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View Full Version : Take a guess.....60 ft. up an Okie tree.....



Big Muddy
03-28-2020, 04:55 PM
Correction—-typo—-only 20 ft.
.
.

11464

quercus alba
03-28-2020, 06:21 PM
looks like the dreaded Oklahoma Bush Rattler to me

Big Muddy
03-28-2020, 08:12 PM
Here’s a better pic.....the Okie biologist that took the pic says it’s a timber rattler.

11465

Thumper
03-28-2020, 08:23 PM
Well, he’s in the timber! ;)

HideHunter
03-29-2020, 12:16 PM
yep.. I've caught a number of them.. Didn't know they'd climb.

jb
03-29-2020, 01:48 PM
Ya got it's skin nailed to the barn door ??

Bwana
03-30-2020, 09:12 AM
NO thanks!

BarryBobPosthole
03-30-2020, 09:47 AM
With the exception of a few pygmy rattlers or ‘ground rattlers’ as my Dad called them, after a lifetime in the outdoors in Oklahoma I’ve never seen a rattlesnake ‘in the wild’. That’s not counting ones I’ e seen on the road.

And we have a lot of them. I reckon I’m due and should pay real close attention from now on, huh?

BKB

Penguin
03-30-2020, 09:50 AM
Never saw that before. Never even heard of a rattlesnake climbing a tree!

That would freak me out.

Chicken Dinner
03-30-2020, 10:57 AM
As much time as I’ve spent in the woods, I’ve never seen a rattler either. Lots of copperheads and water moccasins...


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jb
03-30-2020, 12:40 PM
Where I live they don't exist, except for a very rare Massasauga Rattlesnake, maybe 18" long. I don't think anyone has ever died from it's bite. In my 75 years I've only seen one (I think) as a kid, along a small river near home. I had a 22 auto and heard a sound at my feet, looked down to see this snake coiled and shaking it's tail, jumped about 3' straight up and emptied my 22 before I touched down, then ran like hell.
Then there was the time the Captain tried to get into my truck with a live Copperhead, that didn't happen either.
My youngest son and I went turkey hunting with Captain in some thick brush and open woods, really didn't think about snakes at the time but when we got back to the farm Doug asked about snakes and although we didn't see any, Captain said he smelled a couple. Later that night he and Doug drove the back roads looking for Copperheads or Rattlesnakes on the road, me, I stayed home.
All the times out west hunting with Troy, never saw or heard one,
Not a big fan of snakes, but can tolerate the small garden ones, try not to pass along my snake phobia to the grand kids and it seems to be working, they have no problem catching them.

Thumper
03-30-2020, 12:48 PM
I’ve come across probably 10 rattlers, some in Florida, some in California. Moccasins? Quite a few here in Florida. Maybe 6-8? I only stumbled across copper heads when I was a kid romping all over the mountains of N. Carolina.

In beautiful S. E. Asia, I ran across 3-4 cobras, now THOSE puppies will get your attention. Until I was stationed over there, I always thought those things were generally the size of rattlesnakes. WRONG! We pulled a 12-footer (about as big around as my leg) from under our Headquarters building. Our Commander had that thing mounted and it was the first thing you’d see when entering the building. It was coiled around 2-3 times on the base, then stood approx. 7’ tall ... basically mounted in the position you’d see them coming out of a basket like you see with an Indian snake charmer. When we pulled out of there, the CIA took over the unit to “sanitize” the site before turning it over to the Thai military. I’ve always wondered whatever happened to that snake. The mount was VERY impressive.

DeputyDog
03-30-2020, 01:17 PM
We have a few of the Massasaugas too. I’ve come across maybe four of them in my time.

I used to do a lot with the local DU chapter and we would always hold a big Youth day with all of the 7th graders from the four schools in the county. One year we had a large group of the kids sitting on a grass been watching a demonstration when one of the kids yelled out about a snake. Turns out it was a Massasauga. One of the Conservation Officers that was there grabbed it and I got some really good pictures of it. I had one close up with the mouth open and you could see the venom dripping from the fangs.

I need to try to find them.


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Buckrub
03-30-2020, 01:33 PM
Where I live they don't exist, except for a very rare Massasauga Rattlesnake, maybe 18" long. I don't think anyone has ever died from it's bite. In my 75 years I've only seen one (I think) as a kid, along a small river near home. I had a 22 auto and heard a sound at my feet, looked down to see this snake coiled and shaking it's tail, jumped about 3' straight up and emptied my 22 before I touched down, then ran like hell.
Then there was the time the Captain tried to get into my truck with a live Copperhead, that didn't happen either.
My youngest son and I went turkey hunting with Captain in some thick brush and open woods, really didn't think about snakes at the time but when we got back to the farm Doug asked about snakes and although we didn't see any, Captain said he smelled a couple. Later that night he and Doug drove the back roads looking for Copperheads or Rattlesnakes on the road, me, I stayed home.
All the times out west hunting with Troy, never saw or heard one,
Not a big fan of snakes, but can tolerate the small garden ones, try not to pass along my snake phobia to the grand kids and it seems to be working, they have no problem catching them.

You shoulda seen him messing with that spittin' adder and trying to keep it from playing possum. That was right before he shot his ramrod out of his muzzleloader. At that point, I realized this man was insane and I needed to keep a rational distance.