Here's a picture scanned from the local weekly newspaper. It's a friend of mine (in the red shirt) holding up a snake he killed near my farm.

 

When I was a teen living with my parents in Oklahoma there were 3 kinds of rattlers, water moccasins (AKA cottonmouth), and copper heads. We lived where the Ozarks were just starting to be mountains and not hills, right at the junction. I had close encounters with all of them.

Needless to say, I don't like snakes much. Ah well, at least there weren't coral snakes.

 

It's odd that I have spent tons of time in the woods and waters around Tennessee and Mississippi, and have seen lots of copperheads and cottonmouths, but I have never seen a live rattlesnake in the wild. They're there, but I haven't seen one.

ETA: I have also spent a fair amount of time close to the area of which you spoke, i.e., Decatur, AR.

 

Think McAlester, Oklahoma, 15 miles east of there in deep country.

 

When I was a kid my dad would join the snake roundups to make a few bucks catching rattlers. People wear those big boots in open range for a reason.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bd1FT55jXC8

 

Oh Loo-sie, you seeing this?

He's been talking about snake hunting lately, still waiting for that photo he's been promising us....

 

Sweetwater Texas has a rattlesnake roundup every year.
They go out and catch em and bring em back and put em in a big clear plastic box....
Hundreds of em.....makes your skin crawl...
Snake is fryed, bbq'd, etc...any way you can think of....
The also milk the snakes for research and anti venom production....
Its really something to see.....
When I see a snake in the woods...it makes me yell...I cant help myself....just something about it......
Ive never seen a rattlesnake on my property in La....but they are here....Ive seen coral, cottonmouth, and copperhead.....but I don't go out looking for them either...
Chicken snakes scare the %^^^&** out of me too.....
I saw a cobra all flattened out and looking at me (behind glass) once....looked like death looking you in the eyes....

 

I killed copperheads on a regular basis as a kid. Once 3 in one week. Like most other posters, I never saw a rattler though they were native to the area. My dad told me stories of when he stationed at a survival school in desert of west Texas, his 2nd favorite weekend activity was catching rattlers and selling them for the skins. He would pour gasoline in cracks in the ground and a minute later they would swarm out. He said he made twice as much with rattlesnake skins and playing pool in bars as his military paycheck paid.

 

Although not recommended. They do come out of Hibernation early in the year and will sun themself's on rocks here in Utah, they are not as fast moving at that time of year. We used to fetch about $5.00 a snake from the local University Harvest the Venom. Afterward, they will return them to the location of capture.

You want some high boots at least to the knee and use a 6ft fishing pole with a loop of fishing line on the end. Once you have them by the neck a partner can open the bag as you cut the line over the bag.

 

Why did he kill it? I've seen many rattlers when hiking in Arizona where I used to live. They would sometimes get in my yard.

 

Wait till you see a eastern diamondback rattler..12'

 

Wait till you see a eastern diamondback rattler..12'

Those are beautiful snakes, and good eating. Those, and Cottonmouths and Copperheads; kept me busy in Eastern Kentucky/West Virginia. What a beautiful place to grow up. I think the largest Diamondback we killed, was around ten feet. Been a long time.

 

Cotton mouths have a bad attitude ,they lay on the rock's and say...come

on over and try to move me, with there mouths closed ,soaking the sun.