The Local Wildlife

[MistyKeene]

Wondered what wildlife you all have seen on your golf course? In Texas we get lots of deer, armadillos, snakes, etc etc....

Saw this article about a golf course about 40 minutes outside of Dallas and wanted to share

Beau Elrod made a startling discovery on a local golf course in Cleburne, TX . on Monday. While searching for golf balls, a weekly endeavor for Beau, on Cleburne ’s City Golf Course, Beau thought he had stepped on a rotten fallen tree limb. “it kind of mushed under my boot and I didn’t think much of it, til it began to move.” The huge reptile revealed itself from beneath the ground cover yielding a Western Diamond Back Rattler believed to be the largest of its kind ever discovered in the United States . Weighing in at a 97 lbs and 9 feet, 1 inch - it is the biggest rattler found since Ross Allen captured one in 1969 that measured 9 feet, 1 inch but only weighed 76 lbs.

Beau is awaiting the final results on his record setting capture from the North Texas Game Wardens office. The Game Wardens office spent some time Monday afternoon surveying the area with moderate concern for the existence of additional Diamond Backs of this size. “A bite sustained from a snake of this size could be fatal due to the large amount of venom this animal produces.” The discovery was made in a creek bed that runs between the 14th and 15th holes on Cleburne ’s City Golf Course. When contacted, Cleburne ’s Golf Club declined to comment.

 

[Smallville]

Makes you think twice about heading into the tall grass to look for a ball doesn't it?

 

[TheGasman]

Holy carp, Ive seen a lot of rattlers but that thing is huge. Everything is bigger in Texas.

 

[MO_Hacker]

That is insane, my favorite part is the previous record snake "ONLY" weighed 76 lbs. That would have scared the carp out of me.

 

[Osahar]

That's just frightening. It's bad enough dodging the gators and water moccasins here when near the water - I don't want to think about running into a 9 foot rattlesnake!

 

[MistyKeene]

Maybe I'm not thinking right, but I'd rather run into that thing any day than golf around parts of Louisiana / Florida where there are gators on the golf course! NO THANKS, and yes, my ball can stay where I shouldn't have hit it in the first place!

It's nothing to chop the head of a snake (showing my country roots a little here), but I don't think hitting a gator with a golf club will do much of anything except tick it off! :terror:

 

[Osahar]

True, but at least with the gators you can a) see them ahead of time and b) just avoid the water hazards.

I could run into one of those monster rattlers in the middle of the fairway!

 

[MO_Hacker]

Maybe I'm not thinking right, but I'd rather run into that thing any day than golf around parts of Louisiana / Florida where there are gators on the golf course! NO THANKS, and yes, my ball can stay where I shouldn't have hit it in the first place!

It's nothing to chop the head of a snake (showing my country roots a little here), but I don't think hitting a gator with a golf club will do much of anything except tick it off! :terror:

I have no problem chopping the head off a snake but a 9' rattler would make me run!

 

[TheGasman]

It's nothing to chop the head of a snake (showing my country roots a little here), but I don't think hitting a gator with a golf club will do much of anything except tick it off! :terror:

I dont know about that Misty, that thing would take a lot of wacks with my 6 iron before its head fell off. :deadhorse:

 

[thedue]

I could be wrong, however I believe this picture has been circulated before. Pretty sure this is one that came around last year on another site.

Still one honker snake.

 

[MistyKeene]

I dont know about that Misty, that thing would take a lot of wacks with my 6 iron before its head fell off. :deadhorse:

Ya'll don't carry machetes around in your golf bag in L.A.? Mine is next to my golf ball retriever. Haha

I've only seen 2-3 snakes on a golf course ever. Thank gosh. About the scariest thing I've seen is a huge white tail buck standing on the green staring at me while I try to make an approach shot. When I hit the ball up there, it confused it and it started to run at me for a brief moment. I was already back in the golf cart getting out of the way!

 

[thedue]

I found a snake in my front yard last week, about 20" long, and killed it with my poor 4 iorn and tossed under a tree across the street. I don't like snakes, lol. Had it looked at me I would have screamed like a girl. I just knew better than to let Liz happen out and see it.

She would bust our door down getting back inside!!

 

[TheGasman]

Ya'll don't carry machetes around in your golf bag in L.A.? Mine is next to my golf ball retriever. Haha

I've only seen 2-3 snakes on a golf course ever. Thank gosh. About the scariest thing I've seen is a huge white tail buck standing on the green staring at me while I try to make an approach shot. When I hit the ball up there, it confused it and it started to run at me for a brief moment. I was already back in the golf cart getting out of the way!

Haha, I think I would have to pull out the 3 wood for a deer. :deadhorse:

Ive seen a lot more snakes this year then ever before, your lucky with 2 or 3.

 

[Gummi Bear]

They're not sure where the picture was taken, but that is a huge snake.

http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/txsnake.asp

I've seen a few snakes on the course, however the course out by my folks' place, there are almost always deer feeding in the fairways and on the driving range. In one round out there; I saw 3 deer (a doe and two yearlings), a 4' bull snake on the 12th tee box, and a large turtle marching across the 18th fairway as I was wrapping up.

I posted pictures here of a big gator that was hit by a car over in Hurst too, Misty *yup, the Trinity River has gators, some pretty big too* (it was hit less than a mile from the Texas Star golf course)

My boss showed me some game cam pictures that his buddy sent to him from his lease somewhere east of Bryan, there was a stinkin gator that came in after the pigs and coons. I'll see if I can get him to email them to me tomorrow.

 

[provisional]

If I saw that thing crawling, even a way from me, I would still go the other way. :sinister::sinister:

 

[C-Tech]

You might not mind cutting the head off a snake, but consider that a rattler can strike about 2/3rds of its body length. That means anywhere inside 6ft puts you in danger of those fangs. Imagine how large they are and how much venom they have available. No thanks. I might shoot it from 20 ft, but I am not getting closer than that.

One of my salesmen's neighbor just got bitten a few weeks ago. She was walking to her car and felt a bump on her leg. She turned to see a 5 ft rattler crawling away. She had been hit with no warning at all. The ER and hospital bill ran to a little over $72,000.