Please Say Yes!

[Sobrino]

I know the answer is most likely going to be no, but have any of you had an encounter with a RattleSnake? Please answer!

 

[WhyTeDraGon]

depends what kind of "ecounter" you are referring to...and whether you want details or pics, etc.?

 

[Sobrino]

To be specific, my form of encounter is to meet in person and upclose.

 

[Stylopidae]

I saw one at a zoo once...

 

[ScorpDemon]

if you look in the right places, the right time of day you can "encounter" all you want, or dont..

 

[psionix]

I know the answer is most likely going to be no, but have any of you had an encounter with a RattleSnake? Please answer!

i have. i don't really see where you are going with this though...

 

[Arlius]

Ran into a number a few times over my life. Never picked on up, and never had a camera, but there was one I screwed around with a stick (kinda cruel, but I was young) Rather ticked it off, bit the stick real good (even had some venom injected into it) it wasnt a happy rattler

 

[littletim777]

I see them all the time. I used to have a 5ft Crotalus ruber but I let her go. So what was it you wanted to know about it?

 

[Socrates]

Yes

When we lived in Oklahoma for 7 years we've had a few encounters with rattlesnakes, one of which was quite scary because a rattler had found its way into our back yard. I remember I was inside, feeding my younger son, when suddenly my Golden Retriever began barking like crazy. Then my older son (he was only 4 years old at the time) came running in, yelling there was a snake in the yard. At first I thought he was making it up, but when my Golden didn't let up I went and checked it out, and sure enough, this rattler was right there in the middle of my yard.

The story has a happy ending, because as soon as I brought my dog in, the snake slithered off, never to be seen again on my property.

Unfortunately I did encounter many rattlers that ended up as roadkill.

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Wendy
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[OldHag]

Ive almost stepped on many...and seen thousands more. We run into them multiple times every summer. Gorgeous critters!! Very shy and willing to get away as fast as they can.
Ive never been struck at by one. They rattle and I respect their space and nothing bad ever happens.

 

[dtknow]

I've ran across only one in situ(and that was because it was pointed out by someone). I was hurrying to get a little cousin down from the mountain to the restroom and had it not have been pointed out by someone else on the trail we would have walked within a foot of it(under a building sized boulder along the trail). I haven't been actively looking but all you who can go out and find them must have a lot of knowledge on them not to mention an eagle eye. I find it funny I'm actually hoping to see them sometimes. No luck yet though.

 

[Empi]

I've come across quite a few. The first time I was in colorado at a public baseball field getting ready to play some ball. I walked down the first base line and I saw a small snake. I went to pick it up and it started to wiggle it's tail. Turns out it was a baby that had not got it's rattle yet. Good thing I did not pick it up! Other than that I only see them when I'm looking for them. When I go camping in the summer in the eastern side of the state I like to go out and catch a few. I caught a really big one this last summer. I love them. They are really awesome snakes. Just so everyone that reads this knows I do not in any way recommend catching them. I have been working with snakes my whole life and that does not even make it a good idea.

 

[Dozer]

I've seen a ton of them up here in Canada. I actually took part in a count a couple of years ago which included some biologists trying to determine population numbers in the area.

I've handled some with snake hooks and I don't recall even one trying to strike even while being moved around with hooks, seeing there display though you certainly know they mean buisiness.

 

[Lycanthrope]

My most notable Crotalus experience happened when I was sixteen. I was in a cow pasture with a friend, picking... Well what we were doing isnt important. Anyway, I was kneeled down examining something, when I saw something moving next to my leg, just a few inches from my foot. I turned my head, and there was the largest Crotalus adamenteus (sp?) I have ever seen, just casually sliding by me. I froze and just watched, as the snake continued on his path, like I wasnt there. As soon as he made it a few feet from me, I stood up and watched him glide off into the woods. This was the ONLY experience I have had with this species that didnt involve coiling and rattling.

 

[T. Dawson]

I've been looking for our native "hots" for years, but have finally lucked out ALOT this year. My wife and I helped with a few field counts/pit tagging/ radio tracking this spring and summer. The funny thing is that my wife seems to be the one that spots the majority of them! When we and some of the guys from the Nebraska Pit Viper Project went looking for C. horridus, all we/she found were copperheads: "hey its a snake! WAIT its a copperhead... hey theres another...and another..." That kinda makes me a little nervous we the "experienced" snake people (me included) almost step on and then pass a BIG copperhead without even noticing it, yet Linda, who has had no herp experience prior to me, can spot them every time! So I guess I never actually "find" anything, I'm just along so she doesn't have to handle anything (I mean mainly non-venomous)!
Keep in mind that I don't actually condone anyone trying to capture venomous snakes without a reason. I'm still very nervous about it even though I can subdue even the more aggressive non-hot species without being bit AND this is the sorta thing I'm planning on doing for a career. So far, I've only captured a single massasauga, but that was only because the rock I flipped desinagrated ontop of her and I wanted to make sure she was okay.
Trevor