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Originally Posted by NVScouter
I kill a few rattlers every year and cook em up. But only the ones I find in my yard or by my tent. If its a baby I'll scoop up with the shovel and let em live. But I'm not even close to being comfortable handling a venemous snake. I love having snakes around to eat all the mice around I just dont like them around my wife and pets. So does that make me not welcome here? I use the meat and skin, waste not want not.
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Well, I can't speak for everyone, but there is nothing wrong with your actions as you state them here. I'm pretty conservative when it comes to field herping, I'm one of those "take only pictures, and leave only footprints" kind of guys, for the most part. I'm no tree hugger though, I do occassionally legally collect an animal, like in 04' I kept a Rosy Boa, as it was the first one I've found in almost 30 years of field herping. It was one of my hard luck life list animals. Taking an occassional Rattlsnake for your own personal use, to me is no different than hunting deer, or fishing IMHO. Plus you realize the benefits of a healthy herp population, even including Rattlesnsakes, so that's a good thing too.
The reason I was addressing the thread was I don't believe in Rattlsnake roundups. They are senseless, barbaric, spread false info (like they use the snakes to collect venom for antivenin, which is BS) and destroy habitat (especially the ones who still use gasoline to flush out dens), plus even though I believe hunting and fishing, is okay, there is a difference between shooting a deer or two, or catching a couple bass, than just going out and collecting as many of an animal as you can, and then doing stupid things with them.