I did some wood pile shuffling today, its 62*... Very unseasonably warm, the black snakes were out in full force sunning themselves on my stacks... Nuts!! Its December 19th!
I HATE SNAKES !!!!! I'm 34 years old, 6'1" and weigh 245,, I turn into a lil girl when I get surprised by one. NOPE
Black snakes are welcome here. Indiana DNR's official position on poisonous snakes has changed from, "Don't be silly. Poisonous snakes aren't allowed in Indiana!" to "Holy $#!×! Lookit the size of that timber rattler!" So, yes. Black snakes are welcome here.
Snakes are mostly welcome here they keep the rodents down. Saw one last year who looked like a big pearl necklace full of goodies. I think she overdid it, had a hard time moving. On the other hand we had 8 copperhead bites this spring. If the dogs could only learn to leave the snakes alone. I usually catch them and then deport them to another part of the land. The really big ones i just get to move on and they do ,they don't like trouble either. My hubby doesn't care for them though.
Copperheads are fairly common around here. Their bite, most of the time, won't kill you, only make you so sick you wish you were dead.
Luckily we dont have venomous snakes around here. 75% we see are black snakes. The other 25% are those teeny ring necks(actually are venomous but teeth cant penetrate our skin), green tree snakes, hog nose etc etc. Two counties south they have copperheads, but the MD DNR and Herp guide both show this as copperhead less.
I have some venomous legless bastards down at deer camp. I don't want the dog getting bit, so the bad ones get dealt with...big or small. Good ones, they get a pass. OP, I can't believe you saw one this late!
Yeah, that's what Max thought after his first bite in spring. He tangled with a very big copperhead and got bitten. Being a lab he has already a big head but you should have seen the balloon the poor thing swelled up into. The only time I've seen Max feel sorry for himself. Gave him a bunch of Benadryl and shots of Dexamethasone and he was right as rain. Did it teach him? Not at all, now he goes after everyone he sees. 4 of the 8 bites were his.
I don't buy the DNR saying there's no venomous snakes anywhere in any state, except Alaska. Just like our DNR fully poo-pooing the existence of mountain lions in Wisconsin even after there was enough photographic and track proof, at least for several years. Then just a couple of years ago, they had to finally admit that they are here. There's been members of FHC that are in Maine saying that they're either seen rattlers, or know people that have seen them in Maine, when the state's DNR said they don't exist in the state.
Yep, saw the rattler, went and found a ranger and brought him back to the rattler, the ranger took pics and said he'd show them to the park herpetologist. When I called a couple days later to see what they thought, they "had no record of it".
Yeah, what would you know? I mean it's not like you're a scientist or anything like that. Eventually they'll get a clue.
I was splitting rounds a few years ago.. and just split a big piece in half, and half a dozen or so garter snakes fell out on to the splitter and ground. A close friend of mine was helping, and he flat out lost his mind lol. I mean screaming, running, the works. I grabbed a couple and acted like I was going to chase him and I swear he darn near made it to the next county lolol. Snakes have never bothered me much, but I've never been a huge fan of spiders. They get my attention but don't really bother me much any more either.
I don't know what the deal with not admitting rattlers are in an area is. I've been told having an actual eastern mountain lion show up would have a massive negative economic impact due to the fact that it would shut down virtually all development in its habitat. Considering they have ranges of a couple hundred miles for a single cat, one confirmed sighting could lock up all of, say, CT and Western MA for example. Not sure how true this is, but it certainly would explain why every sighting is brushed off as not legit or escaped from captivity.
Once confirmed, snakes or cats, money must be spent on research, habitat protection etc. We have the same thing going on here. Cats on camera yet no admissions.
I hate snakes, but I won't kill them. I had one living in my garden. Just left it alone and tried not to get startled when it was slithering around. I keep my eyes open about what they look like. State says no poisonous snakes here. They wouldn't admit to it even it was served on a platter. Same with mountain lions. The $ from tourism is the main factor here. The fish and game folks will always have it their way.
