# Rattler



## rockslinger (Nov 16, 2010)

My neighbor called me about an hour ago, had a rattler close to her door.





















Didn't have time to get a shooter, just grabbed a shovel. It almost got her daughter and little dog.


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## bigron (Nov 29, 2012)

what species of rattler is it,that is one big booger i've seen bigger but not many,do you cure the skins yourself to use or sell.sorry for all the questions


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## Charles (Aug 26, 2010)

Yowzah!!!! That is a good sized beast. That close to the house, you did the right thing.

Cheers ... Charles


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## parnell (May 20, 2012)

Wow that thing is a monster. The early warm weather we have had doesn't help.


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## zippo (Jul 9, 2014)

He is big ! i never seen one in the wild.. Here we got palastinian viper, much more venemous then rattlers, and they dont run much - they strike ! Hope its tastey !


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## ghost0311/8541 (Jan 6, 2013)

If you skin him and put in 91% rubbing alcohol for a hour the pin it to a board scale down it will be.tamed in about a hour while taming.scrape the belly area of the fat you will have a nice hide.


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## treefork (Feb 1, 2010)

I was hoping to see one of those when visiting but they were hibernating for winter . That is a beauty and very deadly .


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## quarterinmynose (Jan 21, 2012)

Can we get an emoji of a smiley face pooping itself only without the smile? Cause that's what I would of looked like. For some reason slithering things(especially venomous ones with huge teeth) scare the bejesus out of me.

Nice work helping out your neighbor.


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## rockslinger (Nov 16, 2010)

bigron said:


> what species of rattler is it,that is one big booger i've seen bigger but not many,do you cure the skins yourself to use or sell.sorry for all the questions


Hi Ron, It's a western diamondback and yes I cure the skins myself.



zippo said:


> He is big ! i never seen one in the wild.. Here we got palastinian viper, much more venemous then rattlers, and they dont run much - they strike ! Hope its tastey !


This one didn't run either it struck at my shovel 4 or 5 times before I got a clear shot at it's head,



ghost0311/8541 said:


> If you skin him and put in 91% rubbing alcohol for a hour the pin it to a board scale down it will be.tamed in about a hour while taming.scrape the belly area of the fat you will have a nice hide.


I use alcohol and glycerin


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## reset (Apr 13, 2013)

Thats a good size one.

They seem to be more aggressive down your way than up here. I grew up in rattler country up here and rarely ever saw one. Up here they get out of the way before you get near them usually. All you hear is a rattle and there gone. As a kid i used to chase them and unless you got them cornered they were fine. But i sure dont find that when ever im down your way. Ive had a few go after me down there.


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## Emitto (Sep 11, 2013)

That's a bid diamondback there! I caught a big one in my backyard last year, almost got my dog too!

It did also strike 5 or so times before I could get to her.

Nice pit viper!

Cheers.

E.


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## rockslinger (Nov 16, 2010)

Emitto said:


> That's a bid diamondback there! I caught a big one in my backyard last year, almost got my dog too!
> 
> It did also strike 5 or so times before I could get to her.
> 
> ...


One killed my daughters dog last year


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## Nobodo (Nov 5, 2014)

Very nice western diamondback!

When I was in high school I worked at a tourist trap (it was called White's City) right outside Carlsbad Caverns National Park. It had this ski lift that took you to the top of a mountain where there was a replica of an Indian Cliff House. The tourists would go up on the ski lift, get off at the top, and walk on a trail that was about 0.5 mile long that went through the desert and the cliff house, then get back on the ski lift to go back to the bottom where their car was.

We always had two guys working on the lift; a guy at the top and a guy at the bottom. The guy at the bottom took money for the ride and let people on/off. The guy at the top had it easier; just let people off and back on and answered touristy questions. The guy at the top also had to walk through the path at the start of each day and a couple other times during the evening (was open 11am until 11pm - had nice lighting) to clear out any rattlesnakes, etc. that might be in the tourist's path.

Well... One day I was the one working at the bottom, and the guy at the top killed a rattlesnake. He thought it would be funny to put the dead rattlesnake on an empty ski lift chair. I noticed it after it went around a couple of times, and took it off the lift chair. Well... then I thought it would be funny to play a trick on the guy at the top. I took a piece of wire and jimmied his car door open, and coiled the rattlesnake up and put it on the floorboard of his car sticking out from the front seat, locked the car back up tight.

Well... that was before noon of a mid-summer day, and the car baked the rest of the day in over 100 degree F heat. By 11pm when the guy at the top came down at the end of his shift, all you had to do was go near his car (windows rolled up) to smell the stench.

He didn't talk to me much the rest of the summer; guess he didn't think it was quite so funny. But just to take no chances when I worked at the top of the lift I didn't park anywhere near the ride for the rest of the summer! 

Edit: Chair lift hasn't existed for many years now, but I managed to dig up a picture of the bottom of the ride. Brings back memories of rattlesnakes, scorpions, scaring tourists with tarantulas, all sorts of things!


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## parnell (May 20, 2012)

rockslinger what do you use to cure the skin? I have used glycerin and alcohol o do a couple. Do you use a different/better method?


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## rockslinger (Nov 16, 2010)

parnell said:


> rockslinger what do you use to cure the skin? I have used glycerin and alcohol o do a couple. Do you use a different/better method?


Same thing


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## flipgun (Nov 14, 2012)

Dang! That is a belt, a hat band and dinner for 5.


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