LOC CE vs. rattlesnake story.

Patriot

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This past Sunday evening at my parent's house I was sitting on the patio with my Dad, just chatting and enjoying the cooler evening air. I saw him look down and to his left, and then he said, "hey, I've got a rattlesnake by my feet." I looked down and saw a 28-30 inch rattler stretched out on the still warm patio about a foot away from him. I whipped out the LODCE with 10440 and lit up the area as dad stood up and moved away. When I lit up the patio we noticed two little geckos about 3 or 4 feet behind the snake who appeared to be playing dead and their bodies were curled up. As soon as I touched one of them it ran off. I think they were trailing the snake trying to keep tabs on it as it passed through their neighborhood.

The snake didn't seem to be concerned about our presents and was pretty mellow until I tried to put him in a bucket and he tried to get away. :poke: We couldn't let him stay in the back yard because of my parent's small dog not to mention people. We eventually got him into the plastic laundry soap bucket and I was going to walk it out into the desert. Dad said, "need a bigger light?" I said no, I got it. I turned the little LODCE from low to high and my dad starts chuckling…"I guess not," he says. I walked the rattler out about 100 yards and let him go in the wash. As I was walking back, Dad says, "It looks like you're carrying a huge spot light!" I handed it to my Dad and said, "let's see, you walk around with it now." He was right, it looked very funny to see this rather large beam cutting through the pitch blackness. He said, "this thing is getting hot!" We both started laughing about the pinky sized light. I guess this means I'm going to have to get dad set-up with one for his B-day next month.

Once again.....having a good flashlight comes in handy and the LOD CE seems to be right for every occasion.
 
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TKC

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That is good that you were able to get the snake away from people and the dog safely. The Fenix (and you) saved the day!!
 

Patriot

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TKC said:
That is good that you were able to get the snake away from people and the dog safely. The Fenix (and you) saved the day!!

Yeah, back when I was younger I'd have just killed the thing, but it was just as easy to relocate the little critter. In the end everything turned out happy and no harm was done. Makes be feel a little better too after killing so many of them when I was younger and much less wise.
 

LESLIEx317537

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Cool story, lucky I don't have to worry about rattlers in my neck of the woods.
The LOD-CE is definetly a cool little light, comes in handy all the time. So bright, yet so small. I keep mine with me on my keychain.
 

Coop

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The thought of finding a rattler on my balcony (right, like that is ever going to happen) scares the shite out of me. I would probably lock the door and call for professional help. There are hardly any snakes in this country (3 native species of which only 1 poisonous and another imported species, also harmless). Also, I have never encountered a snake here in the Netherlands.
Strange thing is that when I'm just thinking about it, I'm pretty scared, but when I was on holiday in france and met some snakes in the wild, I wasn't the least bit scared, just curious (and bummed out because I didn't have my camera with me at the time). The snake on the other hand wasn't curious at all and just tried to get away as fast as it could (maybe the presence of our friends very playful Labrador had something to do with it). I guess this kind of proves how TV and other media can influence people, and often not in a positive way.

Snake are fascinating creatures, and I compliment you for relocating it :)


FYI, Snakes that live in the Netherlands are:
Native:
- Coronella austriaca
- Vipera berus
- Natrix natrix

Imported:
- Elaphe schrenckii

I used the Latin names to prevent problems in translation :)
 

Learjet

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Good story about the Fenix and the snake. If the Fenix is a dragon it might be kind of a reptile itself. Or not. :D

Have had a lot of snakes around here this year. Find them wound around everything. Even found one in the house, a poisonous whip snake. Was alerted to it by the cat. No he didn't bring it in. I think it may have squeezed through a crack in the door.
 

Brozneo

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If I found a snake anywhere round my house I'd definately be running and calling for some assistance! But I guess that comes with the territory - New Zealand, basically nothing here will kill you in suburbia (or in the woods!)... In surburba, Dogs would be about the only thing we have... We have no snakes, only one semi dangerous spider, a few things out in the wild that might chase you but other than that we are sweet... Hence when me and my mates have travelled to Australia we are always very careful when going to retreive things in bushes etc!
 

bitslammer

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Just curious. Do you know what type of rattler it was? I've only been around the ones they have in SC when I was in basic training. They are pretty docile and you would have to try hard to get one to strike from my experience. I know we have a few aggressive rattlers here in the US.

In SW Ohio where I live the most trouble we have is with these: http://www.wf.net/~snake/moccasin.htm

I can say firsthand that they are aggressive. I had to take a drop playing golf once because one of them came out of the water near my golf ball and wasn't going to budge. They have no fear of humans and will strike if you enter "their" turf.
 

Toohotruk

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Funny...earlier today I ran into this guy:

p1003204qo9.jpg


I was at work and had to ride up the canyon above the campus on a 4wheeler to check on a water pipeline. I was walking around with a coworker and all of a sudden, I heard the distintive sound of a cranky Diamondback rattler approx. 4' long, about 5' away! :eek:oo:

I stepped back and took a few pics as he slithered away...

Then I came here to check on my favorite forum and I happened across this thread! :wow:

Sorry, no flashlight in my story (other than my holstered 2AA MagLED and pocketed "no-name" 1AA CREE), but I thought I'd share the coincidence.
 
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Martini

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As far as poisonous snakes go, I mostly run into copperheads, which I find easy enough to avoid (unless in a boat). I have stumbled across an entire nest of rattlers near a friend's house, and was happy to remove myself from that. Strictly speaking, rattlesnakes are defensive; I've never seen one attack without provocation (in the snake's mind, anyway).

bitslammer said:
In SW Ohio where I live the most trouble we have is with these: http://www.wf.net/~snake/moccasin.htm
Water moccs are the nastiest things we have on this continent. If you encounter one, you have two choices: kill it, or run. You don't always have the luxury of weighing your options. My fiance's family has a pond full of them; I never set foot near it. There are just some animals you don't want to tangle with.
 
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