Feathers and Fins

LOL. maybe because fishermen like hunters dont readily share spots. To be truthful this is one of the few sites ive come across where people are very free with where they were and where to go and how to. Maybe its just because we are all a bunch of dumb hillbilly redneck backwood farm boys ( hope i got everyone) and we just like helping. Or maybe its because fishing is about fun and if you share the fun with others in turn they will share it back. Maybe though its we are all kids at heart and fishermen are know to be the biggest most honest people on the planet!!!

Bry you have to understand { ,maybe you do } that many people do not like replying as the feel uncomfortable or have bad experiances with other sites and people belittling them for asking or commenting. Ive been on the Net since prodigy days and pay to play AOL. So i have a little experiance in that. I will ask you though when someone gives a good detailed report what really is someone going to reply to it? If they do a how to article you might see a few people ask for better clarification if needed. But you may see reports later on with the poster thinking the person who gave the report or the how to. Fruits of ones labor may not always be in their post but a month or more down the line. There is never a useless opinion if it makes someone think or helps them. You shouldnt need post after post saying way to go great job etc etc...

Bry that is an wonderful thought out post. I once wrote an article discussing { elite"s } what makes someone and Elite is more recognition then anything else. Via the Internet or Mass Media. Name association seems to be what makes a person "Elite". I know many anglers and hunters who on any given day can outfish or out hunt these supposed "elites" To be perfectly honest I know on this site alone there are guys given the time and money to become a "name" in the sports would be called "Elite" To me the Elite person is the one who shares his love whatever it is with anyone who wants and will do it for free.

I am right handed my spinners are set up for left hand, my fly rods for left hand and my bait casters right handed. I cast right handed two always. So it makes since to have the spinner and fly set up so I can start to retrieve instantly. Bait casting Its also a natural to cast right or double handed and then start winding right.

Well I went digging and here are a few old pics. Eastern Diamond Back Rattler Another Eastern Pigmy Rattler Pigmys doing the mating dance Eastern Coral Snake OK Those are a few Native American Snakes, Now a few Not so native. A temple viper Rhino Viper Monacle Cobra, I miss this girl When the snakes come in country they are very dehydrated and a soaking was needed these were egyptian cobras. My big female green mamba

Very Nice pictures I love the heron's then that is one of my favorite birds. I will need to try and find some of the pictures of my snakes if i can and post them.

Nice write up BRY. The quest for big bass is something I was on for many years. I did it with Live bait, Crayfish and Waterdogs. It was much more difficult then i could have imagined and more skill involved then I would have thought. Learning the patterns of the big bass and migration paths, learning how to double anchor a boat and most important learning what size bait to use and where to cast it to put it where they would find it. I swore before that day live bait guys chasing big bass were wimps with no skill. I quickly learned the level of skill and knowledge it took to day in day out catch those bass was addicting and certainly not something for a wimp. Days in freezing cold anchored up trying to outsmart and intercept 1 big bite.

Jd funny you bring up otters i was just talking to my taxidermist awhile back about this and he said the same thing. I made a goal for next year to catch enough otter to make a comforter for my bed. No creature I have ever seen has more hair per square inch IMO than an otter and it would make a fabulous comforter.

A " Watch Dog" for the MDC. Seems there is always someone trying to Watch dog someone. Good luck with that for if the author had true evidance of these things his stories would have been picked up by a national news outlit im sure.

Already did my first tilling of clover second till is comming on soon and ill add in 8 striper carcasses and some peat moss. after that ill let it sit 4 weeks and tille weekly till about the first of may then in goes the Peppers, Maters ( California Beef Steaks) Okra, Cantelope, Water mellon cucumber and carrot. I love having my veggies right outside the door. Im going ot do some hanging herb gardens as well this year.

There is a major factor over-looked by people. Snakes in heavily traveled areas. For the most part areas with high human numbers have low snake numbers. Two factors cause this. Road kills and People killing them. One of the best places to collect snakes was off highway 60 from Vero Beach Florida to the Turnpike in Yee Haw Junctions. But when more and more people moved to the area and the popularity of Stck Marsh and Farm Pond13 The population declined. I use to go out and collect well over 100 snakes a night on or near 60. I talked to a friend awhile back and he told me you are lucky to collect 10 a night now. Im not suprised that popular creeks and streams around here would not have near the populations they could have.

Thats why I use a glock,,, toss it throw it drop it and it doesnt go bang. put it in water runs sand over it and drag it through the mud and nothing but pick it up and pull thee trigger and it goes bang every time... I wish my 1911 was that reliable even my 686 cant take that abuse.

LOL, I had a John of about the same size and I use to put 12dozen decoys, guns ammo etc and two people in it that pushed 500lbs togeather. Never had issues with it holding the load.. now it was cramped but where we were hunting it was safe. Ratings are for people who dont understand safe boating speeds and conditions.

Ive been throwing it with a Cardiff 400 on 12lbs flouro and its working great.

Ok 5 white rooster tails hanging off it just made me get an evil grin on my face that my wife saw and said " hunting seasons is closed you cant be thinking about messing with the geese again " I said no honey FISH she rolled her eyes and said " this is about to cost us isnt it lol" Lord i love but im so going to have to give the 5 rooster tails a try it just has WRONG written all over it.

Swimming on the water Ive seen them head out and head down. And beleive me i know how they grow in the mind. One of my favorite call outs was a lady called 911 for a 10 foot rattler in her pool. When i got there I asked her if it was still there and it was, all 2 feet of the water snake lol... Now I did get a call out for a 20 foot snake in a pool once, thinking it was certainly another water snake i went out there and when i looked in the pool i had to call for back-up. Apparently unknown to the mother of the house her son had been keeping a 16 foot Anaconda as a pet in the shed outside. I hate condas to begin with but seeing this monster I called for help we got the snake and then the son came home... I sure would not have wanted to be that kid when he said how did my snake get out right in front of his mom... Florida is a interesting place and you never knew what you were going to find or encounter. Iguanna's were fun and profitable lol

IF it was close to 5 feet heck enve 4 feet it was probably a water snake. HUGE and I mean HUGE cottonmouth seldom get near 4 feet. I have a friend with the biggest ive ever seen. It was raised in captivity with the best of care and feeding and is only 42 inches long. Captive animals kept properly will outgrow the wild animals as they will be in better health and not need to expend the energy in hunting that a wild animal will. Also they have the optimal heat ranges year round to promote growth. Its like the pictures you see of Rattlers that are 8 feet long. I love reading the reports of them and seeing the pictures. Most the time they are stretched out and a snake can be stretched 20% intact and a skinned snake can be stretched as much as 40% of its original size. But alive they are nowhere near that size.

Ron there are 4 confirmed cases of Copperhead fatalities to my knowledge. One just recently and was a friend. Anaphylactic Shock was the cause of death in his case and 1 of the other cases, the other two i cant recall the exact cause of death. A bee can cause anaphylactic shock though. My worse bite was from a recluse spider. by that i mean disfigurement and healing time... but what was the wourse was having friends who are Toxicologist and Miami Anti-venom bank I had no sympathy at all. In fact i had e-mail after e-mail wanting pictures and documentation of bite progression and negorsis etc. Lord I felt like a lab rat.

From a distancve the differances between them and water snakes would be very difficult. Ive handled thousands of them yet am always reminded of one instance where I was out collecting at night and went to pick up a watersnake, my body stopped just before I grabbed it and luckily it was a cottonmouth. Instinct saved me. Even a trained eye can be fooled in the right conditions. The best thing is leave all snakes alone. I shake my head when i hear people talk about ryhmes and wives tails. I have had snakes that go so against them it would kill. Coral snake everyone always says the rhyme red touchs black friend of jack, red touches yellow kill a fellow. Ive had ALL BLACK corals and corals that had no yellow etc. Copperheads ive seen them with so many patterns including stripes.. Its best to just admire them and leave them be. As to being bitten, i have to laugh about it. I worked with a major importer plus my own business and helping others. Ive been bitten by non-venomous so many times it desnt phase me or at least didnt when i was doing it all the time.. As to venomous yes i have been bitten but i dont discuss it other then saying it hurts like hell.

Cute little cotton, I did breed them for some time, no real value in the pet trade for them but I had several venom labs who took them off my hands. Neat critters to work with. I have only seen 1 timber rattler here and forgot how lacking in color they are in compare to their eastern brothers the Canebrake. Thankfully they dont pack near the punch of them either.

Hog, sucking out the venom has lead to envenomation of the sucker, a cavity or open soar and the venom will get in just as surely as if you had been bitten. Alot of doctors dont like AV treatment for copperheads, no way in this world would I not go through a minimum of 4 courses, Ive seen venoms affects and ill take the av. Tim, Point me to them and ill go catch a few for fun. There is no venomous snake I fear, respect yes but fear no.

Actually most CC carriers I know wont announce it to anyone, Yes I wil ltalk about it on here but in general public NO WAY. I will give you a perfect example I was out to dinner the other night with a friend and his wife. All 4 of us present have CC permits and know it because we shoot togeather and hunt togeather. But I have never nor them to my knowledge talked about it openly when other are discussing it. Yes there are braggarts out there and people with a Macho image about carrying but i would bet your 80% number would be more reflective of those who dont talk about it then those who do and probably closer to 95% if i was to hazard to guess. You may see it on the internet talked about or at a gun range. Both places are where people would talk about guns in the right situation and it would be only logical they would talk about it there. And until the 2nd ammendment is repealed then EVERYONE has the right to carry, If you are a gun enthusiast as you said. I find it very odd you would make this comment That comment goes directly against the 2nd ammendment and our gun rights. As to Open carry: Who do you think will be the first shot by a criminal, the one openly carrying that is an obvious threat to his criminal activity or the CC. While Joe dirt bag is taking out Mr Open Carry I will have pulled my weapon and fired as I was not the one he was paying attention to. Now as to this statement Some of us have to for work or maybe your running low on gas and have to get off in an area unfamiliar to you and dont know its a bad area. Or your in a very good area Like say a McDonalds and someone walks in with a gun. You cant predict where a criminal will be but you can be prepared.

I learned early on, on the internet there will always be someone who has to complain about something even though it takes less time to not type the complaint and hit send, then it does to type the typicaly useless banter belittling post and hit send... But hey that post normally get a bunch of people replying and wondering why they even posted it. Noone has ever came up with the answer to it though..

Spring is right around the corner and that means snakes! I wanted to share with you some helpful information and tips on what to do if you encounter one of the snakes of the Ozark region. First in the Ozarks we only have one family of snakes to worry about, the Vipers! Those are: 1. Timber Rattle Snakes 2. Pigmy Rattle Snakes 3. Copper Heads 4. Cottonmouths If you encounter a snake the best thing to do is simply leave it alone, don’t play Steve Irwin or you will end up in the ER or Mortuary! In the United States each year there are about 8000 venomous snake bites of which the average death rate is 8 to 12. You might be thinking if I get bit I will be ok, and you’re right the odds are good you will survive, with proper medical care. However the cost of a minimal envenomation is about 20 grand and goes up from there. I have personally seen one case that was over 100,000$. If the cost hasn’t convinced you to not play with snakes you might want to go look at these pictures and see what a bite can do to you. http://www.venomousreptiles.org/libraries/Snakebite%20Photos I hope I got your attention with those pictures. Several of them if you scrolled through it I personally took and can assure you the person is disfigured for life now and still suffers pain years after the bite. So the question is what snakes are here and what to do if I get bit? The first snake I’ll deal with is the Northern Copperhead. Family: Viperidae Genus: Agkistrodon Species: contortrix Subspecies: mokasen Common Names ( subsp. mokasen ) Northern Copperhead This is a medium sized snake with a moderately stout bodied and a rapidly tapering tail it Can grow to a maximum of about 1.35 metres. Head is broad, flattened, triangular and distinct from neck. Eyes are medium in size with vertically elliptical pupils. Dorsal scales are keeled. It is often mistaken for some of the water snakes of this region. Its prey consists mainly of lizards, frogs, small rodents, large caterpillars and cicadas. If bitten the victim should: Remove All rings or other jewelry on the bitten limb, especially on fingers as they may act as tourniquets if edema develops. The bitten limb should be immobilized as effectively as possible using a sling if available, Do not use Tourniquets, cut, suck or scarify the wound or apply chemicals. Avoid peroral intake, absolutely no alcohol. No sedatives outside hospital. If the offending snake has been killed it should be brought with the patient for identification (only relevant in areas where there are more than one naturally occurring venomous snake species), but be careful to avoid touching the head a dead snake can still inject venom. I also highly urge people to not kill the snake if possible but to use a cell phone to take several pictures from a safe distance of the animal for identification. The snakebite victim should be transported as quickly as possible to the nearest place where they can be seen by a medically-trained person. If you are by yourself and in a remote area call 911 and wait for them to arrive. A last resort should be you trying to make it to your car and to a well-traveled road once there wait for the medical aid to arrive. The second snake is the Cottonmouth: Family: Viperidae Genus: Agkistrodon Species: piscivorus Subspecies: leucostoma Common Names ( subsp. leucostoma ) Western Cottonmouth Yes this is a water moccasin or chuckle head or adder all common names for this snake. Large in length, stout bodied snake with a moderately short slender tail. It can grow to a maximum of about 1.58 meters. Head is broad, flattened, triangular and distinct from neck. Eyes are medium in size with vertically elliptical pupils. It preys mainly on frogs and fish, but will eat lizard’s birds and smaller snakes. One interesting observation I have made from this species is its tendency to patrol along roads and clean-up road kills. I have caught many cotonmouths that were scraping up freshly ran over toads and mice. The emergency first aid for this species is the same as a copperhead. The next species is the Timber Rattler: Family: Viperidae Genus: Crotalus Species: horridus Subspecies: horridus Common Names ( subsp. horridus ) Timber Rattlesnake , Banded Rattlesnake This is the big dog in our area and has a nasty bite and horrible consequences, I have seen fingers, hands and feet disfigured from this animal many times and want every to respect this snake and the possible damage it will do. But on the other hand it is not very common around here and will retreat if encountered unless cornered as a general rule. Large in length, heavy bodied rattlesnake with a short tail and a horn-like segmented rattle. Can grow to a maximum of about 2 meters. Head is large, broad and very distinct from narrow neck. Eyes are moderately small in size with vertically elliptical pupils. Dorsal scales are keeled. Feeds mainly on lizards, rodents, small mammals and birds. I have found this snake really has a passion for small rabbits and Squirrels. Emergency medical treatment is again the same as a copperhead bite. Finally my favorite venomous snake in North America, the Pigmy Rattler. I have owned numerous pigmy’s including a monstrous 33 incher I raised from a baby. This snake was raised in the most optimum conditions possible and 33 inches is a record or was at the time. She was 9 years old at the time of that measurement. They have a Napoléon complex and will bite fast and readily. Family: Viperidae Genus: Sistrurus Species: miliarius Subspecies: streckeri Common Names ( subsp. streckeri ) Western Pygmy Rattlesnake Small in length, tapered and cylindrical bodied snake with a moderately long and slender tail terminating in a tiny, segmented rattle. Can grow to a maximum of about 0.65 meters. Head is broad and distinct from narrow neck. Eyes are small to medium in size with vertically elliptical pupils. Dorsal scales are keeled. Feeds mainly on small rodents, frogs, large insects and spiders. If bitten the emergency procedure is the same as is for all our venomous snakes in this area.

The movie is ( The Ghost and the Darkness ) Very good movie but Hollywood put its spin on the story. The actual two lions are at The Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. If you read the Patterson journals it would have made a far better movie. But in 96 Douglas and Kilmer sold by their names so Hollywood took its liberty.