A beautiful snake

[odonata]

I can't believe I forgot this Eastern Hognose in my earlier post. Most of the time, they're drama queens. This one was super chill when I scooped him up on the bike path:

 

[Hunt anything]

Those things are getting scarce these days!

 

[Beck]

View attachment 631437
This one was in the wife’s back yard several years ago before she was my wife.

lol

 

[steve white]

lol

lol

That is identical to the snake that started this thread! That's what it looked like.

 

[Hunt anything]

Extremely dark cottonmouth, skinny and only about 2 1/2 feet long. Came across him on my lunch time walk today.

 

[Hunt anything]

It was a cottonmouth kinda day, this baby was waiting at the back door when I got home from work today.

 

[Doug Hamilton]

I don't know whether rattlesnakes are deadly or can only seriously injure you.
In Africa, the puff adder is considered the most dangerous snake .
Others may have more concentrated venom, be more aggressive, but this one relies on its camouflage and hopes the enemy passes by and then you step on it.I know of people who have survived these bites, but it depends on the “benevolence” of the individual snake how much venom it injects into you.Not every bite is a venomous bite, not every bite is followed by a full load.
An adult puff adder has a venom volume of 130-200 milligrams.
70 milligrams is the lethal dose for an average adult human.
In Africa and Asia, 150,000 people die from snakebite every year.
Half a million suffer severe tissue damage and have no possibility or means to have this treated by a doctor.
So keep your eyes open when hunting in the bush.

If you get medical attention quickly you are not likely to die, but not everyone gets to a hospital in time and it can lead to various issues up to and including death. Of course, some people are more sensitive to the toxin than others and are more likely to die. There are also different species of rattle snakes, and I have read that the Mojave rattle snake is the one most likely to kill a human.

 

[Hunt anything]

If you get medical attention quickly you are not likely to die, but not everyone gets to a hospital in time and it can lead to various issues up to and including death. Of course, some people are more sensitive to the toxin than others and are more likely to die. There are also different species of rattle snakes, and I have read that the Mojave rattle snake is the one most likely to kill a human.

I believe you are correct on the Mojave, they have a cocktail of proteins that attacks differently. Both phytotoxin and hemotoxin .

 

[sgt_zim]

Wow, no such issues in Bama.

Or Louisiana, AFAIK.

We've killed more than a few in the 9-10' range on our place and our neighbor's place. Officially, they don't get any longer than about 6'

In LA, they're known as cane brake rattlers.

 

[sgt_zim]

I don't know whether rattlesnakes are deadly or can only seriously injure you.
In Africa, the puff adder is considered the most dangerous snake .
Others may have more concentrated venom, be more aggressive, but this one relies on its camouflage and hopes the enemy passes by and then you step on it.I know of people who have survived these bites, but it depends on the “benevolence” of the individual snake how much venom it injects into you.Not every bite is a venomous bite, not every bite is followed by a full load.
An adult puff adder has a venom volume of 130-200 milligrams.
70 milligrams is the lethal dose for an average adult human.
In Africa and Asia, 150,000 people die from snakebite every year.
Half a million suffer severe tissue damage and have no possibility or means to have this treated by a doctor.
So keep your eyes open when hunting in the bush.

I believe saw scale vipers kill more people than any other snake.

There are probably a dozen or more species of rattler in the US. Don't want to be envenomated by any of them, but probably sidewinders, eastern and western diamondbacks, and timber rattlers are probably the ones you really don't want to bite you. Mature diamondbacks can inject a massive amount of venom.

 

[Doug Hamilton]

I believe you are correct on the Mojave, they have a cocktail of proteins that attacks differently. Both phytotoxin and hemotoxin .

That's what I read. Sounds nasty. I don't have any personal.experience with them. Mostly I've dealt with Western diamond backs (a lot) and Northern Pacific rattlesnakes (minimal). I prefer to keep them at arms length plus a shotgun barrel!

 

[Boris11]

I hate snakes.

 

[Wathe208]

I first hunted Namibia at 30. My PH sent the assistant. PM Erwin Kotze and I after lunch to a waterhole so he could nap. I shot a warthog and as we went to check it out, this little bastard jumped up. Erwin grabbed his tail and I walked up and gave it a wooden shampoo. As I held it up, venom dribbled down my hand. I was so worried I'd get it in somewhere, I washed my hands for about 40 minutes. I was a dumbass for sure. However, having killed a few since, I do believe they are a beautiful critter.

 

[casey]

I've definitely smelled moccasins when they were in breeding balls in creeks.

I've always heard that copperheads smell like cucumbers, I never got close enough to a live one to find that out!

We have a lot of Copperheads around my area of PA. They do smell like cucumber. We also have a healthy population of Timber Rattlers.

 

[IvW]

Not sure if anyone knows here but saw this pretty banded snake run over just out of
Lephalale Limpopo, buddy said it was a type of Spitting Cobra, I’m thinking Rinkhal ?

I normally get a photo holding them but was in a hurry this day.

View attachment 642977

This is a juvenile Snouted Cobra, males more than females can have this banded colouration.

Rinkhals are not found that far north.

A Rinkhals species(H. nyangensis.) Thought to be extinct has been rediscovered in Zim last year but does not occur so far south.

 

[Certus]

We have a lot of Copperheads around my area of PA. They do smell like cucumber. We also have a healthy population of Timber Rattlers.

That’s interesting.

 

[Neophyte]

 

[Neophyte]

I can’t comprehend someone leaving a venomous snake alive.
I hate venomous snakes enough that I refuse to befriend anyone that won’t kill a buzzworm.

 

[Sarg]

This is a juvenile Snouted Cobra, males more than females can have this banded colouration.

Rinkhals are not found that far north.

A Rinkhals species(H. nyangensis.) Thought to be extinct has been rediscovered in Zim last year but does not occur so far south.

Thank you @IvW, I didn’t know that on the Rinkhals, hadn’t seen any up our way but ankle deep in Snouted Cobras !

It was however a large snake for a juvenile as you can see from my size 10.5 boot ?

 

[HankBuck]

We have a lot of Copperheads around my area of PA. They do smell like cucumber. We also have a healthy population of Timber Rattlers.

@casey - and do they also “taste like chicken”?