# Why I always look before every step



## Clem (Apr 12, 2016)

I learned a long time ago to quite literally watch my step. Holes. Poison ivy. 2 inch long locust thorns. All kinda stuff. And then there's this:



This one wasn't agitated, and it was sort of a shame to kill him(or her) BUT, it was under the closed door of my chicken coop, and just a couple months ago I got snapped at by a black snake while getting eggs. Late in the afternoon, it's kinda dark in there. I'd hate to be reaching for an egg he was working on, and have him bite me. Copperheads leave a really nasty hemotoxic venom. Makes an ugly and painful bite. Oddly enough, there has been some research showing that copperhead venom fights cancer. 

But, I don't, as far as I know, have cancer. I also didn't have the little .22 revolver that is usually in my back pocket when I'm outside. So, I walked back up to the house, got the camera and the .22, and came back. He was still there, so I took this picture and dispatched him.


----------



## TnAndy (Sep 15, 2005)

More important, watch where you sit !


----------



## motdaugrnds (Jul 3, 2002)

Yikes! I had forgotten how closely they resemble the bark of trees....


----------



## Clem (Apr 12, 2016)

Holy smokes!! Another one today, only 5 or 6 ft from where I found the one in the first post. Bigger. All the years I've been here, I've never seen 2 copperheads back to back like this.


----------



## CajunSunshine (Apr 24, 2007)

hmmm. Keep your eyes peeled! Those snakes have relatives...bros and sisters...aunts and uncles...momma and daddy... That's why I cringe when I see folks sticking their hands and feet in places they have not cleared for snakes first.

Be careful TnAndy and Clem!


.


----------



## kinnb (Oct 23, 2011)

can't figure out how to resize the picture and it won't let me post it the size it is...but a cottonmouth water moccasin was hiding under my pallets from my garden as I was digging it up. my hand was INCHES away from it. threw the dogs in the house and when I came back out to investigate, it had split. hazard of lake living in a wildlife preserve lake area in FL. egads!
next day a king snake hauls itself up on my ramp...my local snake friend said, well, awesome, they eat the moccasins (nom nom). so many snakes, so little time...worst part is keeping the dogs from chasing them!


----------



## rockpile1 (Aug 24, 2016)

We have both Copperheads and Rattlers, they don't always rattle.

rockpile


----------



## TnAndy (Sep 15, 2005)

kinnb said:


> can't figure out how to resize the picture and it won't let me post it the size it is...



Photo tip: Set your camera/phone for the lowest possible resolution. 

Makes no difference in the quality of the photo unless you plan to blow it up to 8x10 paper copies or larger, but keeps the file size down to something reasonable to send or view....especially for folks with slow internet connections.


----------



## kinnb (Oct 23, 2011)

aha  thanks, TNAndy!! tells you how much I take pictures *eyeroll*


----------



## StL.Ed (Mar 6, 2011)

As an aside (at the risk of thread drift):

If you want to try resizing pictures, you can download the GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP)

https://www.gimp.org/


> This is the official website of the GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP).
> GIMP is a cross-platform image editor available for GNU/Linux, OS X, Windows and more operating systems. It is free software...



I've only played with it a bit on Linux, but it seems simple to use. I haven't tried it on Windows.


----------



## Murby (May 24, 2016)

----.. those photos almost make the snakes look invisible. That's a bit scary...


----------



## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

We have scary rat snakes and garter snakes. Watch your Step! Very dangerous animals for mice and grasshoppers.


----------



## Wolf mom (Mar 8, 2005)

After stepping on a scorpion and getting stung, as I was walking to the kitchen for a glass of water in the middle of the night, I NEVER go barefoot! Inside or outside.


----------



## COSunflower (Dec 4, 2006)

My mother-in-law grew up and lived in Alabama for many years. She used to tell about finding copperheads in linen drawers, kitchen cabinents, bathrooms, under couch cushions....made me glad to never have lived in the South!!!!


----------



## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

a friend of mine grew up in WV he said his mother always kept a small dog and a 410 , the dog got let out every morning and if they heard it barking the 410 was by the door and they went out to dispatch the snake , the dogs would police the yard looking for snakes all the time but being little barkers they kept their distance so that none apparently ever got bit


----------



## Txsteader (Aug 22, 2005)

Snakes have been more active than usual here lately. Been seeing quite a few cottonmouths, even though they're usually most active in Spring and there's not been any flooding, etc that would have them moving.

I'm always finding rat snakes on my porch, in spite of being 10' off the ground (piling house). Found one snugly coiled under the cushion of one of the wicker porch chairs. Just a couple days ago, DH saw one over my head, between the framing and corregated tin roof. They're after the abundance of geckos and tree frogs around here, who take advantage of the bug population. Now I've learned to accept rat snakes but I'm not anxious to sit on one or have one drop onto my head. 

Was watching some nature program about Africa on Netflix the other day, about how some people find black Mamba snakes in. their. homes!!!


----------



## terri9630 (Mar 12, 2012)

Got home from a long day at the fair tonight and this guy was guarding my gate. If I'd had been as tired tonight as I was last night I wouldn't have noticed him until he bit me. I couldn't hear his rattles over the truck. Kids got home not 10 minutes before I did....


----------



## Lauri (Sep 20, 2008)

Coming in tonight from doing chores, I grabbed the handle of the storm door, and on the backside of said handle nestled a little tree frog.


Scared the crud out of me.


Does that count, I mean....really, I was very startled!!




Only good Lord help me if I come face to face with a snake...:yuck::yuck:


----------



## oceantoad (May 21, 2009)

The copperhead was underneath my chair on the back porch last night. The baby rattlesnake was under the washtub that I set things on before going through the gate to the paddock. That was a few weeks ago.


----------



## Fishindude (May 19, 2015)

Wow !
Glad I live somewhere that poisonous snakes are few and far between.


----------



## joejeep92 (Oct 11, 2010)

I like snakes, I really do, even have a couple hognose snakes as pets right now. However, I don't like the venomous ones near the house where toddlers and terriers are around. Harmless ones I'll actually relocate into my yard though...


----------



## 92utownxj (Sep 13, 2013)

So far, knock on wood, I've only seen one copperhead around the house. It was in the yard near the road 10 years ago or so. I haven't seen any rattle snakes, but only a couple miles away there have been several seen. That area has rocky hills, state forest area. 

Monday I was off work, luckily. I was out bringing in firewood with the boys. My wife calls screaming into the phone to get to the house. I go in and there's a small black rat snake in the doorway between our dining room and living room. I removed it asap. About 10 years ago there was a big black snake in the house on the stairs. About 30 years ago my grandma had a black snake in this house too.

Luckily it's only black snakes in the house, but I hate them getting inside. Even if seldomly. Sometimes when I go under the house where the water heater and furnace is I see a black snake on top of the foundation blocks. I'm sure they're getting warm and/or catching mice. Don't like it though.


----------



## oceantoad (May 21, 2009)

Fishindude,

Could not handle your cold weather so I guess I deal with the snakes.

Have family around Hagerstown and Rising Sun.


----------



## rockpile1 (Aug 24, 2016)

My closes encounters were with Rattlers not rattling. One I was reaching for a Faucet to turn water on for my calves. Rattler was laying on it. Then another time I was up under my Pickup working on it, turned over my eyes were 6 inches from a Rattler laying in the Wheel Well.

rockpile


----------



## Txsteader (Aug 22, 2005)

Lauri said:


> Coming in tonight from doing chores, I grabbed the handle of the storm door, and on the backside of said handle nestled a little tree frog.
> 
> 
> Scared the crud out of me.
> ...


Hee hee, I found a cottonmouth in one of my pot plants that had blown over in a Spring storm. Fortunately he was cold and wet and not moving very fast......not as fast as me.


----------

