Reptile & Amphibian Forums

LA CROSSE TRIBUNE (Wisconsin) 13 June 06 Shots fired at snake almost hit fisherman (David Krotz)
Dakota, Minn.: A fisherman on the Mississippi River near Dakota had a close call Monday that involved a rattlesnake — but it wasn’t the snake that put him in danger.
It was the five bullets that came whistling over his head about 11:30 a.m., sending him racing downriver as he called police by cell phone.
Winona County Sheriff Dave Brand, county deputies and U.S. Fish and Wildlife personnel were waiting in a boat when the angler reached the landing at Dresbach, Minn.
The sheriff and two deputies were able to pinpoint a house along Hwy. 61 on the Minnesota shore as the likely site where the shots came from, Brand said.
A woman who eventually showed up at the empty home told officials her husband had shot at a rattlesnake on their deck overlooking the river. A section of the wood deck was bloodstained, which appeared to support her story, Brand said.
Brand took the gun thought to have been used, but said he will have to wait to interview the husband when he returns today from a business trip.
Shots fired at snake almost hit fisherman

Sounds like an ideal case to be prosecuted since the Eastern Massasauga & the Timber are BOTH protected species in Wisconsin!
-----
Tim Cole
www.Designeratrox.com/
www.AustinReptileService.net
www.AustinReptileExpo.com/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<
Conservation through Education

Snake shooter likely facing charges

By Jeff Dankert
.
Winona Daily News

A 58-year-old man who police believe sent bullets whistling over the head of a boater Monday while shooting at a snake on his dock may be charged with reckless shooting.

Ralph Douglas Hubbard, who lives on the shore of the Mississippi River three miles upstream of Dakota, fired three to five shots from a

.22-caliber rifle at a snake on his dock, said Kraig Glover, Winona County Sheriff’s investigator.

Hubbard’s wife originally told officers the target was a timber rattlesnake. Hubbard later said it was a bullsnake.

Investigators found blood and bullet holes on the dock, but the snake was not recovered, and the species was not confirmed.

The sheriff’s office believes Hubbard fired the shots while standing on the shoreline downhill from his home, pointing toward the snake on his dock and toward the river at about 11:30 a.m., and the bullets ricocheted. A man in a boat heard them whistling over his head, drove downstream and dialed police on a cell phone. He led officers back to point out the rifleman’s home. Hubbard was not home and was interviewed later, the sheriff’s office said.

Hubbard likely will be charged with recklessly firing the rifle, a misdemeanor, Glover said.

Although the snake species is not known, it is unlawful in Minnesota to kill, capture, import, transport or sell any portion of an endangered or threatened species unless by Minnesota Department of Natural Resources permit.

Minnesota has one snake classified as endangered, the eastern massasauga, and

one threatened, the timber

See snake, page 3A

rattlesnake. The massasauga also is a candidate for the federal endangered and threatened species list. The massasauga, smaller than the timber rattlesnake, is limited to Winona, Houston and Wabasha counties in the state.

Five snakes are classified as species of special concern: racer, rat snake, western hognose snake, gopher snake (formerly called the bullsnake) and lined snake. Species of special concern are extremely uncommon or have unique or highly specific habitat requirements that deserve careful monitoring, according to the DNR. Species of special concern are not protected by law.

Reporter Jeff Dankert can be reached at (507) 453-3513, or e-mail: jdankert@winonadailynews.com.

http://www.winonadailynews.com/articles/2006/06/15/news/1news15.txt
-----
Tim Cole
www.Designeratrox.com/
www.AustinReptileService.net
www.AustinReptileExpo.com/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<
Conservation through Education

Just a good demonstration of what I've said all along: "People are much more dangerous than the vernomous snakes".

Al
-----
Law of Logical Argument: Anything is possible if you don't know what you are talking about.