Rattlesnakes

[sgeeeee]

Because of the kind of things I enjoy doing, I encounter quite a few reattlesnakes each year.

I respect rattlesnakes. They are interesting and amazing animals. When I hear their warning, I stop what I'm doing. I focus on the rattlesnake and show great respect for it. I don't confront the rattlesnake. I don't try to injur or kill it.

I don't think rattlesnakes should be eliminated. I recognize that they are not evil. They are simply insecure. Frightened by a large thermal mass that they don't understand, they respond in the only way they know how. I try to avoid them and let them try to avoid me.

-- Now replace "rattlesnake" with "gun owner" in the previous paragraphs and that's the way I look at guns in the US.

 

[John Galt]

Not your best effort.

JG

 

[unclemick]

In LA or MS that would make you a hermit or someone who would never leave the house.

 

[Eagle43]

Or in Texas, either. Here, we got Rattlers (and several different species of snakes) and we have guns. Lots of them. Oh, and we have some two-legged snakes, too.

 

[REWahoo]

Or in Texas, either. Here, we got Rattlers (and several different species of snakes) and we have guns. Lots of them. Oh, and we have some two-legged snakes, too.

And that is why Texans and others who have a disdain for snakes of all types own guns.

REW

 

[Spanky]

I don't think rattlesnakes should be eliminated. I recognize that they are not evil. They are simply insecure. Frightened by a large thermal mass that they don't understand, they respond in the only way they know how. I try to avoid them and let them try to avoid me.

They are analogous to people in the corporate world. They are so insecure that they have to resort to "stabbing you behind your back."

 

[sgeeeee]

In LA or MS that would make you a hermit or someone who would never leave the house.

That's just not true, unclemick.  If you guys really think LA or MS or TX has a significantly higher percentage of gun owners than Arizona, I think you're fooling yourself.  I've traveled through all those places -- even hitchhiked through there.

As with rattlesnakes, I run into people toting guns all the time.  As with rattlesnakes, I don't always identify them.  You walk past a lot more rattlesnakes than you see.  But as with rattlesnakes, when I do identify them, I take action to avoid confrontation.

I've avoided the gun threads for a long time.  But I felt like my own position was distinct from all the others.  I don't own a gun and don't want a gun.  But I grew up with them and am not afraid of them.  I went hunting and target shooting when I was younger.  A gun just wouldn't do anything good for me today.  I'm not against gun ownership.  I don't want to outlaw them.  But I find the adamant "take my gun from me over my dead body" gun fanatic misguided and ignorant of the nature of the "liberal" they turn on -- much like the rattlesnake in the grass that is confronted by a large thermal mass.  

I could write another version of this thread starter from the point of view of the ignorant thermal mass that is unnerved by the rattle, hates the rattlesnake and wants it dead.  Then I could get the other side of this debate angry with me too.  

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I've lived in rattlesnake country in CA for 12 years, and never so much as seen one. Perhaps because the place I lived the longest was also well inhabited by wild turkeys, and I understand they like to eat the baby rattlers.

Many years ago while in new hampshires white mountains on a hike, late in the day, relatively intoxicated, me and a few other buddies stumbled across one while returning our budweiser rental to the bushes. In our existing state, we decided to whomp it with a stick for a while. Then we cooked and ate it. Not one of my better ideas.

Please dont replace the word 'rattlesnake' with 'gun owner' in the above statement.

 

[John Galt]

I have tramped all over Montana, New Mexico, Arizona
and of course, Texas. I have seen plenty of snakes but no rattlers. A good friend used to hunt 'em (in Texas).
Not sure if he ate them or not.

JG

 

[sailaway]

I live in Oklahoma and I, and many of my friends, carry guns to protects our livestock. We can relate to packs of dogs, and other evil preditors preying on cows and young calfs. When we are alone without livestock we do not carry guns as we feel that we can avoid confrontations and are personally not at risk, but when with the livestock we will protect them from those preditors which are without reason or respect of life.

Now replace the above livestock with my wonderful wife and precious daughter, and preditors with rapist, thieves and killers and this is why for me I will protect these things and will never second guess myself with regrets because of a liberal philosphy. I respect all others beliefs but for me and my friends, are assured in ours.

Sailaway

 

[charlie]

My wife inherited a small dry-land farm in West
Texas (near Olney) and we tried to be "gentlemen"
farmers for awhile. One weekend while checking
the plumbing under the old farm house I encountered
a rattlesnake eye-ball to eye-ball. Needless to say,
I beat a hasty retreat. We called the local Agg Agent,
who collected snakes for a hobby, to remove same.

You have to be careful where you step in the Texas
brush country ..... and not just because of the cow pies.


Cheers,

Charlie

P.S. No Cut, I did not get my shotgun off the gun
rack in my P.U. and blast him to eternity.

 

[sgeeeee]

. . .Now replace the above livestock with my wonderful wife and precious daughter, and preditors with rapist, thieves and killers and this is why for me I will protect these things and will never second guess myself with regrets because of a liberal philosphy.  I respect all others beliefs but for me and my friends, are assured in ours.

Sailaway

Nice try. I appreciate the effort. But definately strained and unconvincing.

 

[sgeeeee]

I have tramped all over Montana, New Mexico, Arizona
and of course, Texas.  I have seen plenty of snakes but no rattlers.  A good friend used to hunt 'em (in Texas).
Not sure if he ate them or not.

JG

Unless you get off trails and spend a lot of time where people don't go, you don't tend to see many rattlesnakes. They also tend to remain quiet and unobserved unless threatened. On several occasions I've watched 3 or 4 people at a time walk within a few feet of a rattlesnake and not even notice it.

I've eaten rattlesnake several times. I don't particularly like the tase of the meat, but if seasoned enough it is marginally edible.

If you really want to experience redneck, rattlesnake culture in the US, take a trip to Young, TX for their
Rattlesnake Roundup Festival. Several other West Texas towns hold these kinds of events. Sweetwater is the biggest. But of the ones I attended, Young was the most testosterone driven by far.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I've eaten rattlesnake several times. I don't particularly like the tase of the meat, but if seasoned enough it is marginally edible.

Ours probably would have been a little tastier had we skinned it or cleaned the innards out before cooking.

 

[polloloco]

We cooked some rattlesnake meat at Boy Scout camp in N GA in the early 60's. Quite tasty, kinda like chicken and frog legs. Of course, we did skin and eviscerate. Not much Bud at the scout camp.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I think we've identified the primary problem with the scouts organization...

 

[Craig]

Actually, if you do just a little research, you find pretty quickly that the so-called paranoid gun owners were right to be concerned.  The anti-self defense movement in the U.S. was on a nearly mindless crusade to eliminate as many types and numbers of guns as possible.  "For the children", this gun is too big (.50 BMG), this gun is too small ("Saturday Night Specials"), this gun carries too many rounds, this gun has a flash hider, let's sue the gun manufacturers into bankruptcy, ad infinitum.  It was absurd.

Glad to see you're not in that ignorant camp.  But, with respect, you might want to reconsider how needlessly worried gun owners were.  Thankfully, for the moment at least, cooler heads have prevailed.