A little too close for comfort…

[Lemensd]

Everyone is assuming it's a rattlesnake, his head does look like a viper but a diamond back rattlesnake has diamond shaped markings plus there rattles are almost always up when they strike even if they don't rattle, did it have rattles? Rat snakes or chicken or bull snakes look like rattlesnakes except for the diamond shaped markings and rattles.

 

[Lemensd]

I see the pits now after another look, my wife hates snakes so bad she says the only good snake is a dead snake lol.
It's so dry here in TX I had a rat snake drinking out of our bird bath, never seen that before.

 

[Scouty]

I'm on my phone but it appears to be a Northern Pacific Rattlesnake.

Motorhead & a previous poster both mentioned Diamondbacks being in Northern California but I'm fairly certain that is not correct. I believe they're only found in Southwest CA.

[Edit] Make that southeastern CA for the Western Diamondback. Southwest would be the Red Diamond Rattlesnake. My mistake.

Not that it really matters. A Rattlesnake whether a Diamondback or Northern Pacific is no joke.

 

[cjtamu]

See the fat body and thin neck? Dead giveaway for a viper. Copperhead and cottonmouth same. Eyes will have vertical pupils if you see them. I assume y’all know they can still bite you for several hours after they’re dead. Even if the head is cut off, so be very careful disposing of one if you kill it.

 

[Keyman62421]

Yum, tastes like chicken!

 

[tommyb]

See the fat body and thin neck? Dead giveaway for a viper. Copperhead and cottonmouth same. Eyes will have vertical pupils if you see them. I assume y’all know they can still bite you for several hours after they’re dead. Even if the head is cut off, so be very careful disposing of one if you kill it.

Great, never liked them when they were alive. Now I find out they can even bite after they are decapitated.

 

[Smitty911]

He was close enough to be a problem, but it does explain why you don't have any mice or rat problems.

One of the things to be aware of is that Snakes have particular odor, once you smell one you'll know the smell and to be aware that one or some are in the area.

Smitty

 

[DesertSilver]

Just seeing the picture scares me. Supposedly we have timber rattlers here, but I have never seen one.

I've killed 4 in the last 2 years. If it's poisonous and I see it it's dead. I've lost 2 dogs to Mojave green rattlers and I'm not going to lose any more. Thankfully there aren't any Mojaves around where I live now. I've spent between 12k and 13k $ saving 2 other dogs that got bite. Just don't have that kind of money now since retirement. My last kill. Good ol'1377 to the head.

 

[JungleShooter]

I don’t read much about pesting snakes....


Are they so rare, or is there some law prohibiting preemptive self-defence...?


That was real close! Thank God you and your boys are OK!

Matthias

 

[Plinker1962]

That would have ruined a nice day!