have lived in rattlesnake country all my life. Long ago I trained my ears to identify unnatural sounds (not wind or known animal related) and to see unanticipated movement in grass/brush (other than known animal/wind). Also, I smell about half of those I have run across. Never been bitten.
Foot wear and clothing has never been dictated by snake worries but by the job at hand, thus variously cowboy boots (when horseback), tennis shoes for river wading or traction on rocks. Blue jeans almost 100% of the time when outside.
Personal experience... almost never is a gun available when a snake is sighted, unless hunting other game. I've used rocks, sticks, calf halter rope, all sorts of stuff to kill them. Agreed a dog, properly snake aversion trained, is a good identifier.
Kel Tec A Kel-Tec PF9 9mm is my ccw... and certainly small/light enough to fit in a pocket or any tractor tool box. A cheaper and effective alternative would be to keep a short handled hoe on the tractor.
Regarding bites....
only maybe 1/3 of bites result in venom injection. I have had dogs bitten and NO swelling occured, thus risk is only from puncture wound/infection.
If injection occurs, the site becomes important... the venom destroys muscle and flesh.... hopefully injection is not into an artery. If in the throat area or neck, the swelling can result in closing the windpipe and suffocation.
Grazing animals, thus, are at risk with their head down.
The reality is that the snakes prefer to run than fight, particularly when faced with a physically large threat (cows, horses, man). This is why noise works.... they realize something bigger than them is approaching and they seek to retreat.
When they coil, it is a threat display.... strike range is about 2/3 the snake's length. Strikes occur primarily as a response to a very close menacing motion. Remember that Steve Irwin ALWAYS moved slow around rattle snakes... never got bit.
So, I respect the danger a rattle snake presents, kill them when I find them, but do not take any special protective measures. Almost everywhere the probability of running into a rattlesnake is very low, the probability of injection even lower, injection in a REALLY bad place even lower, and that this would occur so far from medical treatment that it would take more than 4 or 5 hours to get medical help is nearly nil. About 8000 rattlesnake bites to USA humans annually results in about 15 deaths.
Rattlesnake - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia is a well written explination of all things rattlesnake.
Yeah don't kill yer neighbors rattlers.