# snake



## cgwright (Mar 31, 2008)

GIDEON said:


> A massasauga 4' long and close to 6" in Diameter? ......................................................................... If it aint got a bodyguard then it aint protected.ne_eye:



Only 4' long, and as big around as your thigh? Must have just swallowed a good sized lap dog. :lol:


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## aquanator (Dec 1, 2005)

The most aggressive snake in MI is the northern water snake. Grows to 5' at most, has teeth but is obviously non-poisonous. They'll almost chase you just because of their temperment. We live on the grand, and they're abundant near water.


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## Spartaned (Jan 24, 2006)

dburroak said:


> not real sure where to put this but i thought maybe someone on here could help me. i just found a snake in the back yard ( i live in a woods ) and wonder if it might be a rattler. it`s only about a foot long and a dark redish and grey pattern. it`s VERY agressive! when i first saw it he was " coiled " and as soon as i moved closer it struck. every time i got even close to it it coiled and would strike. i can`t put a picture on here but thought maybe someone could tell me where to get one to compare.


 
Based on the description and where you live I'd say it's a milksnake. As far as I know Eastern fox snakes are only found along the east side of lower Michigan. Milksnakes are in the rat snake family. I've handled a few and they can be aggressive when first encountered like all the rat snakes. In fact, one time I was handling a young milk snake while speaking to a class of third graders and it latched onto my wrist and wouldn't let go. The kids were fascinated...


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## boehr (Jan 31, 2000)

GIDEON said:


> A massasauga 4' long and close to 6" in Diameter? ......................................................................... If it aint got a bodyguard then it aint protected.ne_eye:


Why doesn't Gideon's comments suprise me.


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## GIDEON (Mar 28, 2008)

cgwright said:


> Only 4' long, and as big around as your thigh? Must have just swallowed a good sized lap dog. :lol:


 Point is that I have seen them get huge. So in that regards hunting in Mi. is pretty safe. Imagine having a mountain between you and your auto, and getting hit in the calf by a good sized rattle snake (3' plus). Anyone who believes that they always rattle, (buzz), well there just plain crazy. 
I am getting ready to go Gin-sanging in about a week. Believe me, every one that I see dead on the road adds just a small measure of relief. Hopefully I wont have the opportunity to harvest one. But If I do,( and probably will) I will try to get the pictures back and posted. (A little mountain lore for those that follow it, rattle snakes travel in pairs, and are attracted to tomato plants, and a den of copperheads smells like a cucumber plant, and they wont die until the sun-sets. If you cut one's head off, the body will crawl around looking for its severed head, and the smell around a rattle snake den will make you sick, nauseated )


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## cgwright (Mar 31, 2008)

PaleRider said:


> Did it look like this:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Looks like a northern water snake to me.


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## GIDEON (Mar 28, 2008)

boehr said:


> Why doesn't Gideon's comments suprise me.


 Did you notice the question mark ?


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## PaleRider (Oct 24, 2007)

cgwright said:


> Looks like a northern water snake to me.


Nope, it's absolutely a massasaugas with rattles and all. I know I have a better picture and will try to post it soon.



Here ya go (note rattles).










Read more here: http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,1607,7-153-10370_12145_12201-32995--,00.html


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## cgwright (Mar 31, 2008)

That picture is better, and I can see the rattle. 

Rattles or not, it doesn't matter as I won't be very close to it!:lol:

I wouldn't mind seeing one, but I'd prefer that it not be a surprise situation. :yikes:


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## PaleRider (Oct 24, 2007)

I found that one on my pool deck :yikes: and carefully placed it in the pail to relocate it to a safer place. My dog hates snakes I'm glad I found it first.


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## boehr (Jan 31, 2000)

GIDEON said:


> Did you notice the question mark ?
> 
> .....If it aint got a bodyguard then it aint protected.
> 
> It is my opinion that the only good one is a .... one.


Funny, all I see is periods in the comments.


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## GIDEON (Mar 28, 2008)

boehr said:


> Funny, all I see is periods in the comments.



Just like a C.O., see what you wanna see, then make an issue of it.


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## RDS-1025 (Dec 1, 2008)

GIDEON said:


> Having been the recipient of a couple of snake bites, (copperheads though, never a rattler), It is my opinion that the only good one is a .... one. I've dispatched quite a few in the 4' long range, a couple close to 6" in dia. Biggest to date had 14 rattles. have pics but dont know how to re-size, and get them posted here.


Quite pathetic, but not surprising.


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## ESOX (Nov 20, 2000)

Beyond pathetic. The ignorance somes shining through like a beacon on a clear dark night.


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## GIDEON (Mar 28, 2008)

ESOX said:


> Beyond pathetic. The ignorance somes shining through like a beacon on a clear dark night.


 Well where I am at, 1), its not illegal.......2) there is no closed season, so what makes it more ignorant or pathetic than something that you choose to target.?


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## GIDEON (Mar 28, 2008)

http://jack119.org/myxoops/jackdownloads/snakebites_3files.pdf

http://www.rattlesnakebite.org/rattlesnakepics.htm


The average cost of treating snakebite victims is between $50,000, and $150,000 dollars per treatment


Bites to animals, cats and dogs (pets) is over 150,000 per year, the majority resulting in death.

A 7 year old boy was bit by a rattle snake while playing on his swing set in Michigan, Aug 2010
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2575589/posts


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## cgwright (Mar 31, 2008)

GIDEON said:


> Well where I am at, 1), its not illegal.......2) there is no closed season, so what makes it more ignorant or pathetic than something that you choose to target.?


I still can't believe a Massasauga 4' long and big around as a metal coffee can! :yikes: I've seen some cottonmouths in S.C. that were all of 5' long, but only as big as a coffee cup. 

The one in the bucket appears to be a juvenile. How big was it? 

My only close encounter with a rattler was in FL in 2006. I almost stepped on a 6' eastern diamondback. Boy that was close. He was 6' long, and about 3'' in diameter.


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## GIDEON (Mar 28, 2008)

cgwright said:


> I still can't believe a Massasauga 4' long and big around as a metal coffee can! :yikes: I've seen some cottonmouths in S.C. that were all of 5' long, but only as big as a coffee cup.
> 
> The one in the bucket appears to be a juvenile. How big was it?
> 
> My only close encounter with a rattler was in FL in 2006. I almost stepped on a 6' eastern diamondback. Boy that was close. He was 6' long, and about 3'' in diameter.


 
A massasauga *4' long and close to 6" in Diameter*? was posed as a question rather than a statement notice the question mark.
The ones that I tangle with are of the Timber rattler, Eastern Diamond back, these boys can get huge.4'+ and 4-4.5" in diameter is more of the larger norms. 18-24" range 2-3" in dia. The diameters are most generally guesstimates. 


http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/showthread.php?t=348173&page=2#ixzz0zemujtub​


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## GIDEON (Mar 28, 2008)

cgwright said:


> Only 4' long, and as big around as your thigh? Must have just swallowed a good sized lap dog. :lol:


 Or a large female ready to give birth


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## 2PawsRiver (Aug 4, 2002)

Here's your snake Gideon.


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## GIDEON (Mar 28, 2008)

Thanks Mark


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## cgwright (Mar 31, 2008)

GIDEON said:


> A massasauga *4' long and close to 6" in Diameter*? was posed as a question rather than a statement notice the question mark.​




Hmm, I didn't read that. I read this.......without any question mark. Sorry. 



GIDEON said:


> I've dispatched quite a few in the 4' long range, a couple close to 6" in dia. Biggest to date had 14 rattles.



​
Here's the one I almost stepped on in Florida. I had said it was in 2006, I meant 1996. (doh!)


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## GIDEON (Mar 28, 2008)

I bet that made your heart skip a beat. When you look at the two pictures, compare the difference between the diameters of the bodies, about 8" up from the tail, I think that it just characteristics between the different kinds of snakes. The timber rattlers seem to be fatter than the Eastern diamond back, each is just as deadly though. I have found that there heads are bigger too. 


Yeah, a Missaugeee as big as one of these would defiantly be one for the record books. The Michigan midgets that I have encountered were way smaller. And just to set the record straight, I have never dispatched one of the Michigan wanna-bees.. I have came across several of them, and just walked away.

Be careful when your in there territory, If you get hit, then at the very least it could be very expensive.


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## 2PawsRiver (Aug 4, 2002)

Your welcome Charlie and you're right, a 4 foot Massasauga would be some kind of record.

This was a nice sized rattler we encountered on a day hike a couple months ago in Southern California. We were on our way out in the evening and he was stretched across the trail. When I stepped a little closer for a picture he rattled, coiled and backed away into the brush.

I have traveled pretty extensivly and have seen rattlers across the south, southwest, midwest and a couple here in Michigan. Would not kill one simply to be killing it, especially here in Michigan.

He was actually quite polite, letting us know he was there, posing for a pic, then moving off the trail.


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## GIDEON (Mar 28, 2008)

Even snakes have enough sense to respect L.E.O.s :lol::lol: Kind of cool to see three different ones from different regions. Notice the difference in color, markings and, size between them.. I have to ask, who jumped and squealed the highest, you or the wife:lol::lol:

The first one my wife seen was in W.Va. We were looking for a honeysuckle bush to bring home. She was in the lead, and when that rascal started buzzing, well lets just say that that 5'4", 110 lb girl could have been an offensive guard for any team in the N.F.L. She left me laying there wondering what in the world just ran me over. On the up side, I didn't have to dig any honeysuckle on that trip. :lol:


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## cgwright (Mar 31, 2008)

Can you ID this snake? It tried to get in the boat with us in Kentucky last year.


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## GIDEON (Mar 28, 2008)

I cant make out the markings on it


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## cgwright (Mar 31, 2008)

How about this one? I know it's not a rattler. My guess is a water snake. It was about 3' long.


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## GIDEON (Mar 28, 2008)

Did it have the head of a pit viper, or did look like a gardener snake?


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## Backwoods-Savage (Aug 28, 2005)

It does sound a lot like the milk snake. Here is what they look like.


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## dburroak (Aug 10, 2007)

after seeing this picture i`m thinking it`s probably a milk snake. are they kind of aggressive?


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## Backwoods-Savage (Aug 28, 2005)

Yes, they are very aggressive and act very much like a rattler.


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## Moose57 (Sep 7, 2009)

Looks like it might have been a Copperhead... But I wouldnt have picked it up to look! I dont like snakes... or cats...


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## zeeke33 (Feb 7, 2009)

Milk snakes will vibrate their tail when provoked , if it's in dry leaves it makes a buzzing sound ment to intimidate.They get real "active" when irritated, but they are harmless.


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## cgwright (Mar 31, 2008)

GIDEON said:


> Did it have the head of a pit viper, or did look like a gardener snake?


I didn't let it get more than 7 feet from the boat, and my mind was focused on keeping it out. 

Visual descriptions were on my list right of to-do's after drying out my pant legs. :lol: Sorry.


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## GIDEON (Mar 28, 2008)

cgwright said:


> I didn't let it get more than 7 feet from the boat, and my mind was focused on keeping it out.
> 
> Visual descriptions were on my list right of to-do's after drying out my pant legs. :lol: Sorry.


 I completely understand:lol::lol::lol::lol:


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## Backwoods-Savage (Aug 28, 2005)

dburroak said:


> not real sure where to put this but i thought maybe someone on here could help me. i just found a snake in the back yard ( i live in a woods ) and wonder if it might be a rattler. it`s only about a foot long and a dark redish and grey pattern. it`s VERY agressive! when i first saw it he was " coiled " and as soon as i moved closer it struck. every time i got even close to it it coiled and would strike. i can`t put a picture on here but thought maybe someone could tell me where to get one to compare.


Here is a milk snake that fits your description in colors and aggressiveness.


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## dburroak (Aug 10, 2007)

i`m positive now that`s what it was. didn`t kill it anyway just relocated it - away from my place! thanks to all who helped


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## shotgun12 (Jul 19, 2005)

we have 3 kinds of snakes here in england,smooth snake,will not hurt you. a grass snake, will not hurt you, and the adder,that can kill you,


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