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Open carry in back yard - vs- Water Mocassin.

RRobaldo

RRobaldo

Regular Member
Joined
Apr 12, 2011
Messages
61
Location
Lutz, FL
My oldest son and I generally carry when we're working in the back yard. This past Friday re-iterates just why we carry at home.

Our beagle pup started howling. My youngest son went to investigate and found that our idiot Beagle was playing with a WATER MOCCASIN!:shocker::eek::shocker: He managed to pull the dog away BEFORE it became snake food.

We have 3 smallish dogs and there are always children in the yard, so the VENOMOUS, DEADLY SNAKE had to go.
(sorry if I offend any snake-lovers out there, but I love my dogs & kids more).

When he saw the snake, he called my oldest son over to help while he held the dog. My oldest, not wanting to get bit by a snake, decided it was safest to just shoot the thing with his LC9, and that's exactly what he proceeded to do. Then just to make sure it was dead, he cut off it's head with a shovel.

Sunday, the whole incident REPEATED ITSELF! The Beagle started howling at something, This time I was working in the yard so I went over to investigate. Sure enough, it was ANOTHER water moccasin!:eek:

I had my little .380 strapped to my hip, but I also had a shovel in my hand from digging a new pond. I sure was tempted to shoot it, but decided the shovel would do the job just fine. And it did.

Final score: LC9 1, Shovel 1 Snakes 0.
Beagle still stupid, but alive.
:banana::banana::banana:

Lance
 
Yaki

Yaki

Regular Member
Joined
Jun 21, 2011
Messages
94
Location
Salinas, California
I get the safety part but why not remove the snakes instead of keep killing them? Eventually you will have a rodent problem and good luck shooting them in your house :banana:
 
thebigsd

thebigsd

Founder's Club Member
Joined
Mar 23, 2010
Messages
3,535
Location
Quarryville, PA
RRobaldo said:
My oldest son and I generally carry when we're working in the back yard. This past Friday re-iterates just why we carry at home.

Our beagle pup started howling. My youngest son went to investigate and found that our idiot Beagle was playing with a WATER MOCCASIN!:shocker::eek::shocker: He managed to pull the dog away BEFORE it became snake food.

We have 3 smallish dogs and there are always children in the yard, so the VENOMOUS, DEADLY SNAKE had to go.
(sorry if I offend any snake-lovers out there, but I love my dogs & kids more).

When he saw the snake, he called my oldest son over to help while he held the dog. My oldest, not wanting to get bit by a snake, decided it was safest to just shoot the thing with his LC9, and that's exactly what he proceeded to do. Then just to make sure it was dead, he cut off it's head with a shovel.

Sunday, the whole incident REPEATED ITSELF! The Beagle started howling at something, This time I was working in the yard so I went over to investigate. Sure enough, it was ANOTHER water moccasin!:eek:

I had my little .380 strapped to my hip, but I also had a shovel in my hand from digging a new pond. I sure was tempted to shoot it, but decided the shovel would do the job just fine. And it did.

Final score: LC9 1, Shovel 1 Snakes 0.
Beagle still stupid, but alive.
:banana::banana::banana:

Lance
Click to expand...

Coming from San Diego, I relate to your story. We used to chop the heads off of rattlesnakes with a flat-edged shovel. Heaven forbid if we pulled a gun out in California. Yaki, with poisonous snakes the best option is to kill them because they can kill you pretty quick.
 
RRobaldo

RRobaldo

Regular Member
Joined
Apr 12, 2011
Messages
61
Location
Lutz, FL
Yaki said:
I get the safety part but why not remove the snakes instead of keep killing them? Eventually you will have a rodent problem and good luck shooting them in your house :banana:
Click to expand...

Several reasons...
  • Snake removal is expensive. The county doesn't do it. They referr you to a vendor who you must pay dearly. They charge extra for venomous snake removal BECAUSE IT'S DANGEROUS!
  • These things are VERY agressive and I live in a populated subdivision with lots of children. If there is even the faintest wisper of a chance that it could bite some child before someone comes to remove it then it is my RESPONSIBILITY to make sure that it can never harm a child.
  • By the time you could get someone to come out, the snake is gone, only to return another day or bite some neighbors child a few houses away.

These snakes, nomatter how or why they are here, are DANGEROUS and cannot be allowed to co-exist in family neighborhoods.

You know, I've heard the "Rodent Population" arguement many times before, and I always reply the same... There are PLENTY OF RODENT FREE AREAS THAT DO NOT HAVE POISONOUS SNAKES! And at least in my area, Water Moccasins tend to eat FISH, not rodents. We have PLENTY of hawks & falcons in the area to take care of the rodents.

These snakes are ok in swamps & lakes & rivers. I wouldn't think twice about killing one there.
But they DO NOT belong in a residential area, EVEN IF THEY WERE HERE FIRST.
 
RRobaldo

RRobaldo

Regular Member
Joined
Apr 12, 2011
Messages
61
Location
Lutz, FL
Schlitz said:
I'm just hatin'...no biggie...
Click to expand...

No prob. Just don't want to start another "caliber war".
If it's good enough for "Bond, James Bond", then it's good enough for me. :lol:

Actually, it's mostly a comfort thing.
The little LCP holsters nicely on my side and an untucked t-shirt or Guyaverra type shirt has no trouble concealing it.

I know it doesn't have the stoping power of a 9mm or .357 or .40 cal or any host of other calibers, but there's plenty of dead souls who were put there with little .22 cals too.

A gun, ANY gun, is better than no gun.
 
M-Taliesin

M-Taliesin

Regular Member
Joined
Apr 22, 2011
Messages
1,504
Location
Aurora, Colorado
Yaki said:
I get the safety part but why not remove the snakes instead of keep killing them? Eventually you will have a rodent problem and good luck shooting them in your house :banana:
Click to expand...

Howdy Yaki!
I suspect you've never seen a water moccasin. They can get pretty darn large, and are deadly poisonous.
Removing them is taking your life in your hands. Transplanting them to another location may put someone else in peril.
And they breed prolifically. There ain't no shortage of them things, and I want to repeat this... they are deadly as hell.

We carry weapons in order to defend our very life from unanticipated attack. Nothing attacks quite like a water moc.

All kinds of snakes eat rodents. Trying to fool around with a venemous snake is dangerous. Trying to remove them can get you bit, and a bite can render you dead. Simple as that.

There are people who get bit every year trying to mess around with Rattle snakes out here in the west.
Ya just don't play with a poisonous snake. The best option is to eliminate the threat.
And just a closing note: there are professionals who get bit by snakes who have handled poisonous varieties throughout their career. If a pro can lose his life working with poisonous snakes, it is obviously not something an amateur should attempt.

Just my opinion, as somebody who grew up where water mocs were many, and friends sometimes died because of them.

Blessings,
M-Taliesin
 
R

RetiredOC

Campaign Veteran
Joined
Dec 21, 2009
Messages
1,561
RRobaldo said:
No prob. Just don't want to start another "caliber war".
If it's good enough for "Bond, James Bond", then it's good enough for me. :lol:

Actually, it's mostly a comfort thing.
The little LCP holsters nicely on my side and an untucked t-shirt or Guyaverra type shirt has no trouble concealing it.

I know it doesn't have the stoping power of a 9mm or .357 or .40 cal or any host of other calibers, but there's plenty of dead souls who were put there with little .22 cals too.

A gun, ANY gun, is better than no gun.
Click to expand...

Well I'm not willing to stand infront of a .380, so there ya go.
 
J

j4l

Regular Member
Joined
Jan 6, 2011
Messages
1,835
Location
fl
Spot on with the snake controlling. We're getting tons of them of late- Cottonmouths, Rattlers, etc.-esp. w/ all these rains we're (finally) getting.
Removal is really a do-it-yourself proposition here. And usually we have to do it NOW- because it's rare that you spot them until you are right on top of em-or hear that rattle going off 2 ft away.
I've had one strike me (Moccasin) on the heel one time-was thankfully wearing my thick boots-it's fangs never made it through the leather- but it wasnt a pleasant feeling to realize I'd just stepped right over it and never saw it lol.
I keep a .410 handy specifically for dealing w/ the snakes when Im in the yard, in addition to OC of my .45 . Am considering a Judge just for snake control, as it's easier than toting a shotgun around everywhere-or a .45LC w/snakeshot loads.
 
ADulay

ADulay

Regular Member
Joined
Oct 5, 2008
Messages
512
Location
Punta Gorda, Florida, USA
j4l said:
Am considering a Judge just for snake control, as it's easier than toting a shotgun around everywhere-or a .45LC w/snakeshot loads.
Click to expand...

Man, why didn't I think of that?

I've wanted to have ANY reason to get one of those (not to conceal carry, but just to have it) but couldn't come up with a valid reason UNTIL NOW!!!

Thanks for the idea. I think I can swing the wife on it for sure. She hates snakes!!

AD
 
skidmark

skidmark

Campaign Veteran
Joined
Jan 15, 2007
Messages
10,444
Location
Valhalla
ADulay said:
Man, why didn't I think of that?

I've wanted to have ANY reason to get one of those (not to conceal carry, but just to have it) but couldn't come up with a valid reason UNTIL NOW!!!

Thanks for the idea. I think I can swing the wife on it for sure. She hates snakes!!

AD
Click to expand...

Please find one you can test out before you put your money down. Shot coming out of a rifled barrel gets twisted up in many various ways, leaving a "pattern" that often defies the meaning of the word.

http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot53.htm and http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot41.htm

He says it would ruin a snake's day just fine. I say there are not enough hits in enough vital areas to do more than make the snake meaner that it already might be. To be sure the snake ended up DRT I'd want to be closer to get more pellets in it. I do not want to be closer to the snake. It's a dilemma.

stay safe.
 
J

j4l

Regular Member
Joined
Jan 6, 2011
Messages
1,835
Location
fl
They work just fine for snakes.
As for rifling- there's so little of it in a 2in-3in. barrel,as to be a non-issue. Certainly not much more of a concern that firing snakeshot loads out of revolvers in .45 or .357(avg. 4-6"), which folks have been doing for the better part of a hundred yrs.
 
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