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Author
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Topic: Weird
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Rich Higgins
unknown comic
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posted August 10, 2007 09:09 AM
I grew up in Prosser and never saw a 5 ft rattler.
PROSSER, Wash. (Aug. 9) -- Turns out, even beheaded rattlesnakes can be dangerous. That's what 53-year-old Danny Anderson learned as he was feeding his horses Monday night, when a 5-foot rattler slithered onto his central Washington property, about 50 miles southeast of Yakima.
Anderson and his 27-year-old son, Benjamin, pinned the snake with an irrigation pipe and cut off its head with a shovel. A few more strikes to the head left it sitting under a pickup truck.
"When I reached down to pick up the head, it raised around and did a backflip almost, and bit my finger," Anderson said. "I had to shake my hand real hard to get it to let loose."
His wife insisted they go to the hospital, and by the time they arrived at Prosser Memorial Hospital 10 minutes later, Anderson's tongue was swollen and the venom was spreading. He then was taken by ambulance 30 miles to a Richland hospital to get the full series of six shots he needed.
The snake head ended up in the bed of his pickup, and Anderson landed in the hospital until Wednesday afternoon.
Mike Livingston, a Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist, said the area where the Anderson's live is near prime snake habitat. But he said he had never heard of anyone being bit by a decapitated snake before.
"That's really surprising but that's an important thing to tell people," he said. "It may have been just a reflex on the part of the snake."
If another rattlesnake comes along, Anderson said he'll likely try to kill it again, but said he'll grab a shovel and bury it right there.
"It still gives me the creeps to think that son-of-a-gun could do that," he said.
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Lonny
PANTS ON THE GROUND
Member # 19
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posted August 10, 2007 09:55 AM
I doubt it was really 5 foot. Thats sixty friggen inches!
I can't speak for other parts of the country, but these rattlesnakes in the northwest are quite small compared to the snakes you guys have in diamondback country.
I can imagine after being bit, any snake would look much bigger than it really was.
I was getting a load of rock the other day at a local quarry, and when I was paying, there was the snake pic on the counter that floated around the internet a few months ago that was supposedly 9 feet long, 97 lbs, and killed in Texas. The guy at the counter in complete seriousness said it was indeed that big except it was killed in Missouri and his boss knew the guy who killed it! ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
I couldn't hardly keep from laughing as the guy told me the B.S story.
Posts: 1209 | From: Lewiston, Idaho USA | Registered: Jan 2003
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skoal
Knows what it's all about
Member # 1492
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posted August 10, 2007 11:52 AM
I believe that the head could surely have bit him , but I'd like to see a pic. of the 5 ft. claim.Thats a large snake even here in diamondback country.
skoal
Posts: 251 | From: desert s.w. | Registered: Jul 2007
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NASA
Knows what it's all about
Member # 177
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posted August 10, 2007 12:04 PM
When living in CA I caught a 6' diamondback a few years back, in Riverside County (Diamond Bar Ranch before development). It had 13 1/2 buttons on the rattle. He was a nice fat one. too.
Posts: 1168 | From: Typical White Person | Registered: Apr 2003
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Andy L
HI, I'M THE NEW MODERATOR OF THE CENTRAL MISSOURI FORUM, PULL MY FINGER!
Member # 642
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posted August 10, 2007 12:49 PM
I heard that wiping rattlesnake venom off a camera lense and licking your fingers can make your tongue swell as too. ![[Wink]](wink.gif)
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Andy
Posts: 2645 | From: Central Missouri | Registered: Apr 2005
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Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2
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posted August 10, 2007 01:32 PM
Yeah, me too Andy. But I forget who pulled that stunt? Refresh my memory.
Good hunting. LB
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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!
Posts: 32361 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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BigO
Knows what it's all about
Member # 1062
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posted August 10, 2007 06:09 PM
Don't know about making your tounge swell. I was told that rattle snake venom is about the same kind of protine as a raw egg, I don't recall who I heard it from but, they said if you were to inject raw egg into your skin it will act almost exactly like venom. Even said you could drink rattle snake venom and it wouldn't hurt you. I don't plan on trying it though.
Posts: 64 | From: reno co. ks. | Registered: Dec 2006
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Cdog911
"There are some ideas so absurd only an intellectual could believe them."--George Orwell.
Member # 7
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posted August 10, 2007 06:16 PM
Rattler venom makes your tongue swell? What? Is that some kind of mountain man Viagra?
I guess those ol' urban legends about a snake being able to bite you after you chop its head off are true. Has anyone checked this at snopes to see if they have it yet?
This post at snopes.com addresses this phenomenon at the end.
http://www.snopes.com/critters/snakes/bootfang.asp
[ August 10, 2007, 06:21 PM: Message edited by: Cdog911 ]
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I am only one. But still, I am one. I cannot do everything, but still, I can do something; and, because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do.
Posts: 5440 | From: The gun-lovin', gun-friendly wild, wild west | Registered: Jan 2003
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Tim Behle
Administrator MacNeal Sector
Member # 209
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posted August 10, 2007 08:10 PM
Speaking of Rattlesnakes, What kind is this one?
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Personally, I carry a gun because I'm too young to die and too old to take
an ass kickin'.
Posts: 3160 | From: Five Miles East of Vic, AZ | Registered: Jun 2003
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BigO
Knows what it's all about
Member # 1062
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posted August 10, 2007 08:38 PM
Lance, being from the Land of Oz, I'm sure you've met an un-educated hick or two in your life. My older sister married one. He actually told me that his dad knew a widow that burried 4 husbands who all wore the same pair of boots. Said the police investigated it and found a rattle snake fang in the bottom of the boot. he actually believes this. I don't think a Prairie Rattler's fang would hold up to the sole of a boot. And I know none of the cops I work with would have been smart, or motivated enough to check a boot.
Posts: 64 | From: reno co. ks. | Registered: Dec 2006
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tlbradford
Rimfires are MAGIC on COYOTES! If you do your part
Member # 1232
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posted August 10, 2007 08:56 PM
Tim, that's just a bull snake. They're friendly. It should be ok to pick up.
I have a skin of a 5' rattler my dad killed north of Moses Lake, but that is an anomaly. I have seen a couple that would go a little over 3', in my lifetime, and those were the biggest. Most are between 2' and 2-1/2' around that area. Driving the roads at night is when you really get to see them. I know a lady that goes out and runs over snakes when she get tee'd off at her ol' man.
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"Dan Carey ain't that special" - LB
Posts: 423 | From: Spokane Valley, WA | Registered: Mar 2007
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Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2
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posted August 10, 2007 10:38 PM
I have seen several rattlers that would go five foot or better. One, years ago, was right where Tom mentioned, either Diamond bar or Brea, it was a Pacific Diamondback. I saw a Mojave Green, about ten years ago that was well over five feet, and fat as a pig.
Now, tell me why those people in Arizona consistantly misspell "Mohave"?
Good hunting. LB
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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!
Posts: 32361 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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NASA
Knows what it's all about
Member # 177
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posted August 11, 2007 06:35 AM
quote:
Tim, that's just a bull snake. They're friendly. It should be ok to pick up.
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif) Yeah right TL, you first! ![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
[ August 11, 2007, 06:38 AM: Message edited by: NASA ]
Posts: 1168 | From: Typical White Person | Registered: Apr 2003
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TRnCO
FUTURE HALL OF FAMER
Member # 690
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posted August 11, 2007 06:42 AM
quote:
Speaking of Rattlesnakes, What kind is this one?
That there snake is easily recognized by the body position found here. That is the cocked and ready version of the "I'll bite you" snake!
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Is it hunting season yet? I hate summer!
Posts: 996 | From: Elizabeth, CO | Registered: Aug 2005
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NASA
Knows what it's all about
Member # 177
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posted August 11, 2007 07:02 AM
That bad boy seems to have that familiar green hue, as well. I never go out without my hook. Here in CO the prairies are so short that you can't pick them up without pinning their head first. I only tail them when they are 4' or better.
Posts: 1168 | From: Typical White Person | Registered: Apr 2003
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JeremyKS
Knows what it's all about
Member # 736
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posted August 11, 2007 09:02 AM
I’ve killed too many prairie rattlers this year, 31 and counting since mid April. I had a horse get bit and a dog twice in the same leg. The majority of these have been killed with a rope while horseback. None of these have been of much size. The biggest one I killed was last year, unfortunately I didn't measure him but he had 14 buttons pretty good sized for a prairie in this country. I’m glad we don't have coon tails I have heard they are aggressive.
Posts: 369 | From: Texas panhandle | Registered: Nov 2005
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Tim Behle
Administrator MacNeal Sector
Member # 209
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posted August 11, 2007 09:29 AM
Actually, taking pictures of that snake caused me to get bit seven times.
Seems my right foot was on top of a nest of fire ants. I made it about half a mile down the road when they found my knee and lit me up. ![[Eek!]](eek.gif)
So what kind of rattler is it?
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Personally, I carry a gun because I'm too young to die and too old to take
an ass kickin'.
Posts: 3160 | From: Five Miles East of Vic, AZ | Registered: Jun 2003
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DAA
Utah/Promoted WESTERN REGIONAL Hunt Director
Member # 11
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posted August 11, 2007 09:47 AM
Huh... When I was a little kid, I was always cautioned that the severed head of a rattlesnake could still bite and inject venom. Have cautioned my Son about it too. Maybe it's just urban myth or whatever, but I've always believed it. Dunno?
- DAA
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"Oh yeah, they're gonna talk to you, and talk to you, and talk to you about individual freedom, but they see a free individual, it's gonna scare 'em." -- George Hanson, Easy Rider, 1969.
Rocky Mountain Varmint Hunter
Posts: 2676 | From: Salt Lake City, UT | Registered: Jan 2003
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Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2
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posted August 11, 2007 11:22 AM
I've heard it and also believe it, Dave. Makes sense, you can get stung by a dead bee. I'd like somebody to prove it cannot happen by tickling a cut off snake head with his pecker. That takes strong conviction and confidence, not cheap words and opinions.
I don't know where a rattler stores the venom, but it is probably right there somewhere in the head and it could be an involantary reaction? The part that seems a bit difficult to explain is how the fangs can be extended, but I can see where an automatic pumping of venom might occur, if somebody was playing with the fangs just right?
Good hunting. LB
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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!
Posts: 32361 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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Andy L
HI, I'M THE NEW MODERATOR OF THE CENTRAL MISSOURI FORUM, PULL MY FINGER!
Member # 642
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posted August 11, 2007 11:33 AM
quote:
tickling a cut off snake head with his pecker
With all the talk of swelling, someone may take you up on it LB.
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Andy
Posts: 2645 | From: Central Missouri | Registered: Apr 2005
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Rich Higgins
unknown comic
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posted August 11, 2007 12:22 PM
quote:
you could drink rattle snake venom and it wouldn't hurt you
Trust me on this BigO, you were told wrong.
Leonard, Arizonans understand the difference between j and h. It's the Californians that become jostile because they don't jave a jandle on it. I don't understand the jassle, 'cuz it hust ain't that jard.
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Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2
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posted August 11, 2007 03:13 PM
You prolly don't even see what you wrote, Ricj. I rest my case.
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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!
Posts: 32361 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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Tim Behle
Administrator MacNeal Sector
Member # 209
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posted August 13, 2007 05:45 AM
I've cut the head off of a rattler and had it bite a stick when poked several times. I've always warned my boys to only pick up a dead snakes head with a shovel.
NASA, I agree, but every time I publicly claim to have killed a Mojave somebody tells me that I don't have those green snakes in my area. BS!
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Personally, I carry a gun because I'm too young to die and too old to take
an ass kickin'.
Posts: 3160 | From: Five Miles East of Vic, AZ | Registered: Jun 2003
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NASA
Knows what it's all about
Member # 177
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posted August 13, 2007 08:04 AM
The venom stays potent for a long time. Even a week after the head is removed a finger poke from a fang will send you to the hospital. Be careful.
Some people are in denial about distribution, kinda like lions in the midwest.
Posts: 1168 | From: Typical White Person | Registered: Apr 2003
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