A warning to all the southern outdoorsmen.

I have a good customer that I hadn't heard from in two months. He called yesterday and said that he had been in the hospital for about two weeks.
Seems he and his wife were cleaning their backyard in NORTH DALLAS, and he was bitten by a copperhead on the inside of his index finger. The snake was about 18" long.

John Drew said that it burned like fire immediately. Made him real sick, but they didn't need to cut on him or give him anti-venom. He said his finger was bleeding from the bit and that was probably a good thing. Two months later he was just getting his strength back
We went to lunch and his finger was still black.
With all of the high water we have had, the snakes are really moving about.
That is the first person I have known that has been bit by a snake. With all of the new construction in the area this could happen more often.

So be careful

Copperheads are nasty buggers - no warning like a rattler. Old folks say they give off a cucumber smell - never wanted to be close enough to one to smell it!

Copperheads are nasty buggers - no warning like a rattler. Old folks say they give off a cucumber smell - never wanted to be close enough to one to smell it!

I can attest to that smell. I once was sitting in a ground blind that I had made out of brush, it was pre-dawn. I could hear something cawling into the blind so I just stayed real still. In the moonlight I could see a large Copperhead as he appeared near my rubber boots. I slowly took the two bladed broadhead and layed it against his body behind his head. I new it was razor sharp so I gave it a sudden slice and cut his head off. The odor was terrible. I hunted about an hour after light and didn't see anything, I think because of the odor!

Michael

Been told that more people are bitten in their yards than in the wild...of course, you spend a LOT more time in your yard than in the boonies, but there a laxness at home; not so observant in "safe" surroundings.

Guess there are more, but am in the right location for Copperheads, Rattlers, Cotton Mouths, and Coral snakes. Hardly anyone gets bit by the Coral (which won't help a lot if you are the unlucky one).

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Have been a lot of Brown Recluse spider bites...nasty little common looking brown spider, and the immeidate after effects of the bite may not be that bad. But have had three patients in the last two years that have had large open sores that have refused the heal...just keep growing even after a year. One lost his leg, the others are still fighting the effects.

Hey Ribbon...

One of my daughters got bitten on her belly along the beltline. Heck of a hole a week or so later. Took a lot of healing and plastic surgery to make her right again.

The critters I hate are the cottonmouths. They are a nasty snake and we have them down here too. I was checking out some new country I leased for hunting yesterday and I had to cross a slough to get out of the pasture. Dang, I hate that. An old fellow once told me if you don't hear frogs you're okay but if you do... don't cross. I didn't hear any frogs but it sure didn't make me feel any better.

Michael

:)

When I was about 11 living down in Marlyand for a while I
was sitting on the front porch when this pretty little baby snake came along by my feet. I picked it up and played with it a little and put it in a jar to take to school for my science teacher to tell me what it was, was a baby copperhead.

lucked out I guess, maybe since I wasn't scared not knowing what it was it wasn't scared either

Hey Ribbon...

One of my daughters got bitten on her belly along the beltline. Heck of a hole a week or so later. Took a lot of healing and plastic surgery to make her right again.

The critters I hate are the cottonmouths. They are a nasty snake and we have them down here too. I was checking out some new country I leased for hunting yesterday and I had to cross a slough to get out of the pasture. Dang, I hate that. An old fellow once told me if you don't hear frogs you're okay but if you do... don't cross. I didn't hear any frogs but it sure didn't make me feel any better.

Michael

Don't know about that frog advice...have caught sight of several Cotton Mouths with twitching frog feet sitcking out of thier mouths (and you'd figure the others would croak a good bit while their buddy got chomped).

Do seem to be an evil tempered snake (and can be impressivly large); in the harsh summers, once they've staked out a spot to their liking, are one of the few snakes that will stand their gound rather than slither away.

Lived hear all my life, so far can only confirm 3 Coral sightings...look like a banded king snake (smaller...more like an immature banded king). Usually the idenification is after I've riddled it...its either that or sit there and try to remember the rhyme..."Lets see...is it red on yellow, kill a fellow? Or is it Black and Red will make you dead?...can't remember; shoot it."

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Count yourself (and your daughter) as decently lucky.

This guy was two years in fighting a Brown recluse spider bite on his ankle. Removed his foot...removed his leg below the knee...was due to remove his leg at the hip. Changed locations, so I don't know if he made it after the leg amputaion or not.

Not too sure if they naturally habor the resistanct bacteria, if the poision and bacteria act in concert, or if the poision alone is responsible (along with some people's desposition to be more suseptable to it).

Know I've been bit in the past (use to work renovations to old houses). Raised a welp on my upper arm like a giant pimple or abcess (about the size of 1/2 a lemon)...eventually a "chunk" about the size of a peanut was ejected (like a blob of dry wood glue) and left behind a crater about 1/2" cubic that took the best part of a year to level off...scar looks like a puckered bullet hole, so everyone whats to know when I got shot when they see it.

Used to see a lot of copperheads in Missouri growing up. They seemed shy and generally were heading the other direction, quickly. Knew they were poisonous but never saw one act aggressive.

Haven't seen one in Texas, but haven't really been looking either.

Have had a few spider bites that left nasty scars, even 20+ years later there is a little depression. Never knew what kind of spider, though.

Gee Whiz,
And I thought you fellas were so lucky living down south, happily hog huntin'....... and now the truth comes out!! :D

Bryan

"Red on Black - Friend of Jack"

"Red on Yellow - Beware that Fellow"

And I thought you fellas were so lucky living down south, happily hog huntin'....... and now the truth comes out!! :D

Bryan... Heck, that's what makes that hog hunt'n fun. I think most of the avoiding these critters starts to become natural. You cross a creek in a certain spot to avoid snakes, quicksand, etc. You cross a downed timber the same way.

One of the thing that really spooks me are swarms of bees that come flying along. I once was guiding two bowhunters out at Cotulla, they were both from Alberta, and the next thing they know I'm pushing them down in a dry creek bed with out saying too much. We were laying as flat a pancakes while tens of thousands of bees flew over us. I heard them coming and lucky for use we were working that dry creek for javelina. They said that flight of bees scared them more than a grizzly bear. I must admit it was a pretty awesome sight and I haven't see a flight that big since.

You always got to watch for hornets, honey bees, yellow jackets, cow-catchers, bumble bees, etc. while you are working especially if you are working with a piece of equipment. I once looked into a 20' joint of 4" well casting and a big bumble bee started flying towards me from the other end. I took off running across the pasture as fast as I could. That bee caught up with me after about 40 yards and stung me on the top of my head. Hurt so bad I thought I was going to pass out. I don't look down no pipe any more!

Michael

Your brown recluse spider sounds like it does the same as our white tail spider, the first aid is to wash with soapy water. I think it is mainly the bacteria that causes the problem.

Michael,

Yeah, those Alberta hunters are pretty wimpy!! :D


Actually, I've seen some of those bee swarms up here too on occasion, awesome sight too see that many living things flying together.
Almost afraid to ask about the "cowcatcher!!"


Oh yeah, thanks for tip on Lee Alox, your instructions were vastly different than those on my 10 year old bottle. Got some more targets on the way, if I can fit it in I might try Lee Alox on some 420 grainers rather than Lyman Super Moly.
Going down to Montana and Idaho for two weeks in June so not much time to load and shoot for a while.
Regards,
Bryan

AB...

A cowcatcher is a large red wasp about 2 1/2" in length. They live in the ground. I'm not real sure how they got the name but that is what everyone calls them. They are not agressive but look like they can deliver a heck of a blow.

I'm using the Liquid Alox on everything, including bullets with the traditional lube grooves. It seems to work great!

Michael

Oh, I just came back from the Doctor. I asked him how many snake bites he treats a year and he said at least a dozen a year during the Spring and early Summer months. Most bites are on small children and folks not used to operating in the woods.

He has a small child in the hospital now with a Copperhead bite. Mother didn't bring the kid in until day two because she couldn't see anything wrong.

Michael

He has a small child in the hospital now with a Copperhead bite. Mother didn't bring the kid in until day two because she couldn't see anything wrong.

Michael

You can't be serious.

Unfortunately... I am. It takes all kinds of people to make a world and some of those shouldn't have kids..

Michael

I used to own a tree service in Ft Worth. One time I was pruning a live oak next to someone's house and I was checking to see how much decay there was in a large green limb, so I reached into the hollow section to feel how far it extended. I decided that the limb was in need of removal, and as I cut it off and my saw passed through a large copperhead struck at me - just grazing the back of my gloved hand. I started to swing at him with my running chainsaw (I had no place to go as there was a large pile of brush laying on the tail of my rope) and it just kept striking at me until I caught it in the belly and it fell to the ground. I managed to get out of the tree and finished the job with a shovel. The copperhead was 58" and 3" - 4" thick. The biggest copperhead I have ever seen and the first I ever found living in a tree (I have seen lots of them when clearing lots).
Needless to say, I have never since put my hand inside a hole anywhere without checking it out thoroughly first.
It's said that God protects fools and children - I felt like both.

That's quite a snake Joe! One of them "brown recking" spiders could have got you also!

Yeah, life here in Tennessee's great.... copperheads, cottonmouths, the occasional moccassin, black widows, brown recluses, and now West Nile laden mosquitoes. The 17 year Cicadas are out too, though they're harmless, they make you want to wear your ear protection to go to the mailbox in the afternoon.

Everything else makes it worth it though :) My neck of the woods, it's not secluded (I have neighbors) but nobody really cares what goes on so long as nobody's hurt. I've probably had firearms discharge in my backyard 10, 12 times in my life and never once did we even get a call.

One of those discharges was a neighbor's 12 gauge decapitating a nice thick 40" copperhead that was threatening my parent's dogs. Mom almost got it with her little pocket .25 but she yanked the slide off racking it :D

Haven't seen many copperheads around as of late, my neighbors up the hill doing construction may have disrupted their breeding long enough to move them. That's a rocky hill, and they used to breed there, and then pass through my yard on their way to water.

"Mom almost got it with her little pocket .25 but she yanked the slide off racking it :D"

Mom's are great!!!

Michael

Mom's are great!!!

Michael

Heh, forgot to mention I was about 12 years old and had my left arm in a cast.. not a lot I could do at the time :)

You guys are lucky that you don't have the range of venomous snakes, we have here in Australia. Come summer they are about. We get blacks, copperheads, tiger and browns where i come from, pretty potent some of these, more so than your reptiles. Of course in the north of Australia we have the tiapan, most toxic and aggressive and king brown and another bad one is the mulga snake.
Cheers closs

You guys can have all those blasted snakes. I'll take the bears over snakes any day of the week!

Oh - but, Dave - What about the Snow Snakes up there? Hear they can freeze a man to death in nothing flat! :confused:

Man I love these North Woods, I'll take snow anyday, The 12" garden(guarder) snakes are not very scary, and they take off as soon as they see you..(fast)