Any Snake Experts Out There?

IndianaPaul · Apr 16, 2002

I agree with most of the others....hog nose, though the ones around my place in are a good bit darker. Wifes hates them all....course I'm the one that likes to pester them when I find them in the field.

Indiana Paul

TresCrows · Apr 16, 2002

Yes, those are all local or popular names for the Hognose. I have heard them called, spred'n'adder, spred'n'atter (southern) both cause they will flatten their bodies and hiss, puff adder cuz they will puff up and flatten out, possum snake cuz they roll over and play dead, blow snake cuz of the puffing and hissing, false rattler cause the shake their tail in the leaves to scare you, Hissing adder for all the hissing. They are very harmless and are all show and no go. Their behavoir is meant to mimic actions of more deadly snakes or fool you into thinking they are dead. We kept them in a cage for pets and then would let them go after a time. They can become very tame. Almost any snake or animal or even person can and will bite, their bite has no venom but could result in infection just like any bite. Frankly, I cannot remember a hognose biting, they strike at you but it is all show. The Kingsnake will bite you but he is also not venomous and can become very tame when kept as a pet. We always kept our snakes till they (or my mom) began to get stressed and then we released them unharmed. We would often see the same snake for several years--no they did not remember us or wag their tails in joy.
I was a 8 year old or so out in my piroque when I spied a water moccasin (cotton mouth) swimming along. I popped him with my Crossman BB gun and he stopped, looked at me and then kept going, I popped him a second time and this time he raised his head above the water and looked right at me. It was about this time I decided I should start paddling, that snake chassed me till I got to the bank whereupon I ran like the dickens. I had a professor tell me snakes will not chase you, he was a Yankee and obviously had never popped a cotton mouth with a BB gun when he was 8 years old from his piroque. I remember that snake being 8 feet long or so and big around enough to eat me, course everything looked bigger when you are 8 years old on the black water. J

RobS · Apr 16, 2002

Thanks for the info and good story J. Now, what the heck is a piroque /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Bird · Apr 16, 2002

what the heck is a piroque 

I thought that question would come up when I read the original post?/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif That's a Cajun boat; sorta like a flat bottomed canoe, ain't it, TresCrows?

TresCrows · Apr 16, 2002

Yes Bird, that is correct more or less. Many areas of the world have traditional boats and the knowledge to build them is passed from generation to generation. The traditional boat of the bayous and swamps of Louisiana is the piroque. It was originally a dugout cypress log used by the Indians (sorry--not PC). More modern versions used planks of cypress and nowadays typically plywood because it is lighter and stiffer. Still, the stems and frames of any self respecting piroque are made from cypress. There are several variations from double enders to single enders to even a narrow or wide versions and my favorites such as was mine when I was a kid was more like a very narrow jonboat--two square ends, one with a 3 horse Johnson angle drive and the other end with a plank seat for sculling from. It was 14 feet and made of ply and cypress by me and my grandfather. We even made the paddles of cypress and my sculling paddle of pine. Double end piroques are more often 16 feet but maybe a single placer as small as 10 feet or so and used for duck hunting. J

MikePA · Apr 16, 2002

Now, what the heck is a piroque 

Before I read the entire post, I thought we were talking about one of these. /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

RobS · Apr 16, 2002

I love pierogies, and they're pretty healthy too. A friend is a rep for Mrs. T's and they used to provide them for post walk food at a fundraiser my wife helped with.

Hmmm, pierogies and asparagus. This board is making me hungry /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Knight9 · Apr 16, 2002

they're pretty healthy too

You're kidding right?! /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Kevin

Golfgar4 · Apr 16, 2002

"Now, what the heck is a piroque?"

Even after reading the posts and seeing a picture, I'll still ask.."What the heck is a Mrs. T's Pierogie?"

Hmm...must be an east coast thing./w3tcompact/icons/hmm.gif

RobS · Apr 16, 2002

must be an east coast thing

I know we had the discussion the other day about the midwest and that was sort of vague but I'm pretty sure Indiana is not considered east coast /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

RobS · Apr 16, 2002

Really, we eat them all the time Kevin. Just pasta dough with mashed potatoes inside. We boil them and put some marinara sauce on top. It's the sauteing in butter that adds the fat. Skip that step and they're a great training food. Lots of carbs /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Knight9 · Apr 16, 2002

Oh....so you are one of the disciplined eaters of perogies!! They aren't too bad for you with just potatoe/onion/etc in them. The ones stuffed with cheese and bacon start getting bad. But you are quite right...it's the frying in butter and then loading them with sour cream and bacon bits that kills the arteries! /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif Unfortunately, that's when they taste the best.

Kevin

MossRoad · Apr 16, 2002

Fried cheese pierogies at the Legion on Friday nights. Butter those bad boys up and lightly peppered. MMMmmmmm!

MossRoad · Apr 16, 2002

Fried cheese pierogies at the Legion on Friday nights. Butter those bad boys up and lightly peppered. MMMmmmmm!

Now if the snake don't poison your blood, that surely will... But what a way to go /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif.

DavidInNH · Apr 16, 2002

A piroque as in...

JAMBALAYA ( G ) Carpenters

Music 5 Bars..3...4... 5..
Goodbye Joe, he gotta go, me oh, my oh He gotta go pole the piroque down the bayon He Y-vonne the sweetest one, me oh, my oh
Son of a gun we'll have big fun on the bayon

Thibodaux, Fontaineaux, the place is buzzing Kin folk come to see Y-vonne by the dozen Dress in style and go hog wild, me oh, my oh
Son of a gun we'll have big fun on the bayon

Jambalaya and a crawfish pie and fillet gumbo 'Cause tonight I'm gonna see my ma cher a mio Pick guitar, fill fruit jar and be gayo
Son of a gun we'll have big fun on the bayon
(Solo)
Settle down far from town get him a piroque And he'll catch all the fish in the bayon Swap his mom to buy Y-vonne what she need-o
Son of a gun we'll have big fun on the bayon

Jambalaya and a crawfish pie and fillet gumbo 'Cause tonight I'm gonna see my ma cher a mio Pick guitar, fill fruit jar and be gayo
Son of a gun we'll have big fun on the bayon
(Solo)
Jambalaya and a crawfish pie and fillet gumbo 'Cause tonight I'm gonna see my ma cher a mio Pick guitar, fill fruit jar and be gayo
Son of a gun we'll have big fun on the bayon
Jambalaya and a crawfish pie and fillet gumbo 'Cause tonight I'm gonna see my ma cher a mio Pick guitar, fill fruit jar and be gayo
Son of a gun we'll have big fun on the bayon
Jambalaya and a crawfish pie and fillet gumbo 'Cause tonight I'm gonna see my ma cher a mio Pick guitar, fill fruit jar and be gayo
Son of a gun we'll have big fun on the bayon

Dress in style and go hog wild, me oh, my oh
Son of a gun we'll have big fun on the bayon

(Chorus) Jambalaya and a crawfish pie and fillet gumbo
'Cause tonight I'm gonna see my ma cher a mio
Pick guitar, fill fruit jar and be gayo
Son of a gun we'll have big fun on the bayou

I spent a lot of time working in Asia where part of the job is entertaining customers. One of the more popular activities is karoke (very different than the American version). One of the songs that was always sung was Jambalya (I think I found the words above on a Thai site - notice the spellilng of bayou...). I once tried to explain what a piroque was and the relevance of filling the fruit jar...

-david

Golfgar4 · Apr 16, 2002

"...I'm pretty sure Indiana is not considered east coast."

/w3tcompact/icons/blush.gifI guess you're right. I forgot to check your bio before I posted that reply! Sorry about that.

Knight9 · Apr 16, 2002

In our area it is a "Ukranian thing".....

Kevin

RobS · Apr 16, 2002

Hey no problemo, after all we are kind of, sort of on the east shore of Lake Michigan /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

RobS · Apr 16, 2002

Fried cheese pierogies at the Legion on Friday nights. Butter those bad boys up and lightly peppered. MMMmmmmm! 

That'll cost me an extra few miles on my ride home. Hmmm, with this beautiful day we've got going, maybe that's not a bad thing /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

RobS · Apr 16, 2002

stuffed with cheese and bacon ...frying in butter and then loading them with sour cream and bacon bits... 

Man, that does sound good /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif