Gardening & Snakes

I shot a 2 1/2' long copperhead just outside my garden today. I normally don't mind snakes and I guess I enjoy having the non venomous ones around. My philosophy is snakes fill a niche in nature also.

My problem is with venomous snakes. I've seen lots of rattlesnakes and cottonmouths out in nature and I simply leave them alone. Copperheads for some reason seem to like to inhabit the same spaces that my pets and I inhabit. They are mostly nocturnal feeders and breeders and hide most of the day. They like to hide in places where I could easily put my hands without looking (I always look first). I've seen them stretched out along the shady side of a garden hose trying to look like part of the hose. They really like tight little nooks and cranny's, even empty watering or sprinkler cans. They are always an unpleasant surprise to find because you simply are not expecting to find a snake when you move that board or hose. I learned a long time ago to always survey the ground where I am walking and to look behind things before I pick them up.

In short, if you are a southern gardener, keep your eyes and your mind open for danger. A copperhead probably will not kill you, but they sure can hurt you bad.

Ted

[barkeater]

Ted,

When it comes to copperheads, they are also prolific in the Northeast. They always liked rocks and water, and would be especially prolific around the concrete bridges over creeks and streams in the hilly areas of PA, NJ, NY near the Delaware River.

[Timmah!]

Those & Timber Rattlers are the two I worry about; been a long time since I've seen either. Especially since the farmer sold his land about 1/4 mile the other side of the field.

[tjg911]

i see garter snakes in my compost piles and leave them alone but i hear ya about poisonous snakes.

from what i have read a dog can be bitten by a copperhead and they just have no reaction to the venom. we have both in ct but i haven't seen 1 ever and i'd like to keep it that way.

if i found either i'd have to seriously consider killing it but if there's 1 there's probably more. more people are bitten by snakes trying to kill them so it is best to avoid them.

a rattlesnake i would definitely want to kill (they are very dangerous with very potent venom) but remember snakes can strike 2/3 their body length! a 12" snake i can dispatch with a long handled shovel but a 3' rattler would require a gun!

a few decades ago i came across a LONG snake (6-7' perhaps) on a back country road with little to no traffic about 7 pm enjoying the heat of the asphalt around july or august. so as a nice guy i stopped the car and got a long stick to move it off the road so it wouldn't get run over. as i moved the stick towards the snake that i was carefully watching i was aware that the snake was actually retracting it's body because it had already struck at me before i even realized that it was happening!!!!! i can still see that open mouth with fangs! i was so stunned that it struck so fast i did not even see it coming at me that i just dropped the stick and retreated to the car as it slithered off the road. i never did that again.

also consider, i have read only 20% of snake bites inject venom in people because they can't eat you so why waste their ammo. problem is you have no way to know if it is a dry bite or not.

[mensplace]

Even dogs can require antivenin. In fact, I watched a recent story recently from a vet in Colorado saying that this year the number of cases of rattlesnake bites had risen considerably..his norm was two vials a year and this year he has already gone through six. The lady being interviewed was hit with a 1300.00 vet bill.

We had a 75 lb. lab bit by a copper head about five years ago. His foot swelled so big it looked like he had a catchers mitt on. The vet gave him a steroid injection to relieve the swelling and an antibiotic to prevent tissue necrosis at the bite site. He was fine the next day. Since it occurred on a Sunday and the vet had to come in from his home, the total cost was about $100.00. I started keeping the steroid injections and antibiotic injections in my refrigerator each summer.

I knew a guy who was bit on the hand by a copperhead. He went to the emergency room. They injected him with anti-venom and steroid and antibiotic. His bill was $25,000.00.

Veterinary care has become so expensive the past few years that it wouldn't surprise me to see a $1000.00 charge to treat my dog again.

My wife and I enjoy traveling. It used to be no big deal to take our dogs to the vet for boarding while we traveled. Now, when we return home; the boarding charges for our two dogs is more than we spent in decent motels while we traveled. Our dogs are small and both stay in one small kennel. (I know it has nothing to do with snakes, but sometimes I can't resist getting on my soapbox)

Ted

[Tim76]

Ted let me tell you another place copperheads love, rows of bush beans. My family always have planted double rows with just enough room to walk down between the next set. I've seen more than a couple in beans and my uncle was bitten pickin beans once. We always take a hoe and kinda spread the beans to check now.

[veggie babe]

Thanks Tim, I am so afraid of snakes that I won't watch TV shows with snakes or look at pictures of snakes and I need to pick beans when I get home in the morning. I will be a nervous wreck by the time I get thru in the garden, as a matter of fact I may have to send you a bill for a nervous break down.

Veggie Babe,

I'm not afraid of them, but I do respect them.

I keep all my veggie plants including tomatoes clipped at the bottom to remove all the yellowing leaves and provide vision underneath when I am picking. I'm gonna need to start harvesting and thinning carrots in about a week. I'll just grab them at the top and pull after I have soaked the bed. A snake bite would ruin my day.

The other day, when I killed the copperhead, our daughter, who I have trained to shoot well over the years; kept saying "I want to shoot it, I want to shoot it" but she was slow to take the pistol. The snake was moving fast to get away so I shot it. I always shoot the head because it's the only part that can hurt you.

Ted