Spiders not so bad

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Spiders, I'm cool with.... Snakes, on the other hand...pretty much creep me out. I'm much more tolerant these days, having encountered them on the ranch (even had them slither over my feet more than once)....but I still don't like 'em. Now though, I typically go for capturing them, going for a little drive, and release.

Whereas before, I'd just blast 'em with some snakeshot (which if you've never seen it, is cool as hell....it's a .38 but looks like a mini shotgun shell.) It's damn effective.
 
Spiders, I'm cool with.... Snakes, on the other hand...pretty much creep me out. I'm much more tolerant these days, having encountered them on the ranch (even had them slither over my feet more than once)....but I still don't like 'em. Now though, I typically go for capturing them, going for a little drive, and release.

Whereas before, I'd just blast 'em with some snakeshot (which if you've never seen it, is cool as hell....it's a .38 but looks like a mini shotgun shell.) It's damn effective.
I like snakes (including venomous ones), and--if anything--would catch wild ones and release them in my back yard.

Rodents have caused thousands of times more deaths than snakes ever have...primarily through spreading disease and eating grain. As much as 25% of the world's grain production is destroyed by rats.

Rats are pretty intelligent and have good survival instincts. When snakes (or other predators) are in the area, they know and prudently vacate the vicinity.

Snakes are not known to spread disease (although salmonella is a possibility with pet snakes that are kept in unsanitary conditions).

Rats are far, far more scarey to me than even the most venomous pit viper.
 
I'm sorry he went through that. It sounds horrible.

Yikes, wouldn't even wish that on someone I didn't like.... So sorry to hear that!

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On the rats, I hear you. Putting some barn cats outside seem to be doing pretty well though. With the horses, bunnies, chickens, the feed is certainly a draw for them. We've got about 4 cats out there though, so they work pretty well.
 
I don't mind snakes except the venomous one. Rattle snakes in the compound or acting aggressive out in the. boon docks, get the snake loads. As long as they (venomous ones) stay in their territory, then we will get along. I will avoid killing them if they avoid trying to bite me.
 
I don't mind snakes except the venomous one. Rattle snakes in the compound or acting aggressive out in the. boon docks, get the snake loads. As long as they (venomous ones) stay in their territory, then we will get along. I will avoid killing them if they avoid trying to bite me.
I understand your position, but disagree somewhat.

Almost all venomous snakes do the best that they can to flee people. If you use common sense, wear snake chaps, and watch where you put your hands...you're fine.

In my mind, venomous snakes get a bad rap. The copperhead, for example, has yielded a potent anti-cancer substance from it's venom (called contortostatin).

The livesaving perscription drug Byetta (for treating a serious heart problem call atrial fibrillation) comes from the venom of the pygmie rattlesnake.

I think venomous snakes are just as deserving of protection and respect as a cute-faced endangered seal, but that's me.
 
I understand your position, but disagree somewhat.

Almost all venomous snakes do the best that they can to flee people. If you use common sense, wear snake chaps, and watch where you put your hands...you're fine.

In my mind, venomous snakes get a bad rap. The copperhead, for example, has yielded a potent anti-cancer substance from it's venom (called contortostatin).

The livesaving perscription drug Byetta (for treating a serious heart problem call atrial fibrillation) comes from the venom of the pygmie rattlesnake.

I think venomous snakes are just as deserving of protection and respect as a cute-faced endangered seal, but that's me.

That is all well and good. I will leave the care and capture of venomous snakes to the professional. So long as they stay in their territory and play nice, I will play nice too. If they invade my territory, then they become a new snake skin hat band. That cute faced endangered seal does not have poison fangs. BIG DIFFERENCE.
 
We have wild peacocks and turkeys here, they do a good job of keeping the western rattlesnakes at bay although I'm not sure which is worse, the peacocks or the snakes though peacocks are one of my food source.

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My son has a row with 4 blisters on it. I hope he hasn't got my shingles.

My son doesn't feel regular pain (hyposensitive) and he said that barely touching these really hurt.

Not a good sign.
Blisters in a row that hurt when touched?

Is it at all possible that he might have scabies? Scabies can cause intense itching with bumps in a row.
 
Blisters in a row that hurt when touched?

Is it at all possible that he might have scabies? Scabies can cause intense itching with bumps in a row.

Thanks Kevin, but not scabies. They mostly work at night. The had an outbreak at my daughter's high school. I saw an 18 year old man cry he was itching so badly.

We went and got the medicine you rub all over your body and leave on for 14 hours in case we all got them. Luckily, we did not.

Oh, they traced the point of origin to a movie theater.
 
My spider bite...Probably a small brown recluse that took up residence in my house slippers. I thought at first it was lyme, but that really didn't make any sense because there were never any opportunities for a tick to bite me there.
There was never any unusual sensations at the actual site of the bite. No pain, no itching. Normal sensation when touching it. However, my foot and lower leg had something neurological going on, with general pain and stiffness from my toes to half way up my shin.

I routinely put iodine on it to keep it from getting an infection as the skin died. It went from stage 1 (day 1&2) to stage 2 (day 7) around the fifth day and remained virtually unchanged until yesterday, when it started fading and the skin in the center started cracking.
I watched it carefully for any signs of necrosis, at which point I would have immediately sought medical attention. But it appears to be healing now.

The white spot in the center is caused by the venom shrinking the blood vessels. It is not raised, but actually sunken slightly. (typical of brown recluse bites) This is where necrosis would start as that skin dies...much like frostbite. Fortunately my immune systems seems to be healthy enough to deal with it. The white spot actually shrunk as the inflammation around it increased.

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Mine mostly looked like DrHenly's after about 3 or 4 days, and didn't get worse, luckily, for the brown recluse bites. The brown widow one on my thumb is mostly healed now, just a pink area (as yeah, I do a little self surgery on such things, with a scalpel from a med kit). I've got two small additional brown recluse bites (must have been very little venom) on the other hand, that healed up pretty well, just a little darker brown coloration there now. As I've never had a real bad issue with the bites, I guess I take them less seriously as a threat, but I know they are still a threat to animals and others.
 
Rattlers are neat, copperheads are cute, we don't have coral snakes, but cottonmouths are DEAD.
Cotton mouths are more aggressive than most other snakes. I’ve been into reptiles most of my life and have personally seen how territorial they can be. That being said, they are just protecting their home and warn off all intruders.
 
Cotton mouths are more aggressive than most other snakes. I’ve been into reptiles most of my life and have personally seen how territorial they can be. That being said, they are just protecting their home and warn off all intruders.
They are bad ***** with an attitude and want to let you know it if you upset them. I've had a tiny cottonmouth the diameter of a pencil try to run me off of a sandbar when I was on a canoe trip. It kept coming at me until its last breath as I beat it back with the canoe paddle.
 
They are bad ***** with an attitude and want to let you know it if you upset them. I've had a tiny cottonmouth the diameter of a pencil try to run me off of a sandbar when I was on a canoe trip. It kept coming at me until its last breath as I beat it back with the canoe paddle.
I had to take a full grown one out with a paddle once for the same reason. The fat buggar wouldn’t stop coming towards me. Stupid snake.... I don’t like to kill anything needlessly, but figured I needed to with him.
 

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