Little Big Horn Battlefield & Pompeys Pillar (fencing, price)

[jimj]

Originally Posted by pmjinnh

Thanks for the information...oh great...it'll be worse when I visit California summer 09?????
I'm glad I have my hiking sticks. Actually, sounds like I have more chance of having tea with a grizzly in Yellowstone than dealing with the slithery guys.

I'd be way more concerned with the animals in the parks than any snake. Last year there were a couple of bear attacks and many close calls but I've not heard of any snake bites in quite a while. A couple of years ago a MHP officer was bitten while chasing someone next to the freeway somewhere around Misssoula and that's the only one I've ever heard of.

[A Neighbor]

There was a HP officer last summer that got bit several times from several rattlesnakes outside of Billings. He ran up an enbankment to get some pictures of a load being hauled illegally and didn't notice that he ran into a nest of snakes. Can you say, oh Shoots, that's gonna hurt?

[jimj]

Originally Posted by A Neighbor

There was a HP officer last summer that got bit several times from several rattlesnakes outside of Billings. He ran up an enbankment to get some pictures of a load being hauled illegally and didn't notice that he ran into a nest of snakes. Can you say, oh Shoots, that's gonna hurt?

Thanks for the correction, I guess either I read it wrong or they printed it wrong....

[A Neighbor]

Here are links for the last two stories involving Rattlesnake bites in S.E. Montana BillingsGazette.com :: Snakebit patrolman back at work and BillingsGazette.com :: Snake bite kills Roundup man

[L-88]

Originally Posted by A Neighbor

Here are links for the last two stories involving Rattlesnake bites in S.E. Montana BillingsGazette.com :: Snakebit patrolman back at work and BillingsGazette.com :: Snake bite kills Roundup man

Finley, the dead ranch hand, may have had no fear of snakes, but if he had had any respect for the havoc they can wreak, he would still be alive. DON'T EVER TRY TO PICK UP A FREAKIN' RATTLESNAKE!!!!

[Timberwolf232]

We shoot em all the time.

Best way to do it is use a .22 rifle.
When you spook one and it sits up at you can point at it from your hip and rotate the barrel in a circle.
It's head will follow the end of the barrel as it gets ready to strike it and you pop it! You don't need to aim and you'll never miss.

Or you can get em with a piece of pipe and a rope, (if you want to mount it's head or something, personally I wouldn't want to look at it, but know some people who make glass paperweights and stuff with rattler heads. I've made belts and stuff out of skins.)

The only good rattler is a dead one!

[L-88]

Originally Posted by Timberwolf232

We shoot em all the time.

Best way to do it is use a .22 rifle.
When you spook one and it sits up at you can point at it from your hip and rotate the barrel in a circle.
It's head will follow the end of the barrel as it gets ready to strike it and you pop it! You don't need to aim and you'll never miss.

Or you can get em with a piece of pipe and a rope, (if you want to mount it's head or something, personally I wouldn't want to look at it, but know some people who make glass paperweights and stuff with rattler heads. I've made belts and stuff out of skins.)

The only good rattler is a dead one!

Why do you shoot them?

The are an excellent source of varmint control.

Rattlesnakes won't bother you unless you screw up.

Do lots of people have your attitude as regards snakes?

[Timberwolf232]

Originally Posted by L-88

Why do you shoot them?

The are an excellent source of varmint control.

Rattlesnakes won't bother you unless you screw up.

Do lots of people have your attitude as regards snakes?

A friend of mine has part of a guest ranch not too far from where I live, and they like to hide under hay bails and around nooks about the place. Not that that is inherently bad, but some of the guests get really nervous and the owners worry about liability. More because horses like to buck when they get spooked by em than about someone getting bit.

I was also bit once when I was in high school while rock climbing. I remember feeling like I was freezing and it was the middle of summer. The doctor I went to told me it must have bit something before it got me or I'd have been a goner. My shoulder down to my elbow and up to my neck and side of my face was black and blue.

You are correct though.. I screwed up.

When I pulled myself onto a ledge it got me in the shoulder. It was cornered and I didn't see it until it was too late. I guess I don't like em for that reason more than anything..

[jimj]

Originally Posted by L-88

Why do you shoot them?

The are an excellent source of varmint control.

Rattlesnakes won't bother you unless you screw up.

Do lots of people have your attitude as regards snakes?

I would say yep, along with coyotes,gophers,wolves,skunks, squirrles and sometimes raccoons and fox as well.
A lot depends on where you run into them, if it's out when you're hiking most people I know will go the other way if possible, if not then they'd get "popped". I agree with the avoid it if you can while out in the woods but I also remember the prime directive which is MY health and survival. I've run into bear while out on my 4 wheeler and while I could have easily stood my ground and pepper sprayed it or shot it dead we took off as fast as we could to avoid the situation since we were in it's house.
If it's around your house or a danger to your family,stock or pets then chances are it'll be taken care of. A good example is we just had someone who was walking along in town and was surrounded by a pack of either wolves or coyotes. He was lucky in that they didn't attack for some unkown reason but they must have had something on their little minds to surround him. As my neighbor (who carries everywhere he goes) put it, "that'd be interesting having a few hides to put on my wall". In that instance I don't blame him, they could have walked away instead of forcing a confrontation.

[AQHA]

I agree. Gophers and rattlers are both on my instant kill list, they are bad for the horses.