Snakes on the plains

[Randy F]

Have you ever had a snake play an unexpected part in your hunt?

While I was hunting in Africa, thankfully I did not. My PH however, chose a very inopportune time to describe the various evil attributes of the Black Mamba...in an area known to hold them. (Not cool bro!!) I don’t mind snakes. No phobias or anything but that doesn’t mean I’m thrilled about being pursued by a basilisk through rough terrain either.

I have encountered them elsewhere while hunting though. Even if you’re not spooked by them as a general rule, their sudden appearance at the time you least expect can still fill your shorts whether you choose to admit or discuss the fact or not.

I lived it South Dakota for a few years. Whitetail, Mule deer, and Pronghorn were fairly prevalent where I lived west of the Missouri River. Rolling hills and river breaks as a rule vs the flat lands of the east side. Prairie Rattle Snakes lived there too. Fairly common. Enough so that you never bent down to pick up anything without giving it a bump with your foot.

Badgers could be a problem in our wheat fields. The mounds they built up were an issue for the equipment. I became fairly adept at snaring and trapping to remove the problem. Those mounds also were a pretty darn good stopping point during a belly crawl stalk on game. I had glassed a nice antelope in a valley on the far side of a hill that happened to have a badger mound at the top which I had trapped out and was in the perfect position to not only keep me hidden, but it also makes a great gun rest.
It was a hot sunny day again. Down to a T-shirt I scampered up as far as I could without being seen. Now it was time to hit the dirt. What little breeze there was blew from the target critter toward me so I wasn’t worried about being winded. However, that also meant with a hill between us, I had zero breeze. Not only was I soaked to the boys but I became quite the dirt and dust collector as well. Oh well, great camo I guess. I should blend in nicely with the badger mount if I get there prior to a heat stroke.
I only had to belly crawl for about 30 yards but at the time it seems a whole lot farther. I finally got to the mound and tried to peek over. I couldn’t quiiite see yet so I reached out with my left hand for a grip on something to pull myself forward another foot or two. I found it. The edge of the badger hole. Yeah. The hole. Forgot about the hole. Seems you can’t have a badger mound without a badger HOLE!!!
I knew that. I also knew that you never disturb a badger hole on a sunny day even if you know for certain that it does NOT contain a badger because it MAY contain a rattle snake...or snakes shading themselves from the sun.
Have you ever had a rattle snake blow up a few feet from you? I have. It’s loud.
Have you ever had a rattle snake blow up one foot from your face?. I have. It’s deafening.
Have you ever had a whole bunch of rattle snakes blow up in a hole that you just grabbed the edge of one foot from your face? I have. It’s sh** and git explosive.
I never saw them. Thankfully.
I never felt them. More thankfully. Though, seriously, I could feel the ground vibrate. No joke.
But the convulsive contortions my body did to remove itself from the situation in the flight portion of the fight or flight reflex was as impressive as it was involuntary.
When I returned to my body, I found myself 20 feet or so back down the hill. I honestly can not tell you exactly how I got there that fast but I’m glad nature took over and removed me from the situation because there was no time to mull it over and devise a plan. Without an antelope I returned to my truck covered in dirt and sweat and not entirely certain yet if one or more bodily functions had activated during my out-of-body experience.

Someday I’ll go back and get my gun.


If anyone has a little more macho experience with a snake than mine, I’d like to hear it.
if anyone has a little less macho experience with a snake than mine, I need to hear it.

 

[R.M.C.]

Little tree snake of some sort latched on to my right elbow while I was weed wacking near some shrubs and I lost my shit lol. I couldn't feel the bite because the snake was probably only 6 or 7 inches long . I just felt something brushing against my leg and when I looked down and saw that thing on my arm I flipped out lol. Snake went flying off while I was flailing around lol. Not my bravest moment hahaha

 

[KSWildcat]

That's a great story Randy! Glad you are able to tell it without including injury.

I don't encounter snakes much in my day to day, and prairie rattlers are very rare when you get this far east in Kansas. Growing up I didn't really worry about picking up old wood, or brush piles, etc. It just isn't an issue here. However, I interned as crop scout in Southwest KS during two summers while in college. It was then that I had my first contact with rattlers.

It was early in my first summer working around Garden City that I was out in a field of small corn, about 4" tall. I was checking plant populations and weed density. When corn is that size, it resembles johnson grass, especially if it's continuous crop corn, and corn from old cobs sprouts and grows in clumps, much like johnson grass does. I was brand new to identifying many weed species at such a young life cycle. The easiest way to decipher between johnson grass and corn at that stage is to examine the roots, or seed if you can find it. I reached down to pull a clump that wasn't much bigger than a drinking cup, anf just as my fingers brushed the leaves of the grass, I heard the unmistakable buzz. I had never even seen a real rattlesnake. I can't explain it, but that's the beauty of God's creation; I instantly knew what had made that sound. I let out a sound that wasn't really a scream, but an instinctual yell of fear that would've probably embarrassed a schoolgirl, and jumped back shaking. It took me a few minutes or walking around in circles to gather my nerves, and close to a minute before the snake showed himself as he started to leave. I circled him enough to keep him from getting away until I got the nerve to attack. I left that field with an 8 section rattle, still shaken, and I always watched the ground a little closer after that.

I had a couple other close encounters with prairie rattlers, but thankfully they are not usually angry, and will usually leave before striking if they can.

 

[Trogon]

I did a 2 week volunteer field trip looking for any sign of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker in Congaree National Park, South Carolina in February 2007. Not a month you would expect to see many active reptiles. I was walking a slough edge with another volunteer on an overcast day and glanced down to see a water moccasin a foot off the trail. I called him backed so he could see it.This snake was not reactive, never gaped so we could see the "cottonmouth" they are also known for.
Feral hogs were the greatest concern. Wish I would have been able to carry one of my Marlin rifles with me. Neat trip, this park has most of the oldest swamp forest remaining in the USA.

 

[mark-hunter]

When I saw (by too- quickly reading) the title: "Snakes on the plains", I thought it to be "Snakes on the planes"...

Then below photo would be quite appropriate...

 

[flatwater bill]

Sure enjoyed your story, Randy. I hope you recover that rifle one day! I am terrified of snakes, even the harmless ones. Still, can't help but be fascinated by the poisonous ones. Here, I include some random bits of useless trivia: CDC says that there are about 5 deaths per year in the USA from snake bites. But worldwide, it is a vastly different story. A study in PLoS in 2008 said there are "about 20,000 deaths per year from reported data, but unreported deaths may raise the total to as much as 94,000. Whether right or wrong, I have no idea. But scary. I'll attach a pic of the Inland Taipan snake from Australia. Wiki...."the venom of the Inland Taipan is by far the most toxic of any snake....even much more so than sea snakes.....and it is the most toxic venom of any reptile".....makes me feel a little better about ONLY having the Western Timber Rattler to worry about here...............FWB

 

[Northwest9]

I was out last summer looking for a meat deer. I came around a hillside down low, and spotted 2 fallow feeding out in the open a couple of hundred metres away.

I dropped down into the little creek (mostly dry with occasional puddles), and started to crawl along below the lip of the creek. keeping down and moving fairly quickly along, not paying a lot of attention to anything other than the wind and the location of the deer, I suddenly realised I had crawled up to within arms reach of a fairly fat red bellied black snake that was sunning itself near one of the puddles, possibly hunting frogs.

It was a strange experience, I dont like snakes, but I dont fear them, I've killed hundreds of browns and tiger snakes on the farm as a kid, but this moment, it seemed to slow down, and with a strange clarity, it felt like we made eye contact, agreed to let each other be, he slid away, and I carried on crawling.

I got to the spot I wanted to get to, shot the deer, and then suddenly thought "shit, that was close....."

I think at the time I decided he was ok, given he was a red belly, and they are generally not aggressive, and do eat the bastard snakes like tiger snakes and browns.

A month or so later I came across a tiger snake in nearly the same spot, and he didnt get the same courtesy. They are an aggressive prick of a snake, so I shot him. I hunt that area with my 8 year old, so am happy to leave the "nice" snakes, but not tiger snakes

Theres been plenty of times I've come across snakes out hunting, including a mamba crossing the road in front of the bakkie, and a viper very close to my guides leg in the kalahari, but this one was pretty memorable

 

[Randy F]

Yikes! Cool stories! Thanks!!

 

[Mort Hill]

Have you ever had a snake play an unexpected part in your hunt?

While I was hunting in Africa, thankfully I did not. My PH however, chose a very inopportune time to describe the various evil attributes of the Black Mamba...in an area known to hold them. (Not cool bro!!) I don’t mind snakes. No phobias or anything but that doesn’t mean I’m thrilled about being pursued by a basilisk through rough terrain either.

I have encountered them elsewhere while hunting though. Even if you’re not spooked by them as a general rule, their sudden appearance at the time you least expect can still fill your shorts whether you choose to admit or discuss the fact or not.

I lived it South Dakota for a few years. Whitetail, Mule deer, and Pronghorn were fairly prevalent where I lived west of the Missouri River. Rolling hills and river breaks as a rule vs the flat lands of the east side. Prairie Rattle Snakes lived there too. Fairly common. Enough so that you never bent down to pick up anything without giving it a bump with your foot.

Badgers could be a problem in our wheat fields. The mounds they built up were an issue for the equipment. I became fairly adept at snaring and trapping to remove the problem. Those mounds also were a pretty darn good stopping point during a belly crawl stalk on game. I had glassed a nice antelope in a valley on the far side of a hill that happened to have a badger mound at the top which I had trapped out and was in the perfect position to not only keep me hidden, but it also makes a great gun rest.
It was a hot sunny day again. Down to a T-shirt I scampered up as far as I could without being seen. Now it was time to hit the dirt. What little breeze there was blew from the target critter toward me so I wasn’t worried about being winded. However, that also meant with a hill between us, I had zero breeze. Not only was I soaked to the boys but I became quite the dirt and dust collector as well. Oh well, great camo I guess. I should blend in nicely with the badger mount if I get there prior to a heat stroke.
I only had to belly crawl for about 30 yards but at the time it seems a whole lot farther. I finally got to the mound and tried to peek over. I couldn’t quiiite see yet so I reached out with my left hand for a grip on something to pull myself forward another foot or two. I found it. The edge of the badger hole. Yeah. The hole. Forgot about the hole. Seems you can’t have a badger mound without a badger HOLE!!!
I knew that. I also knew that you never disturb a badger hole on a sunny day even if you know for certain that it does NOT contain a badger because it MAY contain a rattle snake...or snakes shading themselves from the sun.
Have you ever had a rattle snake blow up a few feet from you? I have. It’s loud.
Have you ever had a rattle snake blow up one foot from your face?. I have. It’s deafening.
Have you ever had a whole bunch of rattle snakes blow up in a hole that you just grabbed the edge of one foot from your face? I have. It’s sh** and git explosive.
I never saw them. Thankfully.
I never felt them. More thankfully. Though, seriously, I could feel the ground vibrate. No joke.
But the convulsive contortions my body did to remove itself from the situation in the flight portion of the fight or flight reflex was as impressive as it was involuntary.
When I returned to my body, I found myself 20 feet or so back down the hill. I honestly can not tell you exactly how I got there that fast but I’m glad nature took over and removed me from the situation because there was no time to mull it over and devise a plan. Without an antelope I returned to my truck covered in dirt and sweat and not entirely certain yet if one or more bodily functions had activated during my out-of-body experience.

Someday I’ll go back and get my gun.


If anyone has a little more macho experience with a snake than mine, I’d like to hear it.
if anyone has a little less macho experience with a snake than mine, I need to hear it.

I know you mentioned Prairie Rattlers. Not the largest rattlesnake, not like our Eastern Diamondbacks or Timber Rattlers we find around Tennessee.

However, I was hunting Mule deer with a rather large friend of mine in Wyoming some 30 years ago. We were walking a fence line up a draw when my partner almost stepped on a prairie rattler. In one of the most ungraceful, yet beautiful moves I have ever witnessed, in mid-step, all 350 pounds of him pirouetted in a full spin, landing some 10 feet off the track. It was astounding. Like Dumbo’s first flight. I have never seen, nor probably ever will again, see a man of this stature leap so far with so little head start. The snake was no more than a foot long, but what he lacked in size he made up for in warning, and my friend took the cue.

Thanks for sharing your horrifying story, and no badger mounds for me, ever.

 

[thriller]

I kicked a rattlesnake in the face while cruising timber one day. Though I almost totaled my pants it left me alone for some reason.

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

@Randy F, I'v never had that close of an encounter with snakes to affect my hunt. But your story about badger holes stirred a memory. I was at an Idaho reservoir years ago hunting waterfowl with a friend. It was late in the season and lots of snow on the ground and the country roads we drove on to make it out to where we were.

After a fairly mediocre hunt, my buddy and I headed for home. As we're headed down the road a few hundred yards in front of us something ran across the road, but the snow berm and down into the borrow pit. We both wondered out loud what it was. Well I had it marked perfectly just a few yards in front of a road sign.

So, we get to the road sign and stop the truck. Get out and walk over to the spot where this thing had crossed over the snow berm. Did I mention I marked the spot perfectly? So as I peer over the berm somewhat on my hands I came face to face with a really pissed off badger.

I did a pirouette akin to @Mort Hill's friend and with I believe a single bound did a Superman leap into my truck with no bites or scratches from the little bastard.

 

[Randy F]

I know you mentioned Prairie Rattlers. Not the largest rattlesnake, not like our Eastern Diamondbacks or Timber Rattlers we find around Tennessee.

However, I was hunting Mule deer with a rather large friend of mine in Wyoming some 30 years ago. We were walking a fence line up a draw when my partner almost stepped on a prairie rattler. In one of the most ungraceful, yet beautiful moves I have ever witnessed, in mid-step, all 350 pounds of him pirouetted in a full spin, landing some 10 feet off the track. It was astounding. Like Dumbo’s first flight. I have never seen, nor probably ever will again, see a man of this stature leap so far with so little head start. The snake was no more than a foot long, but what he lacked in size he made up for in warning, and my friend took the cue.

Thanks for sharing your horrifying story, and no badger mounds for me, ever.

Lol. That’s awesome! I can picture that.
Yeah they’re not the biggest though they tell me one of the most poisonous. Whats the difference if you’re hit by one that’s extremely poisonous or one that’s very poisonous. It’s like being just a little bit pregnant. The end Result is very similar just maybe quicker.

I collected a few dozen while there with just a 5 foot stick and a jackknife. But occasionally I’d run into one a little bigger so the 9mm I carried got put to use.
As was the case with the one pictured below, sometimes the stick wasn’t quite long enough.
Usually when they coiled, they’d keep their head low, just above their body. This guy was pissed. He stood a foot above the ground and continually stuck at me. The 9mm ended that as you can see in the 2nd picture. He was 57 inches without his head. The biggest I saw there.

 

[Randy F]

@Randy F, I'v never had that close of an encounter with snakes to affect my hunt. But your story about badger holes stirred a memory. I was at an Idaho reservoir years ago hunting waterfowl with a friend. It was late in the season and lots of snow on the ground and the country roads we drove on to make it out to where we were.

After a fairly mediocre hunt, my buddy and I headed for home. As we're headed down the road a few hundred yards in front of us something ran across the road, but the snow berm and down into the borrow pit. We both wondered out loud what it was. Well I had it marked perfectly just a few yards in front of a road sign.

So, we get to the road sign and stop the truck. Get out and walk over to the spot where this thing had crossed over the snow berm. Did I mention I marked the spot perfectly? So as I peer over the berm somewhat on my hands I came face to face with a really pissed off badger.

I did a pirouette akin to @Mort Hill's friend and with I believe a single bound did a Superman leap into my truck with no bites or scratches from the little bastard.

Ha ha! I’ve been chased by a badger. I can relate to the involuntary Superman leap scenario. Yikes!
Thanks for sharing!

 

[NewForester]

I would like to know more about the Black Mambas.

I went to a talk about Big Game hunting in Africa and the PH giving the talk said that those were the one thing that really worried him in Africa.

He said that they could rise up to waist height. And if bitten, not much that could be done. (He was really selling the appeal of safaris to us!!!) I think he was referring to Mozambique.

 

[Randy F]

I would like to know more about the Black Mambas.

I went to a talk about Big Game hunting in Africa and the PH giving the talk said that those were the one thing that really worried him in Africa.

He said that they could rise up to waist height. And if bitten, not much that could be done. (He was really selling the appeal of safaris to us!!!) I think he was referring to Mozambique.

Are you absolutely 100% sure you want to know?

 

[Art Lambart II]

I have had 3 close encounters with snakes in my life and they all happened when I was a kid. During the 5th grade we live in Pennsylvania and at that point in my life shoes where optional. My mother sent me to the milk store (yes, they still had those 1975) and I had to cross the creek, walk through the woods and cross a two lane road with a deep ditch on each side. The creek and woods where no problem without shoes and neither where the ditches but on this particular day when I jumped the ditch something didn't feel right under my foot, I look down to see what I had stepped in but it was what I had stepped on. I had landed on a copperhead pinning its head to the ground. At that moment Olympic triple jumpers did have anything on me, and I launched myself on one foot to the middle of the road. At 11 years old I was too naive to realize what had just happened, so I continued my journey to the milk store where the manager refused me service because I didn't have any shoes. My return trip with shoes was much less eventful.

My next two encounters happened a year later only a few hours apart. In 1976 we lived in Mississippi on a small lake so cottonmouths where a fairly common site and often shot on site when the 22 was handy. One day my friend and I decided to take our canoe out on the lake for an afternoon spin, we had done this many, many times before and didn’t think of it. On this day something seemed off to my friend, as I flipped the canoe over, he quickly shoved the blade of his paddle between my leg and the canoe. The sound a striking cottonmouth makes as its head slams into a wooden oar isn’t a smack or a thud it’s an Oh Shit! That snake bounced off that oar and headed straight for the lake, we chased him all the way, jabbing and smashing paddles at him all the way, but some how he ot away, dam he was fast. Latter that day we where playing in the woods across the street from our house and I was climbing the step bank that formed one side of the small lake and I grabbed the top of the 16” overflow pipe that controlled the water level in the lake and did a quick pull-up and came face to face with my second cottonmouth of the day. With a cry of “SNAKE” I let go and dropped to the bottom of the embankment, Let’s just say that since that day I react poorly to snakes.

 

[Nyati]

I would like to know more about the Black Mambas.

I went to a talk about Big Game hunting in Africa and the PH giving the talk said that those were the one thing that really worried him in Africa.

He said that they could rise up to waist height. And if bitten, not much that could be done. (He was really selling the appeal of safaris to us!!!) I think he was referring to Mozambique.

Mozambique has its own darling, the Spitting Cobra ( Naja Mossambica), which is also found in RSA.

Black Mambas are bad business, but so are others, like the Cape Cobra, Puff Adder, Boomslang, Rinkhals, and about 15 others.

Just keep an eye for them, don´t get close, and they won´t bother you.

 

[Randy F]

I have had 3 close encounters with snakes in my life and they all happened when I was a kid. During the 5th grade we live in Pennsylvania and at that point in my life shoes where optional. My mother sent me to the milk store (yes, they still had those 1975) and I had to cross the creek, walk through the woods and cross a two lane road with a deep ditch on each side. The creek and woods where no problem without shoes and neither where the ditches but on this particular day when I jumped the ditch something didn't feel right under my foot, I look down to see what I had stepped in but it was what I had stepped on. I had landed on a copperhead pinning its head to the ground. At that moment Olympic triple jumpers did have anything on me, and I launched myself on one foot to the middle of the road. At 11 years old I was too naive to realize what had just happened, so I continued my journey to the milk store where the manager refused me service because I didn't have any shoes. My return trip with shoes was much less eventful.

My next two encounters happened a year later only a few hours apart. In 1976 we lived in Mississippi on a small lake so cottonmouths where a fairly common site and often shot on site when the 22 was handy. One day my friend and I decided to take our canoe out on the lake for an afternoon spin, we had done this many, many times before and didn’t think of it. On this day something seemed off to my friend, as I flipped the canoe over, he quickly shoved the blade of his paddle between my leg and the canoe. The sound a striking cottonmouth makes as its head slams into a wooden oar isn’t a smack or a thud it’s an Oh Shit! That snake bounced off that oar and headed straight for the lake, we chased him all the way, jabbing and smashing paddles at him all the way, but some how he ot away, dam he was fast. Latter that day we where playing in the woods across the street from our house and I was climbing the step bank that formed one side of the small lake and I grabbed the top of the 16” overflow pipe that controlled the water level in the lake and did a quick pull-up and came face to face with my second cottonmouth of the day. With a cry of “SNAKE” I let go and dropped to the bottom of the embankment, Let’s just say that since that day I react poorly to snakes.

Yikes! I’m glad to hear that you humiliated the copperhead.

We always remember the close calls, seeing them near but they didn’t react.
Have you ever wondered just how many times you were next to one and never even knew it?

 

[Kevin Peacocke]

Snakes really scare me and thats the reason I wear longs on a hunt, not just the flimsy things, but the heavier canvas ones. Stats show that the vast majority of bites in the bush are to the ankle or lower leg. If you must wear shorts, consider puttees as they did in the old days. Here in the police in the old days they wore leather calf shrouds, must have been hellish hot though.

 

[K-man]

I am so lucky our place has no dangerous snakes within 30 miles or so, but my wife's home place always had a few cottonmouths hanging in the trees by the pond. They had a nasty habit of falling off into the bed of your truck as you drove under them. Our grandson just found a young copperhead in the flowerbed at his home in town. My experience in Africa has only been one cape cobra, going across the two track in front of us. I have never seen a P.H. scoot backward so fast. Another encounter was with a P.H. who wanted to go into a den to recover a python, just to look at it. He said. "it's a young one, only about 4 to 5 meters long..." I declined to be part of that operation.

By the way, Jerome, we need an "eek!" emoji - like, love and wow don't do justice to snake stories...