Unlike “the good old days” you don’t have to worry about catching or handling snakes with your bare hands, forked sticks or brake rods.

One of the best things that ever came out of the Okeene rattlesnake hunt was the invention of snake tongs. The Diamondback club has one of the first Whitco tongs made and Anthony Felder and some other members did some of the initial testing of this well known brand.

If you talk to people about what tongs you should use you’ll get a variety of answers. Like most things it comes down to personal preference. However, there are some things you should take into consideration when investing in a snake tongs.

First of all you get what you pay for. It’s an unfortunate fact but not all tongs were created equal. You can get tongs for under $30.00 and while these may look like the higher quality brands they don’t always match up. However, if you only plan to use them very occasionally they could do the job.

If you want professional quality tongs then you can expect to spend from around $60.00 to $100.00. Tongs in this price range are well made and well designed. Brands include Whitco (Whitney), Pilstrom, Maverick and Midwest Gentle Giant and Midwest Standard.

Each one of these brands is highly recommended by local hunters depending on their own personal preferences.

Tong length is an important consideration. Depending on the brand you can get tongs that range in length from 25 to 52 inches. Some hunters like tongs that are about waist height. This allows them to use the tongs as a walking stick or support when they’re scrambling around the canyons and crevices of the hunting grounds. Others prefer shorter tongs as they are a bit lighter and thus easier to carry.

Another consideration when it comes to length is that while long tongs certainly increase the distance between you and the snake they can be more cumbersome to operate. In other words, you risk the chance of either not being able to control the snake in a safe manner or hurting the snake.

On the other hand, while shorter tongs are less cumbersome and make it easier to control the snake they also mean that you are working a lot closer to the snake. For an experienced handler this might not pose a problem. If you don’t have that much experience short tongs may place you in some uncomfortable situations.

The most popular length’s depending on your height are 36 to 48 inch. These lengths make it relatively easy to control the snake from a safe distance.

A further consideration when it comes to tongs are how pressure applied to the handle is transmitted to the snake. For example, Midwest’s Gentle Giant and Whitco tongs are less liable to crush a snake than others. With the Whitco tongs you can put you finger between the jaws and no matter how much pressure is applied it won’t hurt your finger. I have no personal experience with the Gentle Giant tongs but their advertising suggests they act in a similar manner. This feature also makes it easier to handle smaller snakes.

With the Pilstrom and Maverick brands the more pressure you apply the more pressure you are transmitting through the jaws because of their scissor like action. In other words, if you put your finger between the jaws you could seriously hurt yourself. Likewise, any snake held by the jaws could potentially be cut in half by applying too much pressure.

The shape of the jaw is also something that needs to be taken into consideration. Midwest’s Gentle Giant has the widest jaws at 2 1/4 inches. The wide jaws certainly reduce the chance of injuries to the snake however, wide jaws may be a issue when poking around in crevices and cracks.

All good tongs have a hook at the front to prevent snakes from escaping from the front of the tongs. While this is a definite positive the hook can cause potential problems in tight cracks and crevices by hooking onto rocks and protrusions when you try to grab a snake. Of all the tongs the Whitco and Gentle Giant have hooks which are least likely to get caught up.

One thing you don’t want to use to hunt snakes is a snake hook. These are used by snake handlers to handle snakes. They are not for hunting or catching snakes in the wild.

When you’re handling venomous snakes please use some common sense and a great deal of caution and don’t get bit!!

Where to Buy Tongs

Believe it or not one of the best places to find tongs is eBay. I’ve seen all manner of tongs up for grabs in both auctions and eBay Stores. The prices are comparable with other on-line stores and you can usually find most of the popular brands. Every know and then you may even find a used pair of tongs that are still in excellent working condition. These can be a real bargain if you’re lucky enough to stumble across them. The above list shows live eBay auctions for snake tongs. While this only shows auctions if you click on the view all items link you’ll also find tongs that are available fro immediate purchase via eBay Stores.