Laurie4b Posted June 30, 2010 Share Posted June 30, 2010 I am usually watching where I step very carefully on summer nights, but tonight was distracted as I got out of the van. My eye caught the pattern on the ground as I was in mid-step, which neurological circuits were able to convert into some kind of old-lady-leap at the last minute. I was in striking range even during the leap and was kind of expecting to get it in the calf. Dh came out and ran over the thing with the truck--I saw the tire land squarely on the body but the serpent slithered out lickety split coming in my direction! I beat a hasty retreat. Dh killed it the low-tech way with a shovel in the end. I hate those things. This is the 6th close encounter someone in our family has had since we moved to this house 9 years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnTheBrink Posted June 30, 2010 Share Posted June 30, 2010 I am usually watching where I step very carefully on summer nights, but tonight was distracted as I got out of the van. My eye caught the pattern on the ground as I was in mid-step, which neurological circuits were able to convert into some kind of old-lady-leap at the last minute. I was in striking range even during the leap and was kind of expecting to get it in the calf. Dh came out and ran over the thing with the truck--I saw the tire land squarely on the body but the serpent slithered out lickety split coming in my direction! I beat a hasty retreat. Dh killed it the low-tech way with a shovel in the end. I hate those things. This is the 6th close encounter someone in our family has had since we moved to this house 9 years ago. I'd have moved 5 snakes ago. :leaving: I'm glad you weren't bitten. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peela Posted June 30, 2010 Share Posted June 30, 2010 Are they aggressive snakes? Here in Australia we have many poisonous snakes, some deadly, but very few are aggressive (tiger snakes being the main ones that sometimes are). Mostly, they run the other direction. You have to actually step on it to get bitten, usually. I have a lot of respect for snakes and actually love them. We have a non poisonous pet snake and he has helped diffuse that primal fear of snakes. The snake is just doing its thing and doesn't deserve hatred. It is scary though, of course, and the few times I have come across snakes in the wild my heart beats very, very fast- but they have always moved away, not come closer. One place I lived in the bush, we grew garlic all around the house- it supposedly keeps snakes away. Dogs can be good deterrents of snakes, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lllll Posted June 30, 2010 Share Posted June 30, 2010 .. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurie4b Posted June 30, 2010 Author Share Posted June 30, 2010 (edited) Yes, copperheads are often aggressive, though one of my ds's stepped right on one without getting bitten! (The child has a special guardian angel though---a very busy one--as he was also the one who played with a black widow as a toddler without adverse affects.) Three of us were either struck at, or the snake reared up in striking position as it was approached (rather than running). The biggest one we ever saw was the first. It came with 5 ft of chainsawing (so much for the old "noise scares them away" myth.) That one ended up skinned, dissected, and with head mummified, being that I was a fun homeschool mom back then. :) We have had several pet snakes. We still have 3, leftover from when my two oldest decided to start a business some years back...lemonade stand? No. Mowing lawns? No. Pet-sitting? nooo. Breeding snakes. "Do you know anyone who owns a snake dear, besides you, I mean." "Only 2 people, but all my friends want one!" "Yes, but do their mothers want one?" Fortunately, the breeding didn't happen... I actually don't mind snakes when they are not poisonous and right under my feet. Edited June 30, 2010 by Laurie4b Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurie4b Posted June 30, 2010 Author Share Posted June 30, 2010 I'd have moved 5 snakes ago. :leaving: I'm glad you weren't bitten. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted June 30, 2010 Share Posted June 30, 2010 :grouphug: Agree, glad you weren't bitten. I woke up to find a snake in my dog's room the other morning. Thankfully it wasn't poisonous and the silly dog didn't bother it, but boy did I wake up quick. I blogged (on my Wakefield blog)and posted pics about my escapade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurie4b Posted June 30, 2010 Author Share Posted June 30, 2010 :grouphug: Agree, glad you weren't bitten. I woke up to find a snake in my dog's room the other morning. Thankfully it wasn't poisonous and the silly dog didn't bother it, but boy did I wake up quick. I blogged (on my Wakefield blog)and posted pics about my escapade. I read your story... I hope it actually got out. They are geniuses at hiding...not to scare you but to warn you. My aunt lost one of their snakes for a couple months till a friend came over and went to the bathroom. The scream clued my aunt in that the snake had been located! :ohmy: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MariannNOVA Posted June 30, 2010 Share Posted June 30, 2010 I'd have moved 5 snakes ago. :leaving: I'm glad you weren't bitten. :iagree::auto: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lisamarie Posted June 30, 2010 Share Posted June 30, 2010 I'd have moved 5 snakes ago. :leaving: I'm glad you weren't bitten. :iagree: I was looking them up on the internet since we don't have them in MI (thank God) and DH, whose computer is on the opposite wall from mine, reached over and touched me on the stomach to be affectionate and I jumped sky high. DH laughed and laughed at me. But boy, just pictures of snakes makes me jumpy. Can't even imagine encountering one of these guys in the wild. :eek::ack2::blink: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted June 30, 2010 Share Posted June 30, 2010 I read your story... I hope it actually got out. They are geniuses at hiding...not to scare you but to warn you. My aunt lost one of their snakes for a couple months till a friend came over and went to the bathroom. The scream clued my aunt in that the snake had been located! :ohmy: There's no way he could get out of the room, except to go outside. Believe me I've been treading very carefully in there, but we've torn up everything in the room, even looking under the drapes, so we're pretty sure he's gone. We often encounter snakes in the back yard, so hopefully (crossing fingers) he just went back home. :iagree: I was looking them up on the internet since we don't have them in MI (thank God) and DH, whose computer is on the opposite wall from mine, reached over and touched me on the stomach to be affectionate and I jumped sky high. DH laughed and laughed at me. But boy, just pictures of snakes makes me jumpy. Can't even imagine encountering one of these guys in the wild. :eek::ack2::blink: My Dh would so be in trouble. :001_huh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KJsMom Posted June 30, 2010 Share Posted June 30, 2010 This is the 6th close encounter someone in our family has had since we moved to this house 9 years ago. :eek: What state are you in? I'm in east Texas and we have copperheads, but we've never had such close encounters. My dh has killed a few, mostly small ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurie4b Posted June 30, 2010 Author Share Posted June 30, 2010 :iagree::auto: So are you running OVER the snake or running away from it in that car? :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Granny_Weatherwax Posted June 30, 2010 Share Posted June 30, 2010 Thank goodness you got out of the way. That would have scared the beejeebers out of me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaillardia Posted June 30, 2010 Share Posted June 30, 2010 A friend of ours killed 10 copperheads last summer on his property, but only one so far this summer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hornblower Posted June 30, 2010 Share Posted June 30, 2010 Ok, so yet another reason to never move from Vancouver. So far I've got: Totally hands-off homeschooling. No poisonous snakes. Big hedges and fences are a-ok! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Marple Posted June 30, 2010 Share Posted June 30, 2010 Oh, my! Glad you've still got such good eye/leg coordination! We spent last week at Boy Scout Camp. What I hate most about that time is the snake population. Our scoutmaster was bitten by a timber rattlesnake, taken to the hospital (3 hours away) and several other rattlers were found during the week. It seems that someone is bitten each year. But...I have to say, it is usually because they want to catch it and relocate it instead of killing it. One young man had a great story about how he was bitten: "We were just walking on the path and it fell from the tree and bit me on the fingertip"...hmmmmm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathleen in VA Posted June 30, 2010 Share Posted June 30, 2010 I'd have moved 5 snakes ago. :leaving: I'm glad you weren't bitten. We've had a number of close encounters with copperheads here too and my first thought was to move, but actually, there really isn't any place to go. Someone in Washington, D.C. got bit last year by a copperhead near her apartment complex while she was walking along a sidewalk. It doesn't seem to matter - city or country - they are just out there everywhere!!:eek: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurie4b Posted June 30, 2010 Author Share Posted June 30, 2010 Iwould be much more frightened of rattlesnakes.Copperhead bites are very nasty and painful, and they can do muscle damage, but are rarely fatal. Around here, they give you antibiotics for the germs in their mouths, but you're on your own getting rid of the poison because the anti-venom has it's own set of problems. A rattlesnake falling from a tree on me might do me in. I love walking in the woods. I think it would take a whole lot after that happening to keep walking in the woods! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disney Dreaming Posted June 30, 2010 Share Posted June 30, 2010 I'd have moved 5 snakes ago. :leaving: I'm glad you weren't bitten. :iagree: We have them here in Georgia but I haven't met one yet!:DThank goodness for small favors(or large since these are not small snakes). I did have a friend who almost stepped on a snake one night-she didn't see it but her husband did and pushed her inside(they were by the basement door).:eek: I always heard snakes like warm sunshine, I didn't ever think to look where you step at night! I have heard of them in trees though! Glad you weren't bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom4him Posted June 30, 2010 Share Posted June 30, 2010 :iagree::auto: This is me. I would have moved, OH YES! Oh, wait a minute. I am the one that can't seem to get me dh to move out of the middle of 1/2 a million bikers coming to our town of 6000 because we have put so much work into the house.:001_huh: That is a whole other story! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
golfcartmama Posted June 30, 2010 Share Posted June 30, 2010 That Snake Away stuff they sell at Home Depot has worked wonders for us! They were coming in the garage and getting under the kids toys/bikes, etc. Moth balls also work but only until they get wet. Glad you weren't bitten!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurie4b Posted June 30, 2010 Author Share Posted June 30, 2010 :iagree: We have them here in Georgia but I haven't met one yet!:DThank goodness for small favors(or large since these are not small snakes). I did have a friend who almost stepped on a snake one night-she didn't see it but her husband did and pushed her inside(they were by the basement door).:eek: I always heard snakes like warm sunshine, I didn't ever think to look where you step at night! I have heard of them in trees though! Glad you weren't bit. Copperheads are nocturnal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gpsings Posted June 30, 2010 Share Posted June 30, 2010 (edited) I'd have moved 5 snakes ago. :leaving: I'm glad you weren't bitten. :iagree: WERD!!! :lol: Since I live in GA (Forsyth County)...and have taken to running in the wee morning hours...I think I'm gonna stick to the paved roads! Scary, since there are no sidewalks near us, and I do see a LOT of wildlife around some mornings. I am SO glad I've not seen a copperhead! Edited June 30, 2010 by gpsings Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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