Rattlesnake

Phil in Pa · Jul 4, 2014

Saw my first rattler in the wild while picking
berries at 5:30 this morning. Just a little guy, I
didn"t know they would sleep up on the bushes like
that.

D beatty · Jul 4, 2014

Seeing that would be enough to fill your pants!!

Alan K · Jul 4, 2014

That makes me think twice about picking berries lol.

Billy NY · Jul 4, 2014

Where was that, timber rattlers are extremely rare in this state.

TomH in PA · Jul 4, 2014

That would get a person"s attention. Bad enough to have to watch where you step.

uncle henry · Jul 4, 2014

some of the rattlesnakes around here in east texas have quit rattling because of the hogs killing them when they rattled

Phil in Pa · Jul 4, 2014

Central Pa, about 20 miles south of Sunbury where the two branches of the Susquehanna meet.

Phil in Pa · Jul 4, 2014

That's why I hit it as early as I can and try not to stay too long.

Alan K · Jul 4, 2014

That wouldn't be "berry" good. I apologize...the funny, or not so funny was there and I couldn't pass it up lol.

Ron/PA · Jul 4, 2014

We"re seeing more every year in the Sunbury area as well. I get real touchy when I head out to pick berries anymore. On the upside, we seem to be seeing fewer copperheads.

Nice pic.

r_d97 · Jul 4, 2014

Rare in NY??? Not where I live in southern Delaware county NY. I have seen 2 already this year on separate occasions and we are just getting into snake season now. Both were sunning themselves in the road. Although I must admit I have never seen them in a bush like that pic.

Dan T in MO · Jul 4, 2014

Might not be sleeping. I bet he's waiting for a bird to come by pickin' berries.

Billy NY · Jul 4, 2014

Some information from NYS DEC
NYS DEC 1

NYS DEC 2

SweetFeet · Jul 4, 2014

Geez! Was just telling our 15 year old daughter that we should go berry picking Monday.... not sure I want to now. (Did not know rattlers climbed bushes.)

It's a great photo though!

dzc3 · Jul 4, 2014

killed so many of them next to and inside a little tool shed on the farm, we nicked named it the rattlesnake barn. Haven't seen as ,many in Eastern Iowa in recent years maybe the wild turkeys like them when they are little....dangerous

Ron in NS · Jul 4, 2014

Actually, baby rattlers tend to produce the most dangerous bites, since they have not yet learned how to control the amount of venom in a bite, so they tend to inject all they have. Adults are more conservative with their venom. Babies don't have the rattles either, that the bigger ones do, so most of the time, you don't know they are there till you get bitten.

Phil in Pa · Jul 4, 2014

It was cool and he was barely moving, he was pretty stiff yet. I'm counting on them not being very active first thing. Although I haven't seen them, I'm sure there's some big ones slithering around that particular bank.

Brian806 · Jul 4, 2014

i was working a couple hours west of you in snow shoe few years back a ton of them out their! The first I seen was up in northern Lycoming county! we were working on a coal mine reclaimation project had a road through a old field beat down see something black across the one tire track grabbed a couple gears had to run it over hate snakes! ran him over backed up he curled up parked the front tractor tire right on top of him hopped out of the tractor his head sticking out about 8 inches so I stepped on him to finish the job! Was told only black snakes up their hopped backed the tractor up! WRONG! freaken 5 ft rattle snake!

ldj · Jul 4, 2014

(quoted from post at 11:56:29 07/04/14) some of the rattlesnakes around here in east texas have quit rattling because of the hogs killing them when they rattled

You really think a rattlesnake has enough intelligence to reason that out??

Old Iron · Jul 4, 2014

(quoted from post at 17:21:28 07/04/14)

You really think a rattlesnake has enough intelligence to reason that out??

I agree,... snakes ain't smart enough to use that sort of logic.

Which leads me to think the hogs are eating the snakes that draw attention to themselves by rattling, and miss those that are less prone to rattle,... allowing the quieter ones to escape, breed, and produce more young that don't rattle when feeling threatened.

SteveRussell · Jul 4, 2014

When my late mother went berry picking, she carried her "berry picking stick". Thrust the stick into the bushes, not your hand ,move the bushes aside to expose the berries on the underside, if safe picked the berries. I have watched a large snake climb a tree, wouldn't have believed it, if I hadn't seen it.

fixerupper · Jul 4, 2014

Many years ago I heard of someone being bit by a rattler here in Iowa while picking raspberries. Our patch was on the creek bank but I never saw any snakes there.

Rollie NE PA · Jul 4, 2014

When BP put in the Mehoopany Windmill farm near me, it was in the mountains that was loaded with rattlesnakes. If a rattlesnake was observed while construction was going on, the job was shut down and the snake was relocated. Every morning the equipment was checked for snakes before startup.
The Noxen Vol. Fire has an annual rattlesnake roundup as a fund raiser. Every snake that is caught must be returned to the area where it was caught. It is interesting to see the snakes in the different color phases.

GaryinKs · Jul 4, 2014

r_d97 what town are you near?

2x4 · Jul 4, 2014

Sure that's a rattler? Pattern dosen't look like it. Looks more like Hognose Snake to me. Friend of mine once screamed for my sawmill crew to come help him kill a rattler but it was a Hognose. Copperheads & rattlers almost never climb but Hognose climb to get birds nests.

Phil in Pa · Jul 5, 2014

That's interesting, because many people misidentify milk snakes for copperheads as well. I've never seen a copperhead in the wild despite a lifetime of working outdoors.
However after comparing Google images of the hognose to eastern diamondback and timber rattlers, I'm pretty sure it's a rattlesnake.

Brian Jasper co. Ia · Jul 5, 2014

There's nothing like the sound of getting off the tractor to open a gate and you hear that rattle sound start up. Around here snakes, spiders, and I have an understanding. I see them they must die...

2x4 · Jul 6, 2014

my friend thought it was a rattler because its tail made a buzzing sound by rattling dry leaves so they look AND sound like a rattler sometimes. You have no Diamondback rattlers in that region. When I searched "hognose snake jpg" the hognose looked identical to your snake. Regardless, I wouldn't reach in there & grab'm to find out.

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