rattlesnake article

[trilobyte]

Thought this was interesting... Though I'm wondering if that's the extent of thier range. I've never seen them, but my deceased grandfather once said he found them on the farm in fayette county. Does anyone else know of rattlesnakes in eastern iowa?Rattlesnakes Thrive In Iowa Prarie

 

[oh2b]

I for one always thought the Missouri River was the cutoff for the prairie rattler. Id also assume that they are protected in Iowa. Ive seen quite a few around here but always let them go, they dont bother me I dont bother them. Then in late April I was on a friends property and my dog got bit 3 times. I killed that snake (42"). It turns out there is a den there and its about 150 yards from his house. The forest service said its not their problem. Weve been hunting those ones but most other places they shouldnt constitute a problem IMHO.

 

[Spurgeon]

A friend of mine found one on the side of the word north of decorah, although this one was a eastern diamondback i believe, if i get my scanner to work on the new computer i'll get them on here. It was a big son of a gun about the size of your forearm.

 

[Crockett]

When I was a wee lad, 40 yrs. or so ago .They were pretty common in the hills and bluffs around Lansing.My cousin had a boxer who after being bit umpteen times,and building up a immunity to their venom,took great glee in grabbing them in his mouth and shaking them until they were dead.The outside of his pen was littered with snake skeletons.

 

[oldgene]

Found one in the Maquoketa caves a number of years ago (in my youth) a bunch of guys just walking down one of the trails and the first guy just about stepped on it. It was just lying out in the sun trying to warm up.

 

[Waukon1]

They are alive and well up here.

Ive even ate one (or part of one) has anyone else???

 

[Waukon1]

HA HA HA, I see someone put that pic of me running from a skunk as my avator.

Good one

 

[glasgowm]

I know there are parts of Fayette and Allamakee that have a lot of timber rattlers. There are also supposed to be some in SE Iowa and scattered pockets in Madison and Warren counties.

The prairie rattler in IA is supposed to be main in Plymouth county.

While the prairie rattler is protected, I believe the timber rattler is still unprotected in Iowa.
Matthew

 

[deerhunter11]

A farm we bought and sold in Allamakee county had them. When it was logged, I think a den was found and the bulldozer operator had to kill a bunch of them. My uncle mounted one on a board, really looks nice.

 

[jkratz5]

We hunt Jo Davies County, IL just across the river from Dubuque and one of the farmers we hunt with was bitten by a timber rattler about 20 years ago. They had to bring him to Des Moines for anti-venom and it turned out he was allergic to that too, needless to say he had a long 2 week hospital stay and nearly lost his life.

After that he had a snake hunter come and walk his land to see if it was a fluke or if there were more, 2 times a total of 22 rattlesnakes removed.

On another note this spring when we went to SD to turkey hunt my dad came 2 feet from getting taked by a Prairie Rattlesnake (it was laying right next to our gun cases sunning itself in a dirt pile), luckily it was early for them and he was a little slow and sluggish so my dad was able to avoid him

 

[Danno]

Timber rattlers were fairly common where I grew up in Western Illinois, although I haven't heard of a sighting for a while.

 

[Crockett]

[ QUOTE ]
They are alive and well up here.

Ive even ate one (or part of one) has anyone else???

[/ QUOTE ] YEP! Not bad, kinda boney though!