Not poisonous, but I have had a Spreading Adder or two make me jump pretty good until the thought finally dawned on me "Nope, not a Copperhead!"
Not poisonous, but I have had a Spreading Adder or two make me jump pretty good until the thought finally dawned on me "Nope, not a Copperhead!"
Copperheads are dangerous because they will lie still and let you step on them.
I have witnessed them false rattling. One night I went out to the front porch of my shop, which had a lot of leaves on it at the time, to look for something. I didn't turn any lights on. As I dug through things on a work bench, I kept hearing a buzzing sound.
The attic fan was on in the shop, and I thought it was probably just a June bug sucked against the window screen in front of me. I finally pulled the light string right next to me and looked down, and there was a copperhead coiled up, head pointing straight in my direction buzzing his tail in the leaves about 2 feet away.
I picked up a 2 foot section of railroad track anvil that was laying on the bench, and dropped it on him! Didn't kill him, he slithered away. I had to turn on a bunch of lights and move stuff to track him down.
I have never gone walking outside wihout a light since.
Choke wire makes it look like that huh? But he is only a sick Texas rat snake
In my youth we floated the Trinity River every weekend during Summer and shot Cottonmouths by the 5 gallon bucketful with our single shot shotguns. I chose my boating partners very carefully. Anyone afraid of snakes need not apply. I've killed several swimming at the john boat. Meanest, most aggressive snakes I ever met!
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I've only seen 2 real copper heads when i cornered them their top of their heads had an irredessent copper color. Unmistakable for sure. You may be seeing other types of snake.
Any poisonous snake is a thing of beauty with their head blown off.
Cat
Cogito, ergo armatum sum.
(I think, therefore I'm armed.)
I'm pretty sure these were Copperheads. The triangle shaped heads and elliptical pupils point to a pit viper.
Copperheads are only slightly hard to identify just before they sluff. Their patterns aren't as distinct then.
They don't look anything like rat snakes. It's not like they are rare.
My favorite place to fish is the Ogeechee River, a smallish fairly swift running blackwater river (which I assumed my "handle" from) and one of the few left that's basically "pure." The banks are festooned with overhanging limbs, willows, and all manner of leafy and non-leafy vegetation. "Moccasins" love to lay out on top of this vegetation and sun themselves, particularly the big, pregnant females while gestating. At times and in spots, it looks like a snake family reunion!
Thankfully, most of these are harmless red-bellied water snakes, but there ARE some cottonmouths in the mix. It's not really uncommon for a snake to get down into the middle sections of these overhangs, and if you get hung up on a snag, or need to get close to the bank for whatever reason, once in a while, one of those snakes will fall into the boat, or even right on one of the boat's crew! These incidents have led to tons of near legendary campfire stories that are much more fun being heard about than going through! I had a cottonmouth (they have the black stripe through their eyes, like a racoon) drop in my boat once, and was very fortunate to have the paddle right by me and I picked it up on the wide surface and slid it into the water.
And BTW, I do NOT feel slighted in not having an exciting story to share with you about what happened. When it comes to cottonmouths, or other poisonous snakes, I find boredom VERY refreshing! If you don't know much about snakebite, go look up some pictures of those who've been bitten, and the dark, even black colored grossly swollen skin, and cracked open areas where the skin had stretched to the breaking point. It is NOT something anyone wants to go through, EVER! I've come very close to being bitten several times, and I have, for most of my life, made it a near obsessive practice to watch for snakes before I put my feet down ANYWHERE in the woods.
And BTW, someone asked me where to look for rattlesnakes, and all I could think of to reply was, "Right where you don't think you need to look." And the more I've thought about it, the more wisdom I find in that answer. And you only have to not look ONCE, to pay a horrible price for that seemingly minor lapse! Y'all be careful out there!
BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
GC | Gas Check |