Mountain cabin

[writerwife]

Originally Posted by turkey-head

Take a broom handle and knock around in all the back corners, under furniture, etc. If there's a rattlesnake around you'll know pretty quick.

Also keep in mind that a rattlesnake in real life doesn't really sound like what you hear on movies. Not as loud as you might expect. With the smaller snakes, it almost sounds like a bug rattling around. I'm sure you can find them on youtube.

Except the one in my shed/shop which was at least 6' ... it was a loud enough noise and sounded very much like the ones in the movies (not quite but almost). It took just a sec to register what I was hearing and then I realized what it was by the sound. Then I froze and looked over to where the sound was coming from and saw it. Well.. saw part of it as it was slithering away in the other direction and tipping stools and stacked boxes on it's way.

Like I said tho... it was pretty big and thick. I would imagine that smaller ones don't sound as dramatic as the one I encountered though.


I backed out of the shop (as I had just entered and only got about a few ft in when I heard it) as quick as I could. A friend who collects/kills rattlers said it was most likely an Eastern Diamondback.

[turkey-head]

Yeah, I guess a big one in an enclosed space could be pretty loud.

I just like to mention it as a warning... that rattlesnakes aren't necessarily all that loud. If somebody is expecting the noise they hear on a Western, they could overlook smaller snakes which are just as dangerous. A small rattler in tall grass sounds almost like a bug if you aren't familiar with it.

I've been around rattlesnakes enough that they're really not that big a deal. But if you're in an area where you know they're around, it's best to make noise and knock around with a big stick or something. They'll let you know if they're there

A lot of people keep a gun handy to kill them. A shotgun works... though that's like killing a wasp with a sledgehammer. IMO a .22 or a .38 with rat shot is a better option. But I don't carry a gun around most of the time... a big stick or a steel fence post works fine.