Why would it need a stamp? Would it be due to the barrel length? If so, what stops the 16” from being considered a rifle? It would all be the same, no?
A superWrangler or a Rough Rider with both .22 long rifle and .22 magnum cylinders is quite effective. I keep one cylinder full of snake shot and one of jacketed hollow points.
I used to hunt rattlesnakes (we got paid, so was it 'professional'?), and we used a garden weeding fork to impale their head, then a shovel guillotine behind the head. This method never runs out of ammo.
We used to get paid to clear the tobacco barns in North Carolina. We got a bounty for each one so I guess we were professionals as well. We would just use a bush axe or a 22 cal snake shell. I know it’s a bit morbid, but we used to tack them up on the eave for the roof so when the farmer drove by, he had proof of how many we killed and that’s how we got paid.
It was only during a harvest. Most of the time we didn’t bother and let them do their thing. The farmer didn’t want any of the workers to stumble on a snake. This is also nearly 40 years ago so things probably have changed.
Its 1/3rd their length but still some pretty impressive distance for a bigger snake. A full grown king cobra can just about strike a standing man in the face.
lol back in the day we just called them hoes but now you have to be specific if I said hoe more than half the people here would think I’m talking about a hooker.
Mostly garden snakes here in my neck of the woods. I snatched their tail and super slam them to the ground. INSTANT kill. Sometimes I don't even see the twitching or writhing they do when you chop the head. Just depends on how badly they startle me or the wife. Lol
Get a cheap 22lr revolver like the Ruger Wrangler or heritage rough rider.
Get CCI snake shot. It's #12 shot at a pretty low velocity.
Try to keep at least 5 yards between you and the snake. Try to have at least a 45° angle between the muzzle and surface under the snake so ricochets bounce away from you.
Following both these parameters simultaneously means you’d need to be standing on a ladder so the muzzle was elevated at least 15 feet above the ground, FYI
You have to pick your poison, do you want non-venomous snakes, venomous snakes, or rats?
Non-venomous snakes compete with venomous snakes for food. You probably want to keep them around.
Get a .22 revolver and snake shot or if that's not appealing get a .410 derringer with bird shot.
You want a revolver for snake shot because it tends to have feeding issues in semi auto.
Ruger Wrangler would be good. NAA mini revolver could work too.
Lots of small, cheap, easy to carry options available.
A shovel works too.
16” Heritage Rough Rider is the way to go, and I’m not even joking so long as you don’t mind having something a little longer on hand (which it sounds like isn’t an issue because he was asking about using a rifle).
You can nearly poke the dang thing with the muzzle while still remaining a safe distance away from the snake yourself. They’re also surprisingly easy to aim thanks to the incredibly long sight radius, and the long barrel helps keep the noise down some.
Worrying how? I understand the safety aspect but if you don't already know, you might take the time to familiarize yourself with the species of snake in your area. Reptiles are having a rough time in general these days and it's a shame to kill snakes if it's not absolutely necessary.
I'm not judging or anything, and you know your situation better than I do. That said, please don't kill snakes for being snakes, they're rad animals and hold an important place in their ecosystems.
I would recommend against dispatching snakes. They are incredibly important to the ecosystem. Furthermore on a ranch they serve to help cut down on rodent populations, meaning they help protect feed and prevent gopher holes that will break people’s and livestocks legs. Put up signs and inform people to respect the wildlife instead of just killing it.
Yes it will work. When I was in infantry training the guy next to me had a cotton mouth lay on his boot. Our instructor took my rifle, took off the BFA, and fired a blank at its head and clean decapitated it.
There is still hot gas exiting the barrel fast enough to actuate the bolt against a fairly stiff recoil spring, plus the mass of the bolt and carrier. Standard 5.56 blanks can put a large hole in a sheet of paper from about 4-5 yards. And it can tear it to pieces from 3 feet. Grenade launching blanks are even worse. I've seen a .30-06 grenade launching blank shred a pumpkin at 20 feet.
However, saying all that, if they are not venomous snakes, just set a thumper out. Even if they are venomous, a thumper would still do the trick. The vibrations would make the snakes head for somewhere where there were no vibrations.
I think you can order a thumper from McCoys or possibly Tractor Supply. Last one I bought I got from Scheerers.
Aversion training for dogs and parenting for kids have worked out well for me.
By 15 months my kid new that all snakes were not to be messed with. Later they learned about the difference between venomous and nonvenomous snakes.
Yes, because everybody knows that snakes only ever appear or attack when nobody is watching. They’re like weeping angels, frozen in stone if somebody can see them.
Ooooor you can just not be an idiot who knowingly allows highly venomous snakes to continue to live in areas utilized by people.
You must be incredibly sheltered if you think that’s feasible for everyone. I’ve been in areas out west where there’s a rattlesnake every 15ft. Just like deer, all animal populations need to be controlled to an extent. Especially dangerous ones. Humans have been a part of nature for thousands of years & are part of the “circle of life”. Purposefully searching them out and eradicating them is wrong, but if you don’t think that cavemen killed dangerous creatures that encroached onto their living areas thousands of years ago, you would be mistaken. There’s plenty of wild lands out there for them to roam.
How is it not feasible for everyone? Education is a very powerful tool, is it not? Heck, just put up a sign saying "Snakes nearby" if you really want to be lazy
I’ll drop all my poisonous snakes off in your yard & you can just “learn to live with them” then…
Probably best to just never go outside…
If you do, you better not be busy or do anything that prevents you from watching where you step. Better keep all the grass mowed constantly too.
If you dont live in the city or you have more than 10 acres, its literally impossible to just “always be aware” or “educate small children, dogs, cats, farm animals, visitors, etc.” If you have an infestation of poisonous snakes on your property, you’re putting literally everyone at risk by just letting them roam. Especially if you have children & families visiting all the time (which it sounds like is the case for OP). I don’t expect anyone who has never lived in the country to understand. Being a sheltered city person is fine, just don’t tell people who have an entirely different lifestyle & responsibilities than you how to operate.
I'm as pro-gun as they come so don't take this the wrong way.
You are statistically much more likely to injure yourself with a firearm than be bitten by a venomous snake in the US.
Venomous snake bites are very rare, and almost never fatal.
Kids, family, dogs, etc are all exceptionally more likely to injure themselves in a pool related accident, or on a set of stairs and I don't see people going around shooting pools because of how risky they might be.
People can make whatever excuses they want but it almost always boils down to the simple fact of people are afraid of snakes and will justify that phobia in any way they can.
It's the same shit the anti-gunners do for guns.
And that's coming from somebody who has lived in the country their whole life.
That’s also because the vast majority of people live in cities/suburbs and on smaller land plots that are easily manageable. Along with that, people that live in rural areas or densely forested areas usually kill off or mitigate poisonous snake populations in areas that are frequented by people. Your statistics are right, but there’s a reason behind why the statistics are the way they are.
Edit: This is probably a terrible analogy, but it’s the only one I could think of on the fly. So statistically, it’s incredibly unlikely for someone to be killed by a nuclear missile. That doesn’t mean that they aren’t dangerous and should be fired off left & right for fun. It just means that we as humans are good at managing them and have taken the right steps to prevent them from causing mass casualties… at the moment.
So if an anti-gun person starts talking about how "AR stands for automatic rifle" and we need to get rid of them.
This group would tell them... in no polite terms to pound sand and stop arguing about things you don't understand.
That's exactly how your "poisonous" comments read.
I'm not saying you're a bad person, but I don't think you have knowledge base deep enough about venomous snakes for this to be an intellectually honest discussion.
10 Acres of land doesn't affect your ability to tell someone that there are venomous snakes in your yard. Snakes aren't even aggressive towards humans so people are only at risk if they encounter a snake and decide to be an idiot. Also I'm not a city person, I live in a desert full of snakes as well
I literally trip over snakes at my ranch all the time. They are rat snakes so I do not kill them but if I ever see a rattle snake I kill on sight. I have cattle and loved ones. You absolutely wouldn’t understand unless you have dealt with an infestation. You need to kill as many as it takes so that you can reliably predict problem areas. Like you know not the go around leaf piles or rock piles or creek beds, but when you find them every 20 yards in the tall grass is a problem.
Why kill rattlesnakes? They aren't even very dangerous, they straight up tell you when they might attack. Loved ones can be told to avoid rattlesnakes and you can move rattlesnakes away from cattle.
First of all, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Ok, sure, you go out there and start blasting snakes. And what happens when a kid still stomps on the grass and pisses off a snake that your 24/7 snake obliteration strategy missed? Put up signs and teach your customers that wildlife is not to be fucked with. If nothing else that will ACTUALLY protect you from liability if the unthinkable should occur.
Now I'm hoping you're asking in the interest of last-resort wildlife defense and not blasting animals with no concern for the ecosystem you live in, but buy the right tool for the job. 22 rifles are like Tijuana hookers: if you can't find one for less than $150 you're not trying hard enough. If that sounds too expensive I guarantee you will waste more on firing blanks with minimal efficiency since blanks usually cost more than live ammo. Add varmint rounds and that will actually dispatch snakes safely but once again I recommend you focus on prevention first.
At that range no, you’d have to basically be making contact for any reliable effect. I think you could look into getting a super cheap .22 or .410 if you look for something used and single shot you might be able to make something work for $100.
If you own a handgun consider buying snake shot for that if there’s bullets skipping needs to absolutely be avoided.
Then there’s always the option of a really long hoe or stick with a harvest knife attached, it works really well in our fields since often there’s too many workers around to be gunslinging all Willy nilly
The only snakes that I have even considered killing are rattlesnakes and copperheads. I know other snakes ought to stay since they keep the venomous ones out.
Point blank, that would probably work but at any distance I can't see it doing more than injuring. Sounds like you need to pick up a cheap 22. Go to a few local gun stores or gun shows and find a cheap old single shot of undersireable make. Should be able to find something for $150 or less.
Blanks can kill, but I doubt you could consistently make effective or ETHICAL kills using them. Chances are you’ll end up wounding them and they’ll take off and die a slow, painful death.
If you MUST kill snakes, buy a Heritage .22 revolver for $100 and use shot shells or buy a cheap shotgun for cheap.
Have you ever heard of a snake stick and a 5 gallon bucket with a lid??? TRUST ME. Kids would love seeing a snake in a bucket before you re-home it a mile away while riding an ATV.
Not likely fatal unless you’re really close to the critter. 4-5’ isn’t close enough. 4-5” is too close for comfort. As folks have suggested, a revolver with snake/rat shot is the thing.
FWIW, a revolver with snake shot is great fun (being safe of course) for getting rid of wood boring bees. Like organic skeet. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Bang 🦗🦗🦗🦗🦗
OP mentioned not killing the non-venomous ones, which for reference is the word you're looking for here. Remember if you bite/ingest it and it makes you sick: poisonous, if it bites you and you get sick: venomous
Also, if you are USMC, thanks for your service to this country!
Rattlesnakes are pretty mean. They can be moderately aggressive as well. If they're frequenting the places you've got guests and kids at, you want to dispatch of those. If its not a harmful snake, I'm with you there.
They warn you if you get too close, dangerous if you are stupid. And aggressive? Seriously? I've seen a lot of rattlers and aggressive is the last word I would use to describe them
Rattlesnakes, Cottonmouths, Water Moccasins are all venomous and potentially deadly out there. The nearest hospital to my old Central Texas ranch was around an hour and half drive. When that's the case, you do cautious things like de-horn your cattle and kill venomous snakes on sight, especially if you go out there alone.
A Taurus judge with 410 shells work well.
Putting up fence in pastures there are lots of rattlers around. I'd carry a judge with me because there were so many. The area had a 1.6 snakes per acre count.
Funny that around here a few people posted some pictures of a snake that had a flattened "hood", freaking out because they thought it was a cobra.
It was a harmless eastern hognose snake.
Killed a red diamondback with a 12 (only thing I had handy at that moment and a bad angle for a shovel) from about 4 feet.
Kinda messy. Bit overkill. Sends guts in all directions. Needed to replace shirt.
Get a cheap rough Ryder and some 22. snake/rat shot.
Tbh I'm jealous I got to do some snake control when I was younger around the cattle pond at my cousin's when id visit and it was always a blast. Haven't had the opportunity in years.
Honestly everyone should have a 22. Revolver. Fun as hell and costs almost nothing for a day of plinking
Little .410 is what I typically use around the the Or a shovel (I suppose a garden hoe would be more handy.)
I’ve got a 38 snake shot load and never had a chance to use it.
Go ahead and hold your hand a foot and a half in front of a rifle firing a blank. We will wait patiently for your reply… it may take a little longer since you’ll be typing with one hand at least for a little while.
How do *you* think blanks work because a good rule of thumb is there can be dangers from them out to around 20 feet.
Real farmers and ranchers use the right tool for the job. The right tool for this job is a shovel, not a gun.
Preferably to load the snake into a plastic tote with a locking lid to take it to where you have a rodent problem. Snakes are not generally problems, they are problem solvers
Others have said it, but I'll advocate for a Ruger wrangler as well. It's a solid .22lr revolver, and you can throw some rat shot in it to make sure you hit them. Obviously, you want to keep a little distance between you and the rattler since they can be aggressive in Texas. At least, the ones I came across were aggressive and fast. Most importantly, be safe because you mentioned ricochet is a concern due to kids being on the property, but with a .22 rat shot, I think it should be fine. However, I've never tried to measure any ricochet from those, so don't take my word for that portion.
I agree with the long-handled shovel method. You can file a slight knife "edge" so it works better. Make sure you are not killing "helpful" snakes like corn or black racer. Non-venomous snakes will still bite (and hurt) so warn the humans about the wildlife. Blanks would be a waste and probably more expensive than shot cartridges.
.22 pellet rifle will kill just about any small varmint or snake and they are very quiet. I use mine to take care of mice or anything else that is attempting to invade my home.
Or, crazy idea, you could teach the kids to be careful outside. "I'll just kill everything in the area so you don't have to interact with nature" is a horrible solution to the "problem" you're describing.
square nose spade. pop the head off from 3 feet, and use it to bury the remains. no bang. one time investment of $15 at harbor freight, and a lifetime of snake disposal without reloads or jams.
Even just a pellet gun would probably work at the close range you’re talking about if you really didn’t want to just buy a .22 or something that can shoot snakeshot
Edit: you should also probably check to make sure you know what kind of snakes they are too. Non-venomous snakes mitigate rodent populations & run off venomous ones. I’d let them stick around since they aren’t any danger
What kind of snakes? Is it a real uptick in the snake population, or have snakes being around not been an issue before? Snakes control rodent population, and certain types will cannibalize venomous varieties. The decision-making process should be more than see snake shoot snake.
The only snakes I’ve even considered killing are rattlesnakes and copperheads. The snakes popping up have been a more recent thing, maybe we were just unlucky this year and ran into more.
Issue there was a prop dummy round that had the projectile get lodged into the barrel as a squib because they were handmade dummies made by pulling the projectile and dumping the powder. Dumbass that made em left the primer in it if I recall correctly.
.22 lever gun with snake shot. Cheap, durable, and gets the job done better than almost anything else. Hell, any cheap .22 with snake shot would be better than 7.62 blanks.
You could get snake shot ammo. However, a hoe or something will work decent, and may be better economically. Though, that means you have to get pretty close to the snake. Either way, each has it's pros and cons, and whichever you feel comfortable with more, go for.
I got a chiappa SAA clone and it was like 100$ and they make 22 shellshot, works amazing on snake and rats and I've tested the ricochet on it it's not harmful unless maybe if it hits an eye but I slowly kept getting closer to my target and even 5 feet away when the small plastic pellets came back it did not even hurt.
I own a farm. I use a hoe if I need to get rid of one 90% of the time. I uncovered a nest of rattlers once while on my tractor. By the time I uncovered them, they scattered, and I was able to crush one with the bucket. After that, I tried carrying my pistol while working around the farm, and it just wasn’t worth it to me. Instead, I keep a shotgun by the back door, and a pistol in my truck.
Growing up in Florida… I second the garden hoe method. Or a shovel.
Their strike range is longer than you’d think but you have a human brain and a shovel is plenty range for you.
All you need is a thin stick about the length of a cane, a smack on the spine breaks it easily. If you're nervous you can give em a few more smacks. To be careful you can pin the neck just behind the head with the stick, step on the stick to hold it then cut the head off. A rattlesnake head can and will still bite you if you let it so make sure to bury or otherwise dispose of the head.
Just get a Ruger wrangler or rough rider and some snake shot
It's a hell of a time, too. Works for rats, mice etc.
Man, y'all be reenacting Tombstone and shit. I love it. "Skin that smokewagon!"
NEEDS to be the 16 inch though. No exceptions
Im surprised they havent made a legit walking cane 22 at this point
It's illegal in most places I believe Edit: or requires a stamp, which is enough to stop most manufacturers from going for it
Why would it need a stamp? Would it be due to the barrel length? If so, what stops the 16” from being considered a rifle? It would all be the same, no?
IIRC it's an Any Other Weapon.
Huh, interesting
A superWrangler or a Rough Rider with both .22 long rifle and .22 magnum cylinders is quite effective. I keep one cylinder full of snake shot and one of jacketed hollow points.
Have you found .22 magnum with snake shot? Local gun store said they hadn’t seen it in years.
I have found it locally here in east Texas at Superior Outfitters
Growing up in west Texas we just used a gardening hoe and cut the heads off no need to waste ammo.
A favorite of my 87 year old grandfather.
What you call me!?
a woman of ill repute that counts horticulture as a hobby
A woman of ill repute with a very good reputation
That's a high quality gardening hoe
I didn’t stutter! You heard me!
I used to hunt rattlesnakes (we got paid, so was it 'professional'?), and we used a garden weeding fork to impale their head, then a shovel guillotine behind the head. This method never runs out of ammo.
My dad was part of the wranglers for the rattlesnake round up in sweet water we would catch some of them but kill the rest
We used to get paid to clear the tobacco barns in North Carolina. We got a bounty for each one so I guess we were professionals as well. We would just use a bush axe or a 22 cal snake shell. I know it’s a bit morbid, but we used to tack them up on the eave for the roof so when the farmer drove by, he had proof of how many we killed and that’s how we got paid.
Aren't snakes better than having rats? Or do you just end up with both
It was only during a harvest. Most of the time we didn’t bother and let them do their thing. The farmer didn’t want any of the workers to stumble on a snake. This is also nearly 40 years ago so things probably have changed.
This guy snakes!
That was my thought. 3-4' range is "garden tool melee range." My dad used to just chop off their head with a shovel.
That works too just have to watch out for the bigger snakes rattlesnakes can strike up to half the distance if their length.
Its 1/3rd their length but still some pretty impressive distance for a bigger snake. A full grown king cobra can just about strike a standing man in the face.
They can go up to 1/2 but between 1/3 to 1/2 we would just caution on the half for all of them just to be sure.
I thought you wrote "gardening hose" and was trying to figure how you were decapitating snakes with a damn hose
lol back in the day we just called them hoes but now you have to be specific if I said hoe more than half the people here would think I’m talking about a hooker.
Well, to be fair they do bite the heads of snakes too I'm told...
I'm sure if you paid her enough she'd be down.
I paid the hooker for an hour. She can spend 55 minutes hunting snakes with me.
Look at Mr. Big Money, paying for a whole hour!
Had to go back and re-read the original. Read hose... it said hoe...
From behind like a mafia goon with piano wire
Any decent hoe can handle one snake at a time.
No truer words have ever been spoken
Sometimes two.
I’ve seen 3 at once, special hoe
Is this sub called hoes or guns?
Hoes with guns
That's the most gun-hoe thing I've read all day!
Obviously what he really needs is a hoe bayonet
Mostly garden snakes here in my neck of the woods. I snatched their tail and super slam them to the ground. INSTANT kill. Sometimes I don't even see the twitching or writhing they do when you chop the head. Just depends on how badly they startle me or the wife. Lol
Get a cheap 22lr revolver like the Ruger Wrangler or heritage rough rider. Get CCI snake shot. It's #12 shot at a pretty low velocity. Try to keep at least 5 yards between you and the snake. Try to have at least a 45° angle between the muzzle and surface under the snake so ricochets bounce away from you.
Following both these parameters simultaneously means you’d need to be standing on a ladder so the muzzle was elevated at least 15 feet above the ground, FYI
Yeah I described it poorly. 0° - 45° good ⦟ 45° - 90° bad ⊾
R/theydidthemath
pistol shotshell rounds like 22
I was gonna say best bet is a revolver with snake shot, personally not knowing how big a "big snake" is I'd probably go .45
You'd have to basically be making muzzle contact in order for it to be reliably effective. Not a good idea.
You have to pick your poison, do you want non-venomous snakes, venomous snakes, or rats? Non-venomous snakes compete with venomous snakes for food. You probably want to keep them around.
That's what we did. Kept the king snakes, rat snacks, black racers, etc. Everything else got the shovel.
The only snakes that I do kill on the property are rattlesnakes and copperheads, everything else I leave alone.
Get a .22 revolver and snake shot or if that's not appealing get a .410 derringer with bird shot. You want a revolver for snake shot because it tends to have feeding issues in semi auto. Ruger Wrangler would be good. NAA mini revolver could work too. Lots of small, cheap, easy to carry options available. A shovel works too.
Might be the only situation where the Henry Garden gun makes sense.
yup, this is literally what it was made for
Garden gun or a single shot .410 full choke with #8 or smaller. I am so glad they re-released the garden gun, waiting on LGS to get one in.
Yup and lever guns are the shit in general so extra points there.
Plus Texas
A taurus judge with a wood grip and some .410 shells is a lot more compact.
i believe this is the whole point of the historical “garden gun” commonly sold in the UK ~120 years ago
At that distance? Not really. Point blank? Yeah. Probably not the best method, though.
I see, it is possible for me to get closer, my rifle is already over 3 feet long haha.
For the typical blank you would need to be holding the muzzle within an inch or less of the head to do damage.
Depends how how big a "big" snake is. A blank won't do much so you'll want a .22 or .38 revolver with snakeshot (aka ratshot)
The snakes I’ve seen that were worrying are 3-4 ft long.
22 will probly work then. Grab whatever 22 wheelgat tickles your fancy and youll have a nice tool/range toy.
16” Heritage Rough Rider is the way to go, and I’m not even joking so long as you don’t mind having something a little longer on hand (which it sounds like isn’t an issue because he was asking about using a rifle). You can nearly poke the dang thing with the muzzle while still remaining a safe distance away from the snake yourself. They’re also surprisingly easy to aim thanks to the incredibly long sight radius, and the long barrel helps keep the noise down some.
Put a fake mouse head on the end and just have it bite down for you at that point.
Worrying how? I understand the safety aspect but if you don't already know, you might take the time to familiarize yourself with the species of snake in your area. Reptiles are having a rough time in general these days and it's a shame to kill snakes if it's not absolutely necessary. I'm not judging or anything, and you know your situation better than I do. That said, please don't kill snakes for being snakes, they're rad animals and hold an important place in their ecosystems.
I would recommend against dispatching snakes. They are incredibly important to the ecosystem. Furthermore on a ranch they serve to help cut down on rodent populations, meaning they help protect feed and prevent gopher holes that will break people’s and livestocks legs. Put up signs and inform people to respect the wildlife instead of just killing it.
Yes it will work. When I was in infantry training the guy next to me had a cotton mouth lay on his boot. Our instructor took my rifle, took off the BFA, and fired a blank at its head and clean decapitated it.
Wow, heck of a story. I wasn’t expecting a result like that haha.
There is still hot gas exiting the barrel fast enough to actuate the bolt against a fairly stiff recoil spring, plus the mass of the bolt and carrier. Standard 5.56 blanks can put a large hole in a sheet of paper from about 4-5 yards. And it can tear it to pieces from 3 feet. Grenade launching blanks are even worse. I've seen a .30-06 grenade launching blank shred a pumpkin at 20 feet. However, saying all that, if they are not venomous snakes, just set a thumper out. Even if they are venomous, a thumper would still do the trick. The vibrations would make the snakes head for somewhere where there were no vibrations. I think you can order a thumper from McCoys or possibly Tractor Supply. Last one I bought I got from Scheerers.
Taurus Judge with .410 shells my dude!
Don't dispatch snakes, teach the kids about the snakes. And there is a very low chance they will ever be bitten by a snake
If you can tell me how to teach my 15-month-old or dogs that snakes bite, let me know. Rattle snakes are killed on site.
100% in agreement. Kingsnakes / Rat snakes get passes.
Yep. Bull snakes are friends, not food.
Don't forget about whip snakes.
Or hoop snakes
Trousers snakes 🐍
Aversion training for dogs and parenting for kids have worked out well for me. By 15 months my kid new that all snakes were not to be messed with. Later they learned about the difference between venomous and nonvenomous snakes.
Maybe keep your 15-month-old in sight?
Yes, because everybody knows that snakes only ever appear or attack when nobody is watching. They’re like weeping angels, frozen in stone if somebody can see them. Ooooor you can just not be an idiot who knowingly allows highly venomous snakes to continue to live in areas utilized by people.
Snakes don't come out an attack people ever. Snakes are very defensive, so watching a 15 month-old would stop them from being bitten by a snake
They got a free range 15 month old lol
I mean, if you're gonna go free-range, you gotta expect some attrition.
Ah, so you immediately kill the snake that you are least likely to die from? They literally warn you when you get too close
He already said his infant doesn't understand. It sounds like a rattle it will draw the kid right in.
You must be incredibly sheltered if you think that’s feasible for everyone. I’ve been in areas out west where there’s a rattlesnake every 15ft. Just like deer, all animal populations need to be controlled to an extent. Especially dangerous ones. Humans have been a part of nature for thousands of years & are part of the “circle of life”. Purposefully searching them out and eradicating them is wrong, but if you don’t think that cavemen killed dangerous creatures that encroached onto their living areas thousands of years ago, you would be mistaken. There’s plenty of wild lands out there for them to roam.
How is it not feasible for everyone? Education is a very powerful tool, is it not? Heck, just put up a sign saying "Snakes nearby" if you really want to be lazy
I’ll drop all my poisonous snakes off in your yard & you can just “learn to live with them” then… Probably best to just never go outside… If you do, you better not be busy or do anything that prevents you from watching where you step. Better keep all the grass mowed constantly too. If you dont live in the city or you have more than 10 acres, its literally impossible to just “always be aware” or “educate small children, dogs, cats, farm animals, visitors, etc.” If you have an infestation of poisonous snakes on your property, you’re putting literally everyone at risk by just letting them roam. Especially if you have children & families visiting all the time (which it sounds like is the case for OP). I don’t expect anyone who has never lived in the country to understand. Being a sheltered city person is fine, just don’t tell people who have an entirely different lifestyle & responsibilities than you how to operate.
I'm as pro-gun as they come so don't take this the wrong way. You are statistically much more likely to injure yourself with a firearm than be bitten by a venomous snake in the US. Venomous snake bites are very rare, and almost never fatal. Kids, family, dogs, etc are all exceptionally more likely to injure themselves in a pool related accident, or on a set of stairs and I don't see people going around shooting pools because of how risky they might be. People can make whatever excuses they want but it almost always boils down to the simple fact of people are afraid of snakes and will justify that phobia in any way they can. It's the same shit the anti-gunners do for guns. And that's coming from somebody who has lived in the country their whole life.
That’s also because the vast majority of people live in cities/suburbs and on smaller land plots that are easily manageable. Along with that, people that live in rural areas or densely forested areas usually kill off or mitigate poisonous snake populations in areas that are frequented by people. Your statistics are right, but there’s a reason behind why the statistics are the way they are. Edit: This is probably a terrible analogy, but it’s the only one I could think of on the fly. So statistically, it’s incredibly unlikely for someone to be killed by a nuclear missile. That doesn’t mean that they aren’t dangerous and should be fired off left & right for fun. It just means that we as humans are good at managing them and have taken the right steps to prevent them from causing mass casualties… at the moment.
So if an anti-gun person starts talking about how "AR stands for automatic rifle" and we need to get rid of them. This group would tell them... in no polite terms to pound sand and stop arguing about things you don't understand. That's exactly how your "poisonous" comments read. I'm not saying you're a bad person, but I don't think you have knowledge base deep enough about venomous snakes for this to be an intellectually honest discussion.
10 Acres of land doesn't affect your ability to tell someone that there are venomous snakes in your yard. Snakes aren't even aggressive towards humans so people are only at risk if they encounter a snake and decide to be an idiot. Also I'm not a city person, I live in a desert full of snakes as well
I literally trip over snakes at my ranch all the time. They are rat snakes so I do not kill them but if I ever see a rattle snake I kill on sight. I have cattle and loved ones. You absolutely wouldn’t understand unless you have dealt with an infestation. You need to kill as many as it takes so that you can reliably predict problem areas. Like you know not the go around leaf piles or rock piles or creek beds, but when you find them every 20 yards in the tall grass is a problem.
Why kill rattlesnakes? They aren't even very dangerous, they straight up tell you when they might attack. Loved ones can be told to avoid rattlesnakes and you can move rattlesnakes away from cattle.
First of all, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Ok, sure, you go out there and start blasting snakes. And what happens when a kid still stomps on the grass and pisses off a snake that your 24/7 snake obliteration strategy missed? Put up signs and teach your customers that wildlife is not to be fucked with. If nothing else that will ACTUALLY protect you from liability if the unthinkable should occur. Now I'm hoping you're asking in the interest of last-resort wildlife defense and not blasting animals with no concern for the ecosystem you live in, but buy the right tool for the job. 22 rifles are like Tijuana hookers: if you can't find one for less than $150 you're not trying hard enough. If that sounds too expensive I guarantee you will waste more on firing blanks with minimal efficiency since blanks usually cost more than live ammo. Add varmint rounds and that will actually dispatch snakes safely but once again I recommend you focus on prevention first.
At that range no, you’d have to basically be making contact for any reliable effect. I think you could look into getting a super cheap .22 or .410 if you look for something used and single shot you might be able to make something work for $100. If you own a handgun consider buying snake shot for that if there’s bullets skipping needs to absolutely be avoided. Then there’s always the option of a really long hoe or stick with a harvest knife attached, it works really well in our fields since often there’s too many workers around to be gunslinging all Willy nilly
What kind of snek?
Probably mostly gopher snakes, bull snakes, king snakes, corn snakes, occasionally a rattler. Must. Destroy. Wildlife.
Same every chewsday I burn ants with my magnifying glass.
The only snakes that I have even considered killing are rattlesnakes and copperheads. I know other snakes ought to stay since they keep the venomous ones out.
Should leave them all be a remove any man made habits for them and prey.
Point blank, that would probably work but at any distance I can't see it doing more than injuring. Sounds like you need to pick up a cheap 22. Go to a few local gun stores or gun shows and find a cheap old single shot of undersireable make. Should be able to find something for $150 or less.
Blanks can kill, but I doubt you could consistently make effective or ETHICAL kills using them. Chances are you’ll end up wounding them and they’ll take off and die a slow, painful death. If you MUST kill snakes, buy a Heritage .22 revolver for $100 and use shot shells or buy a cheap shotgun for cheap.
Have you ever heard of a snake stick and a 5 gallon bucket with a lid??? TRUST ME. Kids would love seeing a snake in a bucket before you re-home it a mile away while riding an ATV.
Not likely fatal unless you’re really close to the critter. 4-5’ isn’t close enough. 4-5” is too close for comfort. As folks have suggested, a revolver with snake/rat shot is the thing. FWIW, a revolver with snake shot is great fun (being safe of course) for getting rid of wood boring bees. Like organic skeet. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Bang 🦗🦗🦗🦗🦗
Wait are they poisonous or non poisonous? I get killing them of kids are around and they are poisonous. Non poisonous leave em be
OP mentioned not killing the non-venomous ones, which for reference is the word you're looking for here. Remember if you bite/ingest it and it makes you sick: poisonous, if it bites you and you get sick: venomous Also, if you are USMC, thanks for your service to this country!
no.
Leave snakes alone you weirdo.
Rattlesnakes are pretty mean. They can be moderately aggressive as well. If they're frequenting the places you've got guests and kids at, you want to dispatch of those. If its not a harmful snake, I'm with you there.
They warn you if you get too close, dangerous if you are stupid. And aggressive? Seriously? I've seen a lot of rattlers and aggressive is the last word I would use to describe them
yeah, old wives tales as an excuse to kill snakes is a lot more fun than actually understanding their behavior.
Rattlesnakes, Cottonmouths, Water Moccasins are all venomous and potentially deadly out there. The nearest hospital to my old Central Texas ranch was around an hour and half drive. When that's the case, you do cautious things like de-horn your cattle and kill venomous snakes on sight, especially if you go out there alone.
A Taurus judge with 410 shells work well. Putting up fence in pastures there are lots of rattlers around. I'd carry a judge with me because there were so many. The area had a 1.6 snakes per acre count.
Are we talking just nope ropes, or actual danger noodles?
Probably just nope ropes.
Funny that around here a few people posted some pictures of a snake that had a flattened "hood", freaking out because they thought it was a cobra. It was a harmless eastern hognose snake.
People are idiots. Even the danger noodles aren't dangerous. More people die to cars than snakes, so how about OP goes out and starts shooting cars.
I have heard mixed results about ratshot and snakeshot. But you cant go wrong with a 12GA. Get some low noise shells and you're good.
Killed a red diamondback with a 12 (only thing I had handy at that moment and a bad angle for a shovel) from about 4 feet. Kinda messy. Bit overkill. Sends guts in all directions. Needed to replace shirt.
Like i said. Very effective
I would buy a cheap single shot .410 shotgun. It's what my mother uses to kill snakes and it seems to work fairly well.
Snake shot out of a 22 or revolver or a single shot 410 would be your cheapest options. Like $140 for a Rossi 410 or $100 for a heritage rough rider.
Buy a .22 and use the birdshot rounds. They won’t cycle a semiautomatic.
Get a cheap rough Ryder and some 22. snake/rat shot. Tbh I'm jealous I got to do some snake control when I was younger around the cattle pond at my cousin's when id visit and it was always a blast. Haven't had the opportunity in years. Honestly everyone should have a 22. Revolver. Fun as hell and costs almost nothing for a day of plinking
Wait yall don't hunt snakes with your bayonet-equipped Mosins!?
My personal choice for snake management around others is a single shot 410 with .44spcl rat shot! Works AWESOME!
Little .410 is what I typically use around the the Or a shovel (I suppose a garden hoe would be more handy.) I’ve got a 38 snake shot load and never had a chance to use it.
https://palmettostatearmory.com/heritage-rough-rider-22lr-4-75-inch-revolver-american-flag.html 💯
No Not sure how u think blanks work lol Just get a 22 or use a 410 or something
Go ahead and hold your hand a foot and a half in front of a rifle firing a blank. We will wait patiently for your reply… it may take a little longer since you’ll be typing with one hand at least for a little while. How do *you* think blanks work because a good rule of thumb is there can be dangers from them out to around 20 feet.
Taurus judge loaded with 410 birdshot will do the trick.
Rossi circuit judge 45Colt/410 or Rossi snake charmer in 410
You can use anything you want to dispatch snakes if you are not a quitter
Real farmers and ranchers use the right tool for the job. The right tool for this job is a shovel, not a gun. Preferably to load the snake into a plastic tote with a locking lid to take it to where you have a rodent problem. Snakes are not generally problems, they are problem solvers
Get a cheap small revolver. .38 snake shot or a .410. I wouldn't advise .22lr on rattlers.
You can also use them to dispatch rats when the inevitable happens after you get rid of the snakes
Others have said it, but I'll advocate for a Ruger wrangler as well. It's a solid .22lr revolver, and you can throw some rat shot in it to make sure you hit them. Obviously, you want to keep a little distance between you and the rattler since they can be aggressive in Texas. At least, the ones I came across were aggressive and fast. Most importantly, be safe because you mentioned ricochet is a concern due to kids being on the property, but with a .22 rat shot, I think it should be fine. However, I've never tried to measure any ricochet from those, so don't take my word for that portion.
Man I’ve killed more snakes on my land with a Glock 19 than I can count. Just make sure to know what’s behind your target. I’ve never had one ricochet
Yea, but you have really gotta get them jammed down the barrel to do it.
I agree with the long-handled shovel method. You can file a slight knife "edge" so it works better. Make sure you are not killing "helpful" snakes like corn or black racer. Non-venomous snakes will still bite (and hurt) so warn the humans about the wildlife. Blanks would be a waste and probably more expensive than shot cartridges.
.22 pellet rifle will kill just about any small varmint or snake and they are very quiet. I use mine to take care of mice or anything else that is attempting to invade my home.
Id get a .410 with bird shot. Just my 2 cents
Cci sells 22 lr rat shot that would work great. Doesn't work great with semi autos. Also they make rat shot in 9mm, 357 etc
No use a shotgun
Get a Taurus Judge, this is like the one good use case for it
No blanks would not be effective. As others have said snake shot would work or even a pellet gun if you aim for the head.
Or you could just not kill wildlife
Or, crazy idea, you could teach the kids to be careful outside. "I'll just kill everything in the area so you don't have to interact with nature" is a horrible solution to the "problem" you're describing.
Moth balls around the perimeter
Of a ranch?
Ok, a LOT of mothballs …. lol 😂
square nose spade. pop the head off from 3 feet, and use it to bury the remains. no bang. one time investment of $15 at harbor freight, and a lifetime of snake disposal without reloads or jams.
Just buy a cheap .22
Get one of those $99 Heritage SAA .22 pistols, either low power .22's or rat shot like everyone else is saying would work great.
Even just a pellet gun would probably work at the close range you’re talking about if you really didn’t want to just buy a .22 or something that can shoot snakeshot Edit: you should also probably check to make sure you know what kind of snakes they are too. Non-venomous snakes mitigate rodent populations & run off venomous ones. I’d let them stick around since they aren’t any danger
I would use 22 snake shot. Blanks at 4 feet really aren't going to do the trick, in my opinion. At least not reliably.
Get a little single shot .410. They are called "Snake Charmers" for a reason.
What kind of snakes? Is it a real uptick in the snake population, or have snakes being around not been an issue before? Snakes control rodent population, and certain types will cannibalize venomous varieties. The decision-making process should be more than see snake shoot snake.
The only snakes I’ve even considered killing are rattlesnakes and copperheads. The snakes popping up have been a more recent thing, maybe we were just unlucky this year and ran into more.
Get a little iron and some snake shot
Ask Brandon Lee.
Issue there was a prop dummy round that had the projectile get lodged into the barrel as a squib because they were handmade dummies made by pulling the projectile and dumping the powder. Dumbass that made em left the primer in it if I recall correctly.
Don't be a wuss pick it up.
.22 lever gun with snake shot. Cheap, durable, and gets the job done better than almost anything else. Hell, any cheap .22 with snake shot would be better than 7.62 blanks.
Rat shot in the cheapest bolt action
Get a snake hook and toss them as far as you can. They won't come back for more most likely will become even more wary around humans.
If it were me, I'd use this as an excuse to spend money on a Bond Arms derringer in .45 Long Colt/.410ga.
.410 shotgun
I use a Henry lever action 410 (works great), and am about to pull the trigger on a Bond Arms Rowdy XL.
Big stick works just as well oogabooga
Just blastem with a .500 magnum that works fine
Git that Henry Garden Gun smooth bore with that mini shot. Gun was purpose built for this task.
Get a mongoose
3-4 feet? shovel.
Just chop them with a shovel
You could get snake shot ammo. However, a hoe or something will work decent, and may be better economically. Though, that means you have to get pretty close to the snake. Either way, each has it's pros and cons, and whichever you feel comfortable with more, go for.
I knew a guy in Louisiana who would just smack a snake on the head with a yardstick and then toss it out in the woods ...
Machete. But the correct answer is just use 7.62 or buy another gun
Machete!
I got a chiappa SAA clone and it was like 100$ and they make 22 shellshot, works amazing on snake and rats and I've tested the ricochet on it it's not harmful unless maybe if it hits an eye but I slowly kept getting closer to my target and even 5 feet away when the small plastic pellets came back it did not even hurt.
Just get 7.62 ratshot
I own a farm. I use a hoe if I need to get rid of one 90% of the time. I uncovered a nest of rattlers once while on my tractor. By the time I uncovered them, they scattered, and I was able to crush one with the bucket. After that, I tried carrying my pistol while working around the farm, and it just wasn’t worth it to me. Instead, I keep a shotgun by the back door, and a pistol in my truck.
Growing up in Florida… I second the garden hoe method. Or a shovel. Their strike range is longer than you’d think but you have a human brain and a shovel is plenty range for you.
Growing up in Mississippi I used to take out water moccasins with solid stick then a knive to cut the head off
Whole bunch of this thread isn't passing the vibe check. Leave the snakes alone.
All you need is a thin stick about the length of a cane, a smack on the spine breaks it easily. If you're nervous you can give em a few more smacks. To be careful you can pin the neck just behind the head with the stick, step on the stick to hold it then cut the head off. A rattlesnake head can and will still bite you if you let it so make sure to bury or otherwise dispose of the head.
Bb gun