O/T Snake, while mowing

I was mowing today, and I have never seen a snake do this before. He was traveling through the weeds and his head was about 18 inches off the ground. To top it off he had a bird in his mouth. I did some slow runs where he may have gone, but didn't see him again. A little while later I saw the snake making some speed along the ground, without the bird. This snake was a long slender black guy, about 3-4 ft long. My dad told me he saw a rattle snake travel with his head above the weeds one time. I hope I never see a rattle snake do that. Stan

They look menacing when they put up the periscope head ,,Don;t They ,, seen that a few times , mostly on very hot days ,,and while cutting hay ...they are just trying to find a safeway away from you or ^TO YOU .... ,,.wouldn';t bother me if i never seen any snakes again ,..

Been working for a big farming operation over the last week that has been cutting and bailing in the Middle/Eastern part of SC. So far this year they have killed and/or bailed at least 5 good sized rattle snakes that they have seen. I saw one the other night that had been chopped up and bailed that had 9 rattles and a button. One of the guys pulled up this afternoon with another one that appeared to be even larger. It had lost most of it's rattles but the size of the 5 that were left put the ones on the other snake to shame.

One thing about it when you see something like thart in the field from that point on your constantly on the lookout for another one.

Was mowing a field two years ago that borders a subdivision. Was looking ahead and saw something black laying under the previous swath heading into the uncut swath. Got closer and it was a black snake. I never did see his head but i know he was at least 9 foot long as i was using a 9ft disc mower and he was stretched across the entire 9 ft width when i first saw him, by the time i got right up on him he had finished going into the uncut grass.

Snakes provide a valuable service in keeping mice down. Rattlers, copperheads, etc. are a different matter. I haven't seen a blue racer in several years. We have fox snakes and puff adders along with garter snakes. I like to see them. Had a puff adder sunning along the edge of the garden this spring.

Larry

Years ago dad and I were baling wheat straw near a ditch and saw 2 two snakes with their heads above the stubble moving pretty fast. I think they were some kind of racer. It's an unforgettable sight.

In this area, we are fortunate to not have any populations of poisonous snakes, Copperheads appear south of us, I'd like to say as far as NJ, and the Timber Rattler seems to be in remote areas in limited numbers. Poisonous ones I can understand the snake stigma, there is no foolin with something that can do what snake venom does to a person, but so many people hate em, are scared of them, (non venomous ones) I have never understood the psychological terror these things cause people. Thats just me though

Ones we do have are highly beneficial, the corn/milk snakes are mostly docile, live on rodents and are really colorful. I hit one 2 weeks ago with the mower, and wish I had not, took off a chunk of the end of him, slithered away, probably too much though.

Latest hire for riding at our place does not like them so I keep an eye out, 2 days ago, I find one in the middle of one of the barns with a toad in its mouth, kind of a small/young Garter, no way that toad was going to fit in there, I know they can open their jaws really wide but he took off more than he bargained for. Separated them, and put them both back, I should have taken a photo of this. Amazing what they will attempt, the toad was pulling him around, toads are abundant at this place, help with the insect reduction, they wait near lights at night for em.

We have "coachwhips" here in north Florida. I see them fairly regular moving through grass at a good clip with their head up, pretty neat. Coachwhips are non-poisonous, but have a very bad attitude. Rex the bulldog tried to catch one last year and got a skinned up nose for his troubles!

Had a 9 footer run thru the rollers complete on a 489 Haybine laid him out on top of the windrow and i thought it was a piece of large barge rope when i come back around , heard the rollers Clunk like a limb or a clump of green went thru ..., I have cut them into 10 inch sausages with a disc mower never lugged one bit ,, and i have skinned the poor devils from nearly one end to the other , leaving a bloody quivering mess, that is still doing its best making for safer place , Makes a guy Shudder, just to realize that going thru a disc mower would be the last thing he would ever do on this green earth ... Started up on the tail of a lazy spreading viper following the windrow with the front tire of the 4020 in 2nd gear , its head literally swelled up and EXPLODED some 15 ft forward .. unwittingly , i have run cats that were snake hunting and bambi thru the 489 too , ,, that is heart breaking ...

I was hunting quail in the desert of southern CA some years ago. I heard sounds like quail running through the brush and followed the sound. As I came up over a sharp rise I came face to face with two huge rattlers mating. They were wrapped around each other and standing straight up on their hind ends. Scared me because I was expecting quail, not snakes. I fell back and shot at the same time. Of course I missed with that shot but the second was a direct hit on both. One had 13 rattles and the other had 12. Here is a picture of some mating, but not up as high as the ones I ran upon.

(quoted from post at 08:46:39 06/03/11) Had a 9 footer run thru the rollers complete on a 489 Haybine laid him out on top of the windrow and i thought it was a piece of large barge rope when i come back around , heard the rollers Clunk like a limb or a clump of green went thru ..., I have cut them into 10 inch sausages with a disc mower never lugged one bit ,, and i have skinned the poor devils from nearly one end to the other , leaving a bloody quivering mess, that is still doing its best making for safer place , Makes a guy Shudder, just to realize that going thru a disc mower would be the last thing he would ever do on this green earth ... Started up on the tail of a lazy spreading viper following the windrow with the front tire of the 4020 in 2nd gear , its head literally swelled up and EXPLODED some 15 ft forward .. unwittingly , i have run cats that were snake hunting and bambi thru the 489 too , ,, that is heart breaking ...

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I agree.
My uncle was mowing hay about 50 years ago and ran into 2 fawns with the sickle. One was killed and the other had 3 of its hooves cut off.

He took care of the one that survived, and it lived for several years. It was a doe and adapted pretty well to walking on its hoofless feet.

happened to me while baling. Blacksnake had a mouse in his mouth that was still struggling. From a distance it looked like a branch had fallen out of nowhere into the field & was moving of its own accord. Got closer & he took off, afraid I wanted his mouse.