Look before you reach

Eek! I've heard pygmy rattlesnakes are nasty little critters and very poisonous.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4219004&id=794680857&ref=mf

This is what the copperheads around Columbia, SC. can accomplish. My son enjoys photoing and working with creatures. This little junket cost him almost $50,000 (that's fifty thousand dollars) See his comments under photo # 3. I had one word of sympathy for him: "STUPID !!" I'm a terrible Dad but he is a great 40+ year old kid!

As a "40+ year old kid" myself, I can tell you that if my dad DIDN'T tell me I was stupid for doing something like this, I would really wonder about him!! I can only imagine what your son's wife must have been saying about the whole adventure, especially after he harassed her with the snake before it finally bit him! :oD

Really 50K? Copperhead bites are fairly common on Hilton Head and they don't really seem to be that big of a deal. I don't know anyone who has gotten bitten but my old bosses wife was bitten on a golf course and he didn't seem worried at all. She thought a thorn whacked her the leg, by the time she got home her leg started blowing up and off to the hospital she did go. Everything was fine a few days later.

I have read where it has to do with how much venom the snake actually injects and that an older, wiser copperhead will quickly recognise that a human is too large to swallow and will be smart enough to not waste too much venom. A young snake however is impetuous and might blow it all at once.

Seriously???? LOL.

Yes, seriously. :-)

Apparently adolescent snakes are like human teenagers; they think they are invincible.

I don't see the humor here.


This message was edited Jul 23, 2009 12:11 PM

It was the way she said it that I got a joy out of. BTW I've had all sort of interesting things happen to me, nothing to cry about. Here's one for you, I got my leg catch in a tractor tire flipped on to my face on the way down then run over by the tractor then was run over by the cart full of gravel behind it. 9 months in a leg cast. Face didn't look so good for a while after that. Not sure if the snake bite was worse than that.

CoreHHI, are you sure you're not a cat and that accident took one of your lives? Sounds very scary. You are so fortunate to have survived such a terrible injury.

Want hear about the time I had my finger cut off so I ended up riding a motorcycle to the hospital with my finger in my pocket?

CoreHHI --Well, you HAVE had an exciting, albeit dangerous, life. I hope you stay away from sharp objects and motorized vehicles!! Oh yeah, and watch where you reach. :)

Nope, don't wanna hear about it...Ughhh!

My closest encounter with a poisonous snake was about 10 years ago at my parents' place in Pensacola. I was on visiting and doing some yardwork when I heard the telltale rattling noise. I looked down and there was a small rattlesnake - maybe 3ft long - just a few inches from my leg. Fortunately he seemed to be as scared of me as I was of him. I just slowly edged away, and he went his way and I went mine. Since then I've been very cautious around there :-/

I almost stomped a copperhead last year. I heard bleating in the backyard and saw one of the kids with his horns stuck in the fence. As the yard transitioned from grass to leaves, I looked down just before I stepped on the copperhead. I did the cartoon stumble across the yard 'til I crashed into the fence. Ouch. Better than being bit, however.

I was watering plants one day and heard a snake rattle. My heart just about stopped. I turned around and there was a big rat snake that was cornered against the house. I guess I drug the hose across him. I'm not sure how he was pretending to be a rattler; sounded really realistic, though. I squirted him with the hose and off he went.

What I run into are cotton mouths. Those guys will usually give you a warning that you are to close but I worry a little about the kids and dogs. The dogs love fast moving small animals and I'm not sure who would win. Think the kids are smart enough to run for it if they see a hissing snake with it's head popped up in the air but I'm not sure about that one. We have a few yard cats around here and they seem to do a good job of keeping the snakes under control. Also have a couple of blue herons who have no problem eating any snake they find in the water. I guess a herons legs can really be bit?? I saw a blue heron eating a snake one day and the snakes head was in the birds mouth with the other end of the snake still touching the ground. Wish I had a camera for that.

Borders, it too early in the morning for me: I read you sentence "heard bleating in the backyard and saw one of the kids with his horns stuck in the fence" and my poor brain short circuited at first trying to picture what you children were doing. Finally woke up!!

Then Corey tells us " I worry a little about the kids and dogs. The dogs love fast moving small animals and I'm not sure who would win. Think the kids are smart enough to run " Does he have goats or children?

I love the English language and the mind games it creates sometimes.