JJ Watt and the rattlesnake saga comes to a close.lol

juza76

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Not a fan of snakes documentaries too:rolleyes:
I thought rattlesnakes are pretty unique and easy to recognize
 
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Cardinal88

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I feel it JJ! Fact for a rattlesnake, it “rattles” especially in the coil position. There are several snakes that look like rattlesnakes though. They all get your adrenaline going.
 

football karma

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fwiw: me and my two sons have the reputation as the snake "experts" in our neighborhood. When a rattle snake is found, we get a call to check it out.

in 20 years, of the dozens of rattlesnakes reported, 100% have not been rattlesnakes. [note: i dont live contiguous to mountain preserve, etc -- i suspect that might change things]

in fairness, nearly all have been gopher snakes, that have similar markings and when threatened, will coil, curl their tail and make a sputtering / hissing sound that mimics (poorly) a rattle

also fwiw: most suburban Phoenix neighborhoods have roof rats in them -- you want gopher snakes in your yard to keep them in check
 

Mainstreet

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I will add my experience. I've encountered a number of rattlesnakes, but they don't always sound like they do in the movies.

When they rattle their tails it can be so high-pitched, they can sound like something different, sort of like cicadas.
 

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Once you hear the rattle up close you'll likely never forget the sound of it.
Being from Texas, you can feel that it's a bad snake before it even rattles. Here in South Central Texas identifying them removed from the rattle is easy since we have a Southwest rattler which has black and white rings by the rattle. As a runner I have been bitten twice running out in the middle of nowhere, all by a Cottonmouth... which forever reason doctors have never had to do anything, and my body just fights it off (unless I go lucky both times with a low concentration from what they call a dry bite)
 

Jetstream Green

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I will add my experience. I've encountered a number of rattlesnakes, but they don't always sound like they do in the movies.

When they rattle their tails it can be so high-pitched, they can sound like something different, sort of like cicadas.
They have a tad more bass than a cicadas and they have a different decrescendo before they start up again, but yeah, they can sound familiar. Once heard one at night walking from my studio in the backyard and you just get that feeling though at first, I thought it was a cicada. Then got a light and looked and one of my cats who kills venomous snakes had something cornered by the private fence and then knew immediately what it was and got the gun, case closed. Should have let that one particular cat alone. He has in his life killed 7 rattlers and 3 cottonmouths, and those are just the ones I am aware of (I saw him kill a cottonmouth under the carport in 17 seconds before I even had a chance to help him out). The cool thing about that cat is that he leaves the good nonvenomous snakes alone. Have a 8 foot Blue Indigo around the house and he lets her be since they eat venomous snakes... the enemy of my enemy is a friend of mine lol
 

Mainstreet

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They have a tad more bass than a cicadas and they have a different decrescendo before they start up again, but yeah, they can sound familiar. Once heard one at night walking from my studio in the backyard and you just get that feeling though at first, I thought it was a cicada. Then got a light and looked and one of my cats who kills venomous snakes had something cornered by the private fence and then knew immediately what it was and got the gun, case closed. Should have let that one particular cat alone. He has in his life killed 7 rattlers and 3 cottonmouths, and those are just the ones I am aware of (I saw him kill a cottonmouth under the carport in 17 seconds before I even had a chance to help him out). The cool thing about that cat is that he leaves the good nonvenomous snakes alone. Have a 8 foot Blue Indigo around the house and he lets her be since they eat venomous snakes... the enemy of my enemy is a friend of mine lol

I've found the sound can vary by how excited or agitated the rattlesnake can be.

Cats are incredibly quick, but still I wouldn't want to chance them getting bitten.
 

PACardsFan

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Enjoy your miserable winters!
Our Winters are pretty mild. I’m in southern PA. We have more of a Mid-Atlantic climate. I think we got like 8 inches of snow total last year. Having grown up in Syracuse, which gets like 150-200 inches, I never complain about our winters. I’m grumpier during the summer when it’s 95 & humid.
 

Ouchie-Z-Clown

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Our Winters are pretty mild. I’m in southern PA. We have more of a Mid-Atlantic climate. I think we got like 8 inches of snow total last year. Having grown up in Syracuse, which gets like 150-200 inches, I never complain about our winters. I’m grumpier during the summer when it’s 95 & humid.
Yuuuuuuck. No thanks. That’s the absolute worst. Living in DC for four years without central AC was hell.
 

PACardsFan

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Yuuuuuuck. No thanks. That’s the absolute worst. Living in DC for four years without central AC was hell.
I lived right outside of DC for 12 years. I moved there from Syracuse right out of college. My first few summers there, I thought I was going to die. Between the humidity & traffic, I grew to hate it. That was in the early 80’s, so I did get to see the Cardinals play at RFK every year back when we were in the NFCE.
 

Krangodnzr

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Yuuuuuuck. No thanks. That’s the absolute worst. Living in DC for four years without central AC was hell.
I'm more miserable in my apartment here in CA with no Central AC than I was in the summer in Afghanistan, living in AZ for 15 years, or living in the Carolinas

The reason? Hot places usually have better AC.
 

ajcardfan

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I feel it JJ! Fact for a rattlesnake, it “rattles” especially in the coil position. There are several snakes that look like rattlesnakes though. They all get your adrenaline going.
I have heard it and it is a special sound.

However, rattlesnakes have not rattled every single time I have seen one. At Lake Roosevelt in April i turn to my side and look and there is a rattlesnake about 2-3 yards from me. It cruises right through the middle of camp, right past several people and never made a sound.

And, it was a rattlesnake not a long nose snake. The rattle was very apparent.
 

PACardsFan

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I pity you for all that extra heat and sunshine. Give me four seasons, please (but with more 40 degree overcast days!).
Agree 100%. I left Syracuse in early April 1982 to take a job with Marriott Corp in Bethesda, MD. There was snow on the ground & temps were still in the 30’s. When I got to Bethesda, it was sunny & 70. I thought I died and went to heaven. But, after like 14 straight days of 70’s & sunshine, my head was pounding & I was wearing sunglasses 24/7. When the temps hit the 90’s in May, I spent the rest of the summer in my underwear. My roommates were from Virginia & would bitch at me because I kept the AC at 65.
 

Ouchie-Z-Clown

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I lived right outside of DC for 12 years. I moved there from Syracuse right out of college. My first few summers there, I thought I was going to die. Between the humidity & traffic, I grew to hate it. That was in the early 80’s, so I did get to see the Cardinals play at RFK every year back when we were in the NFCE.
I went to a few cards-skins games. Got booed outta my section with my girlfriend who was new to sports. She was scared to death. I was there when the skins won the Super Bowl with rypien. I hated it.
 

Ouchie-Z-Clown

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I'm more miserable in my apartment here in CA with no Central AC than I was in the summer in Afghanistan, living in AZ for 15 years, or living in the Carolinas

The reason? Hot places usually have better AC.
Yup. Though I’ve always lived near the beach, so it really only gets unbearable like one or two weeks a year. That said, when I bought my current home it was the first with AC in CA. I abuse it.
 

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I had to kill a black rattlesnake a few weeks ago on the mogollon. For whatever reason, my dog was intrigued by it (he is usually very scared of any snake), and my dogs life is gonna win that decision everyday. I still feel bad, because the poor guy was trying to get away (most rattlesnakes hate us more than we hate them). As a lifelong outdoorsman and later a fireman, I’ve had lots of experience with snakes. Bull/gopher snakes look similar, but the triangular head, vertical pupils, and of course rattle are tell tales.. I’ll trade the rattlesnakes for the mosquitos everyday.
 

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