In all our years at my wife's place in the S Central PA mountains 9Rothrock state forest), I've never seen any. Wife is up there with her dad and our two mini Aussies and almost got bagged by it. Heard the rattle (she said it sounded like a faucet running) and the dogs alerted. She dispatched the FIRST one on Wednesday and AGAIN another yesterday. Both were pretty big (14 rattles on this one). She bagged them both with the duty 22 Ruger pistol



You PA residents get many of these?

Looks to be a good sized specimen Jorge.. You know they are going to start a protest against peestols, right?

Popped this one last weekend while prepping foodplots, 16 and a button

I have only encountered one in the woods he didn't make it.

It's illegal to kill rattlers in Pa. You may want to delete your post if it isn't already to late.

eastern DB, nice one!

He's off his meds......He meant VA.

You are supposed to kill them in Texas either. There is a lot of them on my old lease by Woodville Texas. I’ve only seen one in 40 plus years at my house. I live in the piney woods.

Saw many eastern diamondbacks but only one TR when hunting them around Cross Fork & Sinnemahoning, Pa.

Congrats to her on her shooting. They are not unheard of around here and get more common points east, as you get into the real Ozarks. I would rather have a Governor for that duty, but that's just me.

ahhhh be sure it is not a "canebrake" rattler, lol

Wow! That is a long set of rattles. I've seen snakes that long and bigger but never seen a set of rattles anywhere near as long as the ones in the pic of the snake on the tailgate. I've killed many rattlers in S. California, E. WA, up in B.C. and seen some big timber rattlers in Oklahoma. They seem to wear off the rattles in the places I've been, so that seven or eight would be a fairly long set, even on snakes as big and long or bigger as the one on the tailgate. I can't recall for sure but think that 11 is the most I've seen on any snake we killed.

Good shoot for sure.

Around here we see sand rattlers,they are kind of smaller but when they get pissed off they will chase you down.

Congrats to the lady with nerves of steel! Every time I run up on those mofo's ( twice here in NC ) there ain't enough left to photograph. A5 with high brass 8's makes a mess of them.

The longest set of rattles I've seen was 10 on a BIG rattler. We saw them everyday when irrigating with gated pipe. Lots of little ones too, those are the ones who don't rattle and dump their whole load of venom. I was always real careful around the pipe.

you mean not suppose too. protected.

Shooting snakes at the VA??

What the heck are you guys talking about?

You cant shoot a rattler??

I never kill snakes unless they have decided to live in our cabin. The only Timber Rattlers I've seen were trying to get away from me.

Yes, Not supposed to kill them

I don't think so...

Yes, Jim. The VA has lots of them.

This^^^^

How many rattles did that one have, Hanco

Thats a Western Prairie Rattler if I ever seen one.

Sort of an aside, "Rattlesnake Bill" Watson ran the old Goldrock mine south of Dryden, Ontario in the early 1900's. William Watson acquired his nickname as a logger in the American southwest. Bill was sitting on a log eating his mid day meal. When reached to his plate on the ground for a sausage, he came up with a rattlesnake instead.

Im thinking E Timber.

Below is western D top and Prairie below

https://tpwd.texas.gov/education/hunter-education/online-course/preparation-and-survival/snakes

Western D

Weren’t they delisted in 2016?

Which ever one that does not get him a visit from the fish cops....

Yes I guess now you need a permit to "harvest" one per year.

That is my understanding, one per year.

We have a few rattlers in one small section in south western Vt. Never seen one though but have seen the signs while turkey hunting telling people to stay out of the cliff area in the spring.

I don’t know, someone posted this the last time there was a timber rattler thread. I almost stepped on this bastard last Sunday night, killed him with a broom

Protected here....WTF...it is a venomous snake. Why protect them.

Listed or not, they get shot on site.

Sycamore cued me on to this good book... "America's Snake"...

https://www.amazon.com/Americas-Snake-Rise-Timber-Rattlesnake/dp/022604064X

In the northeast part of its range, the timber rattlesnake was always local in distribution, dependent on a relatively few suitable denning sites. Said sites now often hemmed in and isolated by highways. So in New York/New England they are down to a few remnant, inbred populations.

I never kill a rattlesnake, unless I have the opportunity. (Yup !)
If I never know he is there, he is fine and free to go about his business. I hate rattlesnakes. Some close calls as a kid made a lasting impression.
Fortunately for me and them, I don't run into one very often.

i hunt buchanan sf in the same general area. very, very carefully in early squirrel and spring turkey. they're around.

Same in MI. We have only those miniature rattlers that can barely get you sick. But if you cap one, look out.

i don't kill any snake. killed one a few years ago but other than i leave them be.

I leave them be too. Preferably dead.

I've seen 8 in East Texas. 6 were in a 2 day span before hurricane Ike. It seemed like every critter in the woods was stirring. We're not supposed to kill them in Texas and I've never seen a need to

1 per year, with a fishing license.

No crap, that's the rule.

With rules like that, no wonder people
ignore them.

Everyone I know kills every one seen.
A former co-worker had to keep his garage door closed.
On cool days they would come in for the warm floor.

I have logged in bad snake areas.
It sucked. You had to look everywhere you were going to go, or reach.
Checking oil in a vehicle was an exercise in observation.
No food was ever left around....draws mice...

One morning I was starting a tri-axle, I felt something go across my foot.
Jumped straight out the door, no idea what I might land on,
just worried about a flipping snake.
Halfway down I saw a mouse going under the dash.

Poison and traps in the trucks by quitting time.

According to Virginia law it’s illegal to kill copperheads n rattlers they just happen to find there way in the path of my bush hog or lawn mower after the fact

They are absolutely “in dangered!”

OP pics is not a timber rattler

Then what is it?

I encounter a Timber Rattler now & then. I don't kill 'em.

I don't kill any snake , I ain't that scared of 'em.





Mike

Interesting thread - thanks. Surprised with the disagreement about the types of rattlesnakes pictured. That one with 16 rattles is unusual in my experience - must have spent all of its time in very soft grass or on a satin sheet,

I kill em. Fuggers die when I see em.

I let the gopher snakes, king snakes, garters etc go..... will even catch them and hide them so the hawks
don’t have a easy lunch.

Buzz tails..... no pass.

I have had a couple close calls where I coulda/shoulda been nailed and I be damned if I’m going
to let one go on the off chance it might hit a kid, adult, dog or anything.

F u c k those nasty worms.

Not killing a killer is ridiculous. Get them before they get you or someone else.

I live right next to Rothrock and Bald Eagle on 322 side, so that is where I walk the dogs and hunt. Yep it is a heavy year for them. The females pop out young ones right now, and others are breeding, so there is lot of snake movement in September. Lot of chipmunks this year so I guess good feeding. I generally dont kill them but my best friend kills every one, every time.
Another friend got bit by one in Bellefonte quarry, and naturally he got the anti venom at Mt. Nittany. His arm still swelled like a balloon, I thought it was going to blow up, but it eventually healed up.
Lots of bob cats the last few years in Rothrock, got many on the trail cams.
Great place to live.

Bull n ake.

Yep. No telling how many kids and their dogs I have saved.

My cousin killed one in E Texas when I was a big kid. It had 22 rattlers and a button. About 6-7 inches long rattlers. Polk County.

"...With rules like that, no wonder people ignore them..."

lol, I love it. but, true!!

There's been a few reports of them in Southeast Minnesota in the Mississippi River Bluffs area. We had them up in our central Pennsylvania area pretty regularly. Saw a couple laying dead on the roads up there. We also used to see a few bull snakes up there too.

I encountered plenty of timber rattlers horseback riding on the game lands. They always gave me plenty of advance warning of their presence. They have a limited source of venom so they dont strike unless it a food source so they can replenish venom or no option to escape danger. They live in the woods, I don't so I let them alone.

That is a rattlesnake, not a bull snake. I don’t even think there are bull snakes in PA. We have plenty on rattlesnakes. I saw one just lat weekend. They are in the top 5 most common snakes that I see here.

Growing up in eastern Pa., a couple came off of the mtn into town.

They didn't last long...

Had to tell Varmintgay the same thing a few years ago....using that logic I should pull over every stupid driver I see, and kill them...

I see a lot of stupid drivers, I like the idea of killing them!

Around here the locals call them Velvet tail Rattlers. I've seen pics of 6 footers and they were pretty darn big around too. Fortunately where I live I've never seen one. But less than 8 miles away there are some. They seem to occur in pockets here and there through out Eastern Texas.

Years ago use to take my morning coffee in the garage so I could talk with the lads and lassies, (Pookie, Bozo, Shelia, and Audy (Murphy -cat was a badass). I step out and they're all focused and I haven't woke up yet. I then find myself the target of a very agitated -green- sidewinder. That gets real sporty.


AND:
God forbid some leopard g-string wearing guy shoot me with a 270.

I kill rattlers around the house and barn.


Also any snakes that are in the house.


Wife dont like house snakes.

Has she had them in a chilli/ stew?

Unless they are an immediate threat to ones self, children, livestock, or have taken up residence adjacent or under a cabin or home, IMO, they should be left alone to do their thing. We have no snakes in Alaska, but I have lived where they were, and encountered them (scaring the crap out of me a couple times) and felt the same then.

If it is legal, and they are wanted for meat or hide (not just the rattles) that is a different story.

Killing them otherwise is a wanton act, depriving them of the only thing the poor bastards have - their life. It is not going to make a bit of difference in the population, one way or another, so it is merely a "feel-good" act on the killer's part. No different than killing a deer or other animal "because it is there", or for the rack.

If it is illegal, then the snake killer should be prosecuted, in addition. No wink, wink, ha,ha.

We have no sarcasm notification you know.

Mostly like you Jim, except if I can I'll just remove them from the homestead area.

Lived in a place in AZ desert where I killed or removed 21 in a five year period. From next to the hose bib on the house wall, under the pallet the doghouse sat on, the porch, steps going down from the yard to the street. One I removed crawled under a cooler i had tipped over to dry out after rinsing it post turkey hunting. Hadn't been on the lawn a half hour. Most of the killed ones were eaten and their skins preserved. We let many go that were away from the house.

This house here, haven't seen a rattler yet but garter snakes and gopher snakes (bull snakes to some of youins) and a spattering of others. Have actually had small garter snakes get in somehow. Maybe through the side of the dog door flaps?




Pretty much on the same page as you las, they get a pass from me most times. I hate friggen rats, mice, gophers and other rodent vermin that gets in the garden, sheds, chicken coops, and yard. If the rattler ain't near to the house, it'll likely live.




I'm more for having a vaporize button on my dashboard with crosshairs so I don't smoke an innocent driver. Either that or a "Groundhog Day" button so they can keep going over and over their impropriety, endlessly, until they figure it out.

Geno

PS, for those who think "well Geno just hasn't had a close call yet", I've had my hands and feet within inches of them on more than a few occasions. It definitely gets the heart started.

He needs to go to S Texas or Houston or Austin and get busy.

Kind of like coyotes and crows, huh?

buzz tails get chopped into small pieces in my space . I made a 5 ft alum. walking stick to hold the head and a razer sharp gerber jr machete to do the choppen I HATE snakes

an eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth. one of those bast*rds killer a golden retriever of mine a few years ago. And i know a number of people bit. Treatment isn't inexpensive. my golden weighed about 100pounds. I figure 2pounds per snake, or i need to blast about 50of them into eternity. i am still 30 or so short.
wanton act? no, it's intentional, feel good on the killer's part? you bet, more the better. Hate the damn things.
favorite way to do it? shotgun, and about 6 rounds of number seven. start at the head, work backwards, reload then start at the tail and work forwards. it makes it easier for the hawks and yotes to find a snack hanging on the barb wire fence.
and by the way, i don't shoot either yotes or crows.

Just great! walked by that same garden the day before........ VP did a good job. Karl didn't need that hanging around.

Sorry...you lost me at "Unless".

i shot a four footer one time that was coiled, in the neck with a .22lr. S.O.B. got irritated and started chasing me. I won, and a long axe following, kind of like fresh snake sushi.

I don’t kill them if I see them in the woods, and I’m always wearing snake boots. If they are in camp, close to kids and dogs, then they get culled. The average cost of treating a rattlesnake bite is around $150k, not to mention the pain and disfigurement that goes along with it. With kids and seniors, there’s a very real chance of not making it through the treatment. I don’t mind snakes so much, but there are limits.

Yep, dead snake...

Always dead.

F u c k those buzzers

Was with Rick Menefee last week in NM and almost stepped on a green colored prairie rattler, don’t know how I didn’t. Living life right I guess. I’ll go to my grave wondering how I didn’t get popped. It was coiled up at my feet and I had been standing there and moving around for 5 min

Timber rattlers are gorgeous and very docile. Common in East Texas.

Beautiful snakes... I never kill them or any other snake unless they are in my yard or bothering my dogs.

What fes we have around here that I've seen are more banded nutso much "dimond" like markings

A. They were in the yard/orchard
B.and within five feet of my dogs..and coiled/rattling
C.Yes they both were Timber rattlers.

If you know where Camp Blue Diamond is, we are just up the road from them, east of the big lake..

the one you replied to is not an eastern DB

Yes.

Well...I've got an 8yo that is almost always with me, he wasn't with me this day. He'd have been out in the foodplot looking for stuff and would have gotten popped on the hand. No telling how many times we have walked past this snake in the past. I'm not taking any chances if its somewhere we frequent. My experience with timbers is they won't mess with ya unless you pretty much step on them. I picked up a shed once, took one step and got popped in the snake boots by one. He was hid well, never rattled. I knew what it was as soon as he hit me. half mile from the truck, 45 minutes from the nearest hospital and by myself. Puts things in perspective.

We have a ton of hogs now and don't see near as many as we used to. And from what I hear....this is one reason they aren't rattling as much.

I'll kill EVERY rattler I can.
Particularly after losing a baby calf, a young yearling, and having a horse bit - needing treatment.
The horse was permanently injured - seemed to lose stamina, strength, and I think it damaged his eyesight. He died pretty young, also.

Is Texas afraid they're going to run out of rattlesnakes?

Was at the zoo last weekend was really surprised to learn how many species of rattlesnakes are in Mexico. Some really colorful too.

timber rattler??

Never seen one here where I live, but a man got bit by a timber rattler earlier this summer about 18 miles or so from me. They seem to prefer the heavily wooded and rocky areas in the north part of the county I'm in. Never heard of one being killed here in farm country, but I would think that they could be around.

I don't like snakes, and if I catch one in and around the yard or the buildings, I don't usually give them a pass unless they're a little garter snake.

We have three different types of rattlesnakes in SE Georgia. Diamond Backs, Canebrake (timber rattlers) and Pigmy rattlesnakes. I don't think I have ever heard the word docile used in the same sentence with any of the three. Some might be more aggressive than others, but it seems to be on an individual snake to snake basis. If they are shedding their skin they don't put up with much either. But docile isn't a word I'd use with a rattlesnake. Always possible in other areas I guess...

Docile my a s s.....

Must be cold early morning for them to be “docile”

Again, f u c k e rs die in my hood....

they are quite docile after four or five rounds of 12guage in them

Those are right to be dead.
































IMHO

Sorry for that.

I’m in the same camp....

Kill em all

I would hate to have my kids or anyone’s kids get tagged by them..

My cousin stepped on one Turkey hunting a few years back.
Said he knew what it was the instant he felt that solid but soft
round thing under his foot.

"Jumped like a cat, screamed lik e a girl" his words.

Lucky it was chilly, it wasn't fast enough to bite him.

Surprises me way more people don't get bitten spring Turkey hunting.

Walking out of a hunting spot once on a chilly Nov evening near dark once near Goliad, Texas. I hit the RR Track a ways down from my high school car and hoofed it north. I tripped on something big and soft and caught myself and took a few steps before I heard the rattlers slow buzz.

I just kept walking.

Thank you Father in Heaven.

I went out early one morning at the deer lease in Coleman County. Stepped on a rattler about 4 feet long, I had on my snake leggings or I would have been bit. I looked down because something was hitting my foot.

That's honestly when I see them most, in the spring. My buddy had one wake him up while he was nappin under a tree, crawled across the top of his boot laces. I kneeled down next to one setting a turkey decoy out once, used a 5 dollar shell on his ass.

A good friend lost a wonderful dog to a rattlesnake on a trail I sometimes walked. I wish I had run into that snake at an earlier time and my friend would still have her dog. A few years ago I was told that the anti-venom shots for a dog that had been bit ran about $1400. Ouch!

I agree that rattlesnakes have a place in nature. But just not around people or their animals. My barn cats do a good job of keeping down the mice. I don't need any help from rattlesnakes.

years ago my then son in law, originally from california, was on a ridge overlooking a watertank. he yelled he had spotted a really long buzztail. i yelled back kill it. he didn't and proceded to follow it as it worked it's way down the hill towards me. when it got in range i did the six shots of 12guage. He asked me why i killed it? well, if i hadn't, it could bite the cows and horses coming into to drink, or next year when we were walking the area, maybe one of us.
i think kalifornicators are all alike.

Yes, then they are good snakes........................good 'n dead.

They NEVER, EVER get a pass from me.

BIL got bit on the hand by a relatively small one (about 3-4') a few years ago, thought he was gonna lose his arm but he didn't. Was pretty remote where he got bit & took about 3 hours to get him to a hospital in Butte. He was lucky........................

MM

there is a lake just to the north of phoenix called lake pleasant, in the high desert. at low water, these little islands appear. one night a guy was night fishing out of a boat, had to take a dump, couldn't just hang his butt over the side. so he went to the little island in a hurry, ran up on to the shore, and dropped his pants and squatted. right over a coiled rattler. what to do? don't want to get hit in the nads, so he covered them with his hand, which is where he did get hit. Horrible choice to have to make. They like old indian ruins which i do too. sitting on the foundation of an old ruin, and hearing a buzztail shaking his tail at you in the rocks next to you, is not a good feeling. I have really been lucky not getting struck. as in walking in shorts in high dried grass on the desert, you can't see the snake, but he can see you with those thermal sensors, no they don't get a pass.

I had some old clay shooting buddies find one in a river and put it in their john boat to skin later thinking it was dead. Well as that metal floor heated up, so did the snake. Would have been a hoot to see.

Prolly not very funny to those guys, though.....................

MM

I killed a 54” ringtail a couple days ago that was right under my ranch gate. 158gr headache took care of him. I’d sure hate for my 87 year old hard of hearing Grandad or my 3 year old son who doesn’t know better to get nailed by a big rattler.

That's a good nake.

Gotta be real careful sitting in a pop up blind in October archery and Nov deer season in Texas, especially if near any structure. They like to crawl in with you in on cool evenings. They can ruin a good popup.

A big king snake crawled over my boot one evening and almost ruined mine.

There were some sheets of tin roofing scattered around the old dilapidated above ground rock and cement water tank below the windmill that once drained to distant water troughs. I guess it was well fed as the next spring when snake hunting we got 16 rattlers iirc from under those roofing pieces.