Rattlesnake!

[GreenScoutII]

So, I was on my way to feed the chickens this afternoon and this big bastard scared the hell out of me! I ran back in the house and grabbed my 12 gauge. Remington 870 VS. Rattlesnake, shotgun wins every time. This is the fourth rattler I've shot within 50 yds of my house this year. I never shoot or harm any non-venomous snake, but, I have four kids, so rattlers must die!http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss307/greenscoutii/HPIM0277.jpg?t=1255557958

Took his head off clean. 2 3/4 shell with #8 shot will do that from 10 feet away. Anybody know how to skin one of these things and preserve the hide?

[Irving]

There is a thread on here about that I think. If not, it is on Silencertalk. I hear it is easier than you would think.

[GreenScoutII]

http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss307/greenscoutii/HPIM0278.jpg?t=1255558880

[Mtn.man]

slit it down the belly don't cut off the rattles.
meat is really good eat'n
place hide on a flat board long enough and wide enough, clamp down and salt with pickling salt not the table stuff....

[pickenup]

slit it down the belly don't cut off the rattles.
meat is really good eat'n
place hide on a flat board long enough and wide enough, clamp down and salt with pickling salt not the table stuff....

Yup, or Borax instead of salt.

[PsyKo]

tag for a dinner pic ;)

i hate them things with a passion, see them occasionally while fly fishing.

[LeJerk]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borax#Food_additive

[pickenup]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borax#Food_additive

Not quite sure what the connection between Borax, and food additive is.
Unless one plans on eating the skin, after it dries.
But I did see this in the link you provided about Borax.

Other uses....
Curing agent for snake skins.

[LeJerk]

Oops. Nevermind. I thought it was suggested for some sort of cooking.

[Ah Pook]

I still have 4' worth of a 6' rattler skin somewhere. I think it had 10 rattles on the tail.

One of my fondest memories was my Grandmother taking the shotgun to a rattler during lunch. Didn't even phase her.

Do you mean boric acid? That's used to soak the skin in before tanning.

[7idl]

dang, I figured they'd be holed up for the season.. well around here anyway.

[Tristan]

http://www.co-ar15.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12903

[glenncal1]

You may want to start carrying a revolver loaded with CCI shotshells out to the barn, they will dispatch the rattlers pretty well.

[GreenScoutII]

You may want to start carrying a revolver loaded with CCI shotshells out to the barn, they will dispatch the rattlers pretty well.

Yeah, I might have to. I wonder if this is a boom year for rattlesnakes. I'm 35 and I've spent a lot of time outdoors in my life. I could count on the fingers of one hand how many rattlers I've seen untill this last year. I shot the four close to my house, but I've seen a bunch more. Weird....

[Daniel_187]

I have not seen any rattlesnakes but saw a crap ton of garder snakes, oh and Racoons they been in the trash a lot, I think I hear one say something about the hard recession were in thats why they were in the trash but he wont be around to see us pull out of it LOL

[68Charger]

Yeah, I might have to. I wonder if this is a boom year for rattlesnakes. I'm 35 and I've spent a lot of time outdoors in my life. I could count on the fingers of one hand how many rattlers I've seen untill this last year. I shot the four close to my house, but I've seen a bunch more. Weird....

have a mouse problem, too?

previous owner of my place left piles of lumber & crap... were like mouse condos (big ones, too)
and then the rattlesnakes came- so I started hunting out the mice... got that under control, and didn't see rattlesnakes for a while...

the mouse traps have been getting tripped quite a bit this year, too... (at least at my place they are)

[GreenScoutII]

Yeah if a guy lives out in the country, he's bound to have a rodent problem. I have tons of bull snakes and corn snakes too. Corn snakes aren't supposed to live here, but they do! The bulls and corns are welcome residents as they help hold the mouse and gopher population down. I don't like cats, but I have to admit my wife's two carpet barfers keep the mice out of the house. I cleaned up my scrap pile as I thought the same thing. I keep chicken feed in a steel trash can with a tight fitting lid to keep mice out of that too. I think the problem is the literally thousands of gophers I have. They never come above ground so they're hard to kill. Any ideas?

[Daniel_187]

Don't they Have those stakes you put in the ground and they give off an ultra sonic wave and drives them out?

[Irving]

Don't they Have those stakes you put in the ground and they give off an ultra sonic wave and drives them out?

Those are for vampires dummy.

[MichiganMilitia]

I've never done this with gophers, but I've done it with moles and if you can do this safely, it works great.

Pour a good amount of gasoline down their hole. If it is a large networked hole, even better. Pour a few gallons down if the hole will hold it. In about a week, most of them will be dead or driven away from the fumes. If that doesn't work, then for round two, pour a few gallons down 3 or 4 holes that are really close and wait about 10 minutes. Then just toss a match down one of their holes (remember fire safety!). Enjoy! If you are really intent on shooting them, then pick them off as they scurry out of their burning and smoking holes.

[GreenScoutII]

Yeah, I've used gas to burn out ant hills before. Why not gophers. I'll try it next time it rains. Fire safety you know...

[MichiganMilitia]

Yeah, I don't know if you guys have YellowJackets out here (the underground bees) but it works really well on them if you let it soak for a while, because the fumes will kill a lot of them, but then when you light it, it just burns really slow for a few hours and gets all the ones that are returning.