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They are around, I've seen them in the Coast range as far north as Vernonia and was told by someone that grew up outside of Elkton that they used to have Rattlers hide in their Strawberries hunting birds. Rattlesnake Rd out of Dexter must have been named for something. Yakama fireing center was thick with buzz tails, great fun when you are a scout trying to be sneaky at night. No one ever got bit but one morning the entire formation had to take two steps back to to let a 4 footer cruse down the middle of the road we were standing on. I just leave them alone and we both get on with our days. Here's one sunning itself on the warm morning pavement in the Tule Lake area. https://pbase.com/oremackies/image/136154745/medium.jpg
 
many moons ago I was shooting rats and chucks on my inlaws place over by Monument, it was still fairly early in the day and I had knocked a young chuck off his rockpile and went looking for him. I didn't find the chuck but I did find 2 rattlers cozied up together in the morning sun, startled the bejeezus out of me and before I knew it lead was flying. I usually would let them go as long as they were a good distance from the house, but they surprised me.
the pictures are the rattles from both snakes, the larger of the 2 was a good 3 1/2 feet, closer to 4 ft. long and big as a baseball at least. the other was maybe a little over 2 1/2 ft long and not quite as big around as a beer can.

rattlers 001.JPG
 
I've dispatched of a couple hundred of them in my lifetime. Used to hunt them as a kid an collect the rattles. Populations come and go. I'm always on the lookout in shady areas in the heat of the day and warm rocks, pavement and concrete when the sun goes down. Never go anywhere on the east side without my NAA 22mag or 357 with shot in it.
 
Heck we have more to worry about with "Hobo spiders' in Oregon - and this is what ya get when one gnaws on your ankle all night long! - and this was still about 3 weeks later - their venom hangs on for a while!

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Neighbor got bit by one on the coast, and had to go into the hospital for a week. It left a big hole near his knee.
 
When I was stationed in the Tri Cities and did some traveling from there to Spokane/etc., we saw dead rattle snakes on the road about every 20 miles or so.

I went to a shoot near Royal City and one of the guys there got bit by a baby rattler who he was playing with it caused his arm to swell up and turn black. Made him sick.

I also saw rattlers in the areas around Bend and out to Brothers.

I hate/fear snakes (I have Ophidiophobia), and I try to avoid them as much as possible.
 
We used to catch rattle snakes when I was a kid living in Komiefornia. The biggest one I caught was about 6' long and had 17 rattles. I've also come across one on the American River bike path in Sacramento but it only had about 6 rattles. Never seen one here in E Oregon, but it's still cold and snowing…in May 🥴
 
I have a fishin' buddy who may have a mild case of this Ophidiophobia.
I have a rubber snake that I like to hide in different places around camp.
I am surprised he hasn't knocked me out over the years.

One time I was able to catch a pretty good sized King Snake. I used the forked stick as seen on TV to pin him down and then I grabbed him by the back of the head.
Next was to go back to camp (about 200 yards) and show my friend what I had caught...he-he-he.

I get to camp and my friend was waded out fishing, so no photo ops.
Now it was time to put the snake down. Over the past few minutes the snake had started winding up around my wrist and forearm.
That felt a little creepy so I'm hurriedly looking around for my trusty forked stick. Now the dang thing starts trying to turn his head around to bite me. Strong critter.
That put me into a cold sweat as I continued to search for my forked stick.

Then I saw it, it was in my free hand the whole time ! True story.
I quickly peeled the booger off of me, pinned his head and then let him go.

I don't think I could do that with a rattler.
"Well Doc, I was playing with a rattler and he put these two holes in me."
 
I have a fishin' buddy who may have a mild case of this Ophidiophobia.
I have a rubber snake that I like to hide in different places around camp.
I am surprised he hasn't knocked me out over the years.

One time I was able to catch a pretty good sized King Snake. I used the forked stick as seen on TV to pin him down and then I grabbed him by the back of the head.
Next was to go back to camp (about 200 yards) and show my friend what I had caught...he-he-he.

I get to camp and my friend was waded out fishing, so no photo ops.
Now it was time to put the snake down. Over the past few minutes the snake had started winding up around my wrist and forearm.
That felt a little creepy so I'm hurriedly looking around for my trusty forked stick. Now the dang thing starts trying to turn his head around to bite me. Strong critter.
That put me into a cold sweat as I continued to search for my forked stick.

Then I saw it, it was in my free hand the whole time ! True story.
I quickly peeled the booger off of me, pinned his head and then let him go.

I don't think I could do that with a rattler.
"Well Doc, I was playing with a rattler and he put these two holes in me."
an ex-friend of my wives once thought it would be really cute to chase her around with a rubber snake, that was 25 years ago and my wife still will not speak to her. kinda sucks because I am good friends with her husband
 
Back when I was a wee Pup, Grand Mother caught a great big ol Rattler near the front porch out at a cousins place near Prineville, biggest snake I ever seen, had to be at least a 6 footer, big around as a softball and pizzed off, she let it go some ways off and it tried to get her, so it got shot for it's troubles, Gram didn't ever miss with her little S&W .38! We have a picture of it some place, I haven't seen it in years and years, but if I find it, will post it! Some place, I have a box full of Rattles too, including the rattles off that dude!
 
If it's rattler territory, I carry a shovel. Either to kill the snake, or use it as an ankus. I've surprised one rattler in all my time, and just walked around it.
I've encountered three skunks in the same territory and timeframes.
 
I am planning on more time in eastern oregon and thought of walking out in the flats with the juniper to set up targets. I see in Klamath Rouge area there are rattlesnakes. Anybody ever get bit by one?

Never thought about this until now. Say between Wasco and Pendleton south to about Bend. I know thats a huge area but generally.





View attachment 1195730
Thankfully no - but if I was frequently in rattlesnake country I would consider wearing (name) the shin/leg/foot guards that keep the fangs from penetrating. That's an experience I'll happily live without knowing.
 
Oregon rattler and Pronghorn steaks for dinner, yum.

If you do get bit your screwed, dont try the bite kits or sucking the poison out it will make it worse. Keep the wound above the heart and get to a hospital asap is all you can do.

View attachment 1195748
when I was 14, we lived in Louisiana
got bit by a cottonmouth once while playing in the bayou near our house
was wearing a military belt and buckle - the buckle is intended as a tourniquet, you flip the buckle backwards and tighten the belt - works great
road my bike home with the belt/ tourniquet tight and my mother drove me to the hospital
all the hospitals in Bossier City had anti venom in stock - spent a week in the hospital, but didn't loose any function in my leg
after that, I bought a 36" manchette and knee high snake proof boots
killed a lot of water moccasins in the next 2 years

my father was transferred to Riverside, Cal after that
got hit in my snake proof boot by a rattlesnake in '67 - snake got it's fang stuck in my boot side, still had that 36" manchette
cut that snake into several pieces
my father made rattlesnake stew that night and made me eat some
tasted like chicken to me
 
If it's rattler territory, I carry a shovel. Either to kill the snake, or use it as an ankus. I've surprised one rattler in all my time, and just walked around it.
I've encountered three skunks in the same territory and timeframes.
We used to feed pet racoons nothing but rattlesnakes in Montana. My horse would try to stomp them, with me on it, if one surprised it. Also had a crazy little wire hair terror that would kill them instantly.. I'd let it ride with me on the horse if it got tired in the mountains. We didn't let no rattlesnacks slow us down.
 
Senseless to kill them, they are part of the eco system in the wild. I have seen eagles fly off with them so obviously they have predators that kill them.

Walking next to a new road cleaning up I heard a "tink" as a rattlesnake attacked my shovel. Didn't even see him they blend in in some areas so well. You don't hear them as traffic goes by.

Always let them go, they eat pest as is their job to do.
Have learned a bit since I moved to Texas. I was told that their favorite food is mice, rats, & other small ground animals. When asked about in their yard the answer was the same "Have no rats, you'll probably not have any snakes. I live next to a new housing development and have never seen anything coming over the fence line. Have 2 dogs and do try and keep an eye out for them. They are 7 mo puppies (60#) and puppies can be morons.
 
Stayed up at Le Page park on I84 jet skiing. Got up in the morning to make coffee saw the ranger stabbing the the ground with a shovel, I walked over to see what he was doing? He was killing a nest of babies that had started to come out in too the morning Sun. He said the area was full of them, he said walk with a stick and don't let your dog off leash on the trails lots of dogs get bit in the face up there going after the noise and motion. My wife had walk up just in time to hear they are everywhere on in the campground this time of the year, she was done. She Sun bathed standing all day long and sat only on the jet ski with the paddle needless to saw we went home that night.
 
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Not only NEVER having been bit by one but I have never even SEEN a rattler in Oregon (lots of other snakes but never a rattler)

Technically we only have one indigenous rattlesnake, the Northern Pacific Rattlesnake, and they are typically found around rivers, rocky, higher areas and not so much in drier, flatland areas.

Like anything they are one of 'nature's elements' and hardly a concern - but just be aware of any places you might stick your hands into you cannot see - and not just because of snakes but other critters as well.
There's a lot of confusion, even amongst "authorities" (including ODFW) about rattlesnakes in Oregon, and what species or subspecies they are.
The species is the Western Rattlesnake. In Oregon this species is divided into two subspecies: the North Pacific Rattlesnake and the Great Basin Rattlesnake.
If you believe they are restricted to the east side of the state, Lake Oswego High School administrators may take issue. (A den was located there in the very recent past).

I have enjoyed the rare privilege of keeping a rattler in captivity far beyond what is noted for longevity, wild or captive (27 years: I understand the current record may be 32 years). A Western Rattler from the Baker City area (referred to there as Prairie Rattlers), he was captured sunning on a concrete back porch. No longer or larger than a Bic pen with one button on the rattler end, a newborn.

There are NO absolutes with wild animals, but I can relate some "rules" that were conveyed to me by Bocephus over the course of caring for hiim:

Under normal conditions, a rattler will NOT strike at anything it cannot eat or is not perceived as an immediate threat. (It is the second category that we as humans need to avoid, and the snake may take a different view of what constitutes a threat.)

This "rule" makes perfect sense, as striking at anything moving would deplete the venom reserves away from what is necessary for survival. Rattlers like to lay in wait near trails: If they struck at everything that walked by (deer, cows, coyotes, etc.,etc., etc.) they'd have no juice for the fat vole that came by later.

A Rattler will not eat anything it has not killed itself, and it must be a warm-blooded creature. A dead mouse tossed in the aquarium receives no more attention than a rock. If the snake is not hungry, a live mouse may coexist literally side by side with the snake until the snake's tummy rumbles.

The idea here, is to convey that Rattlers do NOT indiscriminately strike instantly at anything and everything. Baby snakes lack the ability to "regulate dosage" from their venom sacks. They are therefore perceived to be more dangerous than an adult that can actually bite WITHOUT delivering venom.

As to killing them in the wild, stockmen would argue vehemently against "live and let live", since a cow or horse CAN be perceived as a threat by a rattler (being bumped or stepped on). Anyone who walks regularly with a dog (bird hunters, houndsmen, sheep herders) in snake country will (and should, if they expect to return to that area) kill everyone they see. A Rattler discovered in a yard where children play should be disposed of without hesitation. While snakebite from a Rattler is rarely fatal in humans, it is a VERY serious matter as I can relate first hand from an experience where a friend was bitten by a wild one. Limb loss is a real possibility.

So, go confidently and aware. Also be aware that Bull Snakes (the only effective ground predator of Rattlers: they are immune to the venom) have evolved a "mimic" behavior borrowed from their lunch:

A Bull Snake when threatened will coil, flatten his head (to look like the wide triangular head of a Rattler), hold up his tail and vibrate its naked soundless tip. With mouth open, they will emit a sound (hiss) that is REMARKABLY similar to a Rattlesnake. I wondered when reading @DirectDrive's account of a sound described as "gas escaping" whether he made a positive ID there.

My practice in the wild is to kill any Rattler. Bull Snakes are the species that receive my respect and deference toward their efforts at rodent (and Rattler) control.
 
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In the 50's there was a 4 1/2 footer At Prineville reservoir, back when you could camp on the waters edge and no official camps and toilets. After seeing it, no bush for mom, she made dad haul her to town to go to the bathroom. A few years later We went to dinner at a family friends house, Both he and she were Native American, we had rattle snake and bull frog legs. Best dinner I've had from that era. A few years later I was hunting near Bully Creek out of Vale Oregon where the cowboys around there claimed there were no rattlers due to the elevation yet as I was I walking down a gully wash, a rattler made itself known almost at eye level and just a couple feet from me! I backed out and shot twice with my rifle and missed, the third shot hit. I cooked him up. still tasty, I thought, my buddies not so fond of, but definitely not as good as Leana made that dinner years before.
The rest of the hunt was a little stressful as the wild Iris were dried then so when you stepped in them the seed pods rattled just like a snake but I never saw another one that trip.
 
They are around, I've seen them in the Coast range as far north as Vernonia and was told by someone that grew up outside of Elkton that they used to have Rattlers hide in their Strawberries hunting birds. Rattlesnake Rd out of Dexter must have been named for something. Yakama fireing center was thick with buzz tails, great fun when you are a scout trying to be sneaky at night. No one ever got bit but one morning the entire formation had to take two steps back to to let a 4 footer cruse down the middle of the road we were standing on. I just leave them alone and we both get on with our days. Here's one sunning itself on the warm morning pavement in the Tule Lake area. https://pbase.com/oremackies/image/136154745/medium.jpg
I didn't think there were any snakes other than garden snakes on this side of the mountain, let alone in the coast range. WOW!
 

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