[Catchingtrout]

The following was sent to me by a resident of Hoenwald,TN earlier this week. I am not saying I believe the story, but here it is.



To all my friends who go out on the land..........


Egads, it's head is bigger than a man's hand. I got this warning from a rancher friend who lives near Woodbury (less than an hour from Hohenwald) . Heed this advice!!





Ya'll need to forget about those itty, bitty snake-proof boots and
find yourself a full snake-proof SUIT.., AND HAT!!!
My fellow friends and family,

We have killed 57 rattlesnakes on two separate ranches this year.

24 @Locke Creek & 33 @ Halls Hill, since mid-May. Not one has buzzed!

We provoked one fair sized boy with a stick and he coiled & struck at

the stick a couple of times before he buzzed up and rattled. The purpose

of this explanation is that I have been hearing the same from fellow ranchers

and hunters in regards to the lack of warning with rattlesnakes.

I had lunch with a friend today and he offered a theory about the fact that

these buggers aren't rattling anymore He raised pigs for years and reported

that when he would hear a rattlesnake buzzing in the sow pen, the sows

would bee line to it and fight over the snake. For the uninformed, pigs love

to eat rattlesnakes.. Therefore, the theory is they are ceasing to rattle to

avoid detection, since there are plenty of pigs roaming the countryside.



I have a neighbor ranching lady who was bitten 3 weeks ago 2 times by

the same snake without any warning....she spent 5 days in ICU, after

22 vials of anti-venom she is back at the ranch and still may lose her

foot or worse yet her lower leg.

The days of perceived warning are over. Keep your boots on and use

a light when out and about. As you all know, one can pop up just about anywhere!

You may wish to forward this to anyone that would be interested.

The ranch where this big rattler was killed is outside the city of Woodbury

which is located in (Middle Tennessee) near Readyville .

Seems there's been a boom in the snake population there.