Originally Posted by
Blackwater
Copperheads are fairly rare here. We have many times the number of Canebreak (Timber) rattlers and eastern Diamondacks. We also have a very good quota of Cottomounths, too, mostly in the low lying places and the swamps around the river. And BTW, any of these snakes CAN bite under water. Dad and an old friend were fishing one day here, and catching some outsized bluegill and redbreast sunfish. Louis, Dad's friend, got one, and in the current, those things fight hard! They were running an average of 1 1/4 lb . each! All of a sudden, the "fish" started pulling like crazy, and running all over the water, side to side! Then it finally went limp again, and he reeled in, saying he thought he had some moss on the hook. He got it in, and it was another dark bluegill of about 1 1/4 lbs. But this one had two fang marks, oozing yellowish oily stuff from each hole. They were about 2" or more apart. They realized a cottonmouth had bit the fish and tried to take it away from him. They tossed it in the ice chest, but later threw it out and washed the other fish off very, very well.
Also, my young pup Shelly got bit by a copperhead recently. It seemed to be a grazing sort of bite. She's extremely quick, and nervous and on edge around snakes. She just got too close to this one, and got bit on the left side of the muzzle, half way between the eye and nose. A knot swelled up about like a marble under the skin in about 10 minutes. I thought she'd just gotten bit by a bee or something again, since the symptoms are similar at that stage. The next day, the swelling increased and worked its way down to the jowls/throat area. The next day it went down to the throat near the junction with the shoulders. She moped around for a while, and was obviously stressed, but she made it through it. She's 1/2 Llewellyn setter, and 1/2 fice mix, and weighs about 30 lbs. soaking wet. Now, she won't go out into the back half of our large back yard, which is wooded with flowers and shrubs all through it. She stays on the grass half, and I can't blame her. She got a good scare from a relatively light bite, I believe. A copperhead is a bad dude, and could easily kill her, I believe.
One thing about copperheads I've noted: They seem to be just a mite quicker in striking than rattlers, and I believe they inject a greater percentage of venom than rattlesnakes sometimes do. I think of them as little snakes with a little snake's complex. They have long seemed a little more ready to bite than a rattler. Rattlers seem to desire just being left alone, or a few warning strikes. They're king of the hill and don't seem to need to prove anything.
And the original poster is right. They sure are pretty, especially when they've just shed. The last one we killed here (or grass cutters killed it actually) was the one that bit Shelly. It was probably a little short of 3' long. Even one that small could conceivably kill a full grown adult human, though, if caught out in the swamps and unable to get to a hospital quickly. In my neck of the woods, "snake-proof boots" are standard. I've never worn them. Tried them on and they were so stiff, heavy and uncomfortable, that I just couldn't see lugging them around the woods for up to 20 miles a day of hiking! So .... I had to learn to be VERY careful and CONSISTENT in looking where I put my feet. Even so, I've nearly been bit twice by rattlers. That'll refresh your memory about watching one's step, for SURE!
Y'all be careful out there. Once bitten, there's no do-overs. You just go to the hospital and prepare yourself for some very unpleasant times!