these snakes are scaring me!!!!!! (coop, camping, live)

[lonestar2007]

OOOOOKEEE DOKEEE maybe that was a little overboard, but not by much. HUGE snake. It was almost like it stood up. It didn't look me in the eyes because I wasn't THAT close and if I had been, it wouldn't be looking in my eyes, but at the back of my head! My neighbor seen a snake that had been run over on the county road right behind my place that he said was the biggest snake he'd ever seen, said it was almost the width of the county road. These aren't little dirt roads we're talking about here, they're nice, wide, paved roads. I had told my neighbor about this snake and when he seen it dead in the c.r., he called me up and told me he thought it was probably the snake I had told him about. I never said anything about it being a venomous snake, I just said it was big.

As far as getting up close enough to a cottonmouth to check out the shape of his eyes, whew brother, that's a little close for me.

I know there are beneficial snakes out there. I grew up in the country, heard it all, oh, you don't want to kill that snake, that's a good snake, eats mice, etc. I just can't help it, call me stupid, ignorant, whatever you please, I'm going to kill snakes that come onto my property. I keep plenty of mouse traps, rat posion, etc. on hand for those nasty rodents. You can keep and protect all the snakes that are on your property.

Originally Posted by Steve-o

Unless you live in India or are around 2-3' tall, I gotta call total and utter BS on that. Were you on your stomach crawling around or something??? Youll be hard pressed to find snakes that are 6' long as it is, let alone one that can rear up and look you in the eyes. King cobras (Ophiophagus hannah) are the longest venomous snake in the world, attaining lenghts of up to 18', and they can rear up about a 1/3rd of their body length, which would be 6', and that would be a record specimen that could do that only!!! Now, venomous snakes in the USA rarely ever get over 6' long, meaning were they to rear up (which they dont really ever do---they coil up), theyd maybe be 2' off the ground, maybe. Its ridiculous stories like that that scare everyone needlessly.





Youre a hardcore ophidiophobic. You should really get that taken care of. Youre killing harmless and beneficial snakes over simple fear and, for lack of better term, stupidity. Im not calling you stupid, dont take it that way, but there's no need to kill a harmless animal. I despise cats, but does that give me the right to take a shovel to every kitten I see? No. Wanna know why? Because cats are loved and adored, even though theyre hardcore killers at heart. Snakes are pets too, and good ones at that. And unlike cats, snakes dont kill everything they can get a hold of. Snakes LOVE to kill and eat disease-spreading rodents, which are far more harmful than most snakes. Just keep that in mind next time you go to kill one.

[GoingHome2TX]

My experiences with copperheads around Gonzalez says contrary to everything I have read and you are saying about them. You can convince the world, but I am not in that world. I have seen a disturbed one behave in a manner that I would never consider to be docile. If that isn't the norm, I'll go with it, but I would never call them completely timid.

The cottonmouths were unquestionably cottonmouths. We were clearing brush off the river bottom in Live Oak County, when we stumbled across a nest of them. They were verified by a herpetologist in the area after the land owner requested positive affirmation that they were indeed cottonmouths.

I could question the one that swam past me as being a water snake or moccasin, because I did not swim closer for a better look. I was always told that the water moccasin and the water moccasin alone was the only south Texas snake that swam with its entire body completely above water. True or false, it has been what I've gone by, and that has been the only time I've seen a snake on water, but what I shot, I do not question.

[TexasHorseLady]

A few years ago, in the year we called "the year of the snakes" (we had a dog and a filly snakebit, and a few friends in various parts of this part of Texas had horses bit, as well), I was driving down the road (a farm to market road, so fair-sized, big enough for doubledecker cattle trucks to pass each other easily) and saw something odd across the road up ahead. As I got closer, I realized that it was a rattlesnake (well, a snake - later examination determined the type) that was moving along in its usual snakey fashion - and it stretched from the edge of the pavement to the yellow stripes down the middle of the road. (This is not in India, and I was driving a Dodge Cummins Turbo Diesel 3/4 ton truck, which is NOT 3 feet tall.) I did, indeed, run over it. On the way back from town, coming the other direction, I noticed, about ten feet further up the road, another snake of similar size that had been run over by someone else.

These snakes were much longer than six feet. Steve-0, go find yourself a Farm to Market road in Central Texas and measure from the center to the edge, so you won't have to take my word for that.

I have a live and let live relationship with most snakes - you stay out of my territory and leave my critters alone, and I'll do likewise. Don't even mind 'em crossing the place, as long as they do no harm (and some of them do quite a bit of good). Does not mean that I won't kill one that is a genuine threat to me and mine, and I have done so a few times.

[emailvasally]

wow! I cannot believe I moved someplace with this many snakes!
I never thought I was "scared" of them until now. (not paranoid though)
We had snakes in VA but I lived on the water with an acre of woods behind me and only saw 1 garden snake my whole life.

Thase stories are entertaining and eye opening.

[love roses]

I've seen a very large, nearly 6' Rat snake. My grandpa shot it and held it up by the tail next to him and it was as long as he was tall. I know Rat Snakes are harmless, however, my grandfather killed it because it was in his hen house and he didn't want it coming back to eat the eggs and smaller baby chickens. This was in Tyler.

For the lady moving to Taylor. I've never heard my in-laws talk about seeing snakes there. At least not in or around town. This probably wouldn't be the case in the more rural areas, of course. Here in Hutto, my neighbors tell me we have copperheads. I have yet to see one and I've been here 3 years now. I have seen garter and rat snakes, and usually I just chase them out of the yard. We only killed one because it was a hognose (we didn't know that at the time) and it was coiled on our front porch and it was hissing and doing the hood thing with its head. Since we know there aren't cobras in Texas, we were mystified, so killed it out of ignorance. Next time, I'll know better. But if it is a poisonous snake I won't hesitate to do something about it.

[Fiddi]

Thanks love roses. I'm getting excited about the possibility of moving. My husband really liked Taylor and the company. Snakes and tornadoes aside... I think I'm reading too much for my own good .

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

These snakes were much longer than six feet. Steve-0, go find yourself a Farm to Market road in Central Texas and measure from the center to the edge, so you won't have to take my word for that

Well, how about you measure the road since youre in the area? I dont doubt you might have seen a very large specimen, but on AVERAGE theyre much smaller than 6'. The record WDB rattler on record is 7' 8" (92") long, and thats a MONSTER rattler! Given that length, it would still be smaller than an average road lane (which is over 9'). So, once again I have to question the authenticity here.
Western Diamondback Rattlesnake

[TexasHorseLady]

Steve-o, I'm not the one who's casting doubt on what someone else saw with their own eyes. (Either me or the previous poster.) So I would think that ball would be in your particular court.

Yes,. those two are the single largest rattlesnakes (not sure if they were Western Diamondback Rattlers or not) that I've ever seen in almost 60 years of living alongside them (which gives me a fair familiarity with them - I've studied them up close and personal for all that time, plus, of course, studying about them in books). I didn't feel compelled to get out and measure them at the time, but they were, indeed, as long as I indicated. Sorry if that doesn't fit into your worldview, but given the evidence of my own eyes or your worldview, guess which one I'm personally going to pick?

[lonestar2007]

Originally Posted by love roses

I've seen a very large, nearly 6' Rat snake. My grandpa shot it and held it up by the tail next to him and it was as long as he was tall. I know Rat Snakes are harmless, however, my grandfather killed it because it was in his hen house and he didn't want it coming back to eat the eggs and smaller baby chickens. This was in Tyler.

For the lady moving to Taylor. I've never heard my in-laws talk about seeing snakes there. At least not in or around town. This probably wouldn't be the case in the more rural areas, of course. Here in Hutto, my neighbors tell me we have copperheads. I have yet to see one and I've been here 3 years now. I have seen garter and rat snakes, and usually I just chase them out of the yard. We only killed one because it was a hognose (we didn't know that at the time) and it was coiled on our front porch and it was hissing and doing the hood thing with its head. Since we know there aren't cobras in Texas, we were mystified, so killed it out of ignorance. Next time, I'll know better. But if it is a poisonous snake I won't hesitate to do something about it.

We've lost countless eggs and baby chicks to snakes. Horrible. But one of the worst things besides the little baby chicks being eaten was the loss of some doves we had. My daughter went out to feed and all of a sudden I hear her screaming, so I rushed out and she was staring at the dove's cage. A snake had manged to crawl through the tiny holes in the wire, but he couldn't get out because of the two doves he had swallowed. His head was out, but the rest of him got stopped where the doves had made him bulged out. I would have never thought a snake could get through that wire, but it did. I mean, here we are looking at this snake, looking at the outlines of our doves inside of him, I wanted to scream too. While I miss the doves and listening to them, I've not replaced them as I never want to go through that experience again.

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by lonestar2007

We've lost countless eggs and baby chicks to snakes. Horrible. But one of the worst things besides the little baby chicks being eaten was the loss of some doves we had. My daughter went out to feed and all of a sudden I hear her screaming, so I rushed out and she was staring at the dove's cage. A snake had manged to crawl through the tiny holes in the wire, but he couldn't get out because of the two doves he had swallowed. His head was out, but the rest of him got stopped where the doves had made him bulged out. I would have never thought a snake could get through that wire, but it did. I mean, here we are looking at this snake, looking at the outlines of our doves inside of him, I wanted to scream too. While I miss the doves and listening to them, I've not replaced them as I never want to go through that experience again.

What if a dog or cat had gotten in there and ate your doves? Would you hold a hate/murder campaign against them too? The snake just did what any wild animal would do, find an easy meal. Doesnt make them any different than any other animal out there, please realize that.