Cleanup hel[

peternap · June 30, 2008, 10:23:55 AM

I was cleaning up some construction debries and look who came out to help

Homegrown Tomatoes · June 30, 2008, 10:36:57 AM

Yikes! Did you pass on accepting? You've gotta watch out for those guys because they aren't really that aggressive but they blend in so well and feel threatened often before you know they're even there. My dad got bitten between the thumb and forefinger when he was climbing a rocky slope out of a river he'd been swimming in...he didn't even see the snake before he was bitten... it was lying in a crack in the rocks and Dad put his hand over the crack.

June 30, 2008, 10:44:44 AM

Hey Peter that would make a nice belt or rifle sling. I used to do a lot of recovery diving in the eastern panhandle. There are a lot of abandoned Limestone quarries. We were pulling up a stolen car and I guess once we tipped it pulling to the surface the oil and gas leaked out into the water and rised to the surface. The surface water then splashed out into the rock crevices and out came the snakes. Had to splash water at them to get them back into their holes before I could climb out.

peternap · June 30, 2008, 10:46:29 AM

Quote from: Homegrown Tomatoes on June 30, 2008, 10:36:57 AM
Yikes! Did you pass on accepting? You've gotta watch out for those guys because they aren't really that aggressive but they blend in so well and feel threatened often before you know they're even there. My dad got bitten between the thumb and forefinger when he was climbing a rocky slope out of a river he'd been swimming in...he didn't even see the snake before he was bitten... it was lying in a crack in the rocks and Dad put his hand over the crack.

Normally I don't hurt snakes even though I really hate them. He was a little too close for comfort in my building area and i shot him ASAP!

desdawg · June 30, 2008, 02:14:02 PM

What variety is that one Peter? We have mostly diamondbacks in these parts but occassionaly I will see a bull snake in the mountains. They seem so large after the rattlers they always make me nervous although they will kill the rattle snakes.

June 30, 2008, 02:55:22 PM

It's a copperhead Des.

apaknad · June 30, 2008, 02:57:17 PM

beautiful animal but being from mi. i don't recognize it. i stepped on a diamond back once when in marine corps boot camp and the only reason he did not bite was he was all curled up in the early morn to warm up(looked like a huge cowpie w/diamonds). we were in tall grass and i saw him just as i stepped on him but i couldn't stop. 6 very brave marines headed for nam went in 6 different directions as fast as lightning. one of them smelled very much like he had a problem in his pants(me)

desdawg · June 30, 2008, 04:33:32 PM

Copperhead sounds dangerous. I found that snakes at least those that rattle do so just to let you know that if you leave them alone they will leave you alone. Unless of course if you are a mouse.

peternap · June 30, 2008, 04:56:00 PM

Copperheads are neat snakes (as snakes go) They are literately everywhere in Virginia. We have rattlesnakes in the mountains and a very few cottonmouth's down south, but the Copperhead is in every brushpile.

They are an easy going snake and will let you walk all around them without biting. Pretty things too.

But step on one or make it mad or jolt it like I did and your gonna get bitten. They are also the least poisen snakes around.
I usually leave them alone unless they have taken up residence somewhere I have to be a lot. God put them here for a reason (I think to remind us of Eve's little faux pas).

June 30, 2008, 09:39:59 PM

Well, they are less venomous than rattlers and coral snakes, but they can make you wish you were dead. Dad was first of all allergic to the copperhead, and then when the doc gave him the anti venom he swelled up like a balloon because he was also allergic to it. I think he was in the hospital for two weeks or more. I steer clear of copperheads, even though I don't mind snakes in general.

desdawg · June 30, 2008, 10:52:56 PM

Coral snakes are said to have some potent venom. Their jaw doesn't hinge like the rest of the snake worlds does so they have to gnaw on you for a while to get you bit.

southernsis · July 01, 2008, 11:33:32 AM

Just love the snakes. We have Copperheads and Cotton Mouths. I just had a close incounter with a Cotton Mouth. I was weed eating by the lake and started to cut down the grass near a tree stump and I was only a couple of inches from a 2 1/2 or 3 foot Cotton Mouth. It finally started moving towards the water as I tried to cut it with the weed eater. It got away. Didn't have a gun with me. At least the snakes here are not as nasty as the ones we had when we lived in Costa Rica. Everything there is poisonous.

glenn kangiser · July 01, 2008, 06:59:55 PM

hmm Southernsis. Don't know if I'd take a liking to gettin' whacked with a weedeater or not.

southernsis · July 03, 2008, 06:48:07 PM

The weedeater was the only thing I had handy. I had the brush blade on it, so it would have done some damage. I have since taken to carring a gun with me. I see them swimming across the lake all the time. They usually head to the neighboring property as it is overgrown. My biggest problem is with squirrels. They tear up the bird feeders and I caught one the other day handing by his back feed from a branch with the humming bird feed tipped and he was drinking all the nectar. They are a pain here. Way to many of them. My distant neighbors like them to eat. Can't bring myself to do that. This neighbors has even eaten a buzzard. Backwoods people. Shades of Diliverance