Ot NE Iowa Rattle snakes

I heard they closed a campground off 76 because they had found 10 snakes there? Claimed it is so dry snakes are headed to water , closed canoe landings on upper iowa ? Anyone hear of this , could not find anything on DNR or news . Heabie Jeabies !!!! Packing pistol when I head up to cabin labor day. Kinda worried about the dogs messing with one if they come across it .

I read an aticle about rattlesnake hunters finding them in the hills of northeastern Iowa. They were finding them in the Tama-Toledo area too. I've never seen or heard of any here in NW Iowa nor do I ever want to. Jim

I am right across the river from you and have not heard of any increased activity on my side.

We have had adequate rain so far this year, but I do know the snakes need water...

I would keep your dogs away from the rock outcropping areas, especially in the morning and evenings when it starts to cool down and the snakes will be trying to get some heat out of the rocks.

They will be starting to den up pretty soon so I would expect they will be hanging around the rocks...

A few years back there was a researcher from the U. of MN that would stay at one of my buddies camp spots and plant electronic tracking devices in some of the snakes for a project he was working on. He told us that there were dens in the bluff areas above us that held more than 200 snakes in the winter....

We have never seen a live rattlesnake, and only one dead one on a road in the last 15 years. I don"t care to see one either..

Tim

10 rattlers in a park? How about 50 under a dumpster.... The guys in the shop decided to move the scrap metal dumpster at the shop couple of months ago. Picked it up and they found this mess. They grabbed some shovels and got busy "dissipating the threat." Supervisor drove up and took this pic. BTW, he didn't get out of his pickup to take it either. lol
This was in Abilene, Tx

Only poisonous snake I've seen was a copperhead. It wasn't being aggressive or even coiled up, but it was close to James and close to the house, so it met the business end of a hoe.

We have seen very few poisonous snakes at the farm and I hope it stays that way.

Last snake I saw was when I moved the galvanized water tub in the corral. A very large black snake had taken up residence under it.

heres a true story,back when i worked as a geologist in the oil field.was working with a guy who had a small buisness on the side making belts,hatbands and things out of rattlesnake skins.he talked me into the notion of going out with him one cool morning while we were waiting on cement to hunt snakes.we were drilling right on the edge of the caprock just north of canadian texas.like i say it was really cool and we hunted all morning and never seen a snake(much to my relief)that afternoon it got up to probably 90+ degrees.we killed thirteen crossing location to get to shade and water around rig .just so happened there was a small water hole maybe 20 ft accross about 1/4 mile from rig right alongside road,when i went to supper that evening that hole was literally crawling with snakes! i dont know if they were hunting water to drink,or just a cool place to lay.but we sat in back of pickup and shot about half a box of 22 shells killing the ones that crossed the road.kind of fun and creepy at the same time.i have never before or since saw so many rattlers in one place,and we had hunted all morning and never saw one!every time it gets real dry like it is now i think of that and be extra carefull around any shade or water holes.around 1980 or so my brother and i were fishing in some bass tournaments,one was at lake eufala in eastern okla.on that one weekend we ran across probably 15 rattlers far from shore crossing the lake.i dont know how they do it, but they can coil up, float like a cork, and strike at you while floating just as good on water as they can on land.be carefull around any cool shady areas,or around water in this hot dry weather,they are out there even if you dont see them.

I didn't hear about the campground closing, but I've seen more than normal crossing the road this month. I live on the north-facing side of a valley, so we usually don't get many coming down to water since they like the south-face side better, but I guess the heat drove them to the shade this year.

I heard a funny story about the Iowa DNR clearing off the tops of some bluffs on state forest land to improve the rattlesnake habitat, but it ended up just improving the bald eagles' rattlesnake food supply.

I suppose I would worry about the dog, but I've never heard of one getting bit around here. I don't know if all the sense has been completely bred out of them yet.

A person got bit last month at the state park near Caledonia, MN this year. The first time that's happened here for many years (many decades?). You gotta walk LOUDLY and carry a big stick. Just bring one of those kids with you on a walk. I know at least my boys scare away all the wildlife for miles around whenever they come walking with me.

(quoted from post at 07:48:50 08/26/11) I didn't hear about the campground closing, but I've seen more than normal crossing the road this month. I live on the north-facing side of a valley, so we usually don't get many coming down to water since they like the south-face side better, but I guess the heat drove them to the shade this year.

I heard a funny story about the Iowa DNR clearing off the tops of some bluffs on state forest land to improve the rattlesnake habitat, but it ended up just improving the bald eagles' rattlesnake food supply.

I suppose I would worry about the dog, but I've never heard of one getting bit around here. I don't know if all the sense has been completely bred out of them yet.

A person got bit last month at the state park near Caledonia, MN this year. The first time that's happened here for many years (many decades?). You gotta walk LOUDLY and carry a big stick. Just bring one of those kids with you on a walk. I know at least my boys scare away all the wildlife for miles around whenever they come walking with me.

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Kinda like taking a walk in bear country.....take someone with you that you can out run.....you don't need to out run the bear......just yer walking partner!

Rick

Got an email a few years back with a series of pics from an oil field down in TX that showed a similar scene. They had moved a Conex box or soemthing and I believe the story with the pics said they had killed nearly 70 snakes, and didn't know how many got away.

back several years ago when i was keeping/training bird dogs all the time,we would snake train them.put a training shock collar on them ,find an old snake ,or a dead rattler and hunt your pup up to it,when he got close or sniffed it we would shock the crap out of him.have a helper move snake and do it again.didnt take long before dog would go way around a snake.and you could tell if they were avoiding one.they would make a circle and make sure snake wasnt close,sort of like a dog blinking birds does.danged rattlers and copperheads liked to lay up under mesquites,just like quail,you saw your dog give one a wide berth and you knew to stay back, or watch close when you went to kill snake.

If you look at the lower left of this picture you will see the distinctive black rings around the tail. Western Diamondbacks are also called "coontails" for this reason.
Afew years back I found one nearly dead at he end of my driveway here in Madison County Iowa. Called the local Conservation dept. They said it couldn't be a Western DBack as they don't live in Iowa due to the harsh winters. Said it was a timber rattler (I've found 2 here in the last 10 years) or a rare Eastern Dback. I held my ground and told them is was a coon tail or western. I took it in to them and they still wouldn't agree with me-said we don't have westerns here in IA. 3 days later he calls to tell me is WAS a Western Dback. Probably hitched a ride on a truck or was released as a pet. They are having it mounted to display. (I wanted to be a herpetologist as a kid, ended up a science teacher and an airline pilot instead)

(quoted from post at 06:17:46 08/26/11) 10 rattlers in a park? How about 50 under a dumpster.... The guys in the shop decided to move the scrap metal dumpster at the shop couple of months ago. Picked it up and they found this mess. They grabbed some shovels and got busy "dissipating the threat." Supervisor drove up and took this pic. BTW, he didn't get out of his pickup to take it either. lol
This was in Abilene, Tx

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That just showstagoya....Texas is a good place to be FROM............far away.....

I can't get over these religious freaks they show on TV catching and dancing with them.............

Great idea ,might try it with my bird dogs. I have to find pics of my son when they were Jungle training with Thailand Marines . They brought out a big wicker basket and started beating the crap out of it , it was full of cobras. They each had to catch one barehanded and kill it. then they drank the blood mixed with whiskey . Kid said those Thai troops were pretty hard core bunch . Got pic of my kid holding 8 ft Cobra he caught.

That pic of them snakes was taken at the Patterson Drilling yard while cleaning up and scrapping bunch old WesTex rigs. That was the ones they got and that and many more got away. What was bad was I have sandblasted rite by the water tank they were under.

Trust me you have rattlesnakes in NW Iowa,in Plymouth County to be exact. I accompanied a biologist who was capturing them there to recover radios he implanted in them.