Saw this one dead on the road yesterday

Huge

That guy looks dangerous...........

That’s a good one! DEAD

Pretty skin tho!!!

Nope Nope Nope

We found this one a couple weeks ago on our travels. Was very recently hit. Saddened to see it dead. Beautiful snake

They are beautiful snakes .

Beautiful snakes, but glad I didn’t meet it on the way to my stand, in the dark... Never seen one around here until this year, this was the second one found in the area in the last 3 months.

All my years of dealing with Rattle Snake's and hunting all over Texas, I've yet see a Timber Rattler.

They have a cool coloration to them.

pretty snake

I have seen one in the Sabine River bottoms and that is it. The ones in the pictures above are huge compared to the little one I saw.

I've found several around Fairfield....a couple that made the first one look small...

Two good rattlesnakes on this thread!
So both are the same species yet have very different coloring and pattern.


Here is another really good one! I let my Judge sentence it straight to hell yesterday at our place. 5' & 14 buttons. 6th in the last 12 days, 18th for the year, and nearly 30 now since the spring of 19'.

Im with you on this one nope nope nope

Here's a post I made a few years ago. I currently don't have any captive snakes but still catch and release a few now and again....

Well, to each his/her own and I do respect your opinion but just don't agree with letting rattlesnakes go!

I sincerely hope that neither you or anyone else is ever bitten by one that you handled or released.....
or a dog for that matter.

Where I take them they have little to no chance of encountering anyone.....but as you say, to each his own. I can’t understand killing something that isn’t being a threat to you and is beneficial to the habitat.

Glad to hear you are releasing them where there is little to no chance of encountering any people. But honestly, if there is a .00001% chance of it biting someone or even a dog, cow, goat, etc, I'm still against it!
Are these areas you release them on private property and if so, does the owner(s) know and allow it?

Isn't a threat to me or my family? We have a small place and have killed nearly 30 rattlesnakes on it in the past 18 months or so and had several others get away before killing them. Please explain how one, much less this many are not a threat to us or our animals.

And as far as a beneficial animal to the habitat, maybe. But the risk far outweighs the reward with them! Not to mention there are plenty of snakes in Texas that can take care of rodent population so I'm not buying that one a bit.

This one was hanging out at my front gate, coiled right below the lock. When I backed off to the truck it came after me... very aggressive. No other choice than to feed it a 10mm....

I would love to go Rattlesnake hunting. Just beautiful animals, they earn all the respect in the world.

hate bugs though NO< NO< NO

Timber Rattlers are on the Texas and US threatened and endangered species list and thus are protected by state and federal law.

Please do not kill them. Killing them is a crime and could easily result in the loss of hunting and fishing rights for years at a minimum. Fines and jail time are also possible.

https://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/wild/species/timberrattlesnake/

Not if he killed it to protect himself which it sounds pretty much like he did!

Good luck convincing a judge and jury of that.

How hard is it to just move away?

Pretty expensive having to hire lawyers and go to a trial with that argument.

Sure, I could move away and next time my nephews 4 year old is playing by the gate, or my son , nephew, BIL, sister , dad or I open the gate get nailed.....if it was away from normal foot traffic area I would and have let them and others live. But not at my main gate! Not worried about needing defense or lawyers.....

all creatures have a place, not saying to let stay around possibly hurt some one

Only Timber I have encountered was on a mid summer backpacking trip in the Gila several years ago. It was a juvenile and it was coiled up right in the middle of the trail. Fortunately I try to keep my eyes on the ground most of the time when hiking/backpacking/hunting when warm out. We let it be....but all it takes is one careless mis-step and in the middle of the Gila 20+ miles in, it would/could have been a different outcome. They are indeed a beautiful snake, more so than the diamondback IMO.

You're entitled to a trial by your peers, and I bet in Texas there's at least one judge and 12 people who hate them too!!

As of this year no longer on the threatened list in Texas

https://texreg.sos.state.tx.us/fids/202001043-1.pdf
https://tpwd.texas.gov/business/feedback/meetings/2020/0123/agenda/item_02/index.phtml

It is not on the US endangered list. It is listed as Least Concern Population decreasing

Agree 100%, all snakes I encounter get a pass on my ranch.

Good info John. Thanks for that update.

fwiw - Here is the actual Threatened and Endangered List for Texas for all species last updated in March.

https://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/wil...dState-ListedSpeciesComplete-3302020.pdf

And here is the federal status. The TPWD page linked is out of date on the State's status and wrong on it being protected in all states. There are some States in addition to Texas where it is not protected.
https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/64318/12765920

Other than killing them when there is a need or threat, I do believe in letting them be if they are not causing any harm. Just wanted to let y'all know about the status change.

The IUCN Red List is not the USFWS list.

Here is the USFWS database. https://ecos.fws.gov/ecp/species/7969

Bees/wasps and dogs harm/kill more people every year....same with lightening...

I’ve encountered dozens of them over the years and they are one of the most passive species I’ve delt with venomous or non venomous. Can’t speak to the behavior of the individual at the front gate but ALL I’ve met up with either stayed perfectly still or tried to move away from me.

Jes my experience

Correct. On the USFWS list it is simply not listed "Listing Status: Not Listed".

Several years ago I used to catch timber rattlers in Oklahoma to bring into Texas after obtaining state export permits so I could sell them here. I would agree they are not as aggressive as most except copperheads. One of my Walker hounds was bitten by Timber Rattler in Oklahoma, but it was not because the snake was agressive. My hound simply trampled over it when her and three other hounds had just struck a trail near me. Fortunately only the one hound got hit. She was in so much pain I had to wrap my coat around her head to keep her from biting me and carried her out. She survived it, but it was a rough night.

They are beautiful snakes. I killed a big one hunting in Victoria a long time ago, guy I was hunting with wanted to make a belt out of it so I shot it.

I got a really big one once that was so beautiful that I decided I wanted to keep it instead of selling it. I skinned it and bought some snake tan to tan it myself. I glued the skin to some construction paper to give it some rigidity. Color choice did not matter as it would not be seen, but it was Red construction paper that we had on hand leftover from a school project my son did. I then trimmed the paper to the edges so you could not see it. Then glued the whole thing to a larger strip of black felt for display. tacked on the wall it was beautiful. For about a month that is. It was like every day the skin got redder and redder. Within a month so much die had bled through from the paper that the whole skin had turned a dark plumb red that hid most of the pattern on the snake. It looked ugly and unnatural. The skin had to be thrown away. What was I thinking!

Aw man! Learning experience for sure!

Thanks for the update on the threatened list, if I find another one dead, it’s coming home with me

They are beautiful snakes, but I would not pick up a live one for any amount of money...

Timbers and Blacktails are my favorite Texas rattlesnakes....absolutely beautiful and very passive in behavior. Westerns are very aggressive and are responsible for most bites.

It's your ranch and I respect your decision on that.
I also pray that you or nobody else takes a bite from one.

No doubt on the bees and wasps. But, a bee/wasp sting is pretty damn minor unless your are allergic to them. So, that comparison seems a bit silly to me. I've been stung 3 times by bumble bees which make a normal bee or wasp sting seem like a mosquito.

In the US there are between 7k-8k rattlesnake bites each year.
There are between 200-250 people each year in the US struck by lightning.
About 45-50 people a year in the US are killed by lighting and about 5 die from being bitten.

So, while I agree that bees and wasps do harm many more people than rattlesnakes, that 'harm' is typically NOWHERE near the level of a rattlesnake.
I agree that Lightning certainly kills many more people than snakebite in the US, you are about 35x-40x more likely to be bitten by a rattlesnake than hit by lighting.

Just for clarification, is it legal to kill a timber rattlesnake in Texas?

No making a value judgement on whether it's a good idea to kill one, but I have always thought and been told it was illegal. After reading this thread, I am not sure.

Thanks
Ron

I have killed 18 copperheads on my 2 acres that back up to Ray Roberts this year and don't feel like I have dented the population. Dogs, Grandkids, friends and family, I can't have very well hidden venomous snakes hanging around. The dog got bit on the nose twice last year!

I move them away from my home too for the same reasons....I just don’t kill them.

From a TX Game Warden's mouth to my ears 10 minutes ago verbatim ...…….YES, you can kill them but the TP&W still discourages it.

Thanks, that's good to know.

They are beautiful snakes and can grown quite large as well, especially in girth.

Oklahoma rattler

I've hunted venomous snakes quite a bit over the last few decades and will second this motion. It would be hard to find an animal more innocuous than a rattlesnake....even the Pacific Diamondback which are supposed to be the most "aggressive". I can honestly say Ive never seen a rattler exhibit an iota of aggression that wasn't provoked.
And to top it off, Ive heard hundreds of time how mad a rattler was when he was buzzing like crazy. They rattle because they are scared ( and may become defensive) NOT because they are mad or aggressive...end of rant.

That's a toad....

Yep. I’ve never understood the old saying “mean as a rattlesnake”. They are not mean.
Cottonmouths, Diamond Back Water Snakes, and Coachwhips are mean lol. I had a Cottonmouth chase me back to my truck with it’s mouth open trying to bite me, before I blew it’s head off.