how to catch a rattlesnake

HOW TO CATCH A RATTLESNAKE

sidewinder rattlesnake

i read about someone in texas recently that got bit by a rattlesnake and had to go to the hospital
luckily in our century we have snake antivenom to use to counteract the snakes venom in the body
sometimes it takes a massive amount to counteract the venom

i remember once a baby crawled into the fireplace in the summer to play 
inside was a large cottonmouth snake
thats the one that you see in movies where they drop down from the trees into the boat
do you jump out or what do you do

this child receive a huge amount of antivenom in our emergency room until it could be helicoptered to a chidrens hospital a hundred miles away

i took care of only one snake bite in my medical career outside of my residency training
it was a 7 year running barefoot in the grass
she stepped on a copperhead snake that bit her
luckily they brought the snake with them
i consulted a snake bite expert at the childrens hospital who after taking the childs weight and the size of the snake calculated that the child would do ok without the antivenom

she had a rough 7 days with pain swelling low platelets a drop in her blood count and fever but she had a total recovery

my neighbors dog got bit by a rattlesnake once and had to receive the antivenom
i think the neighbors horse got spooked by that bone chilling rattle that sounds real loud when you are alone in the quiet woods

once when i lived in the country n i went to check on a cedar tree i had planted at the edge of my property
at the base was a hole that a varmint had dug at the base of the tree
i luckily had on gloves
i reached in slow to cover up that hole
suddenly i heard that bone chilling make you sweat and make your heart rate go real high sound
i slowwwwlllllyyyyy and caaaaaauuuuttttiously removed my hand
unbitten thank goodness

i left the rattlesnake alone letting it go on about its business


when we lived there i only saw them out around the edges of our property
usually in our walking paths shown in the picture above


i occasionally would use my snake catcher to relocate them off our property
usually our rattlesnakes were smaller ones
 
once our two dogs wouldnt go through a gate to our pastures where the walking path was
they always loved to run along that path 
that day though
they wouldnt move at all
so
i was summoned to check things out
there all coiled up on the other side of the wooden fence was a large ole rattlesnake all coiled up to strike

we left it along and let it crawl away
i figured to eat mice and other varmints we didnt like

yes we always wore boots out in the pastures
my wife she would wear her snake boots

our approach to rattlesnakes is what your approach should be
leave them alone and dont mess with them

now here in santa barbara i havent seen a rattlesnake or any snake since i moved here
thats ok with me
i know they have them in this area
the common one is the southern pacific rattlesnake
so far i havent any encounter with those guys

when i was in college i earned extra credit in my biology and zoology classes by going out and catching rattlesnakes
i would use the snake catcher like the one above using 1 inch pvc that was 8-10 ft long with a rope loop on the end to snare them behind the head
they could easily be relocated with this device
or 
easily dropped into a sack or large container for transport

yes i got an a in all by biology and zoology classes

so
how to catch a rattlesnake

my answer
dont

leave them alone and theyll leave you alone

the organicgreen doctor