Eric, it looks like some kind of new-age shotgun shell.

It's a shotgun shell with a bio-degradable paper shell. IOW, it's a "green" shotgun shell. :)

Or, it's something new for your iPhone. :)

Well, you're both close. Sort of.

Denise, thanks so much for reminding me that I don't have an iPhone. I'd almost gotten over that. ;-)

I'm glad I didn't try to guess; I had in mind something incredibly unmanly like dishwasher detergent. Even if you puff that up with "detergent cartridge," well, I'm going to have to go watch "The Great Escape" to make amends.

Bret, if this had anything to do with manliness, we'd be talking about grabbing the serpent by the rattling end and popping his wee head off, bullwhip style, ala Pecos Bill.

Still, you could do worse than watching The Great Escape, regardless of motivation.

Ooooh. Does that mean you got a new gun for Christmas???

I KNOW it's a "shot-shell" for some particular caliber of firearm. I'm most familiar with .22 caliber. It's certainly not a shotgun shell, new age or otherwise.

I call 'em "snake charmers". (not to be confused with the 410 shotgun of the same name.)

Janie, I didn't get a new gun (don't really need one, although that rarely is a relevant factor, is it?), but we did give one. Anyway, my brother was showing us some of these snake loads. I wanted to shoot one to see the pattern it made, but he's got only five of them – and a lot more rattlers than that!

Clarence, you're right in the ball park. It's a .38 Special.

Mike, I think a .410 would be the preferred anti-snake implement, but it's obviously not as convenient to carry.

I believe this is 22 cal snake shot.

Bill, I intentionally omitted anything that would give a sense of scale, so it's easy to think the cartridge is smaller than it really is. It's actually a .38 Special.

My first thought was a tube of lipstick.

Me second was a container of nerve gas from the 5th season of 24.

I see that I was wrong on both counts.

I have no pity for snakes. My father-in-law recently bought a revolver that fires .410 shells. Fair wicked, it is. I'll have to show him this.

Looks like a rat shot load.

I'll just say that I'm super excited about anything specifically designed to kill snakes and leave it there.

Well, ok, the fact that it's blue is really cool too.

Soccer Dad, you at least get the prize for the most imaginative misinterpretation!

Deborah, is it one of those Taurus handguns that fires both .410s and .45 caliber bullets? I was just visiting with a guy tonight who was telling me about it, and it sounds like just the thing to have if you live in snake country.

Foo, a lot of people refer to 'em as rat shot. Where my brother lives, though, there are many more rattlers than rats.

Beth, we always try to be fashionable with our weapons of serpent destruction.

"Snake shot"...that's even cooler. It's be even cooler than that if you could load that into your iPhone and shoot it from there. :)

Yes Eric. It is a Taurus.