Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Wildlife Management Think I'll stick to a rod and reel!

Think I'll stick to a rod & reel!

Yeah, anybody who would go noodling in OK would have to be crazy.

I hate snakes!!!!!

Just yesterday I killed my third copperhead this year. That copperhead made snake 32 for this summer and summer isn't even half over

I can't imagine being bit by a poisonous snake I think that I would die from a heart attack before the venom even started to effect me.

Looks like the fish took an arm, but he won the battle.

I was a bit surprised the hospital was telling this kid with a finger bite that death was not out of the question...I always thought if you got to a hospital within a couple of hours and it was "non-neck" or "non-torso" bite you'd almost always be ok. Anybody know if a rattlesnake bite is worse than a copperhead bite? (note: i just read copperhead venom is not usually as bad as a rattlesnake)

I'd like too see some of those snakes in all my life I've been in creeks and ponds i have seen 1 poisonous snake out of literally 1000's.. Your prolly killing common water snakes not venomous snakes.. Which I shoot sometimes too in my pond since some are big around as a beer can..

It is my understanding that over half of rattlesnake bites are "dry".

You sound like me -- although I really have no desire to see them. I've never seen a rattlesnake in the wild. I'm not sure how many copperheads I've seen in my life, but it is certainly less than 10, out of many hundreds, probably thousands of snakes in my nearly 66 years.

But, I've sure been with a lot of people who were certain that whatever snake we were looking at was a copperhead!

I'm not a fan of water snakes, and they do frequently become 2-piece snakes mostly because of their bad attitude.

One sure way to tell if it is posioness here in louisiana at least, there eyes have slit pupils, like a cat. The only one that doesnt fall into that is the coral snake.

My elderly neighbor across the road claims to kill a Copperhead about every 3-4 days during the summer. I've lived here for over 20 years, and I've never seen that first one.

I have seen a lot of 'brown' colored snakes though....

Another way to tell, is the scales under its stomach. They go all the way across, if it is posiness they continue to go across after its butt. if it is not posiness its scales are like a zipper after its butt

Water snakes look similar too water moccasin but water moccasins usually have a more defined viper style head and a shorter fat body.. Common water snakes can be huge but not usually short and fat.. Here's a few water snakes I've eliminated over the last couple years

Adult rattler bites are dry about 50% of the time but they strike hard enough that they can break bones.

juvenile rattler's dont control their venom as well and will often issue a full load on a bite. We had a friend who lost her little girl a few years ago due to a small rattler bite out at their lake house.

Since most determination of poisonous vs nonpoisonous involves staring them in the eyes, checking for pits or checking underneath them, I consider them all poisonous around my kids until they are dead and we can verify.

I have only found one true water moccasin out of all of the ones I have killed over the years.

after reading up today I was unaware of this:

"snakes are deaf"
http://icwdm.org/handbook/reptiles/RattleSnakes.asp

"A snake can strike up to one hour after death"
http://www.texaspoison.com/snakes.asp

"about 8,000 people a year receive venomous bites
in the United States, only five to six victims die"
http://www.texaspoison.com/snakes.asp


ps: BlueGillerKiller....cute kids!

Kids are older now 2, 5, and 7 two boys are the oldest.. Their ready to snake hunt but this dang primrose is prime habitat for snakes..

I hear ya....I've got what I think is Alligator Weed
and the snakes seem to really like hanging out in it.

We have had a huge increase in the number of snakes this year. Anyone experiencing this? Most are bull snakes but we usually have our dog with us so we don't take chances.

For me the easiest way to tell if a snake is a water snake brown snake ect ect is to look at the tail of it. If the tail is long ad skinny it's likely to be non venomous but if the tail is short and stubby it's probably a copper head. After I kill the snake I come back to the body about two hours later and open it's mouth with a really long stick and look inside if their are fangs and venom sacks I'm 110 percent positive that it's a copper head.

Sounds like you've got an extensive family of CH's on your property

Even this far away from OK, we've had far more legless visitors than usual -- black racers, black rat snakes, common water snakes, eastern milk snakes, and ringneck snakes.

I can only assume it is due to all the rain we've had. I just wish that our one cat would quit bringing them to the door -- and even worse, into the house.

I just wish they would keep themselves hidden when my wife is around.

Holy crap you should see all the toads and grey tree frogs that have hatched around my house.. There's literally 40-50 on my sidewalks at all times.. I've never seen so many, I quess every mud hole they laid in stayed full long enough to grow their legs normally you see those mud holes dried up with hundreds of dead black tadpoles but not this year, snakes could be worse too I have no way to know until this PRIMROSE dies off then its frog and snake hunting time..