Copper Spur Ranch
3748 Old Goliad Rd
Goliad, Texas
If you like dangerous snakes then you will love the Copper Spur Ranch in Goliad, Tx. I lived there and owned it for about nine years. I was told by the man who first owned the property that where the beautiful house was built was on a mound full of rattlesnakes. Yes, folks would come to the Copper Spur Ranch to harvest rattlesnakes for round ups. My neighbor told me rattlesnakes were always coming into his house and in his yard. Another neighbor has so many rattlesnakes around his house he will not let his little girl play outside without a watchful eye. Some snakes have bitten his dogs and cattle and they died.
The largest rattlesnake we killed there had 12 rattles and was 6 ft long! The smallest and even more dangerous snakes found at the Copper Spur Ranch were Coral snakes.
I remember "twice" stepping out of the house in the front courtyard area where a pretty fountain was. I was barefoot both times and almost stepped on a rattlesnake on two different times. I came within inches of being bitten. I remember hearing the noise of a rattler and then God saved me both times from being bitten.
That place is a haven for snakes. I remember the Blue Indigo snakes that lived in the backyard in the BBQ pit area. They were pretty, but pretty scary snakes.
I remember my son standing by the swimming pool in the backyard with his legs apart and seeing a cottonmouth poisonous snake slither through his legs on the way to the swimming pool. Our cattle were bitten by snakes too. Of course the bite always killed them.
Even though the Copper Spur Ranch had three ponds, we stayed away from them because of the Water Macassins that were around the banks of the water. My husband would go down to the ponds or tanks and shoot the poisonous snakes to keep their population down. We did not want any of our cattle to be bitten as they would go to water to drink. We did lose a lot of livestock from snake bites.
A dangerous problem too was there were always lots of snunks around the house and in the yard. I always feared because they carry rabbies. One day I was walking around the house and killed 20 Black Widow spiders. Each day and night I was fearful about snakes, skunks and Black Widow spiders. Brown Recluse spiders are also there and they are even more deadly than the Black Widow spiders.
The main reason for there being so many snakes is because of the sandy soil that is in the Goliad area. We are ranchers and trying to utilize sany soil for livestock is not so great. In comparison to the more fertile land of Kenedy, which is 30 miles away, we can run 60 to 80 head of cattle very well at our ranch in Kenedy, which has 20 less acres. At the Copper Spur Ranch we could only run about 20-25 head of cattle properly. That is important when thinking about buying hay and suppliment grain for the livestock in times of winter and in draughts. In times of draughts and winter good round bales could cost as much as $100 dollars each or more.
Another menacing thing about the big house was the plumbing was so screwed up. If you take a shower you will be blasted with cold water and then hot water. The plumbing in the kitchen was a joke. It was always backing up. This was all caused by the crumby way they plumbed the house.
I always worried that when the second story was added on that the weight was too much for the foundation. In the living room, dining room, small dining room area there were many large cracks in the ceiling. I suppose the weight of the upper story is the reason. I was told to water around the whole concrete foundation of the house to prevent problems with the original foundation that was only layed down for a single story house. The weight of the tile on the roof is also a factor to consider why the foundation may be messed up. I wish we had had a building inspector inspect the structure.
Another thing I don't miss are the high taxes on the ranch and the extremely high electric bills. I also did not like the idea that the gravel road was an easement to property behind the ranch and hunters were always going up and down the road taking away from our privacy and also there was a risk of stray bullets from all the hunters. We did have one cow that we believed was shot from a stray bullet and our neighobor's pet was shot in the yard of the forman's house that is just right behind the big house. The problem was it was impossible to prove who shot a gun and where it came from. Deer rifles can shoot a long way as well as a 22 bullet can travel a long distance.
There were so many other problems and headaches when we lived there almost too many to list. I am glad I live somewhere else now, somewhere else that is more affordable and safer for me and my family.
Just thought I would warn anyone about some of the many problems with poisonous snakes, spiders and snunks at the ranch and the very bad plumbing in the big house.
I once thought I lived in a mansion and now I know that it only looked like one from the outside.
I would suggest anyone wanting to live there should consider looking for a place without a high population of poisonous snakes. I would suggest making an investment in some land somewhere else and then building a custom built house that would fit the needs of a family. By building a person can have just what they want and also have a more energy efficient home. Look for a Godly place somewhere else where there are less problems. Many new folks are moving into the Karnes county area because it is more affordable and the land is better suited for livestock if you want a ranch. I actually think the Boerne area is a better place to live, but is too is an expensive area, but I haven't seen any snakes there and I can feel the spirit of God in the hill country of Texas.
