Rattlesnakes; Kill or Let Live

29803 Views 122 Replies 61 Participants Last post by swimteam101, Jul 7, 2014

fdon

Discussion Starter · Jun 26, 2014

In a recent thread someone posted they had scratched a MFS camp off their list of camps due to a snake lying on the trail to the groover. The snake was destroyed in favor of the people in the camp. My personal feeling is move the groover, find another camp, whatever, let the snake go about his business.

Snakes are really cool organisms when you consider what they are all about and they hang out where there is a ready food source. Sloppy camp manners, dropping food scraps and garbage onto the ground attracts mice and rats into river camps inviting a hungry snake come around looking for an easy meal.

What's the feeling of the buzzard crew about the question of kill or not?

1 - 20 of 123 Posts

Osseous

· #2 · Jun 26, 2014

If you have to ask, you've got no business being in the wilderness.

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daveb1

· #3 · Jun 26, 2014

Let them live, work around them and adapt to them.

BoilermakerU

· #4 · Jun 26, 2014

Not.

I don't like snakes at all, especially venomous snakes, so I'm not getting close enough to kill it anyway! LOL

Even so, I've seen one once near a camp, and we just left it alone and made sure we gave it plenty of space (no part of our camp was set up anywhere near it).

I think if you stay in the main parts of the camp, keep camp clean, and give them their space, they'll return the favor and give you yours. I don't think they want any part of you either...

spencerhenry

· #5 · Jun 26, 2014

check the legality, probably not legal in most areas.

i doubt most campsites are in the "wilderness"

Nathan

· #6 · Jun 26, 2014

spencerhenry said:
check the legality, probably not legal in most areas.

i doubt most campsites are in the "wilderness"

Especially on the MFS, there's no wilderness even in that state.

flipper42

· #7 · Jun 26, 2014

would depend on the situation and how close it was to the site

TonyM

· #8 · Jun 26, 2014

As long as you eat them, it's ok to kill them. They're a little chewy though.

quinoa

· #9 · Jun 26, 2014

Wow! Can't believe anyone would cross a camp off their list because they saw a snake. Live and let live.

BilloutWest

· #10 · Jun 26, 2014

Nathan said:
Especially on the MFS, there's no wilderness even in that state.

Idaho does have wilderness areas.

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Favre

· #11 · Jun 26, 2014

Ever heard of the Frank Church / River of No Return Wilderness area?
It's only the second largest protected wilderness in the entire United States.. And the Middle Fork of the Salmon passes through the heart of it.
Lots of wilderness in beautiful Idaho...

marko

· #12 · Jun 26, 2014

fdon said:
In a recent thread someone posted they had scratched a MFS camp off their list of camps due to a snake lying on the trail to the groover. The snake was destroyed in favor of the people in the camp.

What's the feeling of the buzzard crew about the question of kill or not?

I'm in total agreement with this person. I'm mean, like, totally! We should not only kill every single snake, ant, bee, fly, wolf, bear and whatever other specimen that may interfere with MY sanitized experience in the wilderness, but also go in and install concrete patios and walkways that service river areas with plumbing, hotels, air conditioning, bars, cable, wireless service, and any and every possible consumer goods product that can service the needs of MY experience in the wilderness. Because when I am in the wilderness it is about ME, and MY sanitized experience and safety, dammit! And I WILL find an attorney who will sue whoever, or whatever, if I so much as get a mosquito bite! And while we are at it... could somebody PLEASE start altering the rapids on these rivers to make it easier for MY safe experience on the river! Gosh, how rude that these little critters would intrude upon MY experience in the wilderness!

(sarcasm alert!... for those who may not be adept in catching that kinda thing

)

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Nathan

· #13 · Jun 26, 2014

Leave it to a rafter to take my post literally.

I always thought some guy named Frank just liked to go to church as the kids say these days.

dirtbagkayaker

· #14 · Jun 26, 2014

TonyM said:
As long as you eat them, it's ok to kill them. They're a little chewy though.

I with Tony on this one. They taste like chicken with a little bite.

marko said:
I'm mean, like, totally! ... ....... kill every single..... ...... wolf

I also agree with Marko except I wont eat wolf. They taste like bark and are ruff on my digestive system:?

treemanji

· #15 · Jun 26, 2014

This thread took a dive. Lots of people have no sense of humor whatsoever. Everyone knows you're not in the wilderness when you to get camp, especially in ID, AND, snakes only live in the wilderness. What the f%#k was a snake doing there!

stuntsheriff

· #16 · Jun 26, 2014

one year on the main salmon someone got stuck on a rock. So we pulled in to our poison ivy rattlesnake infested camp after dark and ate steak with our hands. We all slept well and the next day we floated on down the river.

location unknown

DoStep

· #17 · Jun 26, 2014

Seriously?

Attempting to kill a rattlesnake puts yourself in way more danger than ignoring it. This is not about survival when you have a cooler full of steaks and beer. Killing any creature just because it is in your path says more about one's respect for life than anything else. I hope common sense prevails over fear when presented this scenario.

boicatr

· #18 · Jun 26, 2014

Well hell if you already have an cooler full of snakes and bear why would you need to kill more?

Mr French

· #19 · Jun 26, 2014

I've run in to quite a few rattle snakes in the past decade (apparently AZ has a few of them slithering around the state) and have been within 2ft of them before noticing the, either because of the rattle (extra underwear required) or just noticing them before stepping on them (some studies show that they rattle less and less when people walk by).
Never been bit or attacked. They don't like humans more so than humans don't like them. Never heard of a rattler approaching a human on purpose. They're neat from a safe distance! And they are cross breeding with different rattlers so its hard to tell if one has the neurotoxin or not.
I killed a baby rattler when I was 14 because it was a 2ft wide path with steep drops on each side. We ate it, and made a small belt out of it. Not too proud of it, but many others things I'm less proud of during my adolescence

carvedog

· #20 · Jun 26, 2014

fdon said:
The snake was destroyed in favor of the people....

That bums me out if that's the case.

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