I almost got bit
By one of the biggest Copperheads I have seen.
This is the 4th one I have killed this year and the biggest. I got lucky it was cool in the morning or he would have got me.
I was going to aerate my yard. I have a pull behind aerator for my lawn tractor. I use cement blocks to add weight so it will dig out a deep plug.
Well I was picking the blocks and putting them on the machine when a 3.5 foot long Copperhead falls out of the hole and lands on my foot[:0]
I had on low topped Merrill walking shoes and shorts. He coiled up and pulled back to strike.............that is when I jerked my foot back and dropped the block on his ass.
Went and got the shovel and that was that. I figured he was going to get me but he was cold and moving slow.
Its good to be warm blooded[;)]
Both my Dogs were right there too I was worried they might get bit. Big Jack got bit last year and he was not happy.
This is the 4th one I have killed this year and the biggest. I got lucky it was cool in the morning or he would have got me.
I was going to aerate my yard. I have a pull behind aerator for my lawn tractor. I use cement blocks to add weight so it will dig out a deep plug.
Well I was picking the blocks and putting them on the machine when a 3.5 foot long Copperhead falls out of the hole and lands on my foot[:0]
I had on low topped Merrill walking shoes and shorts. He coiled up and pulled back to strike.............that is when I jerked my foot back and dropped the block on his ass.
Went and got the shovel and that was that. I figured he was going to get me but he was cold and moving slow.
Its good to be warm blooded[;)]
Both my Dogs were right there too I was worried they might get bit. Big Jack got bit last year and he was not happy.
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Make a hat band out of her. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by SCOUT5
Make a hat band out of her.
[:D]
She's a little like hupti-dumpti it would be hard to put her back together again.0 -
Wow! I live in the mountains and spend a lot of time outdoors I have only seen a handful of copper snakes in my lifetime.
You were fortunate to avoid a bite.0 -
quote:Originally posted by jimdeere
Wow! I live in the mountains and spend a lot of time outdoors I have only seen a handful of copper snakes in my lifetime.
You were fortunate to avoid a bite.
Jim where I live we have Copperheads all over the place. I run in to at least 3-5 a year. I live in the country and am surrounded by dense woods mostly hardwoods. I have a creek behind the house and I have never seen a Water Moc, I may be a little far North for them. I am South of Creedmore NC about 22 miles Due North of Raleigh.
I do have several big black snakes around but they are good snakes, I have never run into a King Snake though.0 -
Sucks to have to go change your shorts before you can start work. [:D]
You're lucky, bet you are still "puckered" after that, had that happened in the afternoon you would probably be in the hospital right now.0 -
i have tried the solar powered snake repellor at our lake cabin...about $20 each...flat head on them with a solar cell and about 1-1/2"diameter X 12" long aluminum tube that goes down in the ground in a hole you make and a buzz unit in tube send out vibrations that are supposed to repel snakes over a certain diameter area..have not been able to get a definitive yes or no but in the wetter climate their the chemical barriers would not last...even found a roll of plastic screen app 30" high X 50' long that was supposed to snag snakes if they tried to go thru but never got around to trying it????...best thing is to keep area around house mowed and not place all sorts of flower or rock beds close we keep liquid benedryl on hand if pooch would get bit 0 -
quote:Originally posted by Sam06
quote:Originally posted by SCOUT5
Make a hat band out of her.
[:D]
She's a little like hupti-dumpti it would be hard to put her back together again.
Put down the shovel Ranger, killing it once is enough.0 -
Glad you?re ok Buddy. With all those snakes running around your place have you considered a few pet mongooses??? 0 -
Glad to hear you're okay,[:)][:)]
I'm sure you'll be on your toes for a while...the problem is once you start dropping your guard again, that's when you'll see another one...[V]0 -
Not to say you are wrong, but for your peace of mind another time, copperheads are not very aggressive. While he went into a defensive pose, he might not have struck. I have had them crawl across my feet with no offer to bite, and I worked with them for years and attempts to bite were rare.
In any event that one will not bite now.0 -
quote:Originally posted by He Dog
Not to say you are wrong, but for your peace of mind another time, copperheads are not very aggressive. While he went into a defensive pose, he might not have struck. I have had them crawl across my feet with no offer to bite, and I worked with them for years and attempts to bite were rare.
In any event that one will not bite now.
I know how you feel and I hate killing them but I have to look out for my dogs. They are so curious they go up to anything and smell it.
On the plus side I saved a Box Turtle on the road today coming back from the dentist.[:)]0 -
Glad you're okay, Sam! Had it been a rattlesnake or water moccasin it might have hit you! I was just thinking about an hour ago, about a face to face encounter I had with a Pacific rattler at CamPen. Why he did not strike me in the face while I was low crawling through some high and thick dry grass, I'll never know. Have had encounters with copperheads, myself, on numerous occasions as a kid in Deep East Texas. Once I had my hand within striking distance when I started to reach under my Cushman Motor Scooter to clean out some fall leaves when I spotted him. Three and a half foot is a big one for sure, in all dimensions! 0 -
quote:Originally posted by He Dog
Not to say you are wrong, but for your peace of mind another time, copperheads are not very aggressive. While he went into a defensive pose, he might not have struck. I have had them crawl across my feet with no offer to bite, and I worked with them for years and attempts to bite were rare.
In any event that one will not bite now.
Yep, I'm sure their lack of aggressiveness is what kept one from striking at me, although it was perfectly set to do so.0 -
quote:Originally posted by Sam06
quote:Originally posted by He Dog
Not to say you are wrong, but for your peace of mind another time, copperheads are not very aggressive. While he went into a defensive pose, he might not have struck. I have had them crawl across my feet with no offer to bite, and I worked with them for years and attempts to bite were rare.
In any event that one will not bite now.
I know how you feel and I hate killing them but I have to look out for my dogs. They are so curious they go up to anything and smell it.
On the plus side I saved a Box Turtle on the road today coming back from the dentist.[:)]
[:D][:D][:D]0 -
Honestly Sam I am not sure there is a good alternative. We have scant data on relocations, and even less specifically on copperheads, but the data we do have indicates that if you don't take them far enough they return. If you take them too far to return they die. Any area of habitat is likely to be at carrying capacity for a given species, so one more is too many. The one least likely to survive is the stranger, who does not know the area, the water sources, the food sources, the hidey holes and who will be at a disadvantage in securing a pace. On very rare occasions there may be a sick or injure animal who succumbs leaving a place for the new guy, but certainly that must be almost never.
That leaves you with the decision what to do. While I would probably relocate the animal and hope for the best, I know full well I may have doomed it to starvation or predation. A quick kill might well be better.
Thanks for giving a helping hand to the turtle.[8D]0 -
dont see the box turtles much around here on the dirt roads..saw two small ones this year and moved them out in the fields..good luck 0 -
Any snake bigger than a garter is fair game in my book...[:0] 0 -
quote:Originally posted by He Dog
Honestly Sam I am not sure there is a good alternative. We have scant data on relocations, and even less specifically on copperheads, but the data we do have indicates that if you don't take them far enough they return. If you take them too far to return they die. Any area of habitat is likely to be at carrying capacity for a given species, so one more is too many. The one least likely to survive is the stranger, who does not know the area, the water sources, the food sources, the hidey holes and who will be at a disadvantage in securing a pace. On very rare occasions there may be a sick or injure animal who succumbs leaving a place for the new guy, but certainly that must be almost never.
That leaves you with the decision what to do. While I would probably relocate the animal and hope for the best, I know full well I may have doomed it to starvation or predation. A quick kill might well be better.
Thanks for giving a helping hand to the turtle.[8D]
That is what I have been told. If you relocate them they either come back or die.
I just came in from outside and My Dogs found another turtle[:D] They didn't hurt it so I moved it down in the wood near a creek and away from the roads. I saw a few big frogs while I was down there and the Big Redtail hawk was going from tree to tree while we walked down there. The Hawk uses my Dogs and me for flushing game especially striped tail chipmunks.
I hung the Copperhead in a tree and its gone now. I bet the Hawk got it. I never knew a Hawk would eat dead stuff until I put a Game camera over a little deer that got killed crossing the road. I was looking for coyotes. When I looked at the images I saw the hawk chowing down on the dead deer.0 -
Mmmm... grilled the snake, pick the meat and taco? Munch is served. 0 -
Snakes make my skin crawl 0 -
quote:Originally posted by Sam06
On the plus side I saved a Box Turtle on the road today coming back from the dentist.[:)]
Why would a turtle need a dentist? Don0 -
quote:Originally posted by dcon12
quote:Originally posted by Sam06
On the plus side I saved a Box Turtle on the road today coming back from the dentist.[:)]
Why would a turtle need a dentist? Don
Nice ya back Don. [:D]0 -
They usually hang in pairs in central Kentucky 0 -
I almost got bit by a timber rattler couple weeks ago. It escaped into a junk pile and I never could get it too come out.
Next day I seen a baby one about 8-10 inches long within few yards of the junk pile. It was a little mean one and would wild strike when just slightly prodded or bothered. Suspect a offspring of the larger one that almost bit me.
I've had several close encounters with BIG huge rattlers and small rattlers over the years and a few copperheads. Usually when I find one copper head I will see another not too far away sometime later.
Had a cotton mouth with it's fangs buried and hung into my boot once. The fangs did not penetrate to the meat and I stomped his head dead with the other foot. I was standing on one with hip boots on once and he was trying to get away instead of striking. My partner turned and ran. When he seen I was Ok he went back to the vec and stayed inside, said he had enough fishin for that day. We were planning on going frog hunting in that vicinity after dark but he cancelled out for the froggie hunt.[;)]0 -
We get 'em up under the lid of the propane tank up here in the NC mountains.
We don't have any rattlers, or water moccasins, like I used to have to deal with in Georgia, but we have the copperheads.
My dog got bitten a few years back it really messed her up, but, she survived.0 -
When I was about 13 or so, I was chasing a skink through the leaves on the ground, and I stuck my hand right in a copperhead's face. It didn't move. The only reason I noticed it, was that it flicked its tongue and nearly touched my hand with it.
I yanked my hand back with such force that I fell over backward. Dad was clearing some brush nearby and he came over and sliced the snake up with his shovel.0 -
Me and my new pet.0 -
quote:Originally posted by carrie2
They usually hang in pairs in central Kentucky
That is the myth anyway. They are solitary predators that would be in competition with one another for food, since they do not hunt cooperatively. Likely what you have seen is a male hanging with a receptive female. They are together a few days at most.0 -
quote:Originally posted by He Dog
quote:Originally posted by carrie2
They usually hang in pairs in central Kentucky
That is the myth anyway. They are solitary predators that would be in competition with one another for food, since they do not hunt cooperatively. Likely what you have seen is a male hanging with a receptive female. They are together a few days at most.
Yep, that would HELP explain why the second one was waiting for a bite. Poor little things just got their breeding cycle interrupted.0 -
My lab got bit by one about a month ago .Still have not found him to kill him the snake that is usually kill one or two a year When we darned and raised hogs never saw many as the hogs would kill any they came across 0
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