raevan

I was taught that the only reasons to kill any animal is for food, clothing, and protection. If you feel you need to kill a snake then cut off the head, bury it deep, skin and eat the snake, and preserve the skin. Otherwise leave it alone.
They keep the vermin in check. Those people who kill Garter (garden) snakes deserve the abundance of slugs they get when all the snakes are gone. Those who kill Bull snakes deserve being over run by Rattle snakes. whose who kill Rattle snakes deserve the Rats and Mice, etc.

Yoda

You have obviously not had snakes eat your chicken eggs, kill your pullets or bite you when you were walking through dense foliage. Or eat your baby catfish that you are raising.. probably not had 30% of your crop destroyed by feral hogs. I will not take the life of an animal that is endangered or protected, that means they are plentiful. When I hunt for game animals I only hunt during the seasons per the published hunting laws and I eat what I shoot. I also trap mice and rats, but I feed them to my chickens and catfish. I will take the life of an animal that is destroying my crops and livestock and is a potential danger to myself and my family. Those are not game animals, but I would be completely within my right to kill even game animals if they do these things. I don't kill beneficial animals like garter snakes that are not causing any depredation. Perhaps you should add if the animal is destructive to your list.

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Help you I will, yes

kentuckycarry

I do understand the difference here. My points are towards those who merely walk through the woods ( in the snakes territory ) and kill just because "they dont like them".

WoodLark

Years ago, we had a nest of garter snakes under our front steps. When we bought a new house, I gathered them all up and they moved with us.

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Earth is the insane asylum of the universe!

mr surveyor

I may need to go back and re-read the entire thread again because I fail to recall anyone suggesting that they: merely walk through the woods ( in the snakes territory ) and kill just because "they dont like them"

imthduke

I live on the river bank....cotton mouths come into my yard where small children walk....when they do....I turn the Judge loose on them .410 style....you don't want to kill poison snakes in your yard....that's ok with me...if I kill them in my yard and you don't agree with that ....get over it.

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"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has it's limits."
http://www.treasureislandbedandbreakfast.com

Guns and more

Even Indiana Jones said, "why does it always have to be snakes."
I don't like snakes. But.......if you kill all snakes, you will be overrun with rodents. Poisonus snakes will try to avoid you. Make some noise. Learn to identify harmful snakes, let the rest go.
I found a snake in my kitchen last year, coiled under the cabinet. He scared me. I was barefoot. But I opened the door and left the room. When I came back he was gone. (He was a harmless black snake). Now I always look. I don't know how he got in. I've seen him several times outside and say hi. My blood pressure and heart rate skyrocket.

SpringerXD

That was my thought. I don't like the idea of having to hit a relatively small, moving target with a 5-inch competition 1911, let alone a tiny little pocket deringer. I guess there's a possibility that the bang might scare a snake away, but actually hitting it? Good luck.

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"I practice the ancient art of Klik Pao."

-miklcolt45

Sticks

If I should happen to encounter a snake and it is moving, then it keeps on moving (Read my posts, it goes it's way, I go mine). If the movement is a strike at me, then it will be back in a poised position soon, and I am either bit or in the process of backing out of range. If I am bit, BANG, then we both go to the local hospital. Otherwise I am picking a different path

Laying under a piece of equipment and one coming up out of a prairie /dog/gopher/other rodent hole, or even taking a nap under said equipment, it is now a territory dispute and I am not in a position to whack it with a shovel, or scoop it up and fling it away with said shovel that I am not carrying around with me. A hasty retreat out of range may not work so well either if it is coiled up and ready for a strike.

Use of a snake gun is a last resort (as is all my usage of any gun on anything other than paper).

On a side note, I finally talked with the company safety supervisor about this;

"Unofficially and off the record, since there is a abnormally large problem with the rattlesnakes in Lamar, if an employee should happen to keep a 2 shot derringer with bird shot with them in the event that they are caught in a position where the avoidance of one is not feasible, like while under a piece of equipment performing repairs or maintenance, what stance is the company going to take?"

"Guns are against company policy. If the employee kept it hidden and was not showing it off to everyone and it was only used in the defense of their personal safety - not just out hunting them, then I expect an exception would be made."

I suspect that I would still get written up and possibly removed from that job or suspended if there were witnesses or it became the talk of the job site. Usually when I am working on equipment, it is beached at the staging area or somewhere on the site if it just stopped working, either way, there is not a crowd of coworkers around.

As for a relatively small target, the safety supervisor had just came back from that job and had a nice picture of a 3"-4" OD and 5' long rattler coiled up and cranky.

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Sticks

Curiosity was framed, poor judgment killed the cat

911 is just part of the procedure for filing paperwork

kentuckycarry

Snakes are deaf...