Yikes! A rattlesnake! (Abilene: homes, upkeep, live)

[BobTex]

That is on the Jasper / James Byrd issue. I think I voiced the same thing in that thread but I felt like the lone voice in the wilderness crying out against the roar of a politically correct media interested in manufacturing news versus reporting the truth. BTW I llive just SW of Woodville, so we are close!

On snakes and dogs ...... when I was a youngster my best dog friend and trusted hunting companion (a great treeing squirrel dog) got in a run-in with a six foot eastern diamondback. Old Jack took 2 hits to the head before I dispatched the demonic serpent with my trusty 16 guage. Within 30 minutes my buddy was wobbling , slobbering, and looking for a cool place to lay down.

I begged my grandfather to take him to the veternarian. In those days a dog was "just a dog", not like in today's society where a dog is elevated to almost human status. I also imagine my grandfather had practical experience with dogs and snakebite, but since this was a large snake (with a large "dose" of venom) and Jack was relatively small (25lbs) my grandfather relented and we loaded Jack into the old Ford pickup and headed to the vet.

Now, once there I can't remember the treatment Jack recieved but I remember this sage advice from the old vet........"He's(Jack) gonna be sick for a while, but if he didn't die within 45 minutes he won't die from the bite". Since that time I remember our dogs getting snake bit innumerable times ..... usually by copperheads as they were thick where we lived......but I never saw a dog die. They'd swell up in the neck and lay around a couple of days, drool alot, but eventually all would return to normal and we never took another dog to the vet for snakebite again. If I remember right old Jack layed around about 3 days under the house but finally got over it. Man, did he hate snakes after that.....and got bit several more times without lasting consequences.

BTW....since snakes are cold blooded they are pretty rare below 60 degrees and sluggish if you do see them. Yes Stargazer....they are dormant in winter but I do see them on warm sunny days in the spring and they are usually active in early fall as it is generally pretty temperate . Be careful at the deerlease......look before you step!

[lifertexan]

In going back to an old thread, I need to comment on the James Byrd event. I live in Jasper. The incidendent was a drug deal gone bad between old prison buddies. It was not a hate crime,as the media loved to tell, it was a drug crime.

That is on the Jasper / James Byrd issue. I think I voiced the same thing in that thread but I felt like the lone voice in the wilderness crying out against the roar of a politically correct media interested in manufacturing news versus reporting the truth.

The problem with this claim is that it has no factual basis.Two people made this suggestion that it was a bad drug deal,one,the main defendant,who claimed a co defendant killed Byrd in a bad drug deal,and second, a leader of the KKK trying to deflect attention away from such a heinous crime.Neither one someone you should trust.The investigators in the crime looked into these claims and decided they were false,and prosecuted the crime as a racially motivated act.

[BobTex]

COUGH......COUGH..........How's the weather out there Lifer? Seen any snakes lately? I haven't seen many snakes here in EAST TEXAS where I LIVE and intimately know things that are not known nationally......or.....even regionally.....but are still a fact of life. It's amazing what a politically motivated sheriff and / or DA will do...even if it ain't the right thing.....ain't it?Well, hate to cut it short, but gotta run!!!!! Take care!


Bob

[lifertexan]

I haven't seen many snakes here in EAST TEXAS where I LIVE and intimately know things that are not known nationally......or.....even regionally.....but are still a fact of life.

yeah,I'm sure the DA called you up and kept you abreast of all the details there bob.But facts are facts.The guy that first made that accusation was the main defendant.You're going to believe someone like him trying to worm his way out of a death sentence?Anecdotal stories like these mean nothing,especially when told for the specific reason of diverting attention away from the racial problems.The guys were racist,they bragged about their feat,and they were unrepentant about killing a black guy.That is called racism,bob.Perhaps you are cough,cough, too close to the area to notice it like others that live where it isn't as prevalent can.

[BobTex]

Did I say the DA called me......NO! That was uncalled for to make a statement like that. Do I believe this defendant......no! .........he's the scum of the Earth.....period! But I do believe NUMEROUS others who were privy to the situation. Community knowlege of these men was/is just that. Common knowlege!!!!! It is known what happened by the people that live here(which you don't).....it doesn't excuse it and I'm not saying it does....but the murder itself was the result of not paying a drug debt......don't really matter in my opinion why though. Are the court "facts" the truth as it happened.....could be.....could not be. All it (the trial and its story) showed is the DA had the drop on the scumbags.

You have stated and hinted and charged that East Texas is a racist area and I'm calling you on it .......state a fact of such (beside this one isolated incident).....since you want to base everything on "known facts". Fact is you are a trouble maker .....based on your continual derrogatory statements about East Texas.

You impune my reputation on even an annonymous internet board and I take personal offense to it.......just like I take personnal offense to your dogging of East Texas. I let your charges go in the Cedar Creek thread without rebuttal, but you just can't let it go....can you? Keep it up.....it's a mirror to your character!

[Just Lookin]

Oh you two please stop. Both of you are great people and what ever happened to someone else doesn't matter here. In every State there is racist people and people who are not. Texas is no different.

We out of Staters need your advice. Both of you together give us so much.

[lifertexan]

bob

Go back to,uh,let's see,post 55 of this thread and tell me,cough,cough,who started with the snide remarks.If you are going to go down that road then be a big boy and don't complain when it comes back at you.Cough,cough.

just like I take personnal offense to your dogging of East Texas. I let your charges go in the Cedar Creek thread without rebuttal, but you just can't let it go....can you?

Uh,bob,if you go back and read this thread you find that YOU brought this subject back up,not me.Or you and the other poster.I am just pointing out that your claims are not accurate according to the people who were involved in the investigation and prosecution,as well as the NAACP.
http://www.texasnaacp.org/jasper.htm (broken link)

If you take personal offense at the truth,well,that is not my problem.Go research Vidor,Tx for more on this racial issue.
http://www.kordelski.org/vidor2.html (broken link)

You have stated and hinted and charged that East Texas is a racist area and I'm calling you on it .......state a fact of such (beside this one isolated incident).....since you want to base everything on "known facts"

OK,you asked me to.You can read some about it here.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/special/jasper/reaction/226896.html (broken link)

And here


http://www.blackpressusa.com/news/Article.asp?SID=3&Title=National+News&NewsID=4552 (broken link)

And here.This one you cannot copy and paste because it is a PDF file.You have to type it into the address box yourself.

www.nieman.harvard.edu/reports/03-3NRfall/44-45V57N3.pdf (broken link)

Or are these people just dogging east Texas?

Had enough yet,bob?


And again,go research Vidor and the fact that the last black guy that tried to live there was found dead.How many isolated incidents make a pattern?Why does a town like Vidor,with a population of 11,000 in the heart of a region that generally runs around 30% or more black not have ANY black people living in it,huh bob?Why are there other towns in this region of numerous blacks that have little or no black people living in it?Do you even bother to ask yourself this question bob,or do you find a way to ignore this fact of east Texas life?

[lifertexan]

bound

I'm sorry about this,but when people refuse to acknowledge what is going on it just allows the problem to persist.When someone tries to sell this crime as nothing more than a bad drug deal,it in effect is trying to deny that there is a more major problem in east Texas that needs to be dealt with.Perhaps bob needs to spend more time learning the facts and then finding ways to help try and bring this to an end instead of allowing himself to live with the comfortable illusion that nothing is wrong there.

[mystree]

*peeking my head in* Uh Iwas just going to say I thnk I'll have to study up on snakes,because my knowledge doesn't go beyond a gardner snake...
Seen a few as a kid in NW Pa and I was afraid of them.

[pioneer8]

O.K. I'm done with the rattlesnake question. (smile) Thanks to all of you smart people teachin me the ropes, I don't even think I'm that nuts over it anymore!!!