Thread: Rattlesnakes! What to do?

Moth balls.
Toss a handful of mothballs under the house and down into
any hole or den you can find. Only a handful, some are flammable...

They "stink" and repel most rodents that attract snakes.

A good exterminator can help seal access to the crawl space.

A long stick can be used to thump and bump in the corners to
make the critters think the area is 'unsafe' to nest in and they
will move on.

Originally Posted by nun2sharp

!2 gauge with birdshot, blind him with a high beam flashlight, blow his head off,skin and remove entrails, cut into bite size chunks and soak overnite in salted water, heat the skillet on med high and fry the pieces in garlic butter until browned.

Reminds me of the time we took my grandfather out for seafood, he hated the lobster as it reminded him of snake.

Snake spoils very quickly, faster than fish in my experience.
No need to soak rattler.

Here in Florida they are common. Not as venomous as Australia, but still deadly. I worry more about Gator's, than snakes. A Gator will attack you, or your dog, or a small child. We've had a run on them lately, and they were offering hunting permits a while ago.
It was said the Alligator population was almost 1 million, maybe more..I forget, but they were taken off the endagered species list last I heard...


Diamondback, Water Mocassin, Coral, Canebrake, Pygmy, etc...I live on the wetlands, about 1/5 mile from a river. Snakes are common place. They are natural exterminators and keep the rodent population down. I watched one nail a rat over the summer...Pretty cool to see nature in action like that...

Watch where you walk. The only snake that ever came after me was a Water Mocassin, and he may have been chasing prey, I was on the banks of a river at the time........Normally, snakes flea when they see humans...
I don't kill them, really should leave them alone.....keep things clean, If you have birds, small animals, anything that may attract them, clean it up.....

Originally Posted by CraigJ

I say get a couple of mongooses....er... mongeese.....

I say get a mongoose and while your at it get get a second one.

Plural of mongoose is mongooses.

I have actually heard this works, but could be another "wives tale". Otherwise I'd say "off with the head". Skin, eat, use the skin on something decorative...

Originally Posted by niftyshaving

Moth balls.
Toss a handful of mothballs under the house and down into
any hole or den you can find. Only a handful, some are flammable...

They "stink" and repel most rodents that attract snakes.

Originally Posted by smokelaw1

Depending on where you are located, remember that the canebrake (or timber rattler) may be endangered or protected, and that even bothering it MIGHT get you into some trouble. I don't know if any states actually protect them, but I do know of at elast one municipality that has an ordinance against molesting, harming or killing timber rattlers.
As rattlesnakes go, they have a relatively mild disposition, and are really only likely to bite humans defensively, but with two young ones around, I am 100% with you on finding her a nice new home.

When I was in Pennsylvania working on a pipeline, we could not harm a timberrattler or its food the field mouse. We actually had a snake guy that would go along with us and on every southern facing slope we had to lift every sizeable rock so he could look for snakes, one of those guys actually got bit and life flighted. Those guys were a stange breed, they felt the snakes had more rights than humans, one actually said right up front how much better the world would be without humans, I wonder if he felt the same way after he was about terminated by one.

If you do live in a state where they are protected, I am sure there would be a service provided by the state to safely remove and relocate them. You might as well get something out of all the taxes you pay. If they dont provide one, get a pro.

Originally Posted by Jasongreat

When I was in Pennsylvania working on a pipeline, we could not harm a timberrattler or its food the field mouse. We actually had a snake guy that would go along with us and on every southern facing slope we had to lift every sizeable rock so he could look for snakes, one of those guys actually got bit and life flighted. Those guys were a stange breed, they felt the snakes had more rights than humans, one actually said right up front how much better the world would be without humans, I wonder if he felt the same way after he was about terminated by one.

If you do live in a state where they are protected, I am sure there would be a service provided by the state to safely remove and relocate them. You might as well get something out of all the taxes you pay. If they dont provide one, get a pro.

While they got a nice check from the "evil" oil companies...


As for the rattler, and snake control, get yourself a pig, or chickens. You won't see many snakes that way... And of course just shoot the one living under your house.
But I'd rather see a snake than mice anyway... You got 3 hours to get some anti-venom. That is plenty of time...

This is what we get around here...



I'd recommend Snake A-Way. Killing a snake is only a good way of clearing the space for another one to move in. Maybe the mothballs will work though.

SHOOT, SHOVEL, SHUT UP...

Good for snakes and ex-wives attorneys, actually one in the same.... sorry to the snake for the insult...

Turkey will kill the snakes i don't like them and never was successful to fight with them. I am sure Mail Turkey will kill any snake around.