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Snake season. - 4/26/2011 9:44:38 AM   
popeye1250


Posts: 18104
Joined: 1/27/2006
From: New Hampshire
Status: offline 		Last saturday I was driving back from the lottery/ciggy store when I saw what looked like a red rope on the side of the road half on the sidewalk, half in the grass at the stop sign across the street from my place.
As I got closer I could see the reddish/copper color and knew immediately it was a copperhead and it was about 6 feet long!
As I drove by it slithered into the grass headed towards a ditch along the side of the road.
Boy, I know why they call them *copper* heads! Definately the color of copper.
I told a neighbor of mine and he said don't tell his girlfriend or she wouldn't be sleeping here with him that night!
We have a large retention pond out front then a grassy hill and then a bunch of cat o nine tail bushes that are very thick and that looks like the area it was comming from.
A lot of people walk their dogs over there but I guess if they stay out of the bushes and on the grass and keep an eye out they should be ok.
If I'm outside and hear a loud shreik I'll know what it is.
I haven't been letting Bubba (my cat) out since the warm weather hit only during the day when I'm out working on my tan and I can see him. At night I put him in the front bedroom with the window open and he jumps up and sits there for hours so I guess he "feels" like he's outside. There's a screen on the window.
I don't know if a bite from one of those critters would kill him or not. So I'll err on the side of safety.
Some people seem to think if there are cats around snakes will stay away but I don't know if that's true. Anyone know?
Copperheads seem to be the prevalent snake around here with water moccasins a close second.
That one saturday is the biggest one I've seen since I've been here!
How about you guys, any "snake" stories since the weather has turned?

< Message edited by popeye1250 -- 4/26/2011 10:05:24 AM >

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RE: Snake season. - 4/26/2011 10:07:07 AM   
Hillwilliam


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Status: offline 		Pops, copperheads dont get that big.

Adults usually grow to a total length of 50–95 cm (20–37 in), although some may exceed 1 m (3.3 ft). Males are usually larger than females. The maximum length reported for this species is 134.6 cm (53.0 in) for A. c. mokasen (Ditmars, 1931). Brimley (1944) mentions a specimen of A. c. mokasen from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, that was "four feet, six inches" (137.2 cm), but this may have been an approximation. The maximum length for A. c. contortrix is 132.1 cm (52.0 in) (Conant, 1958).[3]

They are also a LOT more brown than red/copper color.

I havent seen any yet but we're a lot cooler here in the mountains. I did catch a copperhead on the sidewalk in front of the JR HS a couple of years ago in the fall. When I released her in the mountains the next morning, she had given birth in the sack. If you want, i can send a pic of it.

Typical adult copperheads are very secretive and run about 2' to 3' long A 3 footer is frickin HUGE.

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RE: Snake season. - 4/26/2011 10:10:56 AM   
ElectraGlide


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From: Maryland
Status: offline 		I was cabin camping in PA. over Easter weekend and saw a Turtle and took a picture of it, when I looked it up online it was a Bog Turtle, not a common find, it was the first one I saw.

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RE: Snake season. - 4/26/2011 10:16:23 AM   
popeye1250


Posts: 18104
Joined: 1/27/2006
From: New Hampshire
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Hillwilliam

Pops, copperheads dont get that big.

Adults usually grow to a total length of 50–95 cm (20–37 in), although some may exceed 1 m (3.3 ft). Males are usually larger than females. The maximum length reported for this species is 134.6 cm (53.0 in) for A. c. mokasen (Ditmars, 1931). Brimley (1944) mentions a specimen of A. c. mokasen from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, that was "four feet, six inches" (137.2 cm), but this may have been an approximation. The maximum length for A. c. contortrix is 132.1 cm (52.0 in) (Conant, 1958).[3]

They are also a LOT more brown than red/copper color.

I havent seen any yet but we're a lot cooler here in the mountains. I did catch a copperhead on the sidewalk in front of the JR HS a couple of years ago in the fall. When I released her in the mountains the next morning, she had given birth in the sack. If you want, i can send a pic of it.

Typical adult copperheads are very secretive and run about 2' to 3' long A 3 footer is frickin HUGE.



Hill, this was a real "red" copper color. It must have been something else then.
That's all I could think of was a "copperhead" and it was a good six feet long.
Hmm,...corn snake maybe?
Now that I think of it you're right, most of the copperheads I've seen were 2-3 feet long not 6 feet.
Could it have been an Eastern rattler?
I only saw it for 3-5 seconds but what struck me was the color and how long it was.
No, it couldn't have been a rattler, regular pointed tail with no rattle on it.
Hmmmm

< Message edited by popeye1250 -- 4/26/2011 10:46:29 AM >

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RE: Snake season. - 4/26/2011 11:08:25 AM   
LaTigresse


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Status: offline 		We are sooooooooooooooooooo lucky! The only poisonous snakes we have are timber rattlers and they are RARE. Apparently there were hordes of them where I live, about 100 years ago. They were hunted to near extinction and even with all the hiking in the woods I've done over the years, I've never seen one.

I have yet to see our regular garden snakes. We get the typical stuff, garter snakes, bull snakes, the cute little bright green ones on occasion and as of last year, a HUGE rat snake.


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RE: Snake season. - 4/26/2011 11:37:08 AM   
lisub4one


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Status: offline 		Possibly a red rat snake if you have them in the area??? I've seen them as long as 5'... never a 6'.

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RE: Snake season. - 4/26/2011 12:18:33 PM   
flcouple2009


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Status: offline 		I would have to agree with Hill that doesn't really sound like a copperhead.

Even still always better a copperhead than a cottonmouth.  A copperhead would rather go the other direction if they have the chance.  A cottonmouth would rather chase you down the street just because.

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RE: Snake season. - 4/26/2011 12:22:32 PM   
popeye1250


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From: New Hampshire
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quote:

ORIGINAL: lisub4one

Possibly a red rat snake if you have them in the area??? I've seen them as long as 5'... never a 6'.


Yes, that's a very good possability, it could have been about 5 feet but I couldn't see it's head in the deep grass.
It was the color of copper electrical wire so I guess I just jumped to the conclusion that it was a copperhead. And it didn't have those black stripes.
Also, we get an allegator in the pond once in a while so that's another reason to keep Bubba in the house in the warm weather.

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RE: Snake season. - 4/26/2011 12:37:44 PM   
MaxsBoy


Posts: 766
Status: offline 		Yeah, probably a big corn snake.  They're really red, where copperheads and rattlers are much more brown.  They're also super harmless - more than once I have reached out and picked up a wild corn snake right off the ground.  I've also done it with hognose snakes, though they're slightly more aggressive and also a bit venomous.

Useless snake fact - there's no such thing as a poisonous snake.  Poison is injested, venom is injected.  Snakes are venomous, not poisonous.

I've always kept snakes.  Right now I just have the one python, but at one point had a breeding colony of 15 corn snakes of various morphs (in addition to about 10 other snakes and a couple of lizards).  They make great apartment pets, and corns are especially fun to breed.

< Message edited by MaxsBoy -- 4/26/2011 12:41:01 PM >

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RE: Snake season. - 4/26/2011 12:38:56 PM   
popeye1250


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From: New Hampshire
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: flcouple2009

I would have to agree with Hill that doesn't really sound like a copperhead.

Even still always better a copperhead than a cottonmouth.  A copperhead would rather go the other direction if they have the chance.  A cottonmouth would rather chase you down the street just because.




FLCPL, yeah, I've heard that about cottonmouths! I haven't seen one since I've been here, they tell me they pretty much stay in the woods or swamps here, not something that you'd see on your lawn unless you backed up to a wetlands area.
I've seen two live copperheads in the last 6 years here and probably 100 dead ones on the road.
I went out with a Nurse a few years ago who worked in various emergency rooms over the years and she said the people who mostly got bit were "Billy Bobs" trying to impress their friends "and YES, alchohol was involved 100% of the time!" lol

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RE: Snake season. - 4/26/2011 1:14:58 PM   
Hillwilliam


Posts: 19394
Joined: 8/27/2008
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quote:

ORIGINAL: popeye1250


quote:

ORIGINAL: flcouple2009

I would have to agree with Hill that doesn't really sound like a copperhead.

Even still always better a copperhead than a cottonmouth.  A copperhead would rather go the other direction if they have the chance.  A cottonmouth would rather chase you down the street just because.




FLCPL, yeah, I've heard that about cottonmouths! I haven't seen one since I've been here, they tell me they pretty much stay in the woods or swamps here, not something that you'd see on your lawn unless you backed up to a wetlands area.
I've seen two live copperheads in the last 6 years here and probably 100 dead ones on the road.
I went out with a Nurse a few years ago who worked in various emergency rooms over the years and she said the people who mostly got bit were "Billy Bobs" trying to impress their friends "and YES, alchohol was involved 100% of the time!" lol

The last words of MANY a redneck. "Hey guys, Hold my beer an watch this"

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RE: Snake season. - 4/26/2011 1:39:18 PM   
popeye1250


Posts: 18104
Joined: 1/27/2006
From: New Hampshire
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: MaxsBoy

Yeah, probably a big corn snake.  They're really red, where copperheads and rattlers are much more brown.  They're also super harmless - more than once I have reached out and picked up a wild corn snake right off the ground.  I've also done it with hognose snakes, though they're slightly more aggressive and also a bit venomous.

Useless snake fact - there's no such thing as a poisonous snake.  Poison is injested, venom is injected.  Snakes are venomous, not poisonous.

I've always kept snakes.  Right now I just have the one python, but at one point had a breeding colony of 15 corn snakes of various morphs (in addition to about 10 other snakes and a couple of lizards).  They make great apartment pets, and corns are especially fun to breed.



Maxs, yup, that's what it was!

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RE: Snake season. - 4/26/2011 1:41:26 PM   
hlen5


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quote:

ORIGINAL: popeye1250

.......We have a large retention pond out front then a grassy hill and then a bunch of cat o nine tail bushes that are very thick .......




Aren't those cattail bushes??

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RE: Snake season. - 4/26/2011 3:43:31 PM   
DesFIP


Posts: 25191
Joined: 11/25/2007
From: Apple County NY
Status: offline 		There are rattlesnakes and copperheads up the mountain. They live in the rock ledges and also the old drystone walls put up 300 years ago. I don't go around poking into the stones with a stick and thus I've never seen them in the 20 years I've been here.


I called the DEC today because on the busiest street, right in front of the entrance ramp to the Thruway was a turtle crossing the road that must have been nearly a foot across. I know that means it's at least 40 years old, and probably older. I hope whoever got sent out to get it to safety had a shovel with a really long handle.


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RE: Snake season. - 4/26/2011 4:36:29 PM   
ThatDamnedPanda


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quote:

ORIGINAL: popeye1250

I don't know if a bite from one of those critters would kill him or not. So I'll err on the side of safety.


Oh, yeah. Definitely.


quote:

ORIGINAL: popeye1250
Some people seem to think if there are cats around snakes will stay away but I don't know if that's true. Anyone know?



Nah, they don't care. Snakes are too stupid to care. Their brain isn't developed enough to learn something like that.



quote:

ORIGINAL: popeye1250

Hill, this was a real "red" copper color. It must have been something else then.
That's all I could think of was a "copperhead" and it was a good six feet long.



I wouldn't rule it out. There are a lot of regional phenotypes of copperheads with a very wide range of colorations. I've seen photos of copperheads that were brown as bricks, strawcolored, even borderline purple. Some phenotypes really are a very coppery color, and they can almost glisten like a shiny new penny when they've just shed their skin. The length would argue against it, if you're right about that, but I wouldn't rule it out based on the color alone.


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RE: Snake season. - 4/26/2011 4:39:53 PM   
ThatDamnedPanda


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quote:

ORIGINAL: LaTigresse

We are sooooooooooooooooooo lucky! The only poisonous snakes we have are timber rattlers and they are RARE. Apparently there were hordes of them where I live, about 100 years ago. They were hunted to near extinction and even with all the hiking in the woods I've done over the years, I've never seen one.


I'm going hunting for timber rattlers this Saturday, if the weather is sunny. I know a place south of here where they sun themselves on a rocky bluff in the springtime, and I'll go see what I can see this weekend. They're a beautiful snake. If you guys are short, I'll be happy to mail you a few. Just let me know.


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RE: Snake season. - 4/26/2011 6:43:38 PM   
Hillwilliam


Posts: 19394
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Status: offline 		They're emerging in MN already? They're barely out in TN.

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RE: Snake season. - 4/26/2011 7:41:23 PM   
ThatDamnedPanda


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quote:

ORIGINAL: Hillwilliam

They're emerging in MN already? They're barely out in TN.


I have high hopes. I saw a number of regular snakes - some red bellies and a couple of garter snakes - out and about a couple of weeks ago  when the weather first started to turn, but then we had a cold snap and they evidently reconsidered. Now it's starting to warm up again, and I think the rattlers will be eager to get at it as soon as we get a few sunny days.


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RE: Snake season. - 4/26/2011 7:52:19 PM   
Hillwilliam


Posts: 19394
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Status: offline 		If I remember when I get to the ofice tomorrow, I'll send you a pic of a copperhead giving birth.

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RE: Snake season. - 4/27/2011 12:20:22 AM   
Termyn8or


Posts: 18681
Joined: 11/12/2005
Status: offline 		"Useless snake fact - there's no such thing as a poisonous snake.  Poison is injested, venom is injected.  Snakes are venomous, not poisonous. "

So you can eat them then.

Where is that recipe thread ?

T^T

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