My friend got bitten by a rattlesnake

[smokeythecat]

It was a few weeks ago. He had killed a yellow phase timber rattler and put it in the truck. He went to get it later and it wasn't exactly dead and nailed him. Said it hurt pretty bad but he used some alcohol to relieve the pain and it got better on it's own in a week.

True. Be careful out there. And the yellow jackets are out now too.

 

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[DeepseekerADS]

What the heck Smokey, got popped by a copperhead when I was 12 - a story I've told here. It still comes down to paying attention where we are all times.

 

[ArthurC]

My wife bought a mesh enclosure that looks like a popup tent for her cat so she can take her outside in the evenings. My wife saw her cat jump up then start swatting at something...it turned out to be a copper head, right beside the walkway going into our back yard, it was trying to get in the enclosure with the cat.

As you said, be careful out there guys!

 

[smokeythecat]

On a side note, the alcohol was not involved in washing out the bite. There are some places I'd like to go but won't due to the problems there. I watch some of these guys doing their adventures on youtube, alone, and one day, something really bad could happen as no one is with them. Don't take chances.

 

[JOe L]

Maybe I should tell the wife moving down to the Carolinas soon is not a good idea. Upstate NY, granted we have a small amount of what I believe are called timber rattlers in the south eastern Adirondack’s (someone correct me if I’m wrong) but other than that (ticks of course) you pretty much can walk anywhere.

 

[smokeythecat]

JoeL, you will have water moccasins down there as well as copperheads, coral snakes and three types of rattlers, pygmy, diamondback and timber. I looked it up quick but of course that list is for the entire state. You also have fire ants (which are horrible and HURT when they bite), except in the far western mountains in the state.

Here in my neck of the woods there are only supposed to be copperheads left, but I honestly have never seen one at my house. 30 years ago a timber rattler was found dead in the road. No one had seen one in years. But that was 30 years ago. There are places in the woods here people just don't go in.

 

[JOe L]

S C. Will have to show the wife your post...

 

[Megalodon]

Copperheads are common here. I could find one in minutes in a rock pile in the back corner of my lot. At our last house, we had a cat bitten by a copperhead. The treatment is the same as with people and you get charged for the full ampule of anti-venom. He became an indoor cat after that. An old topo map showed a nearly imperceptible rise next door as "copperhead hill".

I was at a retirement party and at our table was a guy who was recently bitten by a copperhead. His wife told the story in "how dumb is my husband" mode. Turns out he found the copperhead in his garage, chopped off its head with a machete and then tried to pick up the severed head - which bit him.

 

[Backbacon]

On a side note, the alcohol was not involved in washing out the bite. There are some places I'd like to go but won't due to the problems there. I watch some of these guys doing their adventures on youtube, alone, and one day, something really bad could happen as no one is with them. Don't take chances.

Not a smart move on his part. Alcohol thins the blood and will help the venom disperse through the body quicker which is not a good thing.

 

[Billieg]

When I was 8 yr's old I stepped on an Eastern timber rattler and got bit. I almost lost my leg. I now hate snakes and kill them except the black snakes which kill other snakes. Here in Fl. we have a lot of different snakes and the coral snake will kill you with one bite.

 

[Megalodon]

S C. Will have to show the wife your post...

You'll also have gators - at least in the southern part of the state. Nearly 20 years ago, a group of us drove down to a federal hatchery at Bears Bluff SC to learn sturgeon spawning techniques. At lunch one day, I wandered off to the marsh and waded out to explore an oyster reef (unusual finger shaped oysters in clusters). When I got back, they asked me where I'd gone and when I told them, they asked "Did you see a gator? There's a big one usually right there". Oops, lucky again.

 

[Megalodon]

When I was 8 yr's old I stepped on an Eastern timber rattler and got bit. I almost lost my leg. I now hate snakes and kill them except the black snakes which kill other snakes. Here in Fl. we have a lot of different snakes and the coral snake will kill you with one bite.

I leave them all alone, even the copperheads, and hope they return the favor by gobbling down some meadow voles out of the lawn. Our last place had a long-time copperhead nest under a small deck at a side entrance to my barn. I would see them every time I mowed.

 

[Honest Samuel]

We have copperheads in Connecticut. If get bitten, go to a hospital real fast to save lives.

 

[smokeythecat]

Megalodon, which county do you live in?

 

[Megalodon]

Megalodon, which county do you live in?

Calvert Co. It has the most copperheads in the state, even though its a small county. (but we have the most Megalodon teeth)

 

[smokeythecat]

Huh. I didn't think as many were down there. I thought the Piedmont had more.

 

[Megalodon]

Huh. I didn't think as many were down there. I thought the Piedmont had more.

The state Herp Atlas & survey a couple of years ago showed southern Maryland, by far, had the most copperheads, and Calvert the most of the three southern counties. The only species I see more often is the black rat snake. As a biologist, I've been called on many times to identify snakes.

The most surprising place to find them is at the Bay beaches. I think they hunt under the wrack at the high tide line. That behavior is not well described in the literature and I have suggested it as a project to consider to grad students.

 

[smokeythecat]

So...once upon a time ago when we went to the Calvert beaches for fossils, the copperheads were nearby? Aaarrgggh!

 

[Megalodon]

So...once upon a time ago when we went to the Calvert beaches for fossils, the copperheads were nearby? Aaarrgggh!

There are far more around than the few you see! One latched onto a co-worker's waders when we were pulling in a 300' seine. When he screamed, I said "hey it must be just a water snake" - but nope, it was a copperhead close to their maximum size. My wife saw them mating on the upper beach (the snakes, that is) which I have never seen, at least not on the beach.

I did some research with the state herpetologist for several years in the late spring and summer and he walked gingerly at my last house when we got back from the field. I didn't yet have a poured walkway and he said it looked "very snakey". I showed him a copperhead nest and he told me Calvert had the most copperheads in the state and we had some perfect slopes for them.

 

[smokeythecat]

I'm staying inside forever. At least the co-workers weren't mating! Can they bite through standard "muck" boots, the ones the farmers use? I have snake proof boots, that come up to my knees, but they weigh a ton.