Re: Ben caught a new pet today...

bigben · June 16, 2012, 12:11:36 PM

Hunted local this morning and found one but i think we came down out of the mountian too quick. Partner had stuff to do but it gives me the confidence to wanna go back up there looking. Found a big skin as well
38" female. Think she was prego as well.

possumal · June 16, 2012, 04:53:58 PM

You guys are giving me the nervous fidgets. I'd be looking for a way to stay as far away from those rascals as I could. I will say that I actually fear copperheads more than rattlers due to no warning of any kind. Don't like "Old tight eyes".

FinsnFur · June 16, 2012, 10:46:28 PM

I split that topic and created a new thread with your post Ben to keep from hijacking Denvers.
And now I gotta ask...what in the samhell was that thing in when you took that pic?
He looks like he's ready to own ya.

bigben · June 17, 2012, 08:26:42 AM

im not as brave as denver with pinning them and holding them by their heads. what I do is use a clear tube that they mostly willingly climb in to. once they go in you can hold them in there without hurting them and then your able to measure them, find out if they are a male and a female and get pictures like the one above. The guy I went hunting with last year took pictures like this and they come out awesome. now this female we caught yesterday was small both in length and girth. but was cooperative. her head was only 4" away from the end of the tube when I took this picture but you can see even though she was paying attention to me closely you can see she backed up. rattlers are not as aggresive as they are made out to be and in fact it takes alot to get one to strike. now that big black phase we caught last weekend. he was an ignorant sob. it took three people to get him straightened out to measure. but there is no doubt about it all of em require the respect they are due. after we took a few pics we layed her in the sun to get some warmth and left.

Hidehunter · June 17, 2012, 11:01:01 AM

Love that pic. Congrats! We dont have a season on them here in West Virginia and most people that come across them just shoot them. Like Ben said, 'Most' of the time it takes a lot to make them strike. Definatly deserve respect though. I just turn them back loose. Sometimes Il keep a pretty one in an aquarium for a while but then turn them back loose.

Quote from: possumal on June 16, 2012, 04:53:58 PM
I will say that I actually fear copperheads more than rattlers

Possum, you will never see me holding a copperhead with my hands like I do the rattlers. i have had them actually chase me for a few before. I am no copperhead fan at all.

possumal · June 17, 2012, 11:39:35 AM

Yeah, the old copperhead is one bad dude. I had a friend down in Mercer County, Ky., and they were pulling tobacco plants down on a river bottom farm he had leased. A danged copperhead struck him in his left arm just above the elbow and he nearly lost his arm as a result, nearly dying.

One of the scariest things that ever happened to me out hunting was back in 2006, while turkey hunting down in Barren County, Ky.. I had made my "Nest" on a hill about 25 yards above a creek bottom, right beside a culvert that fed down from a pond. I wasn't too pleased with my view so I got up to relocate a little. I had been sitting within two feet of a whole nest of young copperheads, so you know mama had to be there close. They are not as big as rattlers, but really potent.

FinsnFur · June 17, 2012, 02:28:42 PM

I'd like to see your catch tube. Thats an interesting concept.
And I'm guess they are unable to turn around.

bigben · June 17, 2012, 06:15:39 PM

Here are some better pics. They cant turn in the tube but can see threw it easily.

Hidehunter · June 17, 2012, 06:33:55 PM

Is that something you can purchase or something you made. I have never seen that done before.

bigben · June 17, 2012, 07:38:27 PM

I got this one from a friend but i think they Are florecent light bulb safety covers so if they break shards of glass dont come flying down. Or you can use masonry drill bit tubes.

FinsnFur · June 17, 2012, 07:53:23 PM

Thats some crazy shhhh right there. They actually crawl into that thing?
I can see how it would make handling them a breeze though, interesting concept for sure.

bigben · June 17, 2012, 08:16:14 PM

Some do. Others dont. The female we caught this weekend once we let her calm down she went right in. In the end we always get em in just some dont make it easy.

FinsnFur · June 17, 2012, 08:18:21 PM

I'm just going to be honest here...you guys are nuts

cathryn · July 08, 2012, 07:36:38 AM

Why didn't u just kill it?

bigben · July 08, 2012, 12:30:09 PM

Because it would be illegal to do so. We did go ou last sat and found 5 more that werent legal.

This fella could have nailed me in the knee easy but didnt. These snakes are no where near as agressive as they are made out to be. Everynow and then you'll get an agressive one but you know it rightoff.

FinsnFur · July 09, 2012, 05:58:58 PM

Ben you need a new hobby.
That stuff's gonna kill ya

bigben · July 09, 2012, 08:21:14 PM

well there is a story to go with it. the guy who got me into snake hunting has a hard time finding local places to go since sometimes we travel 3 hours just to get to good area. after the other weeks adventure with finding the one female I dug back into my mind of some other areas on our mountain ground that prob held snakes. there was two areas that stuck out in my mind. both were easy to get to. compared to what we have hiked before. the weather was warm. 95degrees for a high that day (this was two weekends ago) we started earlier then usual because these snakes only need so much sun. once they get too warm they will go back down in the rocks.

we got to the first area. it was at the top of the mountain and is shaped in a bowl. when we got there the very top was just starting to get sun. it was prob 100yds tall and 200 yds wide. big boulders filled this area some 2ft diameter and some 6ft diameter. very easy location to loose a snake which did happen that day. I started up the one side and he started up the other side. at the top I stopped for a breather. it was at that time I heard leaves rustling. I looked down and about 5 ft to my side in a crevice I seen the last foot of a nice thick black phase. I lightly grabbed him with the tongs and slowly tried pulling on him. he was slowly coming and I tried picking his belly up with a snake hook and he took hold. that was it I held onto him because sometime they will let up and come out to face their attacker. but this one came out another hole in the rock and barred fangs a couple times but didn't strike. I let him go and he worked his way up through the rocks and I thought I could get him out of the area he went to. he was a thick snake and I knew he was a male by how long his tail was. but he was too big to pull back through the hole safely without hurting the snake. so I left him go. I could hear another one beside him in the rocks but couldnt get him to come out and play. at that moment the other fella said over here is two more. I slowly worked my way the 20 yds to him and seen the two he seen laying on top of the dead leaves in the shade. they were working their way towards me but I just happened to see something out of the corner of my eye. I slowly backed up and that was where the fella in the picture was laying. He would have had to be a major contortionist to get me but he was in strike distance. just a rock was between me and him. If I woulda stepped two more steps he coulda had me no matter what. I reached in with the tongs and slowly pulled him out and he layed ther slowly rattling. the other two my buddy found were not legal but everyone we found was pretty colored. I will probably hit this spot next weekend since our season goes out at the end of the month. they are an animal you have to respect. I find them interesting critters. just watch where you step and be alert to everything.