I had snapping turtle in Kentucky, now, snakes in AZ

[Buoy]

I had just pulled the boat out of the garage to clean it, and kind of assess where I'm at in this project, as I haven't really touched it in two years. Jody got back from the store, and mentioned that our neighbor was in his garage working on the scooter he just bought over the internet that he had to assemble. So, we thought we'd swing by and take a look at his project...
As soon as we got over he was backed into a corner of the garage and said "don't come in - I have a big rattlesnake in the garage". Sure enough, the snake was under his wife's car - about 3 - 3-1/2' long. He had a metal rake, and I told Jody to grab my rake (it was only 75' away, I had been using it yesterday and left it in the yard). She kept telling me to get back and further away from the snake, but it's not like I was gonna leave Don cornered in the garage. Jody just yells at me "OK, if you get bit, you're on your own"... So she went back to the house and grabbed her phone and car keys (expecting the worst)
Between Don and I, we herded this thing out of the garage with rakes, and he was headed slowly towards my property. We kept heading him off, and had him heading slowly towards the rocks away from our properties. He had semi-coiled a few times preparing to strike. Don looks at me and says "should we kill it"? I looked back at him and said " well, I don't want him around HERE"! We herded him a bit further from the house, and Don took his rake and came down on the snake, breaking the handle off, and then continued to beat the snakes head with the handle. We knew he was dead, but the body was still moving, so I suggested we take it's head off with an axe just to be sure. Don has lived here on this mountain for 30 yrs, and said it's been 15 yrs since he's seen a rattlesnake here, and this is the closest he's been and first one he had to kill.

[MacGyver]

Yikes Tim! That would have freaked the chit out of me!

[Ratickle]

Big Meanie.......



Wait till it's Dad finds out and comes for revenge.......

[Buoy]

Yikes Tim! That would have freaked the chit out of me!

Jody was pretty freaked out. Surprisingly, I was pretty calm about the whole thing - hence, me taking pictures both live and dead.
He went into a semi-coil a few times which made me be a bit more cautious and keep my distance. Pretty strange experience for a guy that was brought up up mid-west boy that has never even gone cow-tipping...

[Buoy]

Big Meanie.......



Wait till it's Dad finds out and comes for revenge.......

I'm gonna need a bigger rake

[Bobcat]

We get the odd one in the Keys every so often......I'm all about running them over with the tractor.....but yet I get offended when people kill sharks that they won't eat.

[Ratickle]

I probably would have tried to catch it and take it way out into the desert somewhere. Used to pizz my Mom off when I was a kid and brought home live baby rattlers from Eastern Oregon. She always made me take them back.....

[Bobcat]

That's because the baby's were still attached !

[Tony]

The only good one is a dead one.

[MOBILEMERCMAN]

Scorpions, Tarantulas, Fire ants, snakes, hornets and bees. Country living! I love it.

Its all good. I heard some humming the other day. Come to notice the bush surrounding the hose bib was covered with bees.. I needed the hoses so I slowly walked through the swarm. Not a single sting.

I did get stung on the bottom of my foot the other day. Not sure what it was.. I didn't die. Good thing..

[Bobcat]

We got the scorpions, and the fire ants.......and occasionally Ohioans!

[Buoy]

Scorpions, Tarantulas, Fire ants, snakes, hornets and bees. Country living! I love it.

Its all good. I heard some humming the other day. Come to notice the bush surrounding the hose bib was covered with bees.. I needed the hoses so I slowly walked through the swarm. Not a single sting.

I did get stung on the bottom of my foot the other day. Not sure what it was.. I didn't die. Good thing..

Yeah, Jody was freaking out, I (surprisingly) just kinda took it in stride - he had a nice hide, and I should have kept him for a nice pair of boots. I guess I just looked at it as I new I'd run into one sooner or later living out here, so it was good to experience, and get an idea how to handle the situation. Still doesn't mean I want one wandering into my house or garage.

I've been wondering how the move has been going Jim, but figured you've been busy, so didn't want to rattle your cage.

[Ratickle]

We got occasionally Ohioans!

They're the worst of the bunch.......

[Tony]

They're the worst of the bunch.......

Ohioans are fairly harmless, feed them some beer and they usually go away.

[fund razor]

Ohioans are fairly harmless, feed them some beer and they go away when it warms up back home.

I fixed it.

[Bobcat]

Besides Ohioans we get attacked on the 17th hole by gynormous Iguanas

[JJ Apache]

[600sci]

anybody who attacks animals without beeing attacked by them will sooner or later feel the pain they can give !!!!

[Bobcat]

Does that include sheep ??

[old377guy]

Ohioans are fairly harmless, feed them some beer and they usually go away.

could backfire; feed them some beer and never go away!