While still a youngster, prior to WWII, Uncle Walter was first bit by a rattlesnake while herding goats out of the pasture. That started his lifetime conflict with rattlesnakes.
As he grew older, he and his Uncle would seek out probable snake dens. They would tie a burlap feed sack to a pole, shove it in the den, wait to feel a snake strike, pull the pole out, then kill them with a hoe.
Second time he got bit, he was a young man, dismounting his horse to check on a calf. He thinks he must have stepped on the snake, because it hit him as soon as he swung his leg to the ground.
The last time he got bit, I was probably 12 yrs old. We were moving feed for the family milk cows though the small milk shed to it’s attached feed room. Facility was made of old barn wood on frame, very rough texture. Walter, my stepfather, my brother and I all made the trip through the milk shed, then through the small door into the feed room. Uncle Walter made the last trip… and then we heard him cussing in German and a sound like you were rubbing a flat rock against the barn wood.
We looked in the feed room, and there was Uncle Walter with about 4’ of rattlesnake wrapped around his arm. Walter had a death grip on it right below its head and he was cussing and grinding its head off on the rough barn wood.
Apparently the snake had been laying on a horizontal 2x4 (waist high) by the door we had all been walking through - and it struck Walter on the last trip through the door.
Walter had no reaction to the bite. The Doc at the VA told him that due to his previous bites, there was a good chance he was now immune.
Up till just before he died, Uncle Walter continued to hunt rattlesnakes in his spare time.
As he grew older, he and his Uncle would seek out probable snake dens. They would tie a burlap feed sack to a pole, shove it in the den, wait to feel a snake strike, pull the pole out, then kill them with a hoe.
Second time he got bit, he was a young man, dismounting his horse to check on a calf. He thinks he must have stepped on the snake, because it hit him as soon as he swung his leg to the ground.
The last time he got bit, I was probably 12 yrs old. We were moving feed for the family milk cows though the small milk shed to it’s attached feed room. Facility was made of old barn wood on frame, very rough texture. Walter, my stepfather, my brother and I all made the trip through the milk shed, then through the small door into the feed room. Uncle Walter made the last trip… and then we heard him cussing in German and a sound like you were rubbing a flat rock against the barn wood.
We looked in the feed room, and there was Uncle Walter with about 4’ of rattlesnake wrapped around his arm. Walter had a death grip on it right below its head and he was cussing and grinding its head off on the rough barn wood.
Apparently the snake had been laying on a horizontal 2x4 (waist high) by the door we had all been walking through - and it struck Walter on the last trip through the door.
Walter had no reaction to the bite. The Doc at the VA told him that due to his previous bites, there was a good chance he was now immune.
Up till just before he died, Uncle Walter continued to hunt rattlesnakes in his spare time.
Last edited:
