Almost real bad

[PHEZZYBOY FROID]

Our group has hunted the NE corner of Montana going on 25 years and we have never had a run-in with a snake.
A few poccupines, skunks and a badger (that was a scary one) and a few near disasters on not-quite-frozen ice.

Had an encounter with a rattler in SW Saskatchewan nearly 20 years ago and fortunately for all involved except the snake.....all in hunting party were safe.

[steele]

Montana has diamondbacks??????????? I could have been killed. Saw a beauty of a bull/gopher snake north of Miles City once.

[JD1983]

Originally Posted by steele

Montana has diamondbacks??????????? I could have been killed. Saw a beauty of a bull/gopher snake north of Miles City once.

No, MT does not have diamondbacks. We have prairie rattlesnakes though which is what the original poster saw.

[jsdriggs]

Originally Posted by JD1983

No, MT does not have diamondbacks. We have prairie rattlesnakes though which is what the original poster saw.

It was a rattlesnake. And it was 5-6 feet long. I also have a buddy who was hit on the heel by a comparably sized rattler last year in the same area while throwing his dog out of the snakes way.
We have Prairie rattlers here, and they don't EVEN get close to that long. What kind of rattler do you think it was then?

[FCSpringer]

We have timber ratlers in SE MN I wonder if you have some of them there, they get that big.

[oldandnew]

Well I don't kill rattlers, if i can avoid it because I think they fill a niche enviornmentally. My dogs have fortunately been sensible enough not to get bit, despite run ins with hundreds of prairie rattlers, or sidewinders, from Nebraska's sanhills, to the Wyoming red desert. Every size from the length of your pinkie finger to well over 5 foot,sometimes all of the above and every size in between if you happen into a denning area. I have never gotten close enough to shake hands, but in my opinion the only difference between a prairie diamondback, ( yes they have diamonds), and a "diamondback of the eastern persuasion is the color, easterns being gray and brown tones, prairie being a light odd color green. Easterns may outsize the others, as well, but the prairies get big enough for me!

[JD1983]

Originally Posted by jsdriggs

We have Prairie rattlers here, and they don't EVEN get close to that long. What kind of rattler do you think it was then?

Prairie rattlesnakes get to ~ 5 ft long (I have caught them that size). As I said above, it was a prairie rattlesnake. That is the only rattlesnake found in Montana. Western diamondback rattlesnakes don't EVEN live within a few hundred miles of Montana.

[mnmthunting]

I saw 1 on the road near Sq Butte few years back as round as a baseball bat and a good 5 feet long. I stopped to look at it, I didn't get out of the truck. Still spooked the heck out of me.