Rattlesnake Hunter Loves His Sport

Rattlesnake hunter loves his sport AG WORLD Ag World 13-1-19 "The most snakes I ever caught in one day was 188," says Joe Kuntz, Yuma, Colo., who has hunted rattlesnakes as a hobby since 1941 when he was first bitten by a rattler. "I was struck by one while I was trying to catch another one on a prairie dog mound. The one that struck me was coiled in a clump of grass. I thought I had only brushed against the stiff grass but when I pulled up my pants there were two dots of blood 1 1/ 2 in. apart, the mark of a rattler. My brother and I jogged to a nearby farmhouse and hitched a ride into town. Luckily I got help in time and, after a week of rest, I was back out hunting again," says Kuntz. He primarily hunts prairie rattlesnakes that inhabit the Colorado plains, although he travels to other parts of the country to hunt. His biggest catch ever was a 6-ft. long diamondback he caught in Oklahoma in 1976. "Prairie rattlesnakes are the most exciting to hunt because they're quicker and smaller which makes them much more difficult to catch," says Kuntz, who invented his own snake catcher, a4-ft. long pole with spring-loaded jaws on one end controlled by a squeeze handle. He also designed a special double-walled snake cage - there's a 1 1/2 in. gap between the walls - so he can take rattlers to schools and organizations that contact him to talk about his hobby. Kuntz says springtime, when snakes first come out of hibernation, is the easiest time to hunt. But his favorite time of year to hunt is fall, when they're out looking for dens. "In this part of the country, snakes often use prairie dog holes because they're below the frost line. You can find many different species in a single den, all intertwined to conserve energy and heat. " The most success Kuntz ever had in a single day occurred one spring several years ago. "We came upon an old cistern filled with trash, cans, wire and old lumber. After removing the lumber, they had no way of getting out. All we-had to do was put them in a cage with our catcher. We got 188," says Kuntz, adding that in his most successful year ever he caught 428. In nearly 50 years of snake hunting Kuntz figures he's caught more than 13,000 snakes. He's never had a serious "accident" since the first time he was bitten and, in fact, he doesn't even take along a snake bite kit. "We leave the medicine at home and take our respect for them along with us," he says. Kuntz kills the snakes by putting them into a deep freeze. He sells them to dealers for the skin, which is turned into belts, hatbands, billfolds, and other items. Wildlife officials generally don't con-done rattlesnake hunting. They say snakes eat rodents and insects and should only be killed when they're around homesteads or pose a threat to livestock. For more information, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Joe Kuntz, 200 S. Gum St., Yuma, Colo. 80759 (ph 303 848-5942).

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