Timber Rattlesnake

This was one of the two timber rattlesnakes we found last Friday. This guy was in the pasture when we were backroading. He was about 4.5 feet long, really pretty as you can see. But he had a fairly small head, and not very many rattles. Which tells me he is pretty young. Which also tells me when he gets old he might be the size of an anaconda.

Everyone asks me why we didn't kill it. And if you would have asked me this five years ago when I first moved to Stillwater, I would have said, yes, I killed it. But after being around these timbers for five years, we've only come across one that has actually been feisty. And that one happened to be on our back porch. Not a good combination. We killed him.

Timber rattlesnakes are a species of rattlesnakes that are pretty tame unless you provoke them. One time we found one in the road, after several minutes he coiled up, we piled rocks on him and he never once rattled. Another occasion, Dixie was nose to nose to a timber rattlesnake when it was coiled up and it didn't rattle or even get into striking position.

Why we didn't kill Mr. Snake:

1. They are fairly tame
2. They eat rats and mice, I can't stand mice in the house, or their little turds they leave behind
3. They are pretty
4. We rarely find rattlesnakes anywhere near the house
5. And he didn't do anything to us

Like I said, if he'da been on my porch, I'da killed the sucker. But he was just minding his own business. So we stopped, got out, took a few pics, and watched him sliver off into the grass.

The other one we found was on a county dirt road, he was too fast to snap any pictures though.

...however if I get bit by one some day, I might kill every one I see :)