reptilekeeper
Posts: 60
Joined: 3/30/2005
Status: offline
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Well, it is very nice to see some of my fellow bottle hounds are respectful of snakes, I have worked proffesionaly with snakes both in captivity and in the wild for over 30 years, and have dedicated my life to studying, keeping, breeding, and teaching people the importance of snakes, ALL snakes, Venomous and non venomous. I have handled hundreds of species in all corners of the globe, from Papua New Guinea to Arizona. I have worked with cobras, mambas, many viper species, and all the giant Pythons, Anacondas etc... and in the US hundreds of Rattlesnakes; one of my personal favorites. In all my years I have never been bitten by a venomous snake. We must remember venomous snakes have venom for feeding, it is needed to secure prey NOT for protection; that is what the rattle is for! Snakes do not want to waste it on you, most venomous snakes are cryptyicly colored and blend in to their surroundings and will sit quite praying you do not see them, if they can seek a means of escape they will, if not and they think they have been spotted they will warn you before they bite you. Cobras will spread a hood to warn before they bite, this venom is vital and not to be wasted, food dosn't come easy for snakes so they must have it fully ready when needed, they can also control the amount of venom injected, for example a Diamond back rattler would not use the same amount of venom to kill a small rat as it would a larger cotton tail rabbit. The same applies to humans, if the snake is real pissed off it could hit you with a full bite, or as most bites in the US are, it could be a dry bite with no venom injected what so ever. Another factor is if the individual snake has just used its venom to eat it takes them a while to build up another supply, so if you are bitten after this meal you will never get a full dose. Only 10 to 15 people a year die in the US out of the hundreds of reported bites. These fatalities are usually due to allergic reaction or complication , most of these bites are made up of people screwing with them or accidently stepping on them. The average healthy person will not die from a bite, it will be unpleasent, but you will survive. More people are killed by DOGS every year than venomous snakes, should we kill dogs and hang there skins on the wall because it MAY have bitten? If you live in venomous snake country you should always be aware of where you step, leave them alone and they will do the same. They do not attack people! Snakes ALL snakes are vital to the ecosystems they inhabit, snakes control rodent populations, and are a food source for so many other animals. The snake digdug has posted appears to be a yound Western diamond back rattlesnake.
You can not tell the age of a Rattlesnake by the number segments on the rattle. Baby rattlesnakes are born with a button, the snake will add a new segment everytime it sheds its skin, some snake will shed more than once in a season depending on growth rate which is determined by food avaliability and if any injuries were inflicted that are healing. In older animals the rattles can get very large expecialy in captive animals, I have seen up to 30 segments, but often when the rattles get this large they end up breaking.
FYI, Timber Rattlesnakes are becoming rearer in the Northeastern part of their range and already have been extripated from much of there former range, Capsoda this is why you do not see many anymore, they are all being killed or used in round-ups!! PLEASE do not kill Timber rattlesnakes, I would like for my children to be able to see such an amazing creature in its natural habitat, and for them to be able to do the same when they have children, not a dead one hanging on a wall. We do not have the right to choose what species is worth more, they are all part of the natural system and all deserve the same respect.
I do not mean to sound like I am preaching and I do not want to offend anyone but I love this site and admire all of you people on this site and for the most part you are all very respectful of nature just try to look at it from the snakes point of view. You killing that poor snake is like the cops kiking you out of a pontil site; YOU BOTH HAVE THE RIGHT TO BE THERE Did I mention at all that I love to dig bottles as much as I love snakes?
BEST
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Snakes Are A Crawling - 
That was a nice big female. A kid from down the road killed an 8 ft female at the edge of my driveway and all she had was 13 and a button. Plenty of field rats and marsh rabbits to keep them fat around here. 
. I wade through a creek infested with moccasins to hunt bottles and I only kill one if he refuses to move on or get aggressive. After all, I am in his living room. Just my input. Thanks, Marvin
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