rattlesnakes, watch out

[Bullet Maker]

You all, and me, might want to really watch out, when were in the woods, looking for bigfoot. Snakes are really bothersome this year.


 My fellow friends and family,
>
> We have killed 57 rattlesnakes on two separate ranches this year. 24 @South bend
> & 33 @ Murray , Not one has buzzed! We provoked one fair sized boy with a stick
> and he coiled & struck at the stick a couple of times before he buzzed up and
> rattled. The purpose of this explanation is that I have been hearing the same
> from fellow ranchers and hunters in regards to the lack of warning with
> rattlesnakes.
>
> I had lunch with a friend today and he offered a theory about the fact that
> these buggers aren't rattling anymore He raised pigs for years and reported that
> when he would hear a rattlesnake buzzing in the sow pen, the sows would bee line
> to it and fight over the snake. For the uninformed, pigs love to eat
> rattlesnakes.. Therefore, the theory is they are ceasing to rattle to avoid
> detection, since there are plenty of pigs roaming the countryside. I have a
> neighbor ranching lady who was bitten 3 weeks ago 2 times by the same snake
> without any warning....she spent 5 days in ICU, after 22 vials of anti-venom she
> is back at the ranch and still may lose her foot or worse yet her lower leg.
> The days of perceived warning are over. Keep your boots on and use a light when
> out and about. As you all know, one can pop up just about anywhere!

[Ray Ford]

I heard a doctor--he was on Fox News on TV--say that jeans/denim would stop some 80% of the venom in a snake bite.  A couple of questions:

Is that true?
Will the remaining 20% of the venom still kill you?

I've lost two dogs to what I believe was snake bites--probably copperheads.  Both were in pens in my back yards.  (I have two places: one for me to go to when my wife doesn't let me in her place.)  My theory about this is that dog feed and fecal matter draw mice and rats.  The rodents draw snakes.  I try to avoid overfeeding my dogs, and it is a good idea to have concrete-floored kennels.  Avoid having hiding places for rodents or snakes--which is difficult to do.

Untill the questions are answered, I will continue to wear denim trousers in camo blue over natural brown leather boots when hunting.  A friend of mine told me recently that his dad, a successsful hunter, never wore anything else in the woods.  I think that being quiet and still is probably more important than camo.  I know that movement, more than anything else, is what spooks a horse out from under you.  I assume that the same is true for Bigfeet and other critters.

I suspect that that snake-eating-pigs notion has some merit.  I came within a fraction of getting eaten by an old sow with piglets.  That was before I knew better than to get into a pen with such.

[Bullet Maker]

Hey Ray, I use to raise chester white hogs..back long time ago when I was in FFA at school. Them hogs would eat anything that got in the pin. My dad, got a 6ft black snake with a pitch fork and threw it into the hog pin. Those hogs had that snake ate, before it hit the ground.  

As far as the denim jeans, stopping snake bite, I heard the same report. Don`t think I would want to check that out on myself. What they didn`t mention is that some of the snake`s strike high. How hi? dunno, but was told by an old timer out here,  that got bitten on the thigh. Musta been a big snake. I also have been told that the rattlesnake strike`s hard, same old timer said it was like getting hit with a baseball bat. 

Now the copperhead would probably have a hard time going through a pair of jeans, cause they dont have as long of fangs, as a rattlesnake, but I wouldn`t want to be the one to check that out. LOL..I wear a pair of snake chaps, just to be on the save side, if I`m going to be in the woods, or bottom, course with this hot weather, I ain`t gointg anywhere, the rattlesnake would have to bite me, in my recliner, cause that`s where I be in this heat...

[#59]

Regarding this discussion, I'm reminded of what the sage, scholar & part-time piano player at Ruby's House of Ill Repute (Jerry Clower)  told the HSUS representative at the rattlesnake roundup at Okemah:..."Sir, there "ain't" no bad way to kill a snake"...