WestKyTeacher Posted July 6, 2011 Report Share Posted July 6, 2011 I stepped over this guy in my backyard today, and said a few words as he moved between my feet (of course I screamed like a baby and jumped). Is it a copperhead? If so, is there anything I can do to keep them away? Don't want the little ones to get a snake bite. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terry264 Posted July 6, 2011 Report Share Posted July 6, 2011 YES! Definitely a copperhead,,,,,,,be careful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruttinbuc Posted July 6, 2011 Report Share Posted July 6, 2011 That diamond shaped head and cat like eye gives him up as a venomous snake gives him away.....and they will put you in a world of hurt. Especially, one of that size. :stretcher: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted July 6, 2011 Report Share Posted July 6, 2011 Yes it is. Had one in the shed under my tractor bucket last week I found after I backed out, about a 2 footer. I think moth balls help some with keeping snakes away, seems to help anyway. Hearing the snakes would be bad here with all the flooding we had, but not seeing any more than normal. Did hear about a man getting bit by a copperhead and it killed the man sometime last month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newarcher Posted July 6, 2011 Report Share Posted July 6, 2011 Why were you walking through a metal box? Definitely a copperhead. Glad that he didn't tag you, you would have been in a world of hurt. Be careful walking around at night, they hunt at night. New Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redkneck Posted July 6, 2011 Report Share Posted July 6, 2011 Copperhead. Nice colors. The best way to reduce them around your home is to reduce the habitat. Any old brush piles and cribs with feed in them bring in the mice/rats and you'll have snakes to follow. Copperheads make up about 80% of the bites in our state, they tend to bite first and ask questions later, as opposed to the cottonmouths and rattlers that tend to shy away from people. Drunk males make up the vast majority of the bite victims, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gator Posted July 6, 2011 Report Share Posted July 6, 2011 9mm and rat shot has a devastating effect on them. So far I have killed two this year in my yard, one in my well house, and one under the mower deck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawg Posted July 6, 2011 Report Share Posted July 6, 2011 Yep, copperhead........why ain't it dead? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhino Posted July 6, 2011 Report Share Posted July 6, 2011 Yep copperhead and a big one too! Good advise in John's post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WestKyTeacher Posted July 6, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2011 This is the first one I have ever seen out in the wild. It was 30 min before dark and I was driving the tractor around to clean up. I got off to throw a couple rocks in the bucket I had found in the back yard. When I went to get back on, I stepped over him and I saw him move between my feet. The diamond head made me thing poison and the copper color head made me think what type. But I had heard they had slit eyes and not round? Is that true? Reason he's not dead, I also know some snakes eat poisonious snakes. However, he is dead after the posts confirming the type. Just praying my little ones don't encounter any. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redkneck Posted July 6, 2011 Report Share Posted July 6, 2011 To my knowlege every poisonous snake in this country has slitted pupils, except the coral snake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WestKyTeacher Posted July 6, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2011 Ext agent just dropped by, it is a copperhead. He estimates around 3 years old. He couldn't believe it didn't bite me when I stepped over it. Did I tell you I had on shorts and tennis shoes? You can bet I'll have the boots on from now on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeramie Posted July 6, 2011 Report Share Posted July 6, 2011 The good news is they are the least lethal of all North American snakes. My sister was wearing flip flops and was bit on the top of the foot. They measured her foot for several days but that was about it. She was sick to her stomach for a while and that was about the end of it.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leo Posted July 6, 2011 Report Share Posted July 6, 2011 This is the first one I have ever seen out in the wild. It was 30 min before dark and I was driving the tractor around to clean up. I got off to throw a couple rocks in the bucket I had found in the back yard. When I went to get back on, I stepped over him and I saw him move between my feet. The diamond head made me thing poison and the copper color head made me think what type. But I had heard they had slit eyes and not round? Is that true? Reason he's not dead, I also know some snakes eat poisonious snakes. However, he is dead after the posts confirming the type. Just praying my little ones don't encounter any. Yep it certainly was a copperhead. And you are thinking right about not killing the non-poisonous snakes around the house. Not killing the non-poisonous snakes around helps keep the poisonous ones out. Even if the non-poisonous snake isn't a snake-eater they often share the same foods as the poisonous snakes. If the non-poisonous snakes are eating all the food in the area the poisonous ones have no reason to move in. Even garter snakes eat some of the same things as copperheads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strut10 Posted July 6, 2011 Report Share Posted July 6, 2011 Work partner of a buddy of mine got bitten by a copperhead. Luckily the two were together when it happened. Consensus was the guy may not have made it had he not had the other fellow to get him to a hospital. He was far too incapacitated to get there himself. A guy at our sportsman's club took a copperhead hit to the hand. Messed him up BIG TIME for over a month. Don't ever discount the danger and, yes, lethality of copperheads. They are not to be messed with. P.S. Sorry, Leo......... I don't like to even look at the non-poisonous varieties. They will be made aware of their place in the food chain when sighted around my place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted July 6, 2011 Report Share Posted July 6, 2011 Work partner of a buddy of mine got bitten by a copperhead. Luckily the two were together when it happened. Consensus was the guy may not have made it had he not had the other fellow to get him to a hospital. He was far too incapacitated to get there himself. A guy at our sportsman's club took a copperhead hit to the hand. Messed him up BIG TIME for over a month. Don't ever discount the danger and, yes, lethality of copperheads. They are not to be messed with. Gotta agree with Don here, cannot be too careful when it comes to snakes. Like I posted above, there was a fatal bite here from a copperhead just within the past couple weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ethan Givan Posted July 6, 2011 Report Share Posted July 6, 2011 Wow that is a big one! Ive seen a couple real small ones but nothing that big, and I hope I dont. Im not suprised at all that you stepped over it and didnt get bit. I know other people who have stepped over top of them and the snake just layed there and didnt move. Ive never heard of a copperhead being a very aggressive snake at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strut10 Posted July 6, 2011 Report Share Posted July 6, 2011 Ive never heard of a copperhead being a very aggressive snake at all. Must be them Dixie copperheads. The folks up here that live among both copperheads and timber rattlers say, almost unanimously, they'd much rather deal with the rattler. Less aggressive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawg Posted July 6, 2011 Report Share Posted July 6, 2011 Must be them Dixie copperheads. The folks up here that live among both copperheads and timber rattlers say, almost unanimously, they'd much rather deal with the rattler. Less aggressive. Had one come at my wife last week while she was sitting on the porch. Even when she got the broom and tried to get it to slither off (she doesn't like killing snakes....I know, she's wierd) it kept coming at her. She ended up hacking it's head off with a shovel after she realized it wasn't going anywhere. I told her if that I would have been out there the porch would have holes all in it. So yea, they can be aggressive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ethan Givan Posted July 6, 2011 Report Share Posted July 6, 2011 Must be them Dixie copperheads. Must be. I have always been told they were very passive snakes. Found the below paragraph on this link. copperhead "Copperheads are not aggressive snakes and would rather leave humans alone; however, if threatened they will bite"....... "Most people who are bitten either stepped on a Copperhead that was well-camouflaged, or were messing with it." I dont doubt anyones accounts of agressive copperheads, but the ones around here dont have that reputation. People around here warn you about the timber rattlers. I dont know how many times people have told me to make sure I look on the other side of logs in the woods before stepping over them because of the rattlers that may be on the other side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strut10 Posted July 6, 2011 Report Share Posted July 6, 2011 Must be. I have always been told they were very passive snakes. Found the below paragraph on this link. copperhead "Copperheads are not aggressive snakes and would rather leave humans alone; however, if threatened they will bite"....... "Most people who are bitten either stepped on a Copperhead that was well-camouflaged, or were messing with it." I dont doubt anyones accounts of agressive copperheads, but the ones around here dont have that reputation. People around here warn you about the timber rattlers. I dont know how many times people have told me to make sure I look on the other side of logs in the woods before stepping over them because of the rattlers that may be on the other side. Just goes to show..................... don't trust ANY of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted July 6, 2011 Report Share Posted July 6, 2011 Must be them Dixie copperheads. The folks up here that live among both copperheads and timber rattlers say, almost unanimously, they'd much rather deal with the rattler. Less aggressive. Dunno about that. The copperheads around here are pretty darned nasty, not very passive at all. Least timber rattlers sometimes give warning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clrj3514 Posted July 7, 2011 Report Share Posted July 7, 2011 Usually the only snakes we have to worry about coming after you here are cottonmouths. They don't have ANY back down in them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newarcher Posted July 7, 2011 Report Share Posted July 7, 2011 I have a buddy who I fish with on a local big lake. He said that a surprise thunderstorm caught a lot of fisherman on the lake at night. So they all tied up under a bridge to stay dry and hopefully not get struck by the lightning. Anyhoo, he said he saw a snake in the water swimming away from the crowd and assumed it was a water moccasin. He then saw a boat headed towards them on a collision course with the snake. With the wind, rain and lightning they couldn't warn the guy in the boat. Long story short he was at idle speed when he ran over the snake. The snake took exception and decided to enter the boat with them to discuss the matter further. Well, it was the guy driving and two women. They said that the guy had one lady by the belt to keep her from jumping out of the boat and the other hand working the wheel and the throttle to keep from hitting the other boats upon whom he was descending fast. That left one woman unaccounted for. Now this was apparently a nice NICE fully loaded Skeeter bass boat and that unaccounted for woman found an underutilized wooden oar and started beating that snake to death (or trying). She apparently didn't have great aim and took out the fish finder, trolling motor and other misc parts of the boat which flew off into the water. She was screeching like a tennis player and he was yelling, begging her to stop hitting things. Finally the snake decided that she was flat crazy and departed the boat unaffected by her attempted murder. I laugh each time I hear that story. Poor guy! New Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeramie Posted July 7, 2011 Report Share Posted July 7, 2011 Usually the only snakes we have to worry about coming after you here are cottonmouths. They don't have ANY back down in them! Yep and yep.... they are very toxic too.... bad snakes. They die on sight when given the chance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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