wesman
05-29-2008, 02:59 PM
Posted a couple pics in Beau' thread, but figured the story and more pics was warranted for this fella. This is pretty long so bear with me.
I apologize for the quality of pics......the lighting back there isn't the best (Jeff...I need lights in the back) and then I was holding a flashlight, camera, shovel and my gun on my side.
Here are a few pics first:
This is how he was laying when we first happened upon this joker. Mind you, this is 5 feet from my back door and I had literally walked within 1.5-2 feet of this guy on the way back in from Juijitsu class an hour earlier.
http://www.svtgalleries.net/gallery/data/6150/thumbs/snake110.JPG (http://www.svtgalleries.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/24263)
We noticed him about 1145-1200 when letting the dogs out for the last time. I was in the yard off the patio playing with Ronin (youngest of the dogs) and trying to find one of toys so he didn't chew on a wall or something when locked up for the night. I was on my way back onto the patio and Steph let's out a little scream...then she says "Babe, look at that giant snake". I jump up on the patio and see him....this joker was big.....and fat. He was stretched out and obviously had just eaten a couple hours ago at most. He was laying in the flowerbed 4-5 feet from my backdoor steps. I was able to get the dogs rounded up very quickly without them noticing him and got them inside. I then went out to check this joker out a lit closer. He appeared to be over 4-5 feet and he was literally 10-11" around. He was at least as thick as my forearm. He didn't like my flashlight too much because he started moving a bit when I shined it on him and began taking pics.
http://www.svtgalleries.net/gallery/data/6150/thumbs/snake6.JPG (http://www.svtgalleries.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/24250)
http://www.svtgalleries.net/gallery/data/6150/thumbs/snake10.JPG (http://www.svtgalleries.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/24249)
http://www.svtgalleries.net/gallery/data/6150/thumbs/snake9.JPG (http://www.svtgalleries.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/24253)
You can see the evil in this jokers eyes:
http://www.svtgalleries.net/gallery/data/6150/thumbs/snake8.JPG (http://www.svtgalleries.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/24252)
We ended up calling animal control but they said to call 911 sicne it was after hours......we didn't feel this was 911 worthy so we called the general police # instead. They dispatched an officer out and he showed about an hour later. I wasn't pleased at this point because I didn't want this bastard slithering away and blindsiding me or one of the dogs out in the yard one day, he had to die. I would have immediately shot him if I didn't think the police would be there in 15 minutes asking me why I was discharging a firearm inside city limits. The cop shows up and he's a really cool fella, he was surprised as could be when he saw the size of this thing. He called back to dispatch and asked what the heck to do with this thing, and asked if he could shoot it. He was told he had to qualify the next day and he was already down rounds ( not sure what that was about....lol) and that if he discharged his weapon he'd have to fill out paperwork. I told him I had a gun and I was gonna shoot the dang thing if they didn't show up soon. He asked what I had and I told him a Glock .45, he then asked about ammo...hollow points...he was pleased. He asked if I wanted to shoot it or if I wanted him to. I said I had no problem shooting it, it was the questioning afterward when they showed up at my doorstep for shots fired that I wasn't really into....he just laughed and said go ahead and pop it. I went and got the gun and come outside and he has a rake handle getting the snake in a coiled up position and he was pissed now......rattling like crazy and flicking his little forked tongue out....not a happy snake. I take aim and fire from about 5 feet away....missed his head but put a nice size hole in the middle of his body and the snake was done for. We proceeded to use the shovel to make sure he wasn't playing possum on us and all but cut his head off with it.....he had some big a$$ fangs......would have sucked to get bitten by him. I shot the shit with the officer for about 15 minutes. He said if we see another one like that to just pop it, don't worry about calling.....he said people don't usually call about just one round going off....:rll:, it's the multiple rounds that scare people. He said not to call the station and talk to the captain to commend them on a job well done or anything cause he wasn't filling out any paperwork on this one. HE took a few pics with his phone and we measured him and such and he went on his way.
It turned out to be a little over 4 feet long and very full of something...his guts were everywhere but nothing else really popped out. I cut off his rattle to keep and discarded him in the woods on the other side of my creek...I'm sure he'll make a meal for a coyote or one of the giant hawks or buzzard looking things that frequent the area.
He had about 10 rattles...he was definitely a well "Aged" guy.....sorry he had to go out like this, but I sure wasn't gonna risk him hitting one of my pups, my expecting wife or myself.....survival of the fittest.
Here's a few more shots of "after" he met the Glock.
http://www.svtgalleries.net/gallery/data/6150/thumbs/snake12.JPG (http://www.svtgalleries.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/24255)
http://www.svtgalleries.net/gallery/data/6150/thumbs/snake14.JPG (http://www.svtgalleries.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/24257)
http://www.svtgalleries.net/gallery/data/6150/thumbs/snake19.JPG (http://www.svtgalleries.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/24262)
Check out the head on that joker:
http://www.svtgalleries.net/gallery/data/6150/thumbs/snake17.JPG (http://www.svtgalleries.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/24260)
What I learned from the night:
1. Unwelcome guests don't belong on my back porch....if you end up on my porch late at night you're liable to get shot :evil
2. Rattlesnakes are pure evil....you could literally see the evil in that jokers eyes.
3. I'm a damn sissy compared to when I was younger....we used to catch these guys in Florida by running them out of gopher turtle holes and then bag them up and sell them at the market outside of Gainesville....they were worth double if they were alive.
4. My sights on my Glock are off a bit....up and to the right....I missed his head from about 6-7 feet away....up and to the right, but dang did it put a nice size hole in his body.
5. I need something that is a natural predator to rattlesnakes....generally where there's one, there are many.
Overall it was pretty dang exciting...I obviously need to get out more. I haven't shot my weapon in a few months...I need to do that more as well...and I need to line these dangs sites back up....I don't wanna miss a bad guy high and to the right unless I'm aiming at his waste .
If you stuck through this long winded and much funnier story in person congrats, I actually left a lot of the banter between the officer and I out...he was a cool fella.:tu:
That is all...please drive through.
--wes
I apologize for the quality of pics......the lighting back there isn't the best (Jeff...I need lights in the back) and then I was holding a flashlight, camera, shovel and my gun on my side.
Here are a few pics first:
This is how he was laying when we first happened upon this joker. Mind you, this is 5 feet from my back door and I had literally walked within 1.5-2 feet of this guy on the way back in from Juijitsu class an hour earlier.
http://www.svtgalleries.net/gallery/data/6150/thumbs/snake110.JPG (http://www.svtgalleries.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/24263)
We noticed him about 1145-1200 when letting the dogs out for the last time. I was in the yard off the patio playing with Ronin (youngest of the dogs) and trying to find one of toys so he didn't chew on a wall or something when locked up for the night. I was on my way back onto the patio and Steph let's out a little scream...then she says "Babe, look at that giant snake". I jump up on the patio and see him....this joker was big.....and fat. He was stretched out and obviously had just eaten a couple hours ago at most. He was laying in the flowerbed 4-5 feet from my backdoor steps. I was able to get the dogs rounded up very quickly without them noticing him and got them inside. I then went out to check this joker out a lit closer. He appeared to be over 4-5 feet and he was literally 10-11" around. He was at least as thick as my forearm. He didn't like my flashlight too much because he started moving a bit when I shined it on him and began taking pics.
http://www.svtgalleries.net/gallery/data/6150/thumbs/snake6.JPG (http://www.svtgalleries.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/24250)
http://www.svtgalleries.net/gallery/data/6150/thumbs/snake10.JPG (http://www.svtgalleries.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/24249)
http://www.svtgalleries.net/gallery/data/6150/thumbs/snake9.JPG (http://www.svtgalleries.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/24253)
You can see the evil in this jokers eyes:
http://www.svtgalleries.net/gallery/data/6150/thumbs/snake8.JPG (http://www.svtgalleries.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/24252)
We ended up calling animal control but they said to call 911 sicne it was after hours......we didn't feel this was 911 worthy so we called the general police # instead. They dispatched an officer out and he showed about an hour later. I wasn't pleased at this point because I didn't want this bastard slithering away and blindsiding me or one of the dogs out in the yard one day, he had to die. I would have immediately shot him if I didn't think the police would be there in 15 minutes asking me why I was discharging a firearm inside city limits. The cop shows up and he's a really cool fella, he was surprised as could be when he saw the size of this thing. He called back to dispatch and asked what the heck to do with this thing, and asked if he could shoot it. He was told he had to qualify the next day and he was already down rounds ( not sure what that was about....lol) and that if he discharged his weapon he'd have to fill out paperwork. I told him I had a gun and I was gonna shoot the dang thing if they didn't show up soon. He asked what I had and I told him a Glock .45, he then asked about ammo...hollow points...he was pleased. He asked if I wanted to shoot it or if I wanted him to. I said I had no problem shooting it, it was the questioning afterward when they showed up at my doorstep for shots fired that I wasn't really into....he just laughed and said go ahead and pop it. I went and got the gun and come outside and he has a rake handle getting the snake in a coiled up position and he was pissed now......rattling like crazy and flicking his little forked tongue out....not a happy snake. I take aim and fire from about 5 feet away....missed his head but put a nice size hole in the middle of his body and the snake was done for. We proceeded to use the shovel to make sure he wasn't playing possum on us and all but cut his head off with it.....he had some big a$$ fangs......would have sucked to get bitten by him. I shot the shit with the officer for about 15 minutes. He said if we see another one like that to just pop it, don't worry about calling.....he said people don't usually call about just one round going off....:rll:, it's the multiple rounds that scare people. He said not to call the station and talk to the captain to commend them on a job well done or anything cause he wasn't filling out any paperwork on this one. HE took a few pics with his phone and we measured him and such and he went on his way.
It turned out to be a little over 4 feet long and very full of something...his guts were everywhere but nothing else really popped out. I cut off his rattle to keep and discarded him in the woods on the other side of my creek...I'm sure he'll make a meal for a coyote or one of the giant hawks or buzzard looking things that frequent the area.
He had about 10 rattles...he was definitely a well "Aged" guy.....sorry he had to go out like this, but I sure wasn't gonna risk him hitting one of my pups, my expecting wife or myself.....survival of the fittest.
Here's a few more shots of "after" he met the Glock.
http://www.svtgalleries.net/gallery/data/6150/thumbs/snake12.JPG (http://www.svtgalleries.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/24255)
http://www.svtgalleries.net/gallery/data/6150/thumbs/snake14.JPG (http://www.svtgalleries.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/24257)
http://www.svtgalleries.net/gallery/data/6150/thumbs/snake19.JPG (http://www.svtgalleries.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/24262)
Check out the head on that joker:
http://www.svtgalleries.net/gallery/data/6150/thumbs/snake17.JPG (http://www.svtgalleries.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/24260)
What I learned from the night:
1. Unwelcome guests don't belong on my back porch....if you end up on my porch late at night you're liable to get shot :evil
2. Rattlesnakes are pure evil....you could literally see the evil in that jokers eyes.
3. I'm a damn sissy compared to when I was younger....we used to catch these guys in Florida by running them out of gopher turtle holes and then bag them up and sell them at the market outside of Gainesville....they were worth double if they were alive.
4. My sights on my Glock are off a bit....up and to the right....I missed his head from about 6-7 feet away....up and to the right, but dang did it put a nice size hole in his body.
5. I need something that is a natural predator to rattlesnakes....generally where there's one, there are many.
Overall it was pretty dang exciting...I obviously need to get out more. I haven't shot my weapon in a few months...I need to do that more as well...and I need to line these dangs sites back up....I don't wanna miss a bad guy high and to the right unless I'm aiming at his waste .
If you stuck through this long winded and much funnier story in person congrats, I actually left a lot of the banter between the officer and I out...he was a cool fella.:tu:
That is all...please drive through.
--wes