JackBootedThug
MURDERATOR
Today at my local lake….
Bad Brain
Well-known member
Dude. That’s nightmare material right there. WV?!
7704A
Well-known member
Lake Snake!
MadAsAHatter
Well-known member
Looks like a timber rattlesnake, C. horridus.
Monkey Man
Super Moderator
AFAIA all snakes can swim. 
Still, better to spot a rattler from a boat than by almost stepping on one.
Still, better to spot a rattler from a boat than by almost stepping on one.
japetus
Well-known member
A couple years ago, I was night fishing by the river on some huge rocks. You have to bring flashlights and lanterns to see anything. The sun started coming up, and I decided to leave before it got hot. I heard something under me wrustling around and looked...and there was a couple big copperheads and some smaller ones all rolling in a ball..I had been sitting on top of a copperhead nest/den for hours. Freaked me the fuck out.
Dan Gleesak
Well-known member
Saw this guy at work the other day. Wasn’t swimming though.
Still turned around and left….
Still turned around and left….
Floyd Eye
Well-known member
I relocate them all the time. Way less scary than rattlesnakes but will still wreck most people’s day if they get bitten.
Dan Gleesak
Well-known member
I used to work for a company that maintained state owned hiking trails. Whenever a rattler was spotted we had to reroute the trail instead of relocating the snake.
It would get old after like the 5th time lol
Floyd Eye
Well-known member
I don’t think I would attempt to relocate a rattlesnake. I’ve been bitten by copperheads/ water moccasins and it wasn’t fun but I didn’t have nearly as bad a reaction to the venom as most people do and almost no one dies or is seriously injured by their bite. But a rattlesnake can kill you quick. Thankfully we don’t have too many here. A few Western Rattlers but even they are rare.
MadAsAHatter
Well-known member
It was probably the same snake 5 times LOL.
MadAsAHatter
Well-known member
I've handled my fair share of venomous snakes in my field biology days. I've had a couple of near misses, but was fortunate enough to have never been bitten. Copperheads & moccasins are have hemotoxic venom so you're mostly dealing with tissue damage. It's bad but not quite the same level as rattlesnake venom. Rattlesnakes are neurotoxic which destroys your neuro system causing your organs to go into paralysis.
Bad Brain
Well-known member
Can’t the snake release more or less venom as well?
Floyd Eye
Well-known member
▪ Defensive bites vs. prey-seeking bites. A copperhead will bite for two reasons: to kill and eat its prey or to defend itself. When striking prey to kill it and eat it, a baby copperhead will inject as much venom as necessary in order to achieve that goal, Beane explained. When a copperhead bites a human, that’s a defensive bite, and the snake isn’t likely to use as much venom in those cases. Sometimes, it doesn’t use any venom at all.
Read more at: https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article278087442.html#storylink=cpy
MadAsAHatter
Well-known member
Adult snakes can generally regulate how much venom they release depending on if it's a defensive bite or going for prey. Copperheads are known for dry defensive bites where they don't release any venom. Babies and juveniles don't control that as much and will usually pump their whole load into you. That plus their venom is more toxic than adult snakes.
And of course you can get the random adult snake that's all full of piss and vinegar that injects their entire reserve. I've picked up moccasins with my snake tongs and they've bitten the hell out of it. By the time they're done the end of the tongs was covered in venom.
MadAsAHatter
Well-known member
I just reminded myself of a story. I've seen a moccasin relieve itself of life.
This was a good while ago I used to walk hiking trails around the Comite river where I live. It was a common occurrence for me to come across moccasins on or near the trail. I always walked with my snake hook and would just move them further away from the trail area. This one moccasin I guess was in an extremely pissed off mood. I went to pick it up with my hook and it started flailing around biting anything it's head touched. Well, it flailed into itself and bit down injecting itself with venom. A few minutes later it was dead. I'm there like; well that sucks for you you're not immune to your own bite.
This was a good while ago I used to walk hiking trails around the Comite river where I live. It was a common occurrence for me to come across moccasins on or near the trail. I always walked with my snake hook and would just move them further away from the trail area. This one moccasin I guess was in an extremely pissed off mood. I went to pick it up with my hook and it started flailing around biting anything it's head touched. Well, it flailed into itself and bit down injecting itself with venom. A few minutes later it was dead. I'm there like; well that sucks for you you're not immune to your own bite.
Bad Brain
Well-known member
JackBootedThug
MURDERATOR
The ole crotalus horridus is interesting. They are the biggest subspecies of rattlesnake and their venom is neurotoxic. I think most rattlesnakes are hemotoxic. Dude from one of those animal shows went poking around in the mountains here. First thing he did was get hit by one. Show over. Red haired guy with an Irish name. Some of them get really big. I will try to find a picture of one that was killed here last year. It’s the biggest one I’ve ever seen. Probably 7-8’ long and big around as a man’s thigh. Real nightmare shit.
Dan Gleesak
Well-known member
It most likely was lol
I definitely wouldn’t move one myself. We have a guy locally that gets called to move them when they end up under someone’s house or in their basement. I’ve came across one curled up behind someone’s furnace before, that was not fun. They are easy enough to avoid in the woods, but I’d rather not be in close corners with one.
That furnace did not get repaired that day…
MadAsAHatter
Well-known member
Yeah, it's members of the Crotalus genus that are mostly neurotoxic; that was what I had on the brain whne I posted. However, there was a study a while ago that showed most all rattlesnakes have some level of neurotoxic venom mixed in with the hemotoxic. A further study suggested that while the hemotoxic venom makes up the majority of the mix the proportion of neurotoxic venom has been increasing over the years. Some scientists attributed it to changing environment or food sources while others say it's due to interbreeding of species.
