Green Mojave’s are hard to kill

   / Green Mojave’s are hard to kill #1  

orezok

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Jan 30, 2004
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Location
Mojave Desert, CA
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Kubota B7800
I went to go outside today and when I opened the door to the Portico, there was a 3’ Green Mojave rattlesnake about 4’ outside the door. Green Mojave’s are one of the most deadly snakes in the world. Much worse than other rattlesnakes.

So I grab my Rugar Single Six loaded with snake shot and blew his or her head off. I didn’t bother to check sex. :oops:

It was on the concrete drive and before I could get my trash grabber from the shop, it had bled out the size of a large dinner plate. Well that should have done it. I picked it up an threw it on the gravel drive so that I could clean the blood off the concrete.

I checked it several times and it seemed dead.

Well an hour and a half later I check again. This thing is coming back to life. It’s moving its body but the head is still. I got a shovel and cut its head off, but it still keeps moving.

Is it a zombie snake? :eek:
 

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   / Green Mojave’s are hard to kill #2  
Snakes are very active sans head for quite some time, also capable of striking for quite some time after death. He ain't coming back but I wouldn't leave him out in the open where a child or critter could grab him.
 
   / Green Mojave’s are hard to kill
  • Thread Starter
#3  
Snakes are very active sans head for quite some time, also capable of striking for quite some time after death. He ain't coming back but I wouldn't leave him out in the open where a child or critter could grab him.
I’m on 26 acres and there are no kids around. My dog has been to rattlesnake aversion training (specifically for Green Mojave’s) and I wanted to test her. I waited an hour and then put her on a 10’ rope and led her near the snake. When she was about 5’ away her nose started twitching as she recognized the smell. She then approached closer than she should have and I puller her back.

Maybe she was less cautious because I was there, but its probably time for a refresher course.

Our previous Golden only had one training and for the next 10 years she would not go near ANY snake.
 
   / Green Mojave’s are hard to kill #4  
There have been reports of severed heads inflicting bites. I've never spent more time in the Mojave than it take's to get from one side to the other but by comparison to Texas where everything either bite's,sting's or prick's,Texas seem's hospitable.
Do Sidewinders or Diamondbacks inhabit the Mojave?
 
   / Green Mojave’s are hard to kill #5  
Lucky escape. Not many realize how lethal a green Mojave is compared to western diamondbacks. Right up there with cobras; last time that I checked there wasn't an antivenin available for it.

We have only caught a couple up here.

Snakes will move for quite awhile after they are dead, including the jaws. For rattlesnakes, I cutoff the heads and put them somewhere they won't cause trouble. We had a cat that liked to play with rattlers; after a decade or so, it developed a limp in a foreleg, which I always put down to a rattlesnake nite, but I don't have any proof. Still, that wasn't what killed it, after 20years.

All the best,

Peter
 
   / Green Mojave’s are hard to kill #6  
It's interesting to look at the lists of most poisonous snakes in the US and world. I never knew there were so many different species of rattlesnakes. None of the lists have the Mojave very high but who knows if they know. The world lists that I saw don't even have a single snake in the US on them. Things I read don't classify the Mojave as an aggressive snake. What I do know is that the water mocassins we have in the southeast are hornery and just pissed off in general. They will chase you down given the chance and their bite is pretty bad.
 
   / Green Mojave’s are hard to kill #7  
Mocassins will give you a scare alright but Puff Adders and Blue Racers do a better job,esp if one doesn't realize they are non-venomous.
 
   / Green Mojave’s are hard to kill
  • Thread Starter
#8  
Lucky escape. Not many realize how lethal a green Mojave is compared to western diamondbacks. Right up there with cobras; last time that I checked there wasn't an antivenin available for it.

We have only caught a couple up here.

Snakes will move for quite awhile after they are dead, including the jaws. For rattlesnakes, I cutoff the heads and put them somewhere they won't cause trouble. We had a cat that liked to play with rattlers; after a decade or so, it developed a limp in a foreleg, which I always put down to a rattlesnake nite, but I don't have any proof. Still, that wasn't what killed it, after 20years.

All the best,

I read a story of a guy that was bitten on the hand by a Mojave about 50 miles north of me, published in the local paper. It took 38 vials of anti venom to save him.
 
   / Green Mojave’s are hard to kill #9  
Puff adder non-native, but non-venomous???

"Puff adder envenomation causes tissue necrosis, hypotension, coagulopathy, thrombocytopenia, and spontaneous bleeding. Severe coagulopathy may occur. Physicians treating severe cases should be prepared to administer at least 15 vials of antivenom if needed."

Severe puff adder (Bitis arietans) envenomation with coagulopathy - PubMed

Only rattler I've ever seen in MI was an eastern massasauga, common on MI but rarely encountered.
 
   / Green Mojave’s are hard to kill #10  
I feel fortunate. Live right in the middle of Western Diamondback rattlesnake country. Going on 40+ years and never seen one on my property. Fifteen miles south there is a valley that's just full of them.

I have Bull snakes, Garter snakes & Rubber Boas.
 
 
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