:)"
*shudder*
Sal...I love you, but...
Posted on 11/20/2014 9:48:01 PM PST by Paul R.
Unlike many Freepers, while I'm pro 2nd Amendment, I'm no expert on guns, so I'm, going to turn to those of you who are more knowledgeable, for some advice. See further "setup" to my questions regarding a good "snake gun" below.
Who the hell would want to be spraying crap like that, anyway?
Oh, and...Fear the Djinn.
;D
The thought of the Djinn makes my blood run Cold with fear.
Sort of.
Well played.
:D
:)"
*shudder*
Sal...I love you, but...
I'm sincerely afraid to look, but here goes....
Aaagh, my skin is prickling all over! I looked long enough to see that his priorities are right, but I'd still scream and do the Mexican hat dance if he got near me, lol.
Awwww!
They call it the Jesus/Crucifix/Crusader moth.
Pretty cool design.
[I thought it looks like a broadsword, myself]
:)
Taurus Judge.
It does...”crusader” came to my mind.
I give him credit, LOL.
To answer both your recent posts (139 and 141) on this thread — and thanks BTW for the “reasonable” discussion and ideas — there seem to be some here with extreme positions on both sides — imagine that on an Internet forum!!!
We are a bit OT, but, WTH, it is my thread. :-)
I assume the rubbing alcohol or vinegar works well from a taste / smell standpoint, given how strongly snakes depend on their tongues to sense their environment. Vinegar to a snake might be like Mace or a skunk to you or me, in terms of a repellent effect.
Then again, MY prey (fish) are quite sensitive to taste / smell, too. Catfish especially - I’ve read of sensitivities of one part per 10 billion parts of water, for catfish. So, the odds are that if I squirt Mr. Copperhead as he swims up to me, my next move is probably to pack up my gear and move to the other side of the pond — and hope Mr. Copperhead did not have the same idea.
As for wanting that spot, in some instances there is quite a bit of “cover”, nearby, so your thought of a clutch of eggs nearby is possible. However, there might be another explanation. You seem to have significant expertise, so I’d be interested in your take:
My experience is that snakes (even of the same species) can vary wildly in temperament, and (back from my keeper-of-pet-snake-days) even in what I guess I’d call “learning ability”. My brother had a friend with a 7 ft.+ rat snake that would follow him (the friend), but only him, around the house: Presumably the snake was hoping for a meal or maybe a warm spot to coil around. This snake was totally docile. I myself had a very “friendly” 5 ft.[?] yellow rat snake that did not follow people, but if set in my lap on a cool evening, would coil around my neck and just stay there for hours, while I studied or did homework. (Occasionally he’d get a little too enthusiastic, so I’d then have to unwind him and put him back in his 40 gal aquarium/cage!) This snake and a few others I had in my younger years could essentially be taught to eat from the keeper’s hand.
Anyway, my theory is that perhaps at a body of (fresh) water that gets considerable and regular fishing pressure, the snakes may “learn” that the anglers sometimes generate “food” (anything from live bait that is lost off a hook, to small sunfish*), and said food is often injured and an easy meal. ALSO, since most fishermen/women are going to retreat from the snake, some snakes “learn” that, too. (Don’t get me wrong, my experience is that most snakes will retreat from the fisherman/woman, but some don’t, especially at this one large pond I frequent the most.)
* “Small”. In the one instance I described, Mr. Copperhead was clearly after a meal, and could not be persuaded otherwise, even though there’s no way he could ingest a 7” long bluegill.
Funny story (for me, anyway.) One early evening last year, a small water snake, maybe 2’ long, swam up near to me & hung around a bit. I’m pretty sure it was not a copperhead, but the lighting wasn’t the best. Since I wasn’t absolutely sure the snake was non-venomous, I tossed a couple mud-clods near it: It eventually finally swam off. For whatever reason it swam into more open water. Big mistake. “SPWOOOSH!” Again, the lighting wasn’t the best, but I think a big channel catfish got the snake...
I should have made the title “good small gun for venomous snakes”. What can I say - I was exhausted even when I started the thread...
It was war...
But 2-4-D as produced for domestic (herbicide) uses is safe when used according to the directions. The esters can be harmful to aquatic animals, however. (My Dad was a research forester / professor with a degree in Forest Ecology, but he’s no enviro-whacko.)
:-)
More complete info.:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic_acid
Here’s a question (veering back OT!) for you, or anyone else:
Is it possible that .22 shotshells would produce a tighter pattern out of a handgun with, say, a 4” barrel, than a rifle?
I know that seems counter-intuitive, but I’m thinking that the rifle barrel would impart more spin to each pellet, therefor the pellets from the rifle would (mostly) curve more, producing a wider, more scattered pattern. For any given pellet, sort of the difference in flight path between a ball thrown by me and, say, Bert Blyleven. :-)
“Is it possible that .22 shotshells would produce a tighter pattern out of a handgun with, say, a 4” barrel, than a rifle?”
Well, I’m only speaking as a laymen with “some” knowledge and experience, not as an expert on the topic. With shotguns (smooth barrel) all other things being equal such as choke, the shorter the barrel the wider the shot spread at a given distance. I believe that this would hold true with rifled barrels as well. However, it is my opinion that with rifled barrels the great length of a long gun barrel would for lack of a better term, chew up the snake shot while passing along the greater distance of lans and grooves in a rifled long gun barrel. But on the other hand, a longer barrel, all other things being equal of course generates more projectile velocity - but snake shot isn’t a projectile, so that’s a mitigating factor. Concerning the revolver, along with the shorter barrel, the loss of gas between the cylinder and barrel throat is a factor. So, after typing all this, I’ve decided I don’t have a clue :)
For whatever reasons, we don’t seem to have many rat or king snakes around “my” local fishing spots. And, usually local DNR’s frown on private individuals “stocking” their lands, skies, or waters, with anything. But, who knows, maybe the DNR would consider the addition of some predators of venomous snakes. Then they’d probably be wise to put up a sign or 2, explaining that the rat or king snakes are there to eat the copperheads. We DO have a lot of locals who will kill any snake they see, and I’ve rescued quite a few, myself... (Harmless snakes, I mean, there’s no helping some of these people...)
Obviously (I hope), I’d rather not have to deal with copperheads in the 1st place!
9 mm - interesting. Definitely a consideration...
The lighting and visibility in my “bluegill” incident was good. Not to mention that the “hulking moron” (that would be me) has been discerning between ordinary water snakes and copperheads intermittently for about 48 years. Prior to that we also had copperheads where I lived as a child (but no water snakes on our property.) Your “banded water snake” had “textbook” copperhead coloration and pattern, a very triangular head, heavy body, and two nice fangs (I checked after the head had been off the snake for about 20 minutes.) I initially tried to push the snake away with my fishing rod, but it swam on “in” and up to my stringer, and glommed onto a bluegill on the stringer. Further pushing with the rod did not deter it. The snake had lots of opportunity to escape, including over 2 minutes while I ran back to my car (about a 1 minute run distant) to get my machete. And, I repeat, Mr. Copperhead could not possibly ingest a large bluegill. They (snakes) can swallow amazingly large prey (girth), for the size of the snake, but not THAT big. (You must not be familiar with bluegill body style.)
What does an Eastern Timber Rattler have to do with a Copperhead? They look nothing alike.
“It likely won’t kill me” is not a great argument:
http://healthwise-everythinghealth.blogspot.com/2009/10/copperhead-snake-bite.html
That’s all good info. to consider. I may get one of those Puma 1873’s that Rural King still has on sale, and do some tests. It would probably make a decent “1st handgun” to learn / practice with, for my wife & daughter, if nothing else.
Thanks to all, BTW, for all the info. and responses (except for the one poster who called me an ignorant hulking moron who apparently wants to kill every snake possible.)
Nature abhors a vacuum and when one thing is wiped out, something else will always take its place.
It’s not a big stretch to say you can thank the snake killers for any apparent invasion of vipers.
Snakes leave ‘scent trails’, of a sort and I’m sure other snakes take note of who may or may not be around to eat them.
The ones who are ‘brave enough’ to kill off rat snakes may not have the guts to be whacking rattlers or coppers with shovels and so now you have your current situation.
Thirty years ago, the DNR might have considered your good idea.
But they’re not who they were, before.
YMMV but our DNR is now a bunch of fascist liberals who seem hell bent on doing everything exactly contrary to what is right and natural.
Before, it was local good ol’ boys who had both guts and common sense.
In my experience, the DNR went from the 80s, when a guy would show up at your house at 2am to check on an injured possum to now, when they won’t even answer the phone, from 9 to 5.
But rescue an injured fawn or squirrel off the side of the road and they’ll be right there to arrest you.
For two years, I have hauled Pinky the boa around with me on the Harley and thousands of people have met him, most of them being serious snake phobics.
In that time, I’ve had so many ‘converts’ run up to me later, to tell me that they have saved snakes off the road, have been telling their friends to leave snakes alone and just generally changing the attitudes of others, whenever they can.
A lot of them are his friends on his FB page and people who used to be terrified of snakes went to great efforts to sign petitions fighting the insane ‘exotics laws’.
It’s a ripple effect.
It may only be a drop in the bucket but every little bit helps.
FWIW, every time I go out, people ask “Where’s Pinky?”.
If hubby goes out by himself, nobody asks “Where’s Shari?”
The snake has groupies.
:)
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