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Just a heads up .. Snakes !


Adawg

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We went on a hunt this AM, and although we hunted for 4 hours, we found nothing as far as edible shrooms go ..

I did manage to step on a timber rattler though .. No harm done as I had my snake gators on .. But still scary !

It hit me right on top of my foot ..

My mom got bit by a timber rattler 2 years ago, hunting shrooms, and messed her up for a long time . It will end your season !

Not sure why we have so many rattle snakes in this area, but we do ..

Get a pair of snake chaps or gators .. Hopefully you will never need them, but I am glad I had them today !

Just a heads up ..

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We've got rattlers here in NE PA, mainly confined to rocky hilltops. There's an annual "Rattlesnake Roundup" every summer in a town called Noxen. Rattlesnakes are captured, put on display in town, and then released back into the same areas where they found. Apparently, this practice has not negatively impacted the population, as many rattlesnakes are captured each year. We also have copperheads, but it seems not nearly as many as 40-50 years ago.

Yesterday I spent a couple hours walking up and down a sunny ridge in search of morels that were not there. But I did run across this guy,

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Since we're talking about snakes ...... Found this guy in the back yard while checking my early Chant spot.

P.S...... He was not harmed during photo. I relocated him so that no other human may take it upon themselves to eradicate it thinking the snake is intruding. And No to the early chanterelles. Should be popping soon. Plenty of rain here in the south. Too much rain in some cases. I'm sure you guys have seen that Houston Tx is dealing with some fatal, torrential down pours.

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I carry a Midwest telescoping snake hook out in the woods, because I've worked with venomous snakes for years and because it is also damn handy for bending down tree branches to get other foraged goodies on them. Or oyster/wood ear clusters.

http://tongs.com/is where you get those. Excellent tools.

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I've found live snakes in my path three times in the past three years. One time it was a Rattlesnake, but luckily though it was only a foot away (it didn't see me and me it until close due to being behind a bush by the side of the trail) its TAIL was facing me and not its head. By the time it coiled up I had stepped back a few feet and it had moved a few feet away. It bothers me to think that if its head was nearest me and not its tail it may have struck before I moved far enough away to be out of its reach.

Since then I've always carried a snakebite kit and now I'm not worried.

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Vault Dweller, snake bite kits are too little too late . Do not put faith into them . It's always best to stay worried, and avoid the bite however possible ..

I have only been bitten by a venomous snake 2 times in my life. 1 cottonmouth that had crawled into my boat and gotten tangled up in my net, and

a copperhead while weeding my garden . The copperhead bite was little more than a scare, seems like it did not inject any venom, but more like a warning .The cottonmouth bite in south Georgia was nasty, and put me in the hospital . That was 17 years ago, and to this day I still carry the scar, and loss of muscle tissue

from it . I do not believe any snake bite kit would have helped, the reaction to the venom was just too fast .. But then again snake chaps or gators would not have helped either, as I was bitten on the arm ..

I do not fear or hate snakes, but I will do whatever it takes not to get bit . That's the best medicine .. Don't get bit .. LOL !

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I had no idea so thanks both of you.

I will admit that as long as it happens this rarely and I'm able to see the snakes before I get near them I'm not overly worried, but there will always be a chance that one lays just under an obstacle as I step over it (like a log) and I won't get a chance to back away.

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Cajun - that appears to be a blue racer ( going off memory here ) Good grip there ;)

Chefs - Midwest make the best equipment. When I had snakes those were the only tongs and hooks I purchased.

Serpents rule

When gripping a colubrid or elapid behind the head, you are not particularly at risk but the snake certainly is. They have a single occipital condyle and are subject to serious self-inflicted injury when they struggle against restraint. You can not see the bruises that rough handling causes under a snake's opaque skin, nor the multiple bone breaks, but I can and do when I perform postmortem exams and/or radiographs. Gripping any snake behind the head is inherently risky and stressful to the animal. At a minimum, a second hand is needed to steady the animal so it does not injure itself under restraint.

When gripping a viper behind the head, both you and the viper are at risk unless your placement is spot on perfect - their jaw structure is ridiculously flexible and they can do things you would really not have thought possible with their highly mobile fangs. Viper musculature has extremely poor tone compared to colubrid and elapid, making them significantly more susceptible to ischemic injury on restraint.

Best practice in most cases is using tubes for assist feeding, medication and other veterinary operations, though it really depends on the snake and the reasons for handling it. Tubing is rarely practical for venom extraction or oral wound care.

Otherwise I agree, Midwest is best handling gear. Cheap knockoffs are not okay to bet your life on. Though they are fine if all you are doing with them is bending tree branches or occasionally moving a snake over without really handling it more closely than that.

If you are not doing some necessary veterinary or scientific or husbandry procedure, I very strongly discourage practicing physical restraint on snakes due to their fragility and the likelihood of doing them an injury which you most likely will never see if you are not looking under their skin and at their bones.

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Wow Chefswild..... I sure did not know all that info. Thank you very much for sharing. I take back what I said ...... I very well could have possibly injured it , darn. I'll be purchasing some tongs here soon. I knew he was poisonous and only let go with the other hand to get a quick photo for a 100 percent ID. I know know know to just leave them be. Thanks again

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