Probably still is. I have never seen a live rattler in the wild in
florida. I think i might have seen a flat pigmy on the road the
other day judging by its shape. There's some pretty big black
snakes around here. I measured one shed skin at 4 feet. They
don't bother me much as long as there is some distance between
us.
When working at Cape Canaveral back in mid 60's, I saw several rattlers on the
roads and in the brush on the cape.
--
Freedom Isn't Free!
Had a friend years ago, who was stationed at a Sage .radar side in nowhere
Oregon high desert. He said the biggest problem was the rattlers loved to
nest under the raised floor of the computer room. So, when you had to pull
flooring to move cables, made an exciting day. They probably used a lot of
CO2 fire extinguishers to calm them down.
While working with a National Guard unit at Ft. Irwin, CA (out in the middle of
the Mojave) our jeep broke down as we were headed in after dark. We had no
radio, and cell phones hadn't been invented yet. We were probably ten miles from
the post. We decided to walk back to the last intersection which had some
traffic. Got out of the jeep and hadn't gone 20 yards when we see a snake on the
asphalt road. We weren't sure what it was, too dark, but we decided to stay in
the damn jeep and sleep there if necessary. Before too long we saw some
headlights coming down the road. The car would move, stop, move, stop, and so
on. Finally it got to us. The man got out and offered to help. We asked what he
was doing. "Collecting rattlers," he said. Then he showed us the back end of the
station wagon, where his son was sitting with a forked stick. He point to two
burlap bags full of rattlers. He would drive over them, without hitting them,
and his son would pin them down. Then he'd collect it and bag it. He had about
20 in the bags. Lots of rattlers in the Mojave, and they like hot asphalt at
night.
Don't they make the antidote for a snake bite from the venom? Seem to
remember guys like those you described collect them for that purpose.
That's what these guys were doing. They milk 'em and then release 'em.
--
Similar Threads
![John[_6_] is offline](https://www.boatbanter.com/images/SultanThemeVB3R/statusicon/user_offline.gif)
Hunting Golf Balls in Florida...
Threaded Mode
