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Orange Phenom [14938]
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Passed a rattler yesterday evening between Pickens and HWY 11 on Shady Grove
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Jul 1, 2025, 8:27 AM
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Road. He/she was stretched out when I passed, but by the time I got turned around a panel truck had straddled it and caused it to coil.
I had a shovel in the back of my truck so I pitched him back into the woods. First one I've seen in years!
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Ultimate Tiger [36354]
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Re: Passed a rattler yesterday evening between Pickens and HWY 11 on Shady Grove
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Jul 1, 2025, 8:34 AM
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Last one I saw was when I was a Junior at Clemson in 1964. A monster at least 3 feet long and 12 rattlers. Saw it in the area that is now covered by water from Lake Keowee Toxaway. Glad you saved this one.
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Orange Phenom [14223]
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Re: Passed a rattler yesterday evening between Pickens and HWY 11 on Shady Grove
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Jul 1, 2025, 8:57 AM
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Killed one few yrs ago as it was close to house and didn't want it to get dogs. It was big and I decided to make soup out of it. Landed on an asian snake soup recipe with chicken broth, light veggies, lime juice and cilantro. It was delicious. Had a big group of friends try it as it was during a Clemson night game and we had big group watching. Everyone loved the soup. If I hadnt told people, they would have thought it was shredded chicken breast. I would definitely make it again.
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Paw Master [16279]
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Re: Passed a rattler yesterday evening between Pickens and HWY 11 on Shady Grove
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Jul 1, 2025, 9:06 AM
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Alrighty then!
The closest I get to eating anything rattlesnake are the Rattlesnake Bites at Texas Roadhouse which is basically just fried cheese and jalapeno. lol.
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Ultimate Tiger [36353]
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Re: Passed a rattler yesterday evening between Pickens and HWY 11 on Shady Grove
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Jul 1, 2025, 9:13 AM
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I saw one a few years back near Clinton on the way home from hunting late in October soaking up the warmth from an asphalt road at almost dark. He was stretched across the road because it was probably warmer than the dirt at that time of day and year. He was only about 3 feet long. Was a little surprised to see one that late in the year but it had been a warm, sunny day.
Biggest one I ever saw was a diamondback in a tomato field on Johns Island in about 1974 or 75. I was 11 or 12 years old and clearing a path between 2 fields for people to come in and u-pick tomatoes for $12 a bushel. My cousin paid me a couple of dollars to stay at the field and collect the money. This snake was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was 54 inches long and had 14 rattles and a button. I have attached a picture of my Mom holding him. Anyone else have a pic of your Mom holding a rattlesnake? 😂
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Orange Phenom [14938]
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Re: Passed a rattler yesterday evening between Pickens and HWY 11 on Shady Grove
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Jul 1, 2025, 9:21 AM
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I got misconfused. I thought your mom was holding the 3-footer. I was thinking...that's one short mama!
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Ultimate Tiger [36353]
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Re: Passed a rattler yesterday evening between Pickens and HWY 11 on Shady Grove
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Jul 1, 2025, 9:55 AM
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She was barely 5 foot tall. And the snake was only about 6 inches shorter.
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Paw Master [16279]
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Re: Passed a rattler yesterday evening between Pickens and HWY 11 on Shady Grove
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Jul 1, 2025, 9:50 AM
[ in reply to Re: Passed a rattler yesterday evening between Pickens and HWY 11 on Shady Grove ] |
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Clinton? Are they really that far down in the upstate. I thought they were mainly near the mountains especially around Table Rock and those places. Only thing I ever see around the Clinton- Greenwood (lower part of the upstate) are Black Rat Snakes.
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Orange Phenom [14223]
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Re: Passed a rattler yesterday evening between Pickens and HWY 11 on Shady Grove
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Jul 1, 2025, 9:52 AM
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They are all over the state. The one I made into soup was from Berkeley County, outside of Moncks Corner.
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Orange Phenom [14223]
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Re: Passed a rattler yesterday evening between Pickens and HWY 11 on Shady Grove
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Jul 1, 2025, 10:12 AM
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Matter of fact, we have all three rattlesnakes in Lowcountry, Timber, E. Diamondback and Pygmy. My understanding is the upstate Timber is typically little smaller and more gray vs the coastal timber is bigger and more yellowish brown.
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Ultimate Tiger [36353]
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Ultimate Tiger [36353]
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Re: Passed a rattler yesterday evening between Pickens and HWY 11 on Shady Grove
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Jul 1, 2025, 10:07 AM
[ in reply to Re: Passed a rattler yesterday evening between Pickens and HWY 11 on Shady Grove ] |
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To clarify, the rattler I saw in Clinton was a timber rattler. The one in the picture with Mom was a diamondback and the biggest rattlesnake I have ever seen. I’ve seen several black snakes over the years that were longer
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Valley Legend [12927]
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Ultimate Tiger [36353]
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Re: Passed a rattler yesterday evening between Pickens and HWY 11 on Shady Grove
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Jul 1, 2025, 1:58 PM
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Yea. She was something. Think Granny Clampett. She’s been gone 30 years as of next month. But she had to get a picture with that snake. It was the biggest rattler any of us had seen or killed.
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Ring of Honor [23665]
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Ultimate Tiger [36353]
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Re: Dude, that is a bonafide, card-carrying badazz photo. You should have it
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Jul 1, 2025, 2:01 PM
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I killed the snake with a .22 rifle. I think the bush hook was just used to move it after it was dead. She would have killed it if I hadn’t been there tho. She also helped us round up the cows if they got out when my Dad was out of town. As I told someone else, think Granny Clampett and she wasn’t far off.
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Orange Phenom [14223]
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Ultimate Tiger [36353]
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Re: Dude, that is a bonafide, card-carrying badazz photo. You should have it
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Jul 1, 2025, 3:16 PM
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No. My Dad didn’t want to eat rattlesnake. We ate plenty of squirrels and rabbits but no snake.
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Orange Phenom [14223]
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Re: Dude, that is a bonafide, card-carrying badazz photo. You should have it
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Jul 1, 2025, 3:35 PM
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Rabbit and squirrel are great. Snake is very good too. My dad taught me as young fella, that you shoot at something or take its life, you better eat it or be saving your food source. I partake in wildgame but I guarantee it is processed and used whether mammals or aquatic. 98% of my fish are catch and release but I enjoy a meal sometimes. Im an omnivore, so even some weeds or mushrooms get plucked a few times a yr.
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Ultimate Tiger [36353]
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Re: Dude, that is a bonafide, card-carrying badazz photo. You should have it
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Jul 1, 2025, 7:01 PM
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My Dad taught us the same lessons. I shot a mockingbird with my BB gun and he made me pluck it and clean it and I really thought I was going to have to eat it. I couldn’t have been more than 6 or 7 years old. Venomous snakes in the areas we frequented and anything else that could do harm were exempt from the eating rule but were killed if they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Same would have probably applied to human intruders intent on harm but we were not home the one time the house was broken into.
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Paw Warrior [4878]
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Hall of Famer [8500]
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Tiger Spirit [9523]
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Re: Passed a rattler yesterday evening between Pickens and HWY 11 on Shady Grove
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Jul 1, 2025, 9:34 AM
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Biggest snake I ever saw was in this same area about 40 years ago. I worked in the summers for a building supply company out of Pickens driving a truck. I was driving a load of lumber up to Cashiers when a huge black snack crossed the road in front of me. He stretched half way across the road
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Ultimate Tiger [36353]
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Re: Passed a rattler yesterday evening between Pickens and HWY 11 on Shady Grove
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Jul 1, 2025, 10:01 AM
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I saw a black snake while hunting in Pacolet a couple of years ago that may have been the biggest snake of any kind I have seen in the wild. I sat in a tree stand and watched him cross a logging road about 80 yards away. He was big enough for me to notice him with the naked eye at that distance and based on the width of the logging road and how he nearly stretched all the way across it, would say he had to be at least 7 feet long. After seeing him without any magnification, I looked at him through my rifle scope and he was one big dude.
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Valley Legend [12973]
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Re: Passed a rattler yesterday evening between Pickens and HWY 11 on Shady Grove
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Jul 1, 2025, 9:41 AM
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saw a big rattler on hwy 11 near table rock
he moved into the tall grass and started rattling so the pursuit was over
it was nineteeneightysomething
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Orange Phenom [15093]
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Re: Passed a rattler yesterday evening between Pickens and HWY 11 on Shady Grove
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Jul 1, 2025, 9:45 AM
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That's awesome! Thanks for posting. Eastern Diamondback or Timber?
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Head Coach [981]
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Re: Passed a rattler yesterday evening between Pickens and HWY 11 on Shady Grove
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Jul 1, 2025, 10:05 AM
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A timber rattler. If you get below Macon, GA they call them canebrake rattlers. Eastern Diamondbacks are only down towards the coast.
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All-American [592]
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Re: Passed a rattler yesterday evening between Pickens and HWY 11 on Shady Grove
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Jul 1, 2025, 11:01 AM
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IgotStripes - they call them canebrakes up here in the upstate, as well....In Gorges State Park (north side of Lake Jocassee) there is the "canebrake trail" known for these snakes.
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Orange Phenom [14223]
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Re: Passed a rattler yesterday evening between Pickens and HWY 11 on Shady Grove
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Jul 1, 2025, 11:16 AM
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Timbers and canebrakes are the same thing. The timbers closer to lowcountry just have a lighter color to blend in with pine needles and sand.
I think there was an effort to break them into different species like 30yrs ago but never happened. I think canebrake is old southern term more than anything.
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TigerNet Elite [70086]
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South Carolina has six venomous snakes...
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Jul 1, 2025, 10:03 AM
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the copperhead, cottonmouth (also known as water moccasin), eastern diamondback rattlesnake, timber rattlesnake (also known as canebrake rattlesnake), pygmy rattlesnake, and eastern coral snake.
In my experience, copperheads and cottonmouths are the most common. The others tend to be somewhat reclusive. I've only encountered rattlesnakes on a few occasions and in each case I was hiking Jones Gap, Raven Gap, Panther Run on the backside of Table Rock near Pinnacle Mountain, or various places along the Foothills Trail.
They all have one thing in common besides being venomous. In each and every case, they will leave you alone provided you don't mess with them or accidently step on them.
Be safe out there.
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Top TigerNet [31206]
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Re: South Carolina has six venomous snakes...
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Jul 1, 2025, 10:08 AM
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Those are Cane Break Rattlesnakes. Notice the tan line down their backs. That is how you identify them.
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Ultimate Tiger [36353]
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Re: South Carolina has six venomous snakes...
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Jul 1, 2025, 10:15 AM
[ in reply to South Carolina has six venomous snakes... ] |
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Agree. I think copperheads are by far the most common venomous snake in SC. They are found all over the state. The only that 2 I have never encountered are the coral snake and the Pygmy rattler. In my opinion, the hardest to ID is the cottonmouth. And yes, watching under your feet is very important. When we were growing up on Johns Island we had a lot of copperheads and they just completely blend with the oak leaves on the ground. Very hard to see unless they move. My sister still lives there and her dog got bit by one a couple of weeks ago. He’s ok but it still scared my sister pretty badly.
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TigerNet Elite [70086]
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In the summer heat, Copperheads tend to be more nocturnal...
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Jul 1, 2025, 10:26 AM
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coming out to hunt in the cooler evening or early morning hours. However, they seem to be A LOT more active during the day in the spring and fall when temperatures are milder. They are especially scary in the fall when the ground is covered with leaves and they are so much more difficult to see. I've never been bitten, but I have come close to stepping on them on more than one occasion.
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Valley Legend [12927]
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Re: South Carolina has six venomous snakes...
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Jul 1, 2025, 11:19 AM
[ in reply to Re: South Carolina has six venomous snakes... ] |
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The most reported snakes in South Carolina, by non-snake people, are water moccasins mainly because they think any snake around water is one. As per an earlier post, moccasins are only below the "Fall line" (approx. a line drawn from Augusta to Columbia to Cheraw) but people from the upstate are always claiming to have seen one. Most people in the state have never seen a Coral snake and many never a rattler of any variety. Copperheads are the most common, and also the least venomous.
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Orange Phenom [14223]
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Re: South Carolina has six venomous snakes...
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Jul 1, 2025, 11:35 AM
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99.9% of the moccasin sightings are just brown water snake and they are all over most the US. There are lots of them in SC. The bodies on moccasins are very thick, lots of girth from head to within few inches of tail. Also the coloration is very dark, hard to see any mottling unless in direct sun or you look closely. Moccasins are very docile and you have to really mistreat them normally to make them strike.
Copperheads are the most aggressive poisonous snake in SC and even they try to avoid any aggression unless messed with. They will defend there space which is why dogs get bit by them. Had a Jack Russell take a hit by one, got full load to face. Strange thing is after swelling went down, all her fur fell off just where her blood vessels died. So she had bald veins on side of her face.
This is Brown Water Snake, everyones moccasin.
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Orange Phenom [14631]
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It doesn't help that the water snakes flatten themselves out to
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Jul 1, 2025, 3:25 PM
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impersonate moccasins.
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Solid Orange [1341]
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Ive seen a coral snake once
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Jul 1, 2025, 1:46 PM
[ in reply to South Carolina has six venomous snakes... ] |
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Back when we lived on Johns Island. We had just moved into our house and I saw something moving slowly along the edge of the back patio at the edge of the grass. I snapped a picture of it (don’t have it anymore, that was two phones and phone numbers ago) and googled it to verify. I know there’s a bunch of lookalikes and that’s where I learned the saying “red on black, venom lack. Red on yellow, kill a fellow.” It was definitely the coral snake. Didn’t bother me as much as I learned they are slow movers, mostly nocturnal (this was late at night when I saw it) and non aggressive, but I always worried about letting our dogs out at night after that!
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Orange Phenom [14631]
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I used to see a coral about once a year here
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Jul 1, 2025, 2:39 PM
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at my nursery. I haven't seen one in probably 5 or 6 years now though.
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Orange Phenom [14631]
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I've never seen a diamondback in the wild
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Jul 1, 2025, 3:29 PM
[ in reply to South Carolina has six venomous snakes... ] |
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Seen all of the others numerous times, but never that one. I'm perfectly fine with that too!
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Rival Killer [2668]
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Re: Passed a rattler yesterday evening between Pickens and HWY 11 on Shady Grove
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Jul 1, 2025, 12:20 PM
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only good snake is a non venomous one.
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All-TigerNet [5693]
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Re: Passed a rattler yesterday evening between Pickens and HWY 11 on Shady Grove
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Jul 1, 2025, 12:28 PM
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It wasn't there on Sunday when I drove through there.
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Orange Phenom [14631]
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Saw this one under an old tractor shed a few years back
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Jul 1, 2025, 1:25 PM
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before we cleaned it out and rebuilt it. I dont know exactly how big it was, but the 4ft pallet gives a decent perspective. It looked pretty darn big in person.
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Orange Phenom [14223]
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Re: Saw this one under an old tractor shed a few years back
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Jul 1, 2025, 1:33 PM
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That would make good pot of soup there!
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Paw Warrior [4782]
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Re: Passed a rattler yesterday evening between Pickens and HWY 11 on Shady Grove
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Jul 1, 2025, 1:48 PM
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Thank you for making the effort to save it
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Paw Warrior [5026]
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Re: Passed a rattler yesterday evening between Pickens and HWY 11 on Shady Grove
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Jul 1, 2025, 5:00 PM
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I used to run a UPS route up that way. I saw 3, Cleo Chapman, Corn Mill, and High Meadows Rd.
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Oculus Spirit [40483]
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On a Platoon Sized Night Movement Near Dahlonega Back Summer '88 Our Point Man
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Jul 1, 2025, 6:07 PM
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Skirted this rocky outcrop and kicked loose big stone and at least 3-4 rattler came spilling out. No one could really see them but the cacophony of multiple rattlers around our 1st squad caused us to do an admin halt until an instructor could bust out his flash light and handle it. This guy a Cherokee Indian NCO with his walking staff calmly hooked, scootched and shooed away the brood of snakes. At the patrol base 4-5 hours later I overheard the Cherokee talking to the NCOIC and OIC telling them how close we were to having a bunch of the class messed up by a squad of rattlers. He went on to say they made that hilltop a no go for patrols.
I bout put a loaf in my drawers that night.
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Orange Elite [5214]
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Re: Passed a rattler yesterday evening between Pickens and HWY 11 on Shady Grove
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Jul 1, 2025, 6:13 PM
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Good gawd I’m terrified of snakes! The way they slither around is creepy. Back in the day my grandparents owned a mountain property near Hendersonville, NC. We went up there all the time in the summer. I remember seeing rattlesnakes a few times but mostly other types. I was a kid and just knew I didn’t like them and don’t recall what kinds they were. I do recall my grandpa killing a rattlesnake and hanging it over a tree. It stayed there for years after that! He kept the rattler.
He had a small lake there that we swam in. I remember being told to watch out for the water moccasins in the water! After reading the posts it may or may not have actually been water moccasins. We were told to stay away from edges of the lake because they stayed there when we were in the water because they were more scared of us than we were of them. Not!
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