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