Adult rattler bites are dry about 50% of the time but they strike hard enough that they can break bones.
juvenile rattler's dont control their venom as well and will often issue a full load on a bite. We had a friend who lost her little girl a few years ago due to a small rattler bite out at their lake house.
Since most determination of poisonous vs nonpoisonous involves staring them in the eyes, checking for pits or checking underneath them, I consider them all poisonous around my kids until they are dead and we can verify.
I have only found one true water moccasin out of all of the ones I have killed over the years.
Give a few country boys a little money, beer, an arc welder and power tools and great things can happen...or someone is going to the hospital or jail.
