Rattlers

[Chris]

Be careful out there fellas, one of my dogs got bit today. Looks like it was mostly a dry bite, so the good Lord willing, she should be fine.

Vet said it was the third rattler bite that day. Apparently its mating season.

[rugerla1]

Dang, hope the dogs okay. 3 in a day, that's sayin something.

[broox]

Where do you live in Nashville that there are rattlesnakes?

[Spots]

Where do you live in Nashville that there are rattlesnakes?

There are rattlesnakes in every county in TN, including all of Nashville. Living in the city makes then less obvious, but they are around.

Tapatalk ate my spelling.

[Chris]

To the west of town.. out in the sticks.

[Wingshooter]

Yikes. Thanks for the reminder to watch my step. Hope the dog recovers 100%

[KahrMan]

They are around.  My cousin killed this one at the base of his back deck steps in the flower bed last summer.  They live in Williamson county.

 

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Edited August 30, 2013 by KahrMan

[2.ooohhh]

Where do you live in Nashville that there are rattlesnakes?

I fished one out of the pool this spring that had gotten trapped and drowned and a neighbor had a den of them under her deck this spring and paid some professional to relocate them. Both about a mile south of the davidson/williamson county line. They are around they just generally avoid humans where possible.

[Dennis1209]

A few days ago the wife called me in a panic to look at the snake coiled on our back deck and dispatch it. It's the four foot rat snake we've seen several times this and last summer. Based on the leaf rustling I frequently hear under the deck (not to be confused with them skinks) and where it went when I gently pushed it off the deck with a mop (it really didn't want to go nowhere)... I think it has made a home under the deck.

 

I've seen a number of species around my neck of the woods, ring neck, rat, king, rough scale green snake, racers, cotton mouth and copperhead. Yet to see a rattle snake and hope not to! My belief is snakes are very beneficial keeping our massive rodent population in check and are beautiful creatures and I let them be, even the venomous snakes. However...

 

In my lifetime I've had two cotton mouths evidently defending their territory and attack me minding my own business and dispatched both. So far the cotton mouths on my property flee when approached, except in spring when it's cool and their warming in the sun and won't budge for anything? But have yet to find it necessary to remove any.

 

Now a rattle snake, knowing the damage it can inflict on your flesh if bitten and the potential months / years of recovery time...  I'm on the fence if I would dispatch it or not. Regardless of the wildlife laws, it's human nature to dispatch a perceived wildlife threat to life and limb.

 

I don't think the habitat around here is favorable for the timber rattler anyway, I hope.

[UncleJak]

Anyone ever seen any in Summer county? I never have but I assume they are around.

sent barefoot from the hills of Tennessee

[cj0e]

Yeah, they're in Sumner. When I was younger while my dad was still building houses, we were playing in a wooded area of a subdivision in Hendersonville. One of the workers held one up, dead, on a shovel, to let us know we should be careful.

 

Used to find their skins shed all over the woods near my childhood home in Antioch, most of that area has since been developed, but I'm sure there are still a few around.

[56FordGuy]

Anyone ever seen any in Summer county? I never have but I assume they are around.

sent barefoot from the hills of Tennessee

 

My neighbors killed one a couple of years ago, and we're just north of Gallatin. I didn't measure it, but it stretched all the way across the hood of the Jeep and then some. 

[UncleJak]

My neighbors killed one a couple of years ago, and we're just north of Gallatin. I didn't measure it, but it stretched all the way across the hood of the Jeep and then some.

we live fairly close to each other so I guess that answers it for sure

sent barefoot from the hills of Tennessee

[xjsnake]

If you are in the Nashville area and come across a venomous snake shoot me a PM and I'd be happy to remove it for you. I hate seeing snakes killed needlessly and have training and experience handling venomous snakes.

 

Toss a trashcan on top of it and put some sort of weight on it and I'll come get it.

[EMB145]

I read this thread yesterday and thought nothing of it. Last night I couldn't sleep and stayed up really late. When I did try to sleep I was half awake, half asleep and couldn't help but dream of rattle snakes. One bit me when I tried heading for the kitchen. Dreams and all, it was freaky to me. I had a good breakfast though and no rattlers around.

[Wingshooter]

I read this thread yesterday and thought nothing of it. Last night I couldn't sleep and stayed up really late. When I did try to sleep I was half awake, half asleep and couldn't help but dream of rattle snakes. One bit me when I tried heading for the kitchen. Dreams and all, it was freaky to me. I had a good breakfast though and no rattlers around.

Snakes ARE the boogeyman as far as I'm concerned (spiders too)

[Mark@Sea]

By "toss a weight on top of it" - is a jeep okay?

[Mark@Sea]

[BJB]

By "toss a weight on top of it" - is a jeep okay?

What he said but mine would be a Dodge truck

[Guest johnwhite]

About 4 years ago my wife was working in the back flowerbed and kept hearing something. I was cutting grass in the front yard. By the time I got to the back yard she had one in her trash bag and was after the other. 2 small ones, 1 had 1 rattle and the other had 2. I called a lot of different places to find who wanted them. We carried them out to the Cedars. The next weekend I went to get some stones from a family south of the Cedars. The lady told me to be careful out there, look what my husband put on the side of the chicken house. A skin about 5 1/2 feet with 16 rattles. Every stone got turned over with a shovel that day.

Edited September 5, 2013 by johnwhite

[Guest Bonedaddy]

I've yet to see any rattlers in Crockett, though, I suspect there may be a few around. The slough I frequently fish is full of cottonmouths and copperheads,whose bite is just as bad, so I hafta watch every step gettin' down to the water. The rocks and woods around there would make a good place to find a rattler but I just don't see'm. And glad, too.