darenative
Twelve Pointer
Killed a few in Nags Head woods in the 80's. Have not seen one up the beach since. Until a couple of years ago, timbers hadn't been documented in there for 20 or 30 years.
Snake Bites On The Rise This Year
- Thread starter Panthera
- Start date
cmckearney
Button Buck
So you want them eradicated?
Clark
Ten Pointer
Eradicated is such a harsh word...
genbud78
Ten Pointer
It does happen but most are from messing with them. I know a few people that were bitten like what you're talking about but the majority were bc they were handling them. A friend of my dad's was bitten bc he sat against a stump that had a snake under it. He was fortunate that it didn't penetrate his jacket but it hit him several times.
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Troutbum82
Twelve Pointer
bowhuntingrook
Old Mossy Horns
Copperheads are usually over-accused if anything.
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Are you color blind? I am & it makes it difficult to see them. Any movement on their part & I usually see them before anyone else though.
Clark
Ten Pointer
Yep, red/green color blind. That is why ducks are always just brown or black.
witler
Eight Pointer
Yep, red and green. I was fussed at more than once as a kid, sent to the garden and coming back with green tomatoes instead of ripe ones.
Ol Copper
Twelve Pointer
I was just thinking that this year has been the least snakiest year I can remember. I usually see a lot but can't recall the last time I've seen one. Haven't even saw one dead in the road all year.
turkeyfoot
Old Mossy Horns
All I've seen this year is 2 water snakes and few black ones but I ain't complaining
Justin
Old Mossy Horns
Heard some numbers last fall about how many rattlers had been removed from Bodie light house sight last year. I can’t remember how many but it was ridiculously high.
darenative
Twelve Pointer
Yep. There are some damn BIG timbers on that chunk of property. Surprised nobody has been bitten in there yet.
FlyingBison
Button Buck
I'm new to NC, coming from NY where venomous snakes are a rarity. It sounds like common sense goes a long way to help avoid getting bit. However, I'm also guessing that a good pair of boots will help in the event that you accidentally step near one. There are all sorts of "fang-proof" boots on the market. Are these necessary, or will any good pair of leather boots hold up against a bite from a copperhead / cottonmouth? I'm planning on hunting public land in central NC.
Good leather boots are better than nothing, but there are snakes that will get through them.
Bailey Boat
Twelve Pointer
I was hit by one when I was around 8 or so, pretty good sized snake, probably close to 2.5 feet. I don't think I got a dose, never any swelling only an itching at the bite site (on my leg just above the ankle) and it only left a dark spot about the size of a dime. Lesson learned...
Troutbum82
Twelve Pointer
You got lucky or are Blessed. I got a full dose from a juvenile Copperhead and thought I was going to die.
Ldsoldier
Old Mossy Horns
I grew up around all 6 species of venomous snakes in NC (Pender county). I’ve never worn a pair of snake boots. Just watch your step and you’ll be fine. Its really not as big a deal as some would have you believe.
Panthera
Eight Pointer
Sometimes pit vipers will give what is called a "dry bite", not injecting venom when they bite.
Bailey Boat
Twelve Pointer
Same thing my Grandfather said, how he knew is beyond me but then he grilled me about what I was doing when it happened and of course where exactly I was. It was at the end of the foot log across the creek and I didn't look before I stepped down.....
JONOV
Old Mossy Horns
I've seen more this year than years past it seems.
However, I attribute it to the lack of winter we had last year. My allergies, which are normally two weeks in the spring and after heavy storms, have been raging all summer. I heard an Allergist interviewed on the radio and she said that warm winters cause trees and other plants not to go into the same dormancy and are then ready and able to produce more as the year goes on.
I'd imagine the same is true of snakes; they're generally regarded to be more common the further south you go. With a very mild winter there's likely less mortality and the snakes come out of hibernation or whatnot in better shape, ready to make more snakes, less apt to get sick or caught by something bigger.
JONOV
Old Mossy Horns
I think there are two types of folks out there...those that decide that preventing them with snake boots is worthwhile no matter what, and those that think that the risk is low enough that it isn't worth it.
I don't think either one of them is wrong. One guy I hunted with a lot always wore snakeboots, and his reasoning was only partly due to snakes; he said that his calves didn't get bit by bugs with pants tucked into the boots, and that his pants stayed dry during early morning/muddy weather, and the snakeproof part was an added bonus.
FWIW, the only two people I know of that were bitten by them weren't outdoorsmen, they were in the suburbs, and the snake was curled up under their grill or recycle bin, and they moved it wearing flip flops and got tagged. I've heard of a lot of dogs that got bit and the dogs seem to handle it better than we do.
Wolfcreek
Button Buck
I once heard the best thing to wear in snake country is 2 pairs of underwear
out of jersey
Spike
I have only seen 2 hognose in the past 2 yrs very docile snakes. everybody on the next door site seems to have copper heads every where ,would love to see pics of so called bad snakes. Most coming from carolina shores devl. ?
Part-time hunter
Ten Pointer
I read sometime ago that there have been so few sightings of the coral snake in NC that it may be considered an endangered species or threatened or something like that. Apparently they stay pretty much buried so seeing one would be rare unless you are digging around and happen up on one.
Panthera
Eight Pointer
The coral snake is endangered here in NC.