A guy I know was bit by a copperhead that was an illegal pet in nj. They went to the hospital and nobody believed them. Unbelievably they don't have copperhead venom stocked around here even though they live in nj

 

Back in the 60's, I worked at a place that had an "importer's" license and we dealt in exotics. We had all the big cats at one time or another and many poisonous snakes & lizards. There was very little oversight back then and we could sell them to practically anyone. All our rattlers were shipped in from Arizona. That guy from Florida that was instrumental in the development of rattler anti venom, Bill something, flew up one weekend to teach us how to handle them. I was pretty good at handling rattlers and big cats when I was 16. Now I am sure I am too old and slow to play with them much.

Back in the 60's, I worked at a place that had an "importer's" license and we dealt in exotics. We had all the big cats at one time or another and many poisonous snakes & lizards. There was very little oversight back then and we could sell them to practically anyone. All our rattlers were shipped in from Arizona. That guy from Florida that was instrumental in the development of rattler anti venom, Bill something, flew up one weekend to teach us how to handle them. I was pretty good at handling rattlers and big cats when I was 16. Now I am sure I am too old and slow to play with them much.

 

When out at the house in AZ a shotty is all that's needed. I agree, younger and faster days of our youth you could catch them and man could you toss them far, but wouldn't try that these days.

My aunt lived out in Tuscon AZ..a Mountain lion killer her Boxer. He was a rogue cat , I remember them being very concerned that he was not afraid of the dog. I was there on a two week visit and was not allowed to play in the yard .

 

We use to catch snakes in the swamps behind Kearny all the time . Use to come home covered in mud with buckets of crabs , snapping turtles , garters and milk snakes. One show and tell , sometime around 1979 , I brought in a Garter snake I had caught that had babies. The container tipped over in my mom's VW Bug and a whole clutch of snake babies got loose in the car. My mother was wigged out for months because they kept slithering by while she was driving and she was afraid of snakes. As much as she was afraid of them she was worried that the "babies" would have no food or water so we left mealworms and water in the car each night .

 

Then last week my 5 year old's teacher was saying how pet goldfish can make kids sick. Different world.

My aunt lived out in Tuscon AZ..a Mountain lion killer her Boxer. He was a rogue cat , I remember them being very concerned that he was not afraid of the dog. I was there on a two week visit and was not allowed to play in the yard .

 

We use to catch snakes in the swamps behind Kearny all the time . Use to come home covered in mud with buckets of crabs , snapping turtles , garters and milk snakes. One show and tell , sometime around 1979 , I brought in a Garter snake I had caught that had babies. The container tipped over in my mom's VW Bug and a whole clutch of snake babies got loose in the car. My mother was wigged out for months because they kept slithering by while she was driving and she was afraid of snakes. As much as she was afraid of them she was worried that the "babies" would have no food or water so we left mealworms and water in the car each night .

 

Then last week my 5 year old's teacher was saying how pet goldfish can make kids sick. Different world.

 

Oh, my wife absolutely hates snakes. She would sell the car.

 

One time we came back from the grocery store. We have an extra refrigerator in the basement. About 99% of the time, I am the one who carries stuff down to the basement. For some reason, this time she did it. I heard her say, 'Whoever put the fake snake down here, it's not funny. You know how I feel about snakes." I thought, uh oh. So I went downstairs, and I saw curled up next to the refrigerator a real snake. She was so freaked out. She told me to get rid of it. I said OK, but I have to go to this meeting at church right now, but I'll get it when I come back. She gave me the look. OK, I'll get it now. So I did. It was a very mellow, harmless snake about 3' long. I just put it way back in the woods behind our house.

Apparently all you need to protect yourself from a mountain lion is a good cast-iron frying pan -

 

 

http://www.prescotta...tionID=1&Page=2

 

Rabid mountain lion in attack mode no match for Chino Valley man and his frying pan

 

If someone told you they killed a rabid mountain lion with a frying pan, would you believe it? Chino Valley resident Brandon Arnold has such a story, and he has witnesses to prove it.

 

Arnold, 24, his girlfriend Tessa Gerdes and seven of their Chino Valley friends, including three children, were camping May 4 at a remote spot on the Tonto National Forest, near the Verde River off Bloody Basin Road, when the story of a lifetime unfolded.

 

They were getting ready to make breakfast at about 6:45 a.m. when a large animal jumped out of the bushes onto the back of Arnold's dog Apollo, a 90-pound lab-pit bull mix.

 

"It was hard to tell what it was when it jumped out of there covered with grass and smelling like a skunk," Arnold's friend Donald Jones said. "I thought it was somebody's dog, so I was just pissed off somebody brought a mean dog to camp."

 

Jones grabbed the neck of both the animals to try to pull them apart. That's when they all figured out the other animal wasn't a dog. Jones let go real fast. "I started screaming at the top of my lungs, 'Holy (bleep), it's a mountain lion!'" Arnold recalled.

 

The lion ran into the mesquite bushes and Apollo ran after it while the men frantically looked for the nearest weapon. Jones grabbed a camping table and Arnold grabbed a 14-inch cast-iron skillet heating up on the propane stove. Arnold got to the lion and dog fight first and did what he had to do to save Apollo.

 

"The first time I had a clear shot I just swung the pan and hit him right on the head," Arnold said. "It was like a cartoon - he just kind of stopped and I hit him again. He got stiff and fell over."

 

He hit it several more times, then another friend shot it a couple of times just to make sure it was dead. Figuring only a rabid lion would act like that, they contacted the Arizona Game and Fish Department. The positive rabies results came back Monday.

 

Amazingly, no one besides Apollo was scratched, or they'd have to get expensive and painful rabies shots. Apollo already had his rabies shots. He suffered gashes and scratches but they weren't life-threatening. He has to stay in quarantine at home for 45 days.

 

"Everybody was lucky," Jones said. "Even the dog was lucky. We'll never win the lottery because we used up all our luck right there."

 

The group continued their camping weekend, although they moved to a site with fewer bushes around it. They sat down and started talking about what just happened. "We all figured when we went back, nobody was going to believe us," Arnold related. "Man, it was the craziest thing I ever experienced."

 

Arnold is sheepish about his heroics, saying Apollo is his baby and he didn't want him to die. "It was the adrenaline," he said. "I'm not a badass or anything." Jones can't wait to tell his grandkids the story. "They won't believe me," he said.

Bloody Basin Road....says it all!

I've hiked the Tonto National Forest. That is some rugged, desolate country.