Catching a snake in a plastic bottle - GIF

[Gadgeteer]

When I first arrived in Montana I became fast friends with a couple of rattlesnake hunters. We would catch dozens on a good day. Since we did not want to damage skins or heads, the snakes were dispatched by snipping the spinal cords with a small pair of scissors through the open mouths, while holding them from the back of the their necks. Learned early on not to ever hold snakes by both hands, since they could then constrict, and pull an end away from your grip... perhaps, leaving the wrong end freely swinging, and knowing you were attached on the other. Happened to the friends' son, who was showing off for a neighbor kid. The snake fought the two-handed grip. Son got excited and released the wrong end. Snake swung around and nailed him on his butt. Fortunately, the rattler had been recently milked, so no significant reaction to the bite.