# Rattlesnakes in NG??



## aaronward9 (Aug 7, 2009)

I talked to my fiance a little bit ago and her and her mom were driving around and saw a nice house that was in foreclosure. So, they went to just look at it and when they called the realtor, she told them the price and that they had been there earlier yesterday morning and had killed a rattlesnake with 10 buttons..  This was just outside of Rome, GA.  I have never heard of rattler's being this far north.. Any of y'all had an experience with rattlers up this way?


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## mikelogg (Aug 7, 2009)

Yes.Timber Rattlers live in North Georgia.


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## jason4445 (Aug 7, 2009)

I live in NW Georgia and in a real snakey area - a seldom  visited lake and three creeks all within a hundred yards. (If you want to find snakes find water) There are copperheads everywhere and the rare occasional coral snake, but never once in about 40 years of living here have I seen a rattlesnake.  Of course that does not mean there is not one.  But years ago when all traffic use to have to over Fort Mountain from Chatsworth to Ellijay every once in a while a photo would be in the paper where a truck driver ran over a timber rattler on Fort Mountain.  They would be holding the tail with a fully extended arm over their head and at least a foot of snake would still be laying on the road.


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## whitetailfreak (Aug 7, 2009)

http://forum.gon.com/showthread.php?t=363983


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## Trizey (Aug 7, 2009)

Lots of Timbers around.


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## germag (Aug 7, 2009)

Yes. There are timber rattlers in North Georgia.


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## contender* (Aug 7, 2009)

I ran across one in Blue Ridge WMA that was around 4 feet long and as big around as my arm at the thickest point.


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## ragingbull (Aug 7, 2009)

*timber rattler*

I had a timber rattler crossing my driveway just last week,headed towards the goat pen.


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## Twitcher (Aug 7, 2009)

Killed three last year and I am north of Rome.


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## Inthegarge (Aug 7, 2009)

Yup, plenty in the North Mtns. Rattlers, timber rattlers, cottonmouths... probably others.....RW


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## NGa.MtnHunter (Aug 7, 2009)

Yes sir, I run across a few timber rattlers & copperheads ever summer.


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## Glassman (Aug 7, 2009)

Kill a few every year.


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## Brad#1 (Aug 7, 2009)

I'm just about as north as you can get and I see a few every summer..


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## silvertitan (Aug 7, 2009)

jason4445 said:


> I live in NW Georgia and in a real snakey area - a seldom  visited lake and three creeks all within a hundred yards. (If you want to find snakes find water) There are copperheads everywhere and the rare occasional coral snake, but never once in about 40 years of living here have I seen a rattlesnake.  Of course that does not mean there is not one.  But years ago when all traffic use to have to over Fort Mountain from Chatsworth to Ellijay every once in a while a photo would be in the paper where a truck driver ran over a timber rattler on Fort Mountain.  They would be holding the tail with a fully extended arm over their head and at least a foot of snake would still be laying on the road.



Dude,  You have never seen a coral snake in Calhoun.


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## germag (Aug 8, 2009)

silvertitan said:


> Dude,  You have never seen a coral snake in Calhoun.



I've stopped even worrying about this...there are so many people finding cottonmouths and eastern indigos and coral snakes in the North Georgia Mountains it ain't even funny. Trying to convince them that they have misidentified a snake is a surefire way to start a flame war.


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## RGRJN (Aug 8, 2009)

My Boy ran over a Timber in the driveway last week. Here in Dahlonega.

Joe


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## Jighead (Aug 8, 2009)

I have seen plenty of rattlers and copperheads in the mountains, but have never heard of a coral snake or a cottonmouth up here.


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## germag (Aug 8, 2009)

Jighead said:


> I have seen plenty of rattlers and copperheads in the mountains, but have never heard of a coral snake or a cottonmouth up here.



And you won't unless it's a misidentification.


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## DS7418 (Aug 8, 2009)

Yep,, I got hit by a Timber Rattler on Cohutta WMA 2 years ago. I was saved by my Rocky snake boots. 
 I have been hit twice on Cohutta WMA, once by a Copperhead and once by a Rattler. Both times I was near Holly Creek area.


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## siberian1 (Aug 8, 2009)

I think people get the Scarlett King Snake and the Coral snake confused.  I have seen a Scarlett here in N GA but never a Coral Snake.  They like the Sandy Soil of the South!!


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## nx95240 (Aug 8, 2009)

well today i was near carterville at the club going around the trail on the 4 wheeler and saw something going across the road . a snake ( atleast 4 ft timber rattler maybe 7 or so rattlers on it)...my wife started to FREAK out i didnot have a gun with me . i was trying to find a strong stick around  to catch it  i mess  with for a min . this is the FIRST one i let ever go in my life .. then i quiet because of the BOSS getting  you know what... it went bye a  pine and you could not even see by it. i left it  there because nobody was not going to be in the area .. now on i will WATCH even closer for what on the ground..


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## germag (Aug 8, 2009)

siberian1 said:


> I think people get the Scarlett King Snake and the Coral snake confused.  I have seen a Scarlett here in N GA but never a Coral Snake.  They like the Sandy Soil of the South!!



Yeah, there are scarlet kingsnakes in the N. Georgia mountains, but they are not real common ...they are far more common in the range of the coral snake (the coastal plain). A very similar (actually a subspecies of the scarlet kingsnake group) and much more common snake in the Georgia mountains is the eastern milk snake and intergrades between milk snakes and scarlet king snakes.


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## Roger T (Aug 10, 2009)

when i worked in ringgold we had a  timber rattler under our work bench out in the shop. pigeon mtn is full of timber rattlers,i seen one in summerville about 3 weeks ago.they're here brother


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## NCHillbilly (Aug 10, 2009)

I'm in extreme Northern Ga (western NC) and there are plenty of timber rattlers and copperheads here. No cottonmouths, corals, or pigmy rattlers, though.


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## huntfish (Aug 10, 2009)

nx95240 said:


> i was trying to find a strong stick around  to catch it  i mess  with for a min ..




The #1 reason for snake bites......


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## shakey gizzard (Aug 10, 2009)

There are rattlers as far north as Michigan!


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## polaris30144 (Aug 11, 2009)

A young man was just bitten by a Timber Rattler in Massachusetts about a month ago. My uncle lives near by and hunts where he was bit. I think it was October Mountain in Berkshire County. There are "venomous" snakes in New York, Vermont, Massachusetts and Connecticut, so why would people not think they are around "north" Georgia?

Here is a link to a page that list all known venomous snakes in every state. Alaska is the only state that there is no known native venomous snakes.

http://www.venombyte.com/venom/snakes/venomous_snakes_by_state.asp


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## flintdiver (Aug 11, 2009)

There's Timber's on Sheffield WMA (personal observation) and in Paulding Forest. I saw a man kill a 6' Pine snake in his driveway entrance between Dallas and Taylorsville. Now thats a hard snake to find in the mountains, but they are there.


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## Hab Co. Slayer (Aug 12, 2009)

Big timber rattlers in Habersham county


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## germag (Aug 12, 2009)

flintdiver said:


> There's Timber's on Sheffield WMA (personal observation) and in Paulding Forest. I saw a man kill a 6' Pine snake in his driveway entrance between Dallas and Taylorsville. Now thats a hard snake to find in the mountains, but they are there.



It's also one that can (and should) get you in jail for killing it. It's a protected species. They are listed as Threatened by the State of Georgia.

You are right. That's a rare critter.


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## olcowman (Aug 16, 2009)

I love reading about all the cottonmouths that are spotted in the N Ga mountains every year! I ain't ever seen one north of coweta county but according to some of my cousins they're taking over the mountain streams in Pickens, Lumpkin and Murray county. I reckon alligators will be up there before we know it.

I got a question....I've seen eastern diamondbacks in south Georgia and in north Ga/East Tenn. I live in middle Ga now (meriwether county) and have spent a lot of time here over the last 20 years hunting and farming. I have never seen a diamondback around here or heard tell of one. Plenty of timber rattlers around here. 

Is there a band thru the piedmont section of the state that is not favorable to the diamondbacks? Kinda odd that they would be so numerous south and north of here, but somewhat rare or non-existent in a band across the middle of the state?


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## Unicoidawg (Aug 16, 2009)

Jighead said:


> I have seen plenty of rattlers and copperheads in the mountains, but have never heard of a coral snake or a cottonmouth up here.



x2 There are no water moccasions or cottonmouths this far north...... What everone is calling water moc is usually a banded water snake..... They look just like them and are mean as all get out............ There are plenty of rattlers and copperheads though..........


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## germag (Aug 16, 2009)

olcowman said:


> I love reading about all the cottonmouths that are spotted in the N Ga mountains every year! I ain't ever seen one north of coweta county but according to some of my cousins they're taking over the mountain streams in Pickens, Lumpkin and Murray county. I reckon alligators will be up there before we know it.
> 
> I got a question....I've seen eastern diamondbacks in south Georgia and in north Ga/East Tenn. I live in middle Ga now (meriwether county) and have spent a lot of time here over the last 20 years hunting and farming. I have never seen a diamondback around here or heard tell of one. Plenty of timber rattlers around here.
> 
> Is there a band thru the piedmont section of the state that is not favorable to the diamondbacks? Kinda odd that they would be so numerous south and north of here, but somewhat rare or non-existent in a band across the middle of the state?



The Eastern Diamondback is not present in Tennessee or Northeast Georgia. No, there is no band of preferable habitat. They are very much a coastal plain animal.


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## olcowman (Aug 16, 2009)

germag said:


> The Eastern Diamondback is not present in Tennessee or Northeast Georgia. No, there is no band of preferable habitat. They are very much a coastal plain animal.



I gotta disagree with this one. Unless I am mis-identifying the species I have seen/killed/found dead on the road several diamondbacks in these areas. And I thought I could tell the difference? The biggest EDB I ever saw in the wild was at Ft Mountain state park in Murray county.

Somebody help me out here...am I completely wrong?


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## germag (Aug 16, 2009)

olcowman said:


> I gotta disagree with this one. Unless I am mis-identifying the species I have seen/killed/found dead on the road several diamondbacks in these areas. And I thought I could tell the difference? The biggest EDB I ever saw in the wild was at Ft Mountain state park in Murray county.
> 
> Somebody help me out here...am I completely wrong?



Sorry, but...yes, you are wrong. You can disagree if you want, but it doesn't change the fact that there are no eastern diamondback rattlesnakes in that area. If you saw what you thought were eastern diamondbacks there, you are definitely misidentifying them. You may very well have seen timber rattlesnakes there, but definitely not eastern diamondbacks. I'm not trying to be argumentative or disagreeable.....I'm just saying that I am intimately familiar with the range of the eastern diamondback and it does not include north Georgia in any shape form or fashion.

In fact, if you research the natural history, habits, and habitat requirements of the EDB, it's easy to see that they couldn't survive in N. Georgia to begin with. They are such specialists, with such a narrow set of requirements, that if they loose very much more of their sandy, palmetto/scrub oak habitat or if the gopher tortoise populations decline much more, they are in real danger of being extirpated in Georgia.


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