Help!!! I need to find a rattlesnak...

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Author Message   Texasbob Username: Texasbob Registered: 11-2006 Posted on Sunday, September 09, 2007 - 9:50 am:    Hello everyone, hopefully someone can help. A good friend has an uncle that was paralyzed from the waist down in a logging accident. This uncle plays guitar in his wheel chair. When my friend asked him what he could do for him, all he asked for was a rattlesnake skin guitar strap. prefer western daimond back but im sure eastern would be an excellent choice also. probably no more than 2 1/2 in wide for comfort in his chair. This is needed for a birthday in the middle of October. If you can steer me in the right direction or help, please let me know. Thanks a bunch Bob   Peterdryan Username: Peterdryan Registered: 6-2007 Posted on Sunday, September 09, 2007 - 10:46 am:    TexasBob - http://www.snakeskinstraps.com/rattlesnake.htm "Our Rattlesnake straps are truly stunning. We presently are offering the Eastern Diamondback, the Western Diamondback, and the Canebrake Rattlesnake. All of them are truly beautiful." - Pete   Gemberbier Username: Gemberbier Registered: 5-2006 Posted on Sunday, September 09, 2007 - 4:14 pm:    What is this? Pay-back for a snake bite that paralysed the guy? Are snakes "outlaws" in the USA? Are the snakes killed to strip their skins off? Or can you use the skin that the snake throws off every now and then? Killing ANY reptile is a crime in Europe. Ginger   Guitarwhisperer Username: Guitarwhisperer Registered: 6-2007 Posted on Sunday, September 09, 2007 - 5:25 pm:    That's horrible! What happens if a snake attacks you in Europe? I guess you just have to die.   Chucke99 Username: Chucke99 Registered: 2-2007 Posted on Sunday, September 09, 2007 - 5:29 pm:    Ginger, I know that people eat rattlesnake meat, so it may be that the skins are a byproduct of other uses. But I'm not sure if the snakes are raised wholesale for use as skins alone. I do know that if I found out I had a rattler in my yard or near my house, I'd kill it quicker than you could say "La Grange". But that's why I live near Seattle: No poisonous snakes. ;-) -Chuck   Guitarwhisperer Username: Guitarwhisperer Registered: 6-2007 Posted on Sunday, September 09, 2007 - 6:38 pm:    Actually, once a year, there's an event called the rattlesnake roundup,currently held in Sweetwater. It's a huge event. Cattle ranchers clear their land of rattlesnakes to protect their livestock. The d@#M snakes reproduce faster'n you can say "Texas"! Having lived in Texas for many years, and almost being bitten by several just walking around my neighborhood, I can attest to their abundance! The ranchers then sell the snake heads, skins, and rattles to rednecks across the country to put on their cars, guitars, hats, belts, boots, and to decorate their living rooms with. Event patrons can also snack on the critters. Apparently, they taste like chicken. The snake populations always recover. If they didn't round up the rattlers, the state would be overrun with snakes! It's a tradition that goes back several years, although it didn't become a tourist attraction untill recently.   Peterdryan Username: Peterdryan Registered: 6-2007 Posted on Sunday, September 09, 2007 - 9:20 pm:    Ginger - We're definitely talking cultural divide, here. I'm born and raised in the USA and I don't really know what the governing laws are in the USA with regard to killing reptiles in general or rattlers in particular but I suspect they vary from state to state. As long as they aren't on the endangered or threatened species lists, I don't think a law enforcement officer anywhere in the USA would bat an eyelash if we killed any poisonous reptile (or spider). Snake skins are used for a variety of decorative objects: guitar straps, boots, belts, wallets, holsters, women's purses and clothing, etc. I think a lot of that comes from our not-to-distant Wild West history of "taming the great southwest". The USA is still a very young country in some respects and it shows, occasionally, in our cultural displays. - Pete   Bluesmeister Username: Bluesmeister Registered: 5-2004 Posted on Monday, September 10, 2007 - 1:04 am:    Ginger, the guy was paralised in a logging accident. Ergo, he wasn't bitten by a snake.   Gemberbier Username: Gemberbier Registered: 5-2006 Posted on Monday, September 10, 2007 - 11:26 am:    Here in Holland, we have only a few small snakes, and only one of them is poisonous: the common viper (Viper berus). The chance that you find one is minimal. The other one is the grass snake or ringed snake, which is not poisonous. And there is the bindworm or slowworm, which isn't even a real snake but a lizard with no feet. So, it is easy for our government to say that all reptiles are protected. Casualties because of snakebites are very rare (1 dead person in 10 years, and mostly because of an imported terrarium snake). Ginger   Bobzilla Username: Bobzilla Registered: 2-2005 Posted on Monday, September 10, 2007 - 2:14 pm:    Skin a snake has shed is useless. You would need skin from a live snake to make something of it. Laws do vary from state to state in the USA with the exception of any animal on the "endangered species" list. Anything on that list is off limits. I feel bad for the gentleman hurt in this logging accident, I hope he gets the strap. There's a band in NY called "Early Grace", they are snakes, you should skin them and make straps.   Texasbob Username: Texasbob Registered: 11-2006 Posted on Monday, September 10, 2007 - 2:34 pm:    thanks pete for that link. Ginger, i have had several dogs bitten by rattlers here in texas. you sure dont want one crawling into you garage or front porch. i would not hesitate to kill one and do not fear the law whatso ever. Laws are different in different places for different reasons. Dont be so quick to judge what you may not understand . thanks guys for the replys bob   Johns Username: Johns Registered: 2-2001 Posted on Monday, September 10, 2007 - 3:22 pm:    Simmer down now, Bob! For those of you that don't know Bob, it was just a joke!   Peterdryan Username: Peterdryan Registered: 6-2007 Posted on Monday, September 10, 2007 - 8:46 pm:    Ginger - I live on the east coast of the US and we don't have many poisonous animals here. Rattlesnakes, Cottonmouths, and Copperheads exist as do Black Widows and Brown Recluses but they are all rare in the east. Mostly, the eastern half of the US is *old* mountain ranges and deciduous forests. We can pretty much go hiking and camping with impunity save the occasional hungry bear. The midwest and, especially, the southwest of the US turns into more desert like country and that's where the majority of the nasty things live. Many different kinds of poisonous snakes, scorpions, spiders, and (I believe) North America's only poisonous lizard, the Gila Monster. If you ever get a chance, watch a video of a Sidewinder moving. They can book. I have a friend who lives in Arizona and he said it is not that uncommon to come home and find a poisonous snake curled up on/under your porch or in your garage looking for shade. Firearms also tend to be more freely available in the southwestern US than in other parts of the country. There is still a lot of frontier mentality remaining in the western states. So, the snakes tend to get treated more like vermin and exterminated with whatever is handy: 12 gauge, 45, etc. It's just a reasonably frequent occurence that no one thinks twice about. No more so than killing a rat that might give you rabies. - Pete   Guitarwhisperer Username: Guitarwhisperer Registered: 6-2007 Posted on Monday, September 10, 2007 - 11:57 pm:    Vermin, that's a good word.Has a certain ring to it.   Peterdryan Username: Peterdryan Registered: 6-2007 Posted on Tuesday, September 11, 2007 - 12:16 am:    If anyone names their group Vermin, I get 10% of all record sales, concert gate, and T-shirt sales.   Chucke99 Username: Chucke99 Registered: 2-2007 Posted on Tuesday, September 11, 2007 - 12:50 am:    Too late, Peter: http://www.myspace.com/verminuk All the good names are taken (just like all the good domain names). -Chuck

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