rattler scared the heck out of me today

[dolinick]

Friday night I drove out to my place in the country. I got a lot of work done. I worked on the fence and installed some siding on the cabin. I also mowed down lots of the weeds. I replaced the battery in my Nova which is parked out there and got her started. Anyway, I didn't have time to mess with the car so I drove it around and parked it in the back of the cabin. There are a lot of tall weeds back there and some old cedar fence sections piled up. I rolled up the windows and wasn't paying attention when I got out of the car. I heard a hissing sound and finally looked up. There was a rattlesnake right on top of one of those fence panels. He was facing me with head up and in an S shape and making lots of noise! I feel like I froze but don't really remember slamming the car door and bolted around the car and ran faster than I have probably run in years and faster than I even thought I could run. My dogs, who were nearby, were so startled they ran after me barking.

It's the second time I saw a snake out there. The last couple of times I went out there I saw a little rabbit which I think is a cottontail. I haven't seen them but I always hear the coyotes howling. I saw some deer once and a skunk a couple of times. I would like to attract more wildlife to my place so I was thinking about putting out some kind of feeder. I had spread some "native grass" seed a couple of years ago so maybe that will help. I leave about half of the yard by the highway natural and mow the part in the back by the cabin except in the spring while the wildflowers are in bloom. This past summer I let it go too long and the "weeds" and sunflowers got really high. After seeing that snake I think I'll keep the area around the cabin much much cleaner.

[Mancar1]

Did you have a clean pair of shorts to change into I fish and live in rattler country, thay sure can scare the s--t outta ya.

[dolinick]

I haven't encountered very many snakes out there but a few years ago I almost stepped on a smaller rattlesnake. It was a cool morning so he was still kind of sluggish.

[dolinick]

Thanks for the information about those snake protectors. Your place is much nicer than mine. There are fewer tall trees and I'm in the middle of farmland. The part I called natural was being farmed a couple of years ago before I put a fence around it so it hasn't grown up much yet. There is a pretty good sized stock tank on my neigbors property at the bottom of the hill which is nice though.

[Mancar1]

Back when I was 19. Myself,my younger brother and two friends were fishing a PG&E ditch. All but my brother had a sidearm on. Spot a large rattler 10 steps in front of us. Three revolvers emptied at that snake. not one hit . My little brother ran up and dropped a large rock on its head killing it. Wanted to kick his butt for getting so close, but hey he got it. Lotta years ago.

[NM5K]

I keep one on me most all the time.
Usually this..

I think I could hit one OK as long as he's laying there fairly still,
but if they are slithering around pretty quick it could get tough..
But with that thing, I've got 28 rounds with two mags.. 29 if one is
in the pipe.. So I oughta be able to whack em sooner or later.
I've usually got my 10/22 rifle also, but it's a pain to carry around
when mowing, etc.. The pistol I can just strap on, and it's out of the way.
It's possible I could need it for animals.. There are wild hogs, dogs, yotes,
and all kinds of weird critters around there. I had a pack of dogs blow
through one day, full run. That will get your attention.. Saw a large black Jaguar
about a mile away from there on Sept 1 2007. I came up on it when I was
driving back from the store one day. And yes, I'm totally sure it was a Jaguar.
It was daytime, and it was right in front of me. I thought it was a Great Dane
or something until I got close and took a good look at it. Then it ran off into
the woods and I was totally sure it was a cat by the way it ran.

It looked exactly like the one in this, on the top right picture. Almost
the spitting image of the one I saw, except the one I saw might have been
even slightly blacker. I didn't really notice the rosettes in the coat as much as
that picture. Seeing one of those in the wild was kind of like seeing a UFO..
Many people don't believe me, or they say I saw an overgrown house cat..
This thing probably weighed over 150 pounds.. It was huge. No house cat was he.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Panther

Many think I've lost my mind, and they state black Jaguars don't exist anywhere
except Central America.. But I got news for them.. They are in Oklahoma.
Or at least one was on Sept 1 2007.. They have very large ranges, so it could
be anywhere now. But seeing that cat kinda provoked me into carrying my
pistol more.. That, and the dog pack I ran into.. And now bears are slowly
moving into that area from the east. I haven't seen one yet at my place though.
But they have been spotted in the county. The two counties east of me have
bear hunting seasons. They have been slowly moving in from western Arkansas
over the last 30 or so years. Arkansas released a bunch of them back in the 60's,
or somewhere along that time trying to build the population up. I guess it worked.