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little bear
08-18-2007, 14:45
How many of ya have ever been bit or come close to being bit by a snake. I got thinking about this after looking at some of the pics in the gallery of snakes.

LB

Rain Man
08-18-2007, 15:08
To my knowledge, no human in the history of civilization has been bitten by a snake, give or take.

Okay, so that's a little hyperbole, but what's an extreme exaggeration among WhiteBlaze friends, eh?!

Snakes are below traffic accidents, murders, falls, natural causes, hypothermia, drownings, mice, bugs, ticks, blisters, and starvation on the priority of things that injure and kill AT hikers on the AT, if I'm not mistaken.

I look forward to anyone saying THEY have actually been bitten by a snake on the AT. It'll be interesting to see if anyone has. "Close" only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.

Rain:sunMan

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superman
08-18-2007, 15:33
I saw a couple rattle snakes near the AT but I was in no danger. Winter would walk right over snakes (including copperheads) on the AT. They never bothered her and she never bothered them. Saw a lot of black snakes sunning themselves. On the CDT Tex and I were going across a field to a water source and almost stepped on a rattle snake. I'm more concerned about ticks.

Phreak
08-18-2007, 18:10
Never had any issues with snakes so far.

Frolicking Dinosaurs
08-18-2007, 18:15
I was nipped by a black snake years ago - I deserved it as I hadn't been watching where I was putting my feet or making any noise and stepped on the poor creature. That being said, snake bites are exceedingly rare. Snakes don't like people and they tend to get out of the way long before you ever see them and to retreat from you if given a chance.

digger51
08-19-2007, 00:15
I encountered a woman being taken out of the Smokies for a copperhead bite when she put her hand in the wrong place. A rattler in va took a halfhearted snipe at me as did one in Pa but no touching. A couple of years ago a woman I met got stung on the buttocks by a scorpion near NOC, all the guys were asking to see what a scorpion sting looked like.

Rain Man
08-19-2007, 09:42
I encountered a woman being taken out of the Smokies ...

Sorry, Digger, but Little Bear asked if YOU had ever been bitten.

Frankly, I too would like to know if any WhiteBlazer has himself or herself actually been bitten. Hearsay stories just muddy the already muddy water of snake "stories."

Rain:sunMan

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JERMM
08-19-2007, 10:56
Several years ago I go a little too close to a copperhead, actually there was two of them. I saw one, but not the one that hit my boot. It's fangs didn't penetrate all the way through the leather, but it did leave a hole in my right boot. It was going for my little toe and almost got it. This was not on a trail, but in my backyard. I have a friend that was hit by a copperhead just above his ankle while in north GA. He spent a couple of days in the hospital, lots of swelling, his skin around the bite turned black later peeling off, nasty bite.

alanthealan
08-19-2007, 11:52
Two snake bites in Maryland this month. Both while the victims were going to the privy at night. Becareful.

Webs
08-19-2007, 14:41
Twice I have come exactly one foot away from stepping on a rattlesnake; I was just looking a foot ahead and jumped back on spotting it. Both only slid away and rattled a warning; no harm done.

Rain Man
08-19-2007, 16:07
Two snake bites in Maryland this month. Both while the victims were going to the privy at night. Becareful.

YOU were bitten TWICE going to the privy at night?! You'd think you'd learn! LOL

Little Bear asked for reports were "you" were bitten, not hearsay stories about un-named others.

Rain:sunMan

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little bear
08-20-2007, 00:23
When I did my Springer to Standing Indian section, I ran across two rattlers and one lunged at us but did not hit us. I have hiked other parts of the AT in all seasons and not seen any other snakes. Thanks for the replys, was just wondering about others.

LB

digger51
08-20-2007, 00:25
Rain man...please read what little bear asked. I believe it said "or come close to bieng bit". Please do try to be more accurate and less argumentative next time. Also none of my "stories " were hearsay, unless my seeing the woman being carried out of the smokies and she told me what happened or the woman told me of her scorpion bite are hearsay.

Tennessee Viking
08-20-2007, 02:39
I always hear stories of other people coming upon snakes, but I never have.

The tips I usually hear is to hang your pack just off the ground

When crossing logs, tap poles on the other side.

If you come across some snakes, be loud, stamp poles & feet, but keep your distance. They will move away eventually.

SnakebiteSurvivor
08-20-2007, 03:21
I was actually bitten by a copperhead (on a trail near my house in Chapel Hill, NC, not on the AT). Wasn't looking where I was going and stepped right on its tail (in grass alongside the trail). I walked home (rapidly) and drove to the ER. The doctor said (comforting words!) "Well... you're not likely to die from the venom, but people occasionally die from the anti-venom". So "treatment" consisted of drawing lines on my leg as the swelling progressed upward. I guess you die when it reaches your heart (like the poison that Socrates took), but it never got above the thigh. Went home that evening with an antibiotic prescription and crutches and instructions to keep my leg elevated. It was bruised and nasty-looking for a week and sore for a couple of weeks. I wasn't hiking again for a month. And apparently this was from a relatively mild bite (not a full dose of venom). The moral: watch where you step!

Shiraz-mataz
08-20-2007, 06:38
My son was bitten by snakes twice in the same week this summer! The first time was his fault. He was trying to pick up a non-venomous black snake that was trying to make a snack of some baby wrens living in a hanging plant on our front porch. Just a scrape which we washed and cleaned.

A few days later down in Florida he was walking right next to the house when a water moccasin bit him above the ankle! He never saw the snake. His leg swelled and he became nauseated. Four days in the hospital and 12 vials of anti-venom later he was pretty much back to normal.

sasquatch2014
08-20-2007, 08:05
Good friend of mine had done the stupid thing of picking up a freshly dead snake. the nerves can still fire for some time and they do not have the control to limit the amount of venom so he got a real whollop. This was in AZ and it was a Mojove Green a sub species of Rattler. Was allergic to the anti venom and was icu for two weeks ended up loosing half of his finger.

Moral even dead snakes can be leathal. best to take your picture if you want one and move on.

ps one of his farvorite things now is to look at little kids when at resturants put the stump of that finger in one of his nostrils. It looks like he could be scrating his brain. Its extra fun when the kids do it back and then get in trouble with their folks..... yep we started that. Never can grow up too much.

furthur
08-20-2007, 09:16
have been bitten by rattlesnake in pa.(not on AT) but just off Tuscarora Trail. heard rattling and moved away from area over log-must have just about stepped on it. the bite ended up being dry, no harm-no foul. the AT snakes I saw were in plain view and not aggressive-when i got too close they would rattle but no strikes(mock or real). don't tread on me!!!

Rain Man
08-20-2007, 11:15
Rain man...please read what little bear asked. I believe it said "or come close to bieng bit". Please do try to be more accurate and less argumentative next time. Also none of my "stories " were hearsay, unless my seeing the woman being carried out of the smokies and she told me what happened or the woman told me of her scorpion bite are hearsay.

LOL... any time you tell someone else's story, it's hearsay. If you are telling about yourself being bitten, or coming close to being bitten, it's not hearsay, it's "direct evidence." Once you start telling someone else's story, it's hearsay.

Sorry if you're confused ... and argumentative. ;) Best to ya!

Rain:sunMan

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Fiddleback
08-20-2007, 11:16
No snake bites here. For me, snakes have been one of the least often seen creatures whether on/around the AT, in AK, or MT.

When this thread is over, ya' wanna talk about bites from unleashed dogs?;)

FB

Blue Jay
08-20-2007, 14:34
Rain man...please read what little bear asked. I believe it said "or come close to bieng bit". Please do try to be more accurate and less argumentative next time. Also none of my "stories " were hearsay, unless my seeing the woman being carried out of the smokies and she told me what happened or the woman told me of her scorpion bite are hearsay.

I don't think he's being argumentative at all. Everyone on earth has been close to being bit. Most people are afraid of snakes and even a mile away is close to being bit. Hearsay about snakes, lions and tigers and bears are everywhere. You just happened to come across two separate women who told you they were bit by a snake and a scorpion. You have to admit that does sound a bit fishy (or snakey).

Nightwalker
08-21-2007, 01:49
When I did my Springer to Standing Indian section, I ran across two rattlers and one lunged at us but did not hit us. I have hiked other parts of the AT in all seasons and not seen any other snakes. Thanks for the replys, was just wondering about others.

LB

FHT last week. 3 copperheads in 2 nights. They were all young, and between 18-24 inches long. No bite attempts, but they were way cool looking little fellers. They were probably just getting some heat off of the packed dirt.

That should be where we hike next, BTW. The Jocassee Gorges area is the true, wild FHT.

Nightwalker
08-21-2007, 01:52
LOL... any time you tell someone else's story, it's hearsay. If you are telling about yourself being bitten, or coming close to being bitten, it's not hearsay, it's "direct evidence." Once you start telling someone else's story, it's hearsay.

Sorry if you're confused ... and argumentative. ;) Best to ya!

Rain:sunMan

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Even though you don't advertise being the lawyerly type, sometimes it just SHOWS! Heheh.

digger51
08-21-2007, 02:03
BJ..I don't think encountering two bites or stings in seven years of hiking is fishey. I've heard of a few more, but since I didn't see the person being assisted out and told why by her I felt they were not what was asked for. Therefore, I didn't mention them. As I spend six months of each year in the Arizona desert I have had many close encounters with rattlers, but again didn't mention them since that was not asked for either.
Rain man...I think I saw some toothpicks on the floor at the restaurant today. Might want to check that out.