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Molino Man Accidentally Shoots Himself While Trying To Kill Snake
June 28, 2012
A 55-year old Molino man accintally shot himself in the leg while attempting to a kill rattlesnake Wednesday afternoon.
The shooting happened at the man’s home in the 3000 block of Crabbtree Church Road, about a mile west of the Don Sutton Ballpark.
The victim told Escambia County Sheriff’s deputies that he was outside when he saw a rattlesnake in his yard. He retrieved a .357 loaded with bird shot in an attempt to kill the snake, but he was unable to locate the rattler.
The victim said he decided to continue to look around his yard for the snake. A short time later, he turned to walk inside….and he saw the snake slither behind his leg. The victim said he then somehow tripped and landed with the snake underneath his right leg, trapping it. He told deputies he used his hands with the gun and tried to push the snake away.
During the struggle with the snake, he accidentally discharged the firearm, hitting himself in the back of the leg near the ankle.
He was driven by family members to West Florida Hospital for treatment.
Deputies reported finding spent shell casings, live rounds of ammunition and blood on the man’s patio, all consistent with his story.
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office incident report does not detail what happened to the rattlesnake.
Comments
31 Responses to “Molino Man Accidentally Shoots Himself While Trying To Kill Snake”
I’m surprised he didn’t look out the window or door to scan the yard first before returning to it.
I would have just ran inside and stayed there, call Animal Control to figure out best course of action.
If my kids were in danger, I’d grab a the first thing available: Shovel (to split snake in half), Rake (to trap and toss), Trash Can Lid (to shield from strike), High Blast Water Hose or Pressure Washer (to move it away, while being 10ft away), Pool Scoop Net (to trap it), Nail Gun (to shoot at it), Tiki Torch (to burn it), Lawn Mower (run it over), Weed Whacker (to whack the snake), Headgeshears ( to cut off the head after being trapped), Multiple Sports Balls (to throw at it, distract it, and get it to attack the ball), Cans of Soda (shake and throw, when it explodes nearby snake becomes confused by the vibrations and attacks), Fire Logs (to squish snake).
If my its near one of them, I have to choose my weapon wisely.
If they have time to run to the Jungle Gym or can get on top of the Playhouse, Picnic Table, Car, and thing they can climb up on that can put some distance between them and the snake….whatever I can grab quickly is a free for all.
Ok like the saying….. Guns dont kill people people kill people! I dont falt this man for what he did he is doing what any elder man nor woman would do back in the day guns were used to protect the family feed the family ect ect…. I would probly do the same thing if i fell on the snake wouldnt try and shoot myself but hey i would rather shoot myself than have a snake bite. That man probly knows more about guns and the safety of it than the cop who investagated it. IT was a hard lesson learned but i bet next time he’ll think twice bufore shooting.
I do hope that this gentleman heals quickly. I apologize for laughing but I am afraid had that been me, it would have taken the jaws of life to get me off that snake. I would have been squeezing as hard as I could to keep him from getting anywhere else on me. I am petrified of snakes. That poor snake would have passed out just from the odor I’m afraid.
I know the general rule when one see’s a snake is to freeze but for some reason with me all I can hear is “feets don’t fail me now” and in my mind all I can picture is it chasing me.
Very thankful this man is doing better.
If left alone, the rattlesnake or copperhead will probably go away when it doesn’t find food/water. However, cottonmouths are very agressive snakes and much more dangerous. But the shovel or hoe is probably a better way to kill them than trying to shoot them…if you just injure them then you have a dangerous and mad snake. Be on the watch for snakes now that it is dry they are looking for water.
Spent shell casings?
Typically,
A .357 caliber gun is a revolver that does not eject spent casings when fired, as other calibers in a semi-auto pistol does. He could of unloaded the gun after the fact, of it might of been a rifle chambered in said caliber.
Bird shot, or rat shot referred to as a “snake round” consist of several tiny shot, often refereed to as shot shell. Usually can not inflict a fatal shot on a Human, but I personally would not like to be shot in the face with the round.
Sounds like after he fell on the snake he was committed, and had to fire a shot.
I would much rather prefer the Emergency room picking shot shell out of me than being treated for a rattle snake bite! Just saying based on what was published.
Should you see a small snake with a neon yellow/green tail, KILL it! I had an encounter with one last year and one this year. There are only 2 snakes whose babies are born with a neon tail and they are both poisonous; one is the cottonmouth and the other is a copperhead.
REGARDING:
“A shovel is as good as gun when it comes to a snake.”
Actually, while guns are good tools for making holes in objects from a distance, in retrospect, it turns out in this instance that a shovel would have been a far better tool than a gun.
David for the right tool
for the job at hand — or foot
@ Fred
Well stated.
Guns should always be kept out of the reach of children – always, always use common sense and safety with guns. Accidents do happen. My aunt got out of bed and while reaching for her walker, fell and hurt herself bad – so I guess we should not allow the use of walkers.
As long as criminals have guns, and 16 year old thieves have guns, I’m gonna have my gun! I’m legal – they’re not.
Couldn’t he have called someone to come and take the snake away?….like animal control?
I hope after all that he at least killed the snake. If he didnt he at least scared the crap out of it.
Dear Logic there is no logic to your statement. You and your friends assume all but know little. A shovel is as good as gun when it comes to a snake. Didn’t hear it was a 10 foot long diamond back. I moved an eight foot boa constrict. from my window three years ago its head was the size of a baseball. I used a rake and put in the garbage can and removed to a friend. At least he wouldn’t have shot himself
To Trish:
Rattle Snakes will strike if the feel threatened. With someone on top of him he had to feel threatened. My point is that most people see a snake and it is either a Rattle Snake or a Moccasin. There apparently is no other.
I wonder how AFLAC will handle that claim. Glad he didn’t shoot Anything else. Damn those serpents.
>>“casings” I wonder how many shots he got off.. unless the plural form of the word is a typo..
The Sheriff’s Office report specifically states “casings” in the plural.
We need to do something about these ninja snakes in our area. It is the counties fault in conjunction with the sheriff’s department for not keeping them in check!
wonder who this man was??? i live close by and had a 5 ft eastern diamondback in my yard a month ago-
To Poor Snake:
Just because it is a poisonous snakes does not mean it has to bite you, it could have struck in the air for a warning or not struck at all. I am sure it was frantic for both the man and the snake. I completely understand not wanting a rattle snake in the yard, especially if there are young children around. I also understand how wild it can get to have any snake run between your legs or right next your feet. Not a fun experience to say the least.
“casings” I wonder how many shots he got off.. unless the plural form of the word is a typo..
well said Fred…I also say, “fell on snake and it didn’t bite” sounds fishy or maybe snaky….lol
Fell on a Rattle Snake and it didn’t bite. Hummm, sounds like it wasn’t a Rattle Snake. I hope the snake is alright.
Fred to rescue!Nicely worded my friend.
Kathy,
Based on your implied logic we need to ban the use of every inanimate object that can potentially cause humans harm.
At least he did not get struck by the snake. Luckey it was bird shot as opposed to a silver tip.
Stranger things have happened.
Wow he fell on tha snake and it didnt bite him….hmmmmm crazy
Glad it wasn’t any worse, and hoping for you to heal quickly.
Well did he kill the snake??
Did he kill the snake? Surprised it did not bite him!
I live around the corner & I’m praying it was not 1 of my son’s friends or his family..Praying for the 1 involved also!
Well stated, Fred!!! I agree.
Im pretty sure Kathy was being sarcastic:]
Kathy. While I respect your opinion on guns I don’t agree with it. Based on the logic that guns hurt people you must believe that pencils misspell words so lets ban them from schools so that grades will improve. Guns are a mechanical device and can not function without human intervention. Accidents such as this, while unfortunate, are a function of mishandling, if you mishandle a knife you can cut yourself or someone around you, that does not make it the fault of the knife.
By the way more people are injured and killed in car “accidents” so do we need to ban them too?
Yeah, everyone should own one, guns are great.