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  1. #21
    Registered User theinfamousj's Avatar
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    As a snake owner, you know how to make a snake go away? Works every time on my pet and on snakes found in nature...

    Rush them.

    They flee. You are bigger and acting like they are about to be dinner. As fellow predators, they know what's up.

    Sent from my SGH-I337 using Tapatalk

  2. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by HooKooDooKu View Post
    Can't argue with that kind of logic...
    That's Yogi Berra level Jedi stuff there :P

  3. #23
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    Quote Originally Posted by theinfamousj View Post
    As a snake owner, you know how to make a snake go away? Works every time on my pet and on snakes found in nature...

    Rush them.

    They flee. You are bigger and acting like they are about to be dinner. As fellow predators, they know what's up.

    Sent from my SGH-I337 using Tapatalk
    Doesn't seem to work that well on rattlers down here: they just ball up and rattle at you until they are sure you're gone. Sometimes it takes them a long time to move along......

  4. #24
    Registered User theinfamousj's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jayne View Post
    Doesn't seem to work that well on rattlers down here: they just ball up and rattle at you until they are sure you're gone. Sometimes it takes them a long time to move along......
    Oh good point. If they ball up, it is because they don't feel they have anywhere they can retreat to. That is the missing piece: always make sure the snake has a retreat.

    Fun fact, all snakes shake the tips of their tails when they feel cornered. Rattle snakes just have something to make the noise louder. But put a python on a leather couch and let it be teether on by an infant for a half hour and you will hear it's tail shake, too.

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  5. #25

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    Quote Originally Posted by theinfamousj View Post
    Put a python on a leather couch and let it be teether on by an infant for a half hour and you will hear it's tail shake, too.
    Personal experience?

  6. #26
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    Quote Originally Posted by CalebJ View Post
    I try to believe that snakes don't bother me, but the reality is that pictures like Tipi's still (irrationally) give me the heebee jeebees. Yikes.
    I agree.
    I've come with half a step of a copperhead once.. A really big moccasin just a foot or two away on my front porch as my daughter and I were walking back and forth bringing in ups packages. She spotted it on the 2nd or third trip ..... and recently a water moccasin laying in the middle of a two track trail. My foot was about to land about 6 or 8 inches in front of this guy's nose. My brother in law walking right beside me probably would have landed on his tail at about the same instant... we were walking at a really fast pace
    snake.JPG
    this photo was taken a few minutes later, after he slithered into the ditch and we collected ourselves.

  7. #27
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jayne View Post
    Doesn't seem to work that well on rattlers down here: they just ball up and rattle at you until they are sure you're gone. Sometimes it takes them a long time to move along......
    moccasins tend to hold their ground too.

  8. #28

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    get an enclosed tent.

    I come across active snakes like rattlers and copperheads in warmer months at night quite often. I've stepped on active copperheads at night thrice on single track(once on the AT in PA, once on the AT in NY, another on the BMT), and once after fording a river in rocky shoreline grass on the OHT. I was watching on the OHT expecting it as it was snake like territory. Alarming when its noticed at night that unseen root or large twig you supposed starts moving under your foot. I see active copperheads during daylight too. I've seen active rattlesnakes in deserts in N America at night. Ive seen actively feeding coral snakes in plant nurseries and old farm sites in FL and GA in summer at night. There are species that are primarily nocturnal and diurnal. Their activity level and habits changes though depending on seasonal temps.


    Ive had snakes, plural, under a tent. Weirdest sensation. Felt like Medusa was under me. Maybe, since I made camp in the dark in a peat area there was a hole in the ground under the tent OR maybe they crawled under to get warm and seek serenity.


    By far of all the typically listed in camp larger wildlife that people complain about rodents have caused the largest issues for me. I mainly cowboy, tarp or bivy. But even if I'm in a tent the mice can still be an issue. Cockroaches and especially PALMETTO BUGS(A TYPE OF COCKROACH - often the American species) in FL, HI, SC, and TX have visited in mass at night even on beaches in summer with 100's of them looking vfor any omnivore morsels they can greedily get. They will eat dead skin or nibble on ears or open cuts.

  9. #29
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    Last edited by Furlough; 06-15-2018 at 06:11. Reason: links
    "Too often I would hear men boast of the miles covered that day, rarely of what they had seen." Louis L’Amour

  10. #30
    13-45 Section Hiker Trash
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    Quote Originally Posted by theinfamousj View Post
    As a snake owner, you know how to make a snake go away? Works every time on my pet and on snakes found in nature...

    Rush them.

    They flee. You are bigger and acting like they are about to be dinner. As fellow predators, they know what's up.

    Sent from my SGH-I337 using Tapatalk
    I wouldn't recommend doing this with poisonous snakes. In my experience with rattlers and copperheads the best thing to do is just take a wide berth. If they are unavoidable (like laying across the trail) and won't move, then get a really long stick (at least 5') and nudge them gently until they move. I have to stress nudging gently, and if done right it works well with them typically just slithering off into the woods. If you push on them aggressively they'll usually coil up and become defensive.
    AT: 2007-2019 (45 sections)
    JMT: 2013

  11. #31

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    Quote Originally Posted by Berserker View Post
    I wouldn't recommend doing this with poisonous snakes. In my experience with rattlers and copperheads the best thing to do is just take a wide berth. If they are unavoidable (like laying across the trail) and won't move, then get a really long stick (at least 5') and nudge them gently until they move. I have to stress nudging gently, and if done right it works well with them typically just slithering off into the woods. If you push on them aggressively they'll usually coil up and become defensive.

    We as humans can walk off the trail giving snakes a wide berth. Very few places on the AT where a human hiker wouldn't be able to be that inconvenienced to walk outside the AT tread. Dont disturb them anymore by kicking or shooing off the trail or intrude on THEIR SPACE - IT IS THEIR SPACE - especially messing with poisonous snakes like many rattlers, moccasins, and copperheads in defense mode. As youre walking around watch carefully for anymore snakes. Copperheads will often freeze well camouflaged. When seen they seem docile. That's when humans often get closer and get bitten. Same can happen with other snakes. That's why I'm surprised I've never been bitten by a copperhead after inadvertently stepping on a few. I agree with you Berserker rushing poisonous snakes could be a way of getting bitten. Non poisonous species can give nasty cuts.


    Mojaves, eastern Diamondback, strong colored Timber, Coppeheads, and Corals have beautiful coloration.

  12. #32
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    Venomous snakes are the one thing that goes to the front of my mind when thinking about hiking the southern portions of the AT.

    Other than my time in the military, all of my time outdoors has been in Maine, mostly in the northern part of the state. I have never seen a venomous snake other than in (semi) controlled settings with friends who had experience while I was on active duty. I don't even think about them while trail hiking or bushwacking up here. Outside of fly season up here, I have no concerns sleeping in the woods with no tent.

    I like snakes...we encourage them to be around our home and garden because they keep the rodent population in check...but it's hard for me to not shudder a bit at the thought of being around them. I know it's irrational, and it will never stop me from hiking down south, but the anxiety is definitely there.

  13. #33

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    Quote Originally Posted by gonegonzo View Post
    I have a phobia . I'm looking to buy a new tent . I'm trying to stay as light weight as possible . A couple hikers suggested using a tarp or fly . First the bugs would love that but my CONCERN is snakes . I need a tent with a floor to feel secure against having a snake crawl in bed with me . Snake activity seems to be high this year .

    Gonzo
    Poor guy asked for lightweight tent recommendations because he has a phobia. He got a month long lecture on why he shouldn't have a phobia about snakes. Look at Nemo hornet, Lightheart gear solong 6, Big Agnes makes several, Hyperlight, Z-Packs and many more. Use a tent and don't worry about anyone elses opinion of it.

  14. #34
    13-45 Section Hiker Trash
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    Quote Originally Posted by Burrhead View Post
    Poor guy asked for lightweight tent recommendations because he has a phobia. He got a month long lecture on why he shouldn't have a phobia about snakes. Look at Nemo hornet, Lightheart gear solong 6, Big Agnes makes several, Hyperlight, Z-Packs and many more. Use a tent and don't worry about anyone elses opinion of it.
    Yeah, the OP talks about his snake phobia, so I think people were just trying to be helpful and put things in perspective.

    But, you bring up a good point. Any of the cottage gear manufacturers make full single wall light weight tents, and you pretty much can't go wrong with any of them (Tarptent, Zpacks, Lightheart Gear, Mountain Laurel Designs etc.). Me personally I have used 2 different tarptents (Squall and Double Rainbow), a Mountain Laurel Designs Duomid with an innernet, and a Lightheart Gear Solong 6. I liked all of them, and currently use the Solong 6. The only reason I settled in on the Solong 6 is that I'm 6'-5" tall, and it's the one I fit the best in along with all my gear. I also love the HUGE vestibule.
    AT: 2007-2019 (45 sections)
    JMT: 2013

  15. #35

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    If marketeers really got smart they’d stop calling it “bug screen” and start calling it snake screen.

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