Thread: Keep Your Eyes Open!

Originally Posted by cricket george

Did he sqirm in de gris? I kill em but don't touch em

Me either. I grew up around a few big Timbers, but lots of mean Cottonmouths and Copperheads. I've killed a bunch, especially after an older cousin was bitten by a copperhead. In basic training at the front range of Colorado I woke up one fall morning to find a Prairie Rattler curled up next to my sleeping bag. I laid there without breathing but with my heart beating like a drum for what seemed like days till someone approached and it slithered off.

When living in Texas I took Ike and his older hunting partner, Murphy Brown, to be snake-proofed by this bird hunting club. They used live rattlers but pulled their venom before the deal. They would put a extra strong shock collar on the dog and approach a snake where the dog could smell them. When the snake struck at the dog they would hit the collar. Most dogs took about three tries before they would smell and avoid the snake. Ike was like a strutting little kid - he would bounce around back and forth just out of range and irritate the snake. It was a real hot day and as Murphy approached the snake her second time as soon as she smelled it she flopped over on her back with her legs stiff in the air and her eyes bugged out. The guys thought she had had a heat stroke but I took her lead and called her away from the snake and she got up just fine. Ike would forever tease a snake but Murphy would just bug her eyes out and leave. That's the way I feel around them.