Snake ID Please

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I knew a guy that done the same with big diamond back rattlers until one day it happened.
When he walked by the cages they would be rattling and therefore he did not pay any attention and a big one had got out and got him on the leg just above the ankle. All he had for a leg from the ankle to the knee was just what looked like skin over the bone, no meat or muscle. He still liked rattlers and said he thought MAYBE he is now immune to their bites. I said, I'm from Missouri, show me. (and by the way, I do not help stupid people)
lucky he survived ,I knew a pastor in OK ,that loved snakes and found one crossing the HWY ,he stopped on the way to church and pulled it off the road rattler ,it got him good ,they were 80 miles to the closest hospital his wife drove. by the time they got their he was dead .
 
Here's number four for the year so far, biggest/oldest yet. At least 8 rattles, maybe 9-10, and it looks like it had lost its rattler at some point. Last one was a juvenile. Least it sounded! 6' or less from my truck.
 

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That is correct!! If it weren't for creatures like this we would be overrun by mice and rats etc.!! Most snakes are never seen by us and luckily don't have to worry about some idiot smashing there head in!!
 
Bill , if you don't like the danger of snakes being around the king snake might be the best solution. King snakes almost exclusively eat venomous snakes! and rodents.
Snakes also don't carry rabies or plague, rodents are are a real problem for farmers.
In the desert and the western parts of the US, bull snakes are oftentimes mistaken for giant rattlesnakes because their color patterns and head shapes bear similarities. I have seen a lot of people kill a bull snake because they thought it was a prairie rattler or a black tail. Bull snakes also shake their tails to mimic rattlers when they’re threatened. But at my work, anytime I have a customer offer me a bull snake to let loose, I gladly accept the offer because they kill rats and vermin, and they keep the actual rattlesnakes pushed out of my brush and tree chipping area. I’m not exactly sure if they actually eat rattlesnakes or not, but they do a very good job of keeping them away. They’re possibly intimidated by bull snakes because it’s not terribly uncommon around here for them to reach 6 to 8 feet or more in length. My dog killed one at my previous boss’s barn that was the better part of 10 feet long. Pissed him off a little bit because he said that snake was there eating rats since the early 90’s and my dog killed it back in 2008. One way telling if it’s not dangerous and you’re un sure, is if a dog, a horse, or a mule isn’t freaked out by their presence, it’s probably not venomous.
 
You tell me!! If they have rodents something must control them!! Usually its in nature and some kind of predator must work on them? Maybe they have a lot of cats heh!!!
I did not make the comment regarding the effectiveness of snakes for rat and mouse control you did......

That is correct!! If it weren't for creatures like this we would be overrun by mice and rats etc.!! Most snakes are never seen by us and luckily don't have to worry about some idiot smashing there head in!!
Do you also feel coyotes are a great benefit to nature?
 
Here in the mountains of Western VA, we see lots of snakes in the yard.
I relocate copperheads and rattlesnakes and leave the rest alone.
My border Collie likes to harass all snakes.20200601_042331.jpgPXL_20240521_232612110.jpg20200531_105112.jpg20190430_142200.jpg
 
Here in the mountains of Western VA, we see lots of snakes in the yard.
I relocate copperheads and rattlesnakes and leave the rest alone.
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I really like those little green snakes. Very cool, and excellent tree climbers. I've only caught one in my area. We seem to rarely have anything but garter snakes and black rat snakes close to Kansas City. When I was younger, I'd often see several varieties of king snakes, some water snakes I never identified, a few racers, and copperheads. They are all disappearing, no doubt due to folks that like to take a hoe to them every time they are spotted.

I don't know of any other wild creature besides snakes that can be caught by hand without great risk to the human or the animal (venomous species excepted). Some folks are just haters, and cannot be changed, however. My father was one of those: If he saw a snake, he'd kill it.
 
I will dispatch them now matter the species.
Come on now you gotta be tougher than that! 😂 just kidding.

I’ll blow the head off a rattlesnake if one is in my work area, in the yard, under/in the house. But if they are not in my direct vicinity I don’t care really.

When I worked in the oil fields I was surrounded by them all day and all night and didn’t have time to kill all of them that I see. But if one got on location it was a goner.
 

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