Re: [Leica] Shooting Rattlesnakes in the Wild

["Bill Larsen" <ohlen@lightspeed.net>]

After reading the LUG and apparently at my particular stage in life I think I
no longer can differentiate between humor and serious questions.  But this
question and thread is so off-the wall I feel compelled to make some sort of
answer.

1.  If you feel that the LUG is the appropriate place to ask questions about
how to take pictures or otherwise shoot rattlesnakes (or cottonmouths or water
moccasins) you really should reconsider taking pictures of these reptiles in
the wild.

2.  You do not mention where you plan to take the pictures nor do you mention
the particular species of rattlesnakes.  Some are quite aggressive.  The
toxicity of the venom is not related to the size of the snake.  Your knowledge
of which local hospitals have anti-venom would be interesting, except you
should realize that there could well be permanent neurological damage.

3.  I don't know how one shoots pictures with a camera and shoots rattlesnakes
with a gun at the same time.  But if you have spend in time in the "wild,"
rattlesnakes or moose or bears or...whatever, you must know that s**t happens
so fast that you cannot react soon enough to do much except run like hell.

4.  The suggestion that you use a short barreled shotgun with a pistol grip,
in California for sure, and I believe in the rest of the United States it is a
felony to even possess such a weapon.

5.  If you have a commercial reason to take pictures of rattlesnakes in the
wild, then hire a qualified herpetologist who knows the habits and behavior of
local rattlesnakes.

Sorry about the long diatribe, but I equate a novice taking pictures of
rattlesnakes in the wild with taking close-up pictures of Polar Bears at a
dump near the Hudson Bay.

Regards, Bill, the tin-man, Larsen