Reuben
UKC Forum Member
Registered: Nov 2011
Location: Freeport,TX
Posts: 2011 |
Re: Rueben
quote:
Originally posted by Dave Richards
I have always heard that hogs would kill and eat rattlesnakes, now I really do not know if that's true or not. Read a story about hogs killing all of the rattlesnakes that were on Catalina Island in California. If that is true, areas with a lot of wild hogs should be low on rattlesnakes. What is your experience with that matter, is it correct or just a story? Dave
I do not know about wild hogs eating rattlesnakes... I always thought wild hogs ate snakes based on a different experiences as a kid...I saw a documentary and there was a wild hog that walked past a rattler and didn’t pay it any mind whatsoever but that is only one incident...
Honestly the place I talk about that was loaded with snakes was back in the late 1970s and early 1980s...but even then there were many hogs back then in that particular area...the hogs weren’t everywhere back in those days like now...where we hunt now not many rattlers are seen but they are there...
Back then even the marsh across the river from where I’m talking about didn’t have hogs nor the island close by...the hogs are there now and most everywhere else that has the right environment...
Back in the 1960s during the hot and dry summers, my grandfather would take 5 gallon buckets of water to the pig pen and dump the water in the mud hole for the pig or pigs...he said besides cooling them down it would keep the bugs off of them...we always had one hog per year that would be 300 plus for the lard and meat...he would be butchered when the cold weather arrived...it would be a get together and a fun time...
During the dry times the cottonmouth moccasins we’re looking for mud and water holes...and sometimes they would come to the pigs wallowing hole...when I fed the pig or pigs they walked by the hole to get to the feed trough and if a snake was in the mud hole it would be killed and eaten pretty quick...I remember one of those times very well...the pig curled his front legs (like we would kneel) back as the snake struck at his jowls...he snapped at the snake a few times and once he had it he just shook it pretty hard and he just swallowed him down...the other times they just caught them and shook them a bit and swallowed them down...growing up on the farm I experienced and learned many things that I took for granted back in those days...
So why did the penned hog kneel...I think he kneeled because there isn’t much fatty tissue in those areas so that is probably why...apparently extra fatty tissue protects some from the snake venom...
Why were our hogs willing to eat a snake that had the potential to bite them...they did get bit but I never saw swelling... was it because they lacked a nutrient or was it natural for them to eat snakes?
Truth...you are speaking the truth...most want to get away...if the snake decides to lay low on account it thinks it is hidden and we were to accidentally step on it we probably will get bit...if you are standing close for too long the snake will think it is discovered and will rattle to warn you...
The other day that is what happened to me...by time I pin pointed the snakes location it struck and immediately it turned and disappeared in the salt grass...luckily I was out of reach...
The thing is...getting bit by a rattlesnake once is once too many...
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Training dogs is not so much about quantity, it's more about timing, and the right situations...After that it's up to the dog....A hunting dog is born...
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04-26-2021 03:24 AM
