2000 (Wikipedia).  For snake bites in the US, the site eMedicine reports "The national average has been less than 4 deaths per year for the last several years.

Hmmm...   :rolleyes:

[ber643]

It is just hard for me to gather a lot of understanding, or empathy, for critters that can move so fast without a sign of a leg, and are more flexible than the most agile cat. Contrary to popular believe, perpetuated even by my own words and actions at times, I'm really not afraid of snakes, even though they do startle me often, and scare me sometimes (heck, so do some of my best friends - and girlfriends/wives) - I JUST DON"T LIKE THE SUCKERS! Even though I think some of them are beautiful  - in a strange, creepy, fascinating sort of way. Sorry - to both "factions" of the subject -   :D

[Shaner]

Hey guys, sorry I have been away for a while and haven't been able to see how this thread is going. Like hunting for anything else, if the whole snake was used I don't mind killing it but a lot of people kill snakes because they are afraid or misunderstand them. And I'm not saying this because I'm from Canada and have never dealt with snakes before. I worked for a nature centre doing research on Massasauga Rattlesnakes, and fox snakes which are both now endangered through most of their range because of human interference. A lot of snakes species are becoming threatened because of people killing them for no reason, and they are an important part of every ecosystem. I just don't see a very good reason to kill them. I guess its just hard to see something I have worked hard to try to save be killed lol. Texas Bubba also brings up very good points and knife river proves exactly what is true, the threat of a snake bite is greatly over exaggerated and it is just a part of being outdoors just like every other "dangerous" animal. This is a hard topic for me to understand as well though, because I kill deer, bear, rabbits and squirrels, so where do you draw the line on what you can kill? I guess its just a personal choice. I just think too many see snakes automatically as an evil and gross creature and that is why they are not doing so well. I also believe in a lot of places it is illegal to kill them, I know it is in Ontario. An interesting topic though would like to hear more.
Shane

[Shaner]

After reading all of the posts, I wonder where conservation and preservation has gone in the hunting community. Its kind of sad because after reading the opinions of some of these people it is no wonder why species are extinct and many are going extinct. Would you not think it would be sad if further generations could not witness such beatiful creatures and only read about them in textbooks?
Shane