Hunting & Fishing They're still here in December!
- Thread starter xdpatriot
- Start date
Lol, you remind me of a buddy. Let a cotton mouth have his nice fancy tractor one day while it was running when he saw it on top of the mower.
Good news is they don't bite in December so you were OK.
Good news is they don't bite in December so you were OK.
You have done a great service to this great nation. It is an honor to present you with the serpent killing badge!
.
Back when I was working on my masters degree in Biology, I did extensive work with venomous snakes, especially Texas rattlesnake species. I have frequently seen them active during the winter, and yes, they will bite the shit out of you in December!
The sarcasm wasn't clear, B Man. I've heard people make all sorts of claims about what snakes can or can't do, so I figured that was just another of the old wives tales being perpetuated. Where I live, rattlesnakes are common enough that we see them daily in the warm months and from time to time during winter. They actually won't feed during the winter, but will come out in search of water. In cool temps, they are quite sluggish and less likely to bite, but will still bite if provoked. Sorry I didn't catch your sarcasm, but there are so many untruths spread about snakes that I've developed a habit of correcting that BS when I hear it. A friend of mine got bit on the back of his calf during the winter a few years ago and it put him in a coma for 2 weeks. The wound continued oozing nastiness for over a year afterward and left him with a big chunk of missing flesh. I've heard people say that water moccasins can't bite underwater, but I watched one catching tadpoles under water, so I'm not buying that one either!
No worries, but helped you clear up a little misunderstanding of rattlesnakes during winter since you make it a mission to clear up the BS.
Rattle snakes come out there den to warm up on sunny days, and yes they do feed during the winter. They just dont get far from there dens is why there are far less sightings.
Your correct about the water moccasin biting under water. There primary diet is frogs and fish.
Didn't eat it, never have and I've killed lots of them. I know that doesn't sit well with some, sorry. No wallets either, ill stick to leather. I've never seen one out this late in the year, we've already had a few freezes. I've killed one in early November before and it was a big one too. I've always figured they got a little squirrelly when it was cold a few days then near 80 like it does down here. This was easily one of, if not the biggest snakes I've ever killed. I would measure them before I had kids, I just don't mess with them now. I was in my wife's jeep at the time and didn't have a shovel or anything to mess with getting his head off. Seeing them bite after they're dead keeps me away unless they're headless, so I didn't measure it.
Not so much a mission as just clarifying the truth when the subject happens to arise. Years ago, I had an intense interest in rattlesnakes, but don't think much about them nowadays. At one time, I kept large numbers of them in cages in my house and would drop the temp to put them into brumation for the winter. They won't accept food at low temps as they are dependent upon the ambient temp for digestion and food eaten in cold temps would simply be reguritated. However, I had friends keep them warm over the winter and they will definitely eat at warmer temps. Anyway, I keep an eye out for them anytime the temperature is fairly warm, no matter what time of year it is.
I only posted commenting to the OP and having some fun with my comment. Then you come in trying to be Bill Nye the science guy over a sarcastic comment only to follow your apology with another paragraph of googled literature half true. I don't know what lab you played in at school, but my experience is in the snakes enviorment with the snakes. Again your statements are partially MISLEADING!
When an animal is in the wild he lives by surviving not being fed a rat on a schedule in a cage. Snakes will AND do eat in the cold. You are correct below varying tempetures according to his environment he will not feed. But winter is not one long cold day below freezing. It is a season with varying temperatures every day in which decides what a snake does on a given day. So, yes snakes DO feed during winter on given days. Again from my post above, "Rattle snakes come out there den to warm up on sunny days, and yes they do feed during the winter. They just dont get far from there dens is why there are far less sightings."
OP I'm sorry to hijack your thread.
B Man...It's ok...nothing to get so worked up over. I now understand that your original comment was sarcasm and that I had misunderstood that. I did not apologize for anything other than not catching the sarcasm. As many misleading things as I've heard people claim about snakes, I just figured you actually believed they wouldn't bite in December. I've certainly heard crazier claims than that!
None of my statements have been misleading. Although I kept snakes in cages, I have plenty of field experience with them as well. I was trained by one of the foremost experts in the field of herpetology and on the snakes of Trans-Pecos Texas, so I know damn well what I'm talking about and haven't offered any googled half-thruths here.
I will agree that animals in the wild will take advantage of conditions on a given day. However, what you fail to understand is that digestion is a long process for snakes. In warm temperatures, they digest a meal more quickly than at cooler temperatures. Even in ideal conditions, they take days or weeks between feedings as it takes them that long to digest a meal. During the winter, they instinctively know better than to feed when temperatures will not remain stable long enough for them to have digested the meal. If caught with a meal in the gut when temperatures drop, the animal would potentially have a rotting rather than digesting meal in its digestive tract. They need warmth in order to carry out digestion and, during the winter, they spend the majority of their time in a hibernaculum in which the temp is too low for this. Therefore, they do not eat during the winter.
As for having hijacked the OP's thread, I think the intention of the thread was to discuss rattlesnakes being active in South Texas during the winter and that is exactly what this discussion is about. I'm sorry you got your feelings hurt by my misunderstanding of your sarcastic comment, but all that I have stated here is fact. I've spent half a century in the south and southwest of Texas, in some of the most remote and snake infested parts of the state. I've studied them both in captivity and in the field and I do know what I'm talking about. The bottom line is that they do actively move during winter months and they certainly can deliver a bite at any time of the year. We have 5 species of them out here in the west Texas desert where I live. I saw a Diamondback dead on the road, just last week, prior to a cold front moving in. Two weeks before that, I killed a Mojave rattler on a friend's front porch after she walked up on it in the dark and it scared the hell out of her. A couple years ago, I damn near stepped on one as I was walking through some tall grass in December, on a cold windy day, while helping a friend track a deer. If you are in snake country, you are far less likely to encounter a rattlesnake in the winter, but there are no guarantees that you won't come across one, even in cool weather.
None of my statements have been misleading. Although I kept snakes in cages, I have plenty of field experience with them as well. I was trained by one of the foremost experts in the field of herpetology and on the snakes of Trans-Pecos Texas, so I know damn well what I'm talking about and haven't offered any googled half-thruths here.
I will agree that animals in the wild will take advantage of conditions on a given day. However, what you fail to understand is that digestion is a long process for snakes. In warm temperatures, they digest a meal more quickly than at cooler temperatures. Even in ideal conditions, they take days or weeks between feedings as it takes them that long to digest a meal. During the winter, they instinctively know better than to feed when temperatures will not remain stable long enough for them to have digested the meal. If caught with a meal in the gut when temperatures drop, the animal would potentially have a rotting rather than digesting meal in its digestive tract. They need warmth in order to carry out digestion and, during the winter, they spend the majority of their time in a hibernaculum in which the temp is too low for this. Therefore, they do not eat during the winter.
As for having hijacked the OP's thread, I think the intention of the thread was to discuss rattlesnakes being active in South Texas during the winter and that is exactly what this discussion is about. I'm sorry you got your feelings hurt by my misunderstanding of your sarcastic comment, but all that I have stated here is fact. I've spent half a century in the south and southwest of Texas, in some of the most remote and snake infested parts of the state. I've studied them both in captivity and in the field and I do know what I'm talking about. The bottom line is that they do actively move during winter months and they certainly can deliver a bite at any time of the year. We have 5 species of them out here in the west Texas desert where I live. I saw a Diamondback dead on the road, just last week, prior to a cold front moving in. Two weeks before that, I killed a Mojave rattler on a friend's front porch after she walked up on it in the dark and it scared the hell out of her. A couple years ago, I damn near stepped on one as I was walking through some tall grass in December, on a cold windy day, while helping a friend track a deer. If you are in snake country, you are far less likely to encounter a rattlesnake in the winter, but there are no guarantees that you won't come across one, even in cool weather.
Yeppers. I know this is primarily a longe range forum, but since there is a hunting thread, I thought it was relevant.
The comment about December is a sarcastic comment we have here when encountering big venomous snakes with a bad attitude. So no worries, but now you know.
My feelings were never hurt, just the fact you claim to be a snake guru but fail to mention snakes do indeed feed during winter months. Your claim is they do not feed at all in the winter. This is not true, say what you want talk all you want but your still avoiding the fact that you gave a false or incomplete statement which either way is misleading.
It's just hard to understand you have studied so many snakes but never crossed one that was digesting food during winter months.
I guess I'm just lucky? Maybe I should follow a rainbow next time to see if I can find that pot of gold.
My feelings were never hurt, just the fact you claim to be a snake guru but fail to mention snakes do indeed feed during winter months. Your claim is they do not feed at all in the winter. This is not true, say what you want talk all you want but your still avoiding the fact that you gave a false or incomplete statement which either way is misleading.
It's just hard to understand you have studied so many snakes but never crossed one that was digesting food during winter months.
I guess I'm just lucky? Maybe I should follow a rainbow next time to see if I can find that pot of gold.
Last edited:
I consider myself quite knowledgeable on the subject, but certainly no guru. However, the man I studied under might be considered a guru so I feel somewhat informed after having experienced his guidance. I have no further desire to argue snakes with you, so perhaps I'll run across you on more agreeable terms in a reloading thread or something...later
Referring to the moccasins I live in South Louisiana my dad and i were bass fishing plastic worms on the bottom he had a bite set the hook reeled it in what came up with the hook in its mouth was a moccasin, ive also caught them and watersnakes on juglines so they can see and feed underwater for sure.
Nice looking snake. It seems like around here all the steroids and protein they put out for the deer seep into all the other animals too. I'm just the other side of San Antonio from you and 5+ footers are no fun to walk up on.
Similar threads
