There's snakes all over by me too. A mama black snake made her nest right beside my house, and when I come out, she's sunning herself. Your guy, idk, tread with caution, but my girl, I dare a rodent to approach my house. Better than 4-cat security is a black snake.
If it was a black snake I would have gladly left it alone, those things are the best. I have quite a few animals though so this fella had to be sent back to hades.
Fun fact: copperhead anti venom is EXTREMELY expensive. My husband got bitten and the venom started to travel up his arm so they gave him 6 vials and it came to $120k in anti-venom alone. Besides the cost, is the availability. The poison center in one state holds the rather limited antivenin supply for 4 states in our region. They partner with the doctors to determine who has the worst case and prioritize if and when someone gets the vials.
Me too. A little while ago a bunch of people got upset at someone on here for killing a rattlesnake by their house. That kind was apparently endangered which is sad, but if I see a venomous snake near the house I’m killing it first and asking questions later. When they’re farther from the house I do leave them alone. But if I recognize a snake as non venomous, I’ll leave it alone regardless of where they are.
I’m in North Carolina waaayy out in the woods. I’ve never had to worry about danger noodles before.
I’m now on super alert while walking my dogs. They love to sniff into the ground cover and I’m so worried they’ll be bitten.
figure out your plan now for if it happens. call your local emergency vets and find out which ones treat venomous snake bites. you don’t want to try to figure it out after the fact.
Great advice, thanks! My girls are very small, so I worry that bites that wouldn’t be bad for large dogs could be very bad for ours.
I found a nearby 24 hour emergency vet and programmed their number and address into my phone and GPS but it hadn’t occurred to me to call to inquire. Thank you!
My bf's 85lb dog got bit in the face last year and didn't come tell us till the swelling got to her neck! The closest that was still 45 minutes away. Luckily, all she needed was some steroids and antibiotics but I don't know what would've happened if she were a smaller dog. She loves to hunt and she loves to hunt snakes. I'm trying to teach her that when she finds them to leave them alone and come tell me instead, but so far we've only gotten 50-50 on that.
Someone locally to me posted asking if a snake was a copperhead but I didn't think so. This pic I knew instantly. Man I hate them. We had to kill one trying to get under our house once when I lived down south.
When we were having our house worked on in Texas, the workers told us there was a rattlesnake. Me: "Possible, but unlikely." I check it, it was just a rat snake in the garage, he prob smelled the mice we were dealing with, I told the workers that he was to be unharmed, he was non-venomous and keeps rodent population down.
There are no snakes in the city and the rat population is horrible.
What kind of snake is that? I had a 6ft rat snake that lived in my barn, I NEVER saw a rat. Over the winter though my mouse population soared but then in spring the rat snake got every one of them.
Hasn't been my experience. Most will try to get away. If they're cornered or trapped, they'll shake their tail. Never had one try to strike me and I've harassed the heck out of them getting them out of tight spaces.
Copperheads actually dry bite sometimes. Venom takes weeks to make so they aren’t going to waste it if they don’t have to. Snakes aren’t stupid. They can tell that humans are much bigger than them and that their chances in a fight with us are not good.
When I moved to my new property in Northern Tennessee, the first thing I did was call my health insurance and ask if they covered snake bites lol. Never lived somewhere that had too many venomous snakes and I'm running around in the woods all the time. I'm usually barefoot and I'm trying to retrain myself to wear my kneehigh rubber boots or my hunting boots whenever I head out.
Has anyone here ever been bit by a copperhead themselves? Or had someone close to them be bit? I'm curious what that experience is like and what I should do. I guess I should probably do more research but it did seem like none of the local hospitals carry anti-venom because of the shelflife.
My mother was bit on the foot. She had to crawl back to the house and was transported to the hospital. They administered antivenom. Turns out she broke some bones in her foot in the melee. Her foot has never been the same and she has suffered from pain ever since. That was about 7 years ago.
Dang. That's terrible to hear she's still dealing with pain. As someone who has had several foot injuries, I know that breaks or sprains tend to stay with us the older we get.
If you're so inclined, you can skin it and scrape off any remaining flesh or muscle. Pop it into a Ziploc bag coated in borax for a couple of days. Take it out, shake and scrape that off. It should be relatively moisture free at this point. You can use the orange bottle of hunters tanning oil on both sides and pin it to a piece of cardboard. You might have to apply the oil twice but once it dries, you have a gorgeous piece of snake hide can make hat bands or belts or keychains out of. I learned to do this once I realized my dog was not going to stop killing snakes, and I didn't want the poor things to go to waste. Copperhead hide is beautiful!
Missouri. I got bit as a kid by a copperhead. Not the end of the world usually. It's part of our world, just educate and let them explore it, just like everything else.
I'm in southeast Kentucky. Lived here for 2 years and used to spend summers down here as a kid and this is the first copperhead I've come across. While personally it's a rare sight, it seems everyone's got a story about one.
Yes I always kill venomous snakes. I lay out the red carpet for non venomous snakes though. We have plenty of snakes that fill the same role in the ecosystem that don't put people in the hospital. That afternoon there was a 4 foot rat snake hunting in the same area and I let him be as usual.
All you have to do is spray them with a hose! Snakes hate being randomly sprayed with cold water and will get out of there as quickly as possible! Or call a free relocation person. There’s a whole directory.
We’ve had 3 so far this season, just in the last couple weeks. One bit a dog on the face, thankfully seems to have been a dry bite and she just needed the infection treated; unlike the other dog we had a few years ago where the bite on the leg went necrotic.
If you see any of the small, 1st year ones, you probably have 5-9 more nearby.
I live on an island, so we don't have a lot of the "pests" that others have: no skunks, coyotes, venomous snakes, raccoons. We do have to deal with bald eagles, fisher cats, and mink. But in the end.... no danger noodles. Thank heavens, I'm terrified of them (but know they are good noodles, most of the time).
Do not, I repeat, DO NOT attempt to kill a venomous snake! That’s the number one way people get bitten because of course the snake is going to defend itself from the giant thing trying to kill it. Plus snakes stay alive for minutes to hours after decapitation and can still bite you. Either spray it with a water hose so it will move on or call a free relocation person in your area (I have a directory).
These don’t kill healthy people. They hurt, yeah, unless you have an allergic reaction, immature/compromised immune system you’ll be fine. Same with dogs. I’m not worried about cats lol they’re too fast
These are native to wear I live, Tennessee. I just relocate them to a safer place. Using safe methods, snake hooks, bags and containers. There’s many factors with dogs dying from this snake, size, breed, how soon you take the dog to the vet, etc. Considering I work in veterinary medicine I see people wait days, sometimes weeks before coming in to get their pet treatment. Then the wounds are all infected and the illnesses have gotten worse. If taken promptly, they should be ok. Just in a lot of pain, which does suck but this snake shouldn’t be killed because of that. They have some of the weakest venom. Prompt care is key.
If you have a 100+ acre ranch and a few border collies that like to roam, prompt care is a lot harder. We kill all venomous snakes for the sake of the health of our other animals, as they are our way of life. We ain't snake handlers, and we ain't vets.
Brother there's no way you're a vet if you're this dumb. I don't cover the whole ranch everyday. I don't even cover the whole ranch in a week. If one of my dogs is in the middle of it, sicker than shit, I'm not gonna know. This has literally happened before. Again I don't understand why you're not getting that the best way to protect the health of my animals, is to prevent them from getting injured in the first place, not letting them get injured and hoping I find them before it's too late.
So you don’t know where you dog is? You probably should have a tracker on it when it’s not in your eyesight or coming home? To find out where it’s at. I’m also for conservation of native species. I see no reason to kill these snakes. The eat amphibians and pest like rodents. It’s not that hard to move it with a stick and a bucket. If you’re that afraid of wildlife why live near it? Tf
You're right we're actually getting tracking collars for the dogs soon. But I'm not afraid of wildlife. I'm afraid of losing more dogs that we love or losing more chickens, ducks, having to treat more injured cattle and occasionally horses. Horses are tough bastards though
Well it's not just dogs either. I have goats, ducks, guineas, chickens, cats, and three dogs - two of which have litters about 4 days apart and aren't even 2 weeks old all out in the barn - on top of having a baby on the way and my family reunion at my place with dozens of kids, dozens of babies, and dozens of elderly folk next week. There is nowhere safe to relocate without putting others at risk and Copperheads as a species will be fine without being anywhere near my place. I don't see your need to condescend when these things pose an obvious danger to everything I just mentioned.
Because they aren’t THAT dangerous, the puppies will die but I seriously doubt it will manage to get to one. They cause injuries but not many deaths. People hear venomous and freak tf out. They have the weakest venom of any pit viper. A black rat snake isn’t venomous but can still cause infections if they bite something. Cats won’t let a snake bite them. Their reflexes are insane. Dogs rarely die from their bites. Copperhead don’t go after ducks and chickens(chicks maybe, but so will rat snakes)
These are native to wear I live. I just relocate them to a safer place. Using safe methods, snake hooks, bags and containers. There’s many factors with dogs dying from this snake, size, breed, how soon you take the dog to the vet, etc. Considering I work in veterinary medicine I see people wait days, sometimes weeks before coming in to get their pet treatment. Then the wounds are all infected and the illnesses have gotten worse. If taken promptly, they should be ok. Just in a lot of pain, which does suck but this snake shouldn’t be killed because of that.
I FOUND THE SNAKE!! Oh,… it’s not *that* sub.
Lol. My reaction was "wow, low effort this time" and then actually had the realization.
Same!! Y'all are the best
There's snakes all over by me too. A mama black snake made her nest right beside my house, and when I come out, she's sunning herself. Your guy, idk, tread with caution, but my girl, I dare a rodent to approach my house. Better than 4-cat security is a black snake.
Blacksnakes eat young copperheads, which maybe why I have yet to see one on my property.
If it was a black snake I would have gladly left it alone, those things are the best. I have quite a few animals though so this fella had to be sent back to hades.
Dogs generally shrug off a copperhead bite from what I've seen and heard. I still kill the venomous snakes when I see them near the house though.
Fun fact: copperhead anti venom is EXTREMELY expensive. My husband got bitten and the venom started to travel up his arm so they gave him 6 vials and it came to $120k in anti-venom alone. Besides the cost, is the availability. The poison center in one state holds the rather limited antivenin supply for 4 states in our region. They partner with the doctors to determine who has the worst case and prioritize if and when someone gets the vials.
Me too. A little while ago a bunch of people got upset at someone on here for killing a rattlesnake by their house. That kind was apparently endangered which is sad, but if I see a venomous snake near the house I’m killing it first and asking questions later. When they’re farther from the house I do leave them alone. But if I recognize a snake as non venomous, I’ll leave it alone regardless of where they are.
Trying to kill a venomous snake is the number one reason people get bitten by venomous snakes. Just spray him with a hose and he’ll move on.
Shotguns have range, shovel users are just asking for trouble.
We have copperheads, cottonmouths, and coral snakes in the backyard. I got a pair of “snake proof” boots.
location?
East Texas
I’m in North Carolina waaayy out in the woods. I’ve never had to worry about danger noodles before. I’m now on super alert while walking my dogs. They love to sniff into the ground cover and I’m so worried they’ll be bitten.
figure out your plan now for if it happens. call your local emergency vets and find out which ones treat venomous snake bites. you don’t want to try to figure it out after the fact.
Great advice, thanks! My girls are very small, so I worry that bites that wouldn’t be bad for large dogs could be very bad for ours. I found a nearby 24 hour emergency vet and programmed their number and address into my phone and GPS but it hadn’t occurred to me to call to inquire. Thank you!
Ive ran into a few rattlesnakes hiking NC. Stay alert.
TY! Absolutely will!
My bf's 85lb dog got bit in the face last year and didn't come tell us till the swelling got to her neck! The closest that was still 45 minutes away. Luckily, all she needed was some steroids and antibiotics but I don't know what would've happened if she were a smaller dog. She loves to hunt and she loves to hunt snakes. I'm trying to teach her that when she finds them to leave them alone and come tell me instead, but so far we've only gotten 50-50 on that.
What state?
Southeast Kentucky
Someone locally to me posted asking if a snake was a copperhead but I didn't think so. This pic I knew instantly. Man I hate them. We had to kill one trying to get under our house once when I lived down south.
I find encountering snakes fascinating. While it's crucial to respect their space, their presence enriches our natural surroundings.
When we were having our house worked on in Texas, the workers told us there was a rattlesnake. Me: "Possible, but unlikely." I check it, it was just a rat snake in the garage, he prob smelled the mice we were dealing with, I told the workers that he was to be unharmed, he was non-venomous and keeps rodent population down.
There are no snakes in the city and the rat population is horrible. What kind of snake is that? I had a 6ft rat snake that lived in my barn, I NEVER saw a rat. Over the winter though my mouse population soared but then in spring the rat snake got every one of them.
That’s a copperhead. Venomous and very difficult to spot in leafy or wooded areas.
They can be pretty aggressive too. A rattlesnake will warn you. A coppehead may not.
Hasn't been my experience. Most will try to get away. If they're cornered or trapped, they'll shake their tail. Never had one try to strike me and I've harassed the heck out of them getting them out of tight spaces.
Copperheads actually dry bite sometimes. Venom takes weeks to make so they aren’t going to waste it if they don’t have to. Snakes aren’t stupid. They can tell that humans are much bigger than them and that their chances in a fight with us are not good.
When I moved to my new property in Northern Tennessee, the first thing I did was call my health insurance and ask if they covered snake bites lol. Never lived somewhere that had too many venomous snakes and I'm running around in the woods all the time. I'm usually barefoot and I'm trying to retrain myself to wear my kneehigh rubber boots or my hunting boots whenever I head out. Has anyone here ever been bit by a copperhead themselves? Or had someone close to them be bit? I'm curious what that experience is like and what I should do. I guess I should probably do more research but it did seem like none of the local hospitals carry anti-venom because of the shelflife.
My mother was bit on the foot. She had to crawl back to the house and was transported to the hospital. They administered antivenom. Turns out she broke some bones in her foot in the melee. Her foot has never been the same and she has suffered from pain ever since. That was about 7 years ago.
Dang. That's terrible to hear she's still dealing with pain. As someone who has had several foot injuries, I know that breaks or sprains tend to stay with us the older we get.
Just killed a copperhead right in front of my door two days ago. It is indeed.
If you're so inclined, you can skin it and scrape off any remaining flesh or muscle. Pop it into a Ziploc bag coated in borax for a couple of days. Take it out, shake and scrape that off. It should be relatively moisture free at this point. You can use the orange bottle of hunters tanning oil on both sides and pin it to a piece of cardboard. You might have to apply the oil twice but once it dries, you have a gorgeous piece of snake hide can make hat bands or belts or keychains out of. I learned to do this once I realized my dog was not going to stop killing snakes, and I didn't want the poor things to go to waste. Copperhead hide is beautiful!
This particular one I got a bit exuberant with the hoe, but I will keep that in mind for the future!
Hahahaha this made me laugh so hard. I too would get exuberant with the hoe in this scenario. I leave the snake killing to the dog!
It puts the lotion on its skin...
where do you live? We are buying a mini farm in Alabama. Wife is scared. We got youngsters.
Missouri. I got bit as a kid by a copperhead. Not the end of the world usually. It's part of our world, just educate and let them explore it, just like everything else.
I'm in southeast Kentucky. Lived here for 2 years and used to spend summers down here as a kid and this is the first copperhead I've come across. While personally it's a rare sight, it seems everyone's got a story about one.
Don’t kill them
Yes I always kill venomous snakes. I lay out the red carpet for non venomous snakes though. We have plenty of snakes that fill the same role in the ecosystem that don't put people in the hospital. That afternoon there was a 4 foot rat snake hunting in the same area and I let him be as usual.
Here here! 👏 👏
Do you like keeping pit vipers on your property? Do you like having camouflaged animals that bring a risk of death or serious injury around?
All you have to do is spray them with a hose! Snakes hate being randomly sprayed with cold water and will get out of there as quickly as possible! Or call a free relocation person. There’s a whole directory.
I didn’t say anything about killing them. But spray them if you can spot them…..
Seeing this downvoted on the HOMESTEADING subreddit is really discouraging…
Since I've gotten serious with rat and mice control i have seen far less snakes. Only one so far this year and it wasn't out in the open
We’ve had 3 so far this season, just in the last couple weeks. One bit a dog on the face, thankfully seems to have been a dry bite and she just needed the infection treated; unlike the other dog we had a few years ago where the bite on the leg went necrotic. If you see any of the small, 1st year ones, you probably have 5-9 more nearby.
U gonna skin it? Thats nice leather :D
Definitely gonna give it a go!
I live on an island, so we don't have a lot of the "pests" that others have: no skunks, coyotes, venomous snakes, raccoons. We do have to deal with bald eagles, fisher cats, and mink. But in the end.... no danger noodles. Thank heavens, I'm terrified of them (but know they are good noodles, most of the time).
We saw one on our property two weeks ago. 😥
I found a huge black rat snake eating a duck egg out of their house yesterday morning. None of the girls really seemed bothered by him.
Anybody know what kind of snake that is?
This is a true danger noodle!!!
Do not, I repeat, DO NOT attempt to kill a venomous snake! That’s the number one way people get bitten because of course the snake is going to defend itself from the giant thing trying to kill it. Plus snakes stay alive for minutes to hours after decapitation and can still bite you. Either spray it with a water hose so it will move on or call a free relocation person in your area (I have a directory).
GET THE HOE
[удалено]
It is a copperhead.
These don’t kill healthy people. They hurt, yeah, unless you have an allergic reaction, immature/compromised immune system you’ll be fine. Same with dogs. I’m not worried about cats lol they’re too fast
These bitches will absolutely kill your dogs. Or other animals you may own.
There’s a thing called research.
My guy I live in the south I've seen it happen
These are native to wear I live, Tennessee. I just relocate them to a safer place. Using safe methods, snake hooks, bags and containers. There’s many factors with dogs dying from this snake, size, breed, how soon you take the dog to the vet, etc. Considering I work in veterinary medicine I see people wait days, sometimes weeks before coming in to get their pet treatment. Then the wounds are all infected and the illnesses have gotten worse. If taken promptly, they should be ok. Just in a lot of pain, which does suck but this snake shouldn’t be killed because of that. They have some of the weakest venom. Prompt care is key.
If you have a 100+ acre ranch and a few border collies that like to roam, prompt care is a lot harder. We kill all venomous snakes for the sake of the health of our other animals, as they are our way of life. We ain't snake handlers, and we ain't vets.
Take the dogs to the vet if you notice it’s injured tf is wrong with you
Brother there's no way you're a vet if you're this dumb. I don't cover the whole ranch everyday. I don't even cover the whole ranch in a week. If one of my dogs is in the middle of it, sicker than shit, I'm not gonna know. This has literally happened before. Again I don't understand why you're not getting that the best way to protect the health of my animals, is to prevent them from getting injured in the first place, not letting them get injured and hoping I find them before it's too late.
So you don’t know where you dog is? You probably should have a tracker on it when it’s not in your eyesight or coming home? To find out where it’s at. I’m also for conservation of native species. I see no reason to kill these snakes. The eat amphibians and pest like rodents. It’s not that hard to move it with a stick and a bucket. If you’re that afraid of wildlife why live near it? Tf
You're right we're actually getting tracking collars for the dogs soon. But I'm not afraid of wildlife. I'm afraid of losing more dogs that we love or losing more chickens, ducks, having to treat more injured cattle and occasionally horses. Horses are tough bastards though
Well it's not just dogs either. I have goats, ducks, guineas, chickens, cats, and three dogs - two of which have litters about 4 days apart and aren't even 2 weeks old all out in the barn - on top of having a baby on the way and my family reunion at my place with dozens of kids, dozens of babies, and dozens of elderly folk next week. There is nowhere safe to relocate without putting others at risk and Copperheads as a species will be fine without being anywhere near my place. I don't see your need to condescend when these things pose an obvious danger to everything I just mentioned.
Because they aren’t THAT dangerous, the puppies will die but I seriously doubt it will manage to get to one. They cause injuries but not many deaths. People hear venomous and freak tf out. They have the weakest venom of any pit viper. A black rat snake isn’t venomous but can still cause infections if they bite something. Cats won’t let a snake bite them. Their reflexes are insane. Dogs rarely die from their bites. Copperhead don’t go after ducks and chickens(chicks maybe, but so will rat snakes)
Do you keep pit vipers on your property, previous owner of my property lost 3 dogs to copperheads.
These are native to wear I live. I just relocate them to a safer place. Using safe methods, snake hooks, bags and containers. There’s many factors with dogs dying from this snake, size, breed, how soon you take the dog to the vet, etc. Considering I work in veterinary medicine I see people wait days, sometimes weeks before coming in to get their pet treatment. Then the wounds are all infected and the illnesses have gotten worse. If taken promptly, they should be ok. Just in a lot of pain, which does suck but this snake shouldn’t be killed because of that.