I think it is very ethical.

I have had some up close and personal encounters, as a kid in Texas and a few years back bowhunting, crawling up a dried up creek bed. Kill all that you see, let God sort 'em out.

no some of those rattlers are endangered i wouldnt kill them unless i was dangerous

use what force is neccisary to protect yourself or someone else.i dont like rattlesnakes or copperheads.if a snake bits or trikes at you it is because the snake feels in danger,look out where you go on move around in their environment carefully,if you find them around your home or camp, kill them their in yours.

I don't have a problem with it unless they're rare to the area.

it depends on the circumstances...

If they are around my place or in the vacinity of kids or horses they are dead upon my arrival. The ones I encounter in the desert I leave undisturbed. Frankly I don't see nearly as many nowadays as I did twenty five years ago around here in north Wyoming.

depends on you situation. kids pets around yes. if out hunting no i don't think you should kill them just to kill them.

Many years ago, I'd fire at them with my sidearm for general principle, but I came to reconsider that because they are part of the biosystem I enjoy(ed) and they rarely proved any real problem to me. I was in their backyard; they didn't appear in mine. At this point in life, I prefer not to kill anything for the exercise of firing the shot. Given a reason, I will certainly fire a shot, but they normally avoided me on the trails.

The only good rattler is a dead rattler.

When I lived in southern California, we'd see an occasional rattler in Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, usually red diamond rattlesnakes in Trabuco, Silverado and Modjeska Canyons and western rattlesnakes on occasion. They aren't hard to kill, but they're not hard to avoid either. I've seen a fair number of them, but have never been bitten. I don't wear sport shoes when I hike or camp, I wear lace-up 8 or 10-inch boots, and I did not reach into rocks or woodpiles without looking first (and taught my children the same concept).
I agree, if a rattler appears in human habitat (the playground, the yard or garage) then I'd be inclined to eliminate it. When that happened, I was within city limits and couldn't fire a shot, so I had to put it in a pillowcase and carrying it in the pickup bed to a better location several miles away. You really have to call them as you see them. Very often, harmless and beneficial snakes (such as gopher snakes) are killed because they're misidentified or promptly killed, and I do remember a year when we had a bumper crop of field mice, voles and other vermin.
I live in NW Oregon now, and the only snakes I've seen are not venomous and live in and around a riparian marsh not far away. I haven't seen any snakes on my property, and I really don't spend as much time as I'd prefer afield. I still wear my boots because they're well broken in and fit like bedroom slippers.
We live different lives and have to follow different rules. If I was farming this property, I would kill any rattler that appeared because I would want to eliminate any risk for family or employees. Livestock seems innately bright enough to instinctively avoid trouble. I don't criticize those who follow a "shoot on sight" policy; I simply haven't found it necessary.

Jericho has it right, although I killed the rattlesnake that was on my grandfather's doorstep. He had to deal with snakes that are far more venomous and much more aggressive. So what's the deal with y'all feeling like you have to kill all the rattlers?

Seems like a lot of people have a serious snake fear problem. They are not the devil or an evil serpent, and they aren't after you and yours. They are wild predators with a place in the ecosystem. Unless they pose a direct threat, leave them be. Don't be so girly. It's just a little snake. Steve Irwin and Jericho make y'all look silly.

Unless the snake is posing a direct and immediate threat to you or people around you, it is definitely not ethical. While they do pose a threat when provoked, they run when scared. Needless killing like this gives PETA members even more to complain about.

IF you are in danger of being bitten then yes, otherwise just let them go on their merry way. but if you do kill any i would look for a recipe they are sure good eating

i have no problem, there poisonouse and can kill a lot of your favorite pets and loved ones...just as long as the head is dealt with properly