Daughter got this one in her front yard today Ruger 380 and a jeep

I am terrible at identification of snakes. Is it a water Moccasin?

quote:

Originally posted by Mr.Brooks:
I am terrible at identification of snakes. Is it a water Moccasin?

Yup, big fat brown and mean.

I guess that’s a Cottonmouth, huh. Venomous snakes around the house and yard—dead. Venomous snakes out in wild country—they leave me alone, I leave them alone. Non-venomous snakes that I encounter on the road out walking; I move them off the road because someone in a vehicle is likely to go out of their way to hit it.

Only good snake is a dead snake in a jar of preservative juices. .......... drill sgt.

I got lost on a trail behind my Uncle's house in somewhat rural Vero Beach. Parent called the cops and they wouldn't even look for me cause of snakes.

Luckily, I ambled onto the porch of a nice old black man that had them come pick me up. Lucky I was!! As me and my cousin got older, we would go back to the old canal behind his house and shoot moccasins with his pellet gun.

quote:

Originally posted by MikeinNC:

quote:

Originally posted by Mr.Brooks:
I am terrible at identification of snakes. Is it a water Moccasin?

Yup, big fat brown and mean.

I'd make a Stacy Abrams joke here but I don't want to inject politics into the thread.

nice one.

I killed this copperhead in my garage 2 weeks ago. Wife opened the door from the house and this guy was just off the welcome mat.

quote:

Originally posted by YellowJacket:
nice one.

I killed this copperhead in my garage 2 weeks ago. Wife opened the door from the house and this guy was just off the welcome mat.

Maybe your welcome mat should be more specific . Only kidding, I once had one slither between me and the back patio door in the time it took to pour water in the dog's bowl.

Michael

Boy, I know I prefer Michigan winters over the snakes of the south!

What would be the preferred load for dealing with a full-grown venemous creepy crawlie? We have Water Moccasins and Copperheads here, with an occasional Coral Snake, but I haven't seen one in years. I'd like to keep a few rounds on hand just in case. I have a very few .38 snake shot cartridges that I could press into service if required, but I'm thinking that may not be enough gun. 12 ga. bird shot seems a little overkill, but after that, I'm down to ball or SD ammo, definitely overkill. I'm thinking that #8 shot in a .44 cal BP pistol might be a realistic alternative.

quote:

I have a very few .38 snake shot cartridges that I could press into service if required, but I'm thinking that may not be enough gun.

Really?!? We had a gardener that took care of all the landscaping on a guest ranch in Arizona that my wife and I worked on years ago. He carried a little .22 loaded with snake shot for the Mohaves and big Western Diamondbacks he encountered; it doesn’t take much. I’ve got an old single-shot .410, however, that’s a great snake gun.

quote:

Originally posted by architect:
What would be the preferred load for dealing with a full-grown venemous creepy crawlie? We have Water Moccasins and Copperheads here, with an occasional Coral Snake, but I haven't seen one in years. I'd like to keep a few rounds on hand just in case. I have a very few .38 snake shot cartridges that I could press into service if required, but I'm thinking that may not be enough gun. 12 ga. bird shot seems a little overkill, but after that, I'm down to ball or SD ammo, definitely overkill. I'm thinking that #8 shot in a .44 cal BP pistol might be a realistic alternative.

38 special shot shells work fine. Don’t over think it. But if you’re looking for a reason to get another caliber, by all means use me as a reference-I’ll back you up!

I load my own because the CCI ones are expensive. 4grains of unique, shotcard made out of milk carton, shot(#9-its what I have)to the top of the case, another shot card super glued into place. Works great at ten feet.

quote:

Originally posted by architect:
What would be the preferred load for dealing with a full-grown venemous creepy crawlie? We have Water Moccasins and Copperheads here, with an occasional Coral Snake, but I haven't seen one in years. I'd like to keep a few rounds on hand just in case. I have a very few .38 snake shot cartridges that I could press into service if required, but I'm thinking that may not be enough gun. 12 ga. bird shot seems a little overkill, but after that, I'm down to ball or SD ammo, definitely overkill. I'm thinking that #8 shot in a .44 cal BP pistol might be a realistic alternative.

No such thing as overkill when dealing with a venomous snake. Bird shot is still choice 1A if you can legally shoot it, imo.

They are obviously not difficult to kill, though. I killed that copperhead, albeit not sized like a rattler or cotton mouth, with a Gamo pellet rifle.

No such thing as overkill when dealing with a poisonous snake!

Sorry about that Yellow Jacket. I did not see that you had written the same sentence in your post. Don’t know how I missed it though. I suppose I was concentrating on the pellet rifle sentence. If I see what I think is a poisonous snake, it’s a minimum of 20 gauge for me.

quote:

Originally posted by Wolfpacker:
No such thing as overkill when dealing with a poisonous snake!

Pit vipers can still bite after they're dead. Best to make sure they're real dead. Back to the 12 gauge... A well placed shot can remove the entire head and neck, making it hard for it to bite after the shot. Still a good snake, but even a very good snake.

I used to go to Utah every spring. Snakes like to sun themselves on blacktop road ways. I've seen some of the locals have adopted a method of skidding the rear wheels of their pickups over the snakes, smearing them to about 4 or 5 feet. That's a good snake, too.

We went to a talk from a Natural Reourses guy who said there are no such snakes in the triangle of Lexington, Louisville and Covington. I asked him if he'd like to visit some time and I can show him some. He declined, citing state policy against proving them wrong. Way wrong, earning or pulling down way too much money and not knowing what they're talking about. Go figure.

quote:

Originally posted by TMats:

quote:

I have a very few .38 snake shot cartridges that I could press into service if required, but I'm thinking that may not be enough gun.

Really?!? We had a gardener that took care of all the landscaping on a guest ranch in Arizona that my wife and I worked on years ago. He carried a little .22 loaded with snake shot for the Mohaves and big Western Diamondbacks he encountered; it doesn’t take much. I’ve got an old single-shot .410, however, that’s a great snake gun.

That's exactly what I keep at the ready for Mojaves and Diamondbacks. I keep a S&W 617 loaded with 10 CCI shot shells. One round is all it has ever taken to dispatch the rattler. We live 2 miles due west of that guest ranch you mentioned, if it is the same one I'm thinking of. For some reason, 75%+ of the rattlesnakes we see around here are Mojaves. Diamondbacks are generally more plentiful elsewhere.

Actually, the one I was referencing is Los Cab, they put more time and effort into their landscaping than the Inn ever did. My wife and I met at Los Cab, then we both moved the next year.

quote:

Originally posted by YellowJacket:

quote:

Originally posted by architect:
What would be the preferred load for dealing with a full-grown venemous creepy crawlie? We have Water Moccasins and Copperheads here, with an occasional Coral Snake, but I haven't seen one in years. I'd like to keep a few rounds on hand just in case. I have a very few .38 snake shot cartridges that I could press into service if required, but I'm thinking that may not be enough gun. 12 ga. bird shot seems a little overkill, but after that, I'm down to ball or SD ammo, definitely overkill. I'm thinking that #8 shot in a .44 cal BP pistol might be a realistic alternative.

No such thing as overkill when dealing with a venomous snake. Bird shot is still choice 1A if you can legally shoot it, imo.

They are obviously not difficult to kill, though. I killed that copperhead, albeit not sized like a rattler or cotton mouth, with a Gamo pellet rifle.

A thought: A juvenile copperhead moccasins venom is just as potent, maybe more than an adult's. So that 4 inch moccasin is dangerous too.

I don't kill black snakes or any other non venomous snakes. A brush axe to me is much better at dispatching moccasins than a firearm.

quote:

Originally posted by Sunset_Va:


A brush axe to me is much better at dispatching moccasins than a firearm.

Heresy I say. This is a gun forum, not a gardening forum. Nothing is better than a firearm.