{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"50 Rattlesnakes Discovered In Upson County Camp","description":"GON subscriber Tommy Lathem recently did a little more cleaning up at the hunting camp than he had anticipated after he took a shovel and a shotgun and killed 50 rattlesnakes within just 10 feet of his clubhouse. Tommy, of Jasper, was not the first to arrive on Saturday, Aug. 31 at his 1,200-acre Upson County hunting camp situated on the banks of the Flint River outside of Thomaston. Others had already arrived to begin cleaning up in preparation for deer season.   \u201cI asked one of the guys on my way down there that if he had a chance, he could start moving a lumber pile, and we\u2019d cut it up for firewood. Just as soon as I pulled up in camp, he came around the corner white as a sheet,\u201d said Tommy. \u201cI said, \u2018What is it?\u2019 He said, \u2018snakes in the wood pile. I bet there\u2019s 50.\u2019 I said there\u2019s no way there\u2019s 50 snakes in that woodpile.\u201d Tommy grabbed a 20 gauge shotgun and began to investigate. They moved one board and immediately saw a wad of five or six, 10- to 12-inch rattlesnakes, which he shot. \u201cEvery time you would move a board, there would be a baby snake or two,\u201d said Tommy. Board by board, they began to take down the wood pile, which sat on top of a pallet and was only about 2 feet high. Tommy kept his shotgun handy but was able to kill most of the young snakes with a shovel. \u201cWe just kept finding them,\u201d said Tommy. \u201cThey didn\u2019t really scatter, every once in a while one of them would try to get away. I had a feeling there had to be a big snake in there somewhere. \u201cIt was 15 minutes before I heard one rattle. The big ones were in that pallet on the ground, and the little ones were intertwined in the wood.  \u201cWe got most of the wood off, and one of the big ones stuck its head out. I shot its head off. A few minutes later here came another one out. It ended up being three adults.\u201d The entire ordeal lasted about a half hour.  \u201cWhen it was all said and done, we put them on that board, and there were three adults and 40 babies, but I shot a couple groups of the babies that just blew them away. I\u2019d say there was probably 50,\u201d said Tommy. This wasn\u2019t Tommy\u2019s first rodeo with a rattler in camp. \u201cA few years ago, we were sitting around grilling and a guy went to the bathroom,\u201d said Tommy. \u201cHe came back out, and he said, \u2018Nobody move. Nobody move.\u2019 There was one within 5 feet of guy with his back to it sitting in a chair. It was coiled up, and I took this same gun and killed it.\u201d A few weeks ago while bush hogging, Tommy said he killed a 6-foot rattlesnake with 14 or 15 rattles. Members of his club kill a few timber rattlesnakes every summer but nothing like what they experienced on Aug. 31. Tommy said he\u2019s thankful that he was down that weekend and was able to take care of a potential dangerous situation in the future. \u201cIf we hadn\u2019t seen them, there would have been 50 rattlesnakes around our camp. I am relieved, but a lot of my members are scared. I told them we\u2019ve killed all the snakes,\u201d said Tommy. ","author_name":"GON Outdoors","author_url":"http:\/\/gon.com","html":"