Topic: Sunning itself on the new blacktop

[madmtnmotors]

This bugger was sunning himself on the new blacktop in front of the house today...





until the wife came along and ran it over with her car. She likely ran back and forth over it a couple times for good measure.

[Duke McDukiedook]

Diamondback?

[Don R]

 I saw one on the road once, my Dad stopped the truck and we went to look at it. Dad said pull off his buttons. I replied what if he isn't done with them yet?  Dad said he's dead, to which I replied OK, you stand on his head while I get the buttons (rattle) I still have them somewhere. I got brave and wanted to keep the skin but the females wouldn't allow it in the truck. I read you can preserve the skin with antifreeze.

[Stev-o]

Diamondback?

Looks like it

[madmtnmotors]

Diamondback?

Yep, poor defenseless diamondback... well, except for the fangs and venom. We've had several killed in the neighborhood in excess of six feet.

[madmtnmotors]

Could be an omen, Wilbur. Don’t let the wife catch you laying about. She might just fire up the Suburban to “motivate” you 

I'm sure she would happily "throw me under the bus" without hesitation!   

[dave500]

are snakes not protected in the USA?here in Australia all species are unless they pose immenent danger,i don't like em,ill chase off the harmless ones,havent had to deal with any browns etc for years.

[madmtnmotors]

are snakes not protected in the USA?here in Australia all species are unless they pose immenent danger,i don't like em,ill chase off the harmless ones,havent had to deal with any browns etc for years.

Unfortunately no. Most take careers in politics or in the Judiciary. 

LOL!

There are some "protected" species but for the most part almost any snake is fair game. I'll usually leave most of them alone, like the 4 or 5 foot black racer we chase back and forth between the neighbors yards. Blue Indigo's are protected here in Florida and I imagine there may be laws that vary state by state. Eastern Diamondbacks seem to thrive and there appears to be no shortage of them around here.

[dave500]

weve got some of the most toxic snakes in the world in suburbs!

[jaytee-nz]

When NZ broke off from Oz a few years back, we left all the snakes behind. Only varieties we have are politicians and real estate agents.

[70CB750]

;

[Don R]

 I think in Florida there is a bounty on Burmese Pythons. Some dude jumped out of his car and caught a huge one in the water recently. Whoever thought non native reptiles being bred next to the everglades was a good idea should have to catch them bare handed. I believe in shotgun first, bring them ashore last.

[RAFster122s]

They are thriving in Florida and the Glades and the weather is near ideal for them. They will eat deer whole.  Every year there is a round up for them. Read an article about it. Competition to bring the biggest in, dead of course.
Those suckers are strong. I hate snakes.

Eastern Diamondback is less venomous than the Western Diamondback but the Mohave Green Rattlesnake is even worse than both as they are a neurotoxin that hits you 10-12 hours after envenomation and they kill you if you don't have a huge load of anti-venom in your system long before then.  The later's anti-venom was about $2600 a vial about 5-10 years ago and you need at least 4 to 6 to get started.
Most guys get bit on the arms because they are screwing around with the snake, whereas women usually get bit on the lower legs.
Sometimes Natural Selection helps thin the gene pool.

David

[Don R]

 I saw a news show about a guy that milks snakes for anti-venom. He was missing a few bits of hand here and there from early bites but now he's mostly immune after so many doses of antivenom and trips to the hospital. 

[madmtnmotors]

This guy is just a few miles from us:

http://www.reptileworldserpentarium.com/aboutus.html

and he is missing part of a finger:

http://www.reptileworldserpentarium.com/venom.html

They even have a You Tube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrWnQm_Hh0Dt_0b8AuQeAuw

He is always happy to take a live serpent off your hands. The trick is catching them alive!

[Stev-o]

Whoever thought non native reptiles being bred next to the everglades was a good idea should have to catch them bare handed.

The problem is [stoopid] people buy them as pets when they are small, then realize they cant keep it as a pet when it gets large and release 'em

[RAFster122s]

As long as that rattlesnake didn't get his head ran over, then he could harvest the venom if it were not left out in the sun too long. Rattlesnake is pretty good grilled on an open fire they tell me....

[Terry in Australia]

Fcuk snakes, I hate them. I've had several unarmed (if you don't count a shovel as an arm) battles with Tiger Snakes, Browns and Blacks, and had a Taipan (the worlds deadliest) slither under my army stretcher when on exercise in the Northern Territory back in 1989, and protected or not, if I see one in a suburban street, it's gonna get a flattening. One of those slithering fcukers killed my cat, Chopper, back in 2009, so they're fair game, in my (tiny) mind.........

[Don R]

 Wilbur, I'm betting that's the guy I saw on TV.  Crazy.  The One snake farm was next to the everglades and was blown away in a hurricane. In retrospect, concrete enclosures may have been the best choice.
 They will go broke waiting on my money to see snakes. I'll go to Ocala and look at Dragsters.