We have plenty around here. Luckily, timber rattlesnakes typically give lots of warning, and are not particularly aggressive. But, like any animal, temperaments vary, and in areas where they are common, you don’t want to be wandering around in shorts and hiking shoes...
They may be endangered in MA, but here, when we are on the ground together in close proximity, I'm the endangered species!!
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Not too long ago, I got a call from my widowed aunt just up the road to "Come here with your gun and kill this big rattlesnake in the yard by my sister's bird feeder!"
When I told her to just let him crawl back into the woods, she replied,
"You don't understand -- my [4', 10", 90-year-old)] sister is headed for the shed -- to get a hoe and try to kill him!
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When I arrived, he made the mistake of lifting his head up to see what I was doing.
10-22 with .22LR HV HP: one; Snattlerake: zero... (He lost his head...)