The Water Moc encounter....

[Dennis E.]

Serviced the two big clinics that I usually do on Sat. because they are closed. Much easier to service with no one around. Except for the "residents".
One building has two rather large retention ponds. Beyond that is some undeveloped pasture where there are a few horses and cows. Well I'm working around the edge of one of the retention areas with the WB,with a velke. I'm minding my own business,just mowing,trying to get done for the day. I see what I think is a stick. I push down on the handles of the WB to lift a little to not hit it. IT MOVED! It was a Moc. And he's MAD now. It coils a little and turns TOWARDS the velke and gets aggressive.
I jumped off the velke and to the opposite side of the mower,from him, to get away. Trying to stay in control of the mower AND stay away from this angry snake.This little dude was not afraid of the mower or me. Once I got past it,it fled in the other direction down into the nasty part of the retention area. My son brought over the ZTR. He took the WB and I took the ZTR to finish.
We saw the Moc later and by this time it was calmed down. My son was freaked out when he saw it. We were within 6ft. or so and it was real calm. Not aggressive. Beautiful markings. About 3 1/2 feet in length. I let it be. I never go out of my way to hurt snakes for they have a purpose also. Lots of mice on this property and the snakes do a good job of "rodent control". This snake looked like it had just had a meal.
Real close call,but a happy ending. Be careful out there. This was my closest call in 14 years.
I did not think I could still move that fast!!:D ;)

[ShortCuts]

I would of turned it into "snake fric-a-cee"

I HATE SNAKES!

[mdb landscaping]

I wouldve let him get a real close of what high lifts look like and how well side discharging works:D

[TLS]

Snakes in the blender! :D

Bunnies in the blender. :(

Turtles in the blender. :rolleyes:

Almost a few "overactive" small dog paws in the blender. :eek:

Countless amounts of Dog Poop in the blender! :mad:

[MikeLT1Z28]

i'm with mdb on this one... gators with doubles and a viscious side discharge, i'm sure puree'd snake is a delicasy some where!

[ohiolawnguy]

geez, i can see snakes and bunnies in a blender, but turtles???? :)

[CLM1103]

A few weeks ago, I was weedeating a ditch bank and without seeing it I hit a black snake about 5" long. The trimmer cut his head off and slung the rest of him around my leg. It happened so fast that I did not know what kind it was untill it was wraplped around my leg. I took about two steps to cover about 10' of ground before realizing it was just a black runner.

[Dennis E.]

It's not funny,then. But after awhile it gets to be amusing. I was LMAO after reading your post. My kids and wife think the visual of me dancing the "jig"trying to get away from the moc is pretty hilarious. I'm not laughing just yet.:rolleyes:
My BP must have been off the charts for a bit after my little encounter.:eek:

[Double D]

LMAO, I like how you got on the ZTR after seeing the snake, and put your son on the WB. I like the way you think, that is too funny!

[Jimbo]

Must be the month for snakes....I have been weed eating several large properties for the past 5 years and never saw a snake (it actually seemed quite odd). well that all changed the other day when I hit one with the FS200R trimmer. It scared the Sh** out of me. He took off even though he ws missing his A** end. I tried to attack and put him out of his misery (yeah right) Kill him, but he found a hole.

Don't know what kind it was.. not a black snake and not a gardner. I wasn't near any water.

What happens if a rattler breeds with a black snake? Is this posible? Poisonis or not?

[Brickman]

A poisonous snake is a dead one if I see him first. Blacks I will let go. I am with the guys that would have given him a taste of high speed blades. One time years ago mowing with a sickle type mower I was mowing thru some low areas that were holding water. I made three out of one that day. Looked real funny.

I too have been one the recieving end of the 10 to 15 feet in a single jump several times, nothing will scare IT out of you faster than an unexpected snake. All tho never when I was mowing. I have run over a few garter snakes without trying to when mowing.

When I used to live in KY I would weed eat along this creek. High grass, and tons of frogs and toads. They would jump thru the high speed trimmer string, and there would be a red mist for just a sec and then nothing. :D

[scottb]

Ran over a black snake last year with the velkie scared the you know what out of me. Had a King snake chase me this year I let him go but he better no chase me again. And for all those that love snakes rember it was Eve and a snake that caused us all this trouble to begin with.

[MikeLT1Z28]

hmmm did it look like this?

hit the button on the far right side...

http://www.joecartoon.com/pages/frogbender/

:D

[gogetter]

Originally posted by Jimbo
What happens if a rattler breeds with a black snake? Is this posible? Poisonis or not?

First off, good for you Dennis in seeing the value of snakes and choosing NOT to kill it just because it's a snake!
As a snake keeper/breeder I just don't get the concept of killing a snake just for the sake of it. I think it just makes them feel like tough guys.

And Jimbo, no, the two wouldn't breed.

[MOW ED]

Keep it real happy and release a bunch of cats on the property. A snake full of kitty cant squirm very fast!!

Even though we have winter here and it gets cold, we don't have great opportunities to find many poisonous snakes.

[Dennis E.]

And the rest. Just to clarify my post I took the ZTR to finish and gave my son the WB. He was not mowing with it. He returned to the trailer and I used the ZTR to finish the berms on the retention areas. I'd never put my son in danger. He mows the open,and flat,areas at these clinics. I do the nasty work.
When I found the moc again I called him over to see. That was as close as I would let him get to it. He likes snakes but he was warned that this type could kill him.

[Brickman]

gogetter If there is a poisonous snake and I can kill him I will. It might be YOUR kid that comes by later and.................

If it is a non poisonous then I do my best to avoid them, as they kill mice and such. But when I see a deadly snake cut into pieces, I shed NO tears.

[odin]

I aint had no mowing experience with moccosins there aint none here in illnois.
But where i was rasied up at we would contend with them while fishing .Also in the cotton fields you would come acoss rattlesnakes.
Brickman you right i see a poison snake it is gonna be a dead snake .

[sheppard]

Last month I was trimming a long fence on a new account. Killed what looked like a young rattlesnake. Saw it after my trimmer took his head out.

My S.O.P. is to leave snakes alone- they eat nasty things like roaches, frogs and mice/rats.

Moc.s are another story: if I see one I will get the trimmer and kill it. They give you no warning! No rattles! And they can kill you!

Eastern Dianomdbacks amolst always give you a warning. They are very reluctant to strike and they eat nasty things that can get in your home.

No apologies on this one: if I see a Moc. it's dead.

Cordially,
Sheppard

[gogetter]

Water moccosins are generally not deadly so killing it's pointless. It's done by tough guys that want to brag to thier friends or by nancys that are afraid of them.

Brickman, I don't have kids and if I did I still wouldn't kill the snakes. I'd EDUCATE my kids about them so they wouldn't kill them out of ignorance.

But hey I realize my views are pretty different then others and I'm not likely to change anyones mind. I was never into snakes until I was in my early twenties and was looking for a hobby.
Ten years and a couple hundred snakes later, I've dealt with alot of "snake haters" and it's always pretty much the same. Lotsa myths, old wives tails and plain old BS.

Gets tiring after a while to be honest. Kill away, at least you'll have something to tell your family and friends about.

[Brickman]

Gogetter I will be honest with ya, I HATE SNAKES. They give me the creeps. They scare the doo doo out of me.
The only good snake is a dead one, but I try hard to leave the non poisonous ones alone.

It is fine with me if you like snakes, I am not asking you to change that. Just don't expect me to. :)

[Dennis E.]

On my account. With it being as dry as it is in some areas I thought I'd pass along my encounter as the snakes are stressed also with the dry conditions.
I don't believe in killing snakes unless they "cross the line" while I'm working. This moc was threatened by me while mowing. It reacted in a normal defensive manner. I understood and gave it some room to make a getaway. Venomous or not I try to leave em' be. They do serve a purpose. They are a part of the grand scheme of how things work in the landscape. Some guys kill them,others don't. It's a matter of choice.
Just my .02;)

[Double D]

Dennis, I gather what you meant in your first post, but the way it read was funny to me. I did not think for a second that you put your son in danger. I still get a good chuckle two days later.

[McNeal Lawn]

I certainly hope that the only encounter I have with any snake this year is through these post, everytime I run into a snake in servicing a property my old heart skips a beat, I would rather fight Mike Tyson with one hand tied behind my back then come across a snake, I guess you could call me a Nancy.

[Dennis E.]

No prob. I figured that I better set the record straight so the members here did not think I sent my son off to do battle with the moc while I recovered from a stroke!
It's getting funnier now. Me dancing around the WB like I'm having a seizure!Glad nobody had a camcorder on me.:eek: ;)

[BOTURF]

Was trimming around a pond this week and saw the biggest black snake i have ever saw in these parts. it had to be atleast 3 ft long andvery fat .It was laying on a dam sunning it self when i happened upon it with the trimmer , i must have jump 5 ft inair and got the heck away from there fast , I HATE SNAKES TOO :o

[sunrise]

well a few years back when I was in the military one part of are training was tobe droped into the rain forest type area. And those snake were very big and not freindly.
We also had to camp out each year in the back part of Ft Benning. There was a littl rattle snake they alway told us to watch for. They were very small but 2 or 3 guys would get bite in the sleeping bags. Myself never sleep on the ground during this time sleep standing up

[gogetter]

Brickman, Mcneal, there are plenty of people (guys and girls) that are terrified of snakes so you're definately not alone! ;-)

I've had a few friends that wouldn't even go into my snakeroom.

Truth be told I get that way with spiders! Not so much "scared" of them, more creeped out by them. But I generally leave them alone too.

Just keep in mind that of the thousands of species of snakes in the world, a VERY small percentage are venoumous. And of that percentage, fewer still are considered "deadly". Painful, but not deadly. Most snakes will leave you alone if left alone.

Also keep in mind that much of what you'll hear from buddies and uncles and the old guy down the street is usually exaggerated!

Can't tell you how many times people told me about a 10' Ball Python that their friend had, when Ball Pythons only go 5' tops (usually 3' or 4'). But they would argue with me that it was 10'. !!
So I take the snake stories I hear from people with a grain of salt.

Last thing I want to say, there are services that will come and remove venomous snakes from your property and place them elsewhere. They charge a fee, but if you don't want to kill it or deal with it, they are an option.

Be safe.