I know we've all heard about the guy who shot holes in his boat because a
watersnake climbed in ... I thought this would be a great article to pass
along...

This article may be redistributed in digital or printed format, as long as
all citations, links, and attributions (including this notice) remain
intact.

There's a snake in the boat!!!
What to do (and not do) when you see a snake

by Chad Minter

First, don't kill nonvenomous snakes. Any given area can only support a
fixed number of snakes. If you kill the nonvenomous snakes that leaves a
food supply that could support a population of venomous snakes.

Remember to stay a safe distance from the snake. Snakes usually strike about
1/2 their body length, but they can strike farther. You also don't want to
trip and fall on the snake.

Learn what snakes are venomous near you. If you are in the southeast, take
the venomous snake ID tests at http://www.envenomated.com

80% of bites occur when someone tries to catch or kill a snake. The safest
thing you can do if you see a snake is to leave it alone. (It's probably
protected by law anyway.)

85% of bites in the United States occur on the hand and forearm. 50% involve
a victim under the age of 20. 70% of bites in the United States involve
alcohol consumption.

If you have a snake in your yard, either call someone trained in their
removal or stand at a safe distance and spray it with a garden hose. Snakes
hate that and will leave quickly.

Step on logs rather than over them. Snakes coil beside logs in the "Reinert
Posture" and might mistake your leg for a predator or prey.

Watch where you put your hands and feet. Do not reach under boards with your
fingers.

Snakes can be handled safely with proper tools and training, but do NOT risk
trying to handle venomous snakes if you have not been professionally
trained. There are things that no website can teach you about how to handle
venomous snakes safely.

You can minimize the appeal of your yard to a snake by 1. cutting the grass,
2. picking up debris, and 3. Controlling rodents. If there is no food or
shelter the snake will soon leave for better hunting grounds.

The safest thing to do if you see a snake is to LEAVE IT ALONE. Most bites
occur when someone is attempting to capture or kill a snake.

If you are bitten by a snake, seek immediate medical care from a licensed
and experienced physician. According to the Centers for Disease Control, the
first aid for snakebite consists of:

"Do remain calm - Remember that there is an excellent chance for survival,
and in most cases there is plenty of time.

Do suck and squeeze - as much venom as possible directly from the wound.
Venom is protein and can be taken orally with no ill effects.

Do remove jewelry - Swelling can progress rapidly, so rings, watches and
bracelets can be a real problem.

Do mark the time - The progress of symptoms (swelling) is the most obvious
indicator of the amount of envenomation.

Do keep the stricken limb below the heart.

Do get to a hospital as quickly as possible - Anti-venom serum is the only
sure cure for envenomation, and because some people are allergic to horse
serum it should only be given in a fully equipped medical facility.

In case of a Coral bite, do pull the snake off immediately - Corals' fangs
are relatively small, and they have to work at getting venom into the wound.
Therefore, the faster the snake is removed the less venom is injected.

Do attempt to identify the offending snake - Positive identification in the
form of a dead snake is helpful, if convenient, but no time or safety should
be wasted since the symptoms will give medical personnel an accurate
diagnosis.

Do get a tetanus shot.

Don't cut the wound - This almost always causes more damage than it's worth.

Don't use a tourniquet - This isolates the venom in a small area and causes
the digestive enzymes in the venom to concentrate the damage.

Don't use alcohol orally - it speeds the heart and blood flow and reduces
the body's counter-acting ability.

Don't use ice - Freezing the stricken limb has been found to be a major
factor leading to amputation."

Remember, snakes have their place in the ecosystem and were around long
before we arrived. We are the visitors in their garden. Snakes are quite
capable of defending themselves, but are reluctant to do so. If you follow a
few common sense rules you can minimize an already very small risk of
snakebite during your outdoor adventure.

Chad Minter is the author of Venomous Snakes of the Southeast, and the
webmaster of The Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake Page at
http://www.envenomated.com

M y earliest boating memory was when I was 5 and had gone canoeing with
my parents to a local lake. We had put the bow of the boat on shore in
some weeds and my dad was on shore. A Water Moccasin (poisonous and
known to be aggressive) suddenly reared out of the water and actually
charged the canoe and tried to climb in. My mother quickly gave the
snake an "attitude adjustment" with the canoe paddle. Now, years later
we all (9 kids) still joke with her about how she clobbered that snake.
She normally had a remarkably blase attitude toward poison snakes.
When we camped at a place called White Oak Landing (believe it or not
on the River Styx in a place called Tates Hell Swamp), we were hesitant
to swim with the water moccasins swimming around but she told us not to
be wimps as they couldnt bite under water. When the family dog got bit
on the face and swelled up like a balloon and died within an hour after
swimming, she didnt change her attitude. Somehow, we all made it to
adulthood.

wrote in message
oups.com...
M y earliest boating memory was when I was 5 and had gone canoeing with
my parents to a local lake. We had put the bow of the boat on shore in
some weeds and my dad was on shore. A Water Moccasin (poisonous and
known to be aggressive) suddenly reared out of the water and actually
charged the canoe and tried to climb in. My mother quickly gave the
snake an "attitude adjustment" with the canoe paddle. Now, years later
we all (9 kids) still joke with her about how she clobbered that snake.
She normally had a remarkably blase attitude toward poison snakes.
When we camped at a place called White Oak Landing (believe it or not
on the River Styx in a place called Tates Hell Swamp), we were hesitant
to swim with the water moccasins swimming around but she told us not to
be wimps as they couldnt bite under water. When the family dog got bit
on the face and swelled up like a balloon and died within an hour after
swimming, she didnt change her attitude. Somehow, we all made it to
adulthood.


They do bite in the water. Year before I went to Biloxi and Keesler AFB, a
guy water-skiing in Backbay fell into a nest of them. Lots of bites.
Survived as they got him to the base hospital in about 5 minutes. Was near
the dock. 1965 when I was there, a poor guy fell into a nest of them up
near Jackson. He did not survive. Why most water except Backbay (brackish)
was off limits to swimming in the area.

My parents used to put the canoe in the Wakulla River, a crystal clear
deep spring fed jungle like body of water teeming with snakes and
gators. They'd throw a long rope off the stern and all of us kids who
could swim like fish, all 9 of us would hold onto the rope as they
dragged us downriver to the next bridge. It was cheap entertainment.
Years later, I realize this was probably a great way to troll for
gators but nothing ever happened. We all had masks and snorkels and I
still remember the huge prehistoric looking gar fish, some 8' long
looking like barracuda beneath us. For some reason we were not afraid
of them. If I tried to give my kids such good memories I'd be accussed
of child abuse.

wrote:
My parents used to put the canoe in the Wakulla River, a crystal clear
deep spring fed jungle like body of water teeming with snakes and
gators. They'd throw a long rope off the stern and all of us kids who
could swim like fish, all 9 of us would hold onto the rope as they
dragged us downriver to the next bridge. It was cheap entertainment.
Years later, I realize this was probably a great way to troll for
gators but nothing ever happened. We all had masks and snorkels and I
still remember the huge prehistoric looking gar fish, some 8' long
looking like barracuda beneath us. For some reason we were not afraid
of them. If I tried to give my kids such good memories I'd be accussed
of child abuse.


Maybe your parents were trying to 'thin the herd' a bit! ;-)

Thats what we accuse them of now.
Another time, it had to be about 1962 when I was 6, they took us to
Jacksonville, Fl beach DURING A HURRICANE. We stood about a block from
the beach watching the waves washing against a 3 story hotel tearing
out huge concrete chunks. Now my parents are in their upper 80s, and I
recently asked thekm about this incident and my mother replied "I just
cant remember, i am too old" . Of course we all know thats BS. With 9
kids, entertainment is either free or nonexistent and that was free.

In article ,
says...

I know we've all heard about the guy who shot holes in his boat because a
watersnake climbed in ... I thought this would be a great article to pass
along...


I had to change my mind about that 'Cant bite underwater thing' because
I saw a copperhead come up out of the pond carrying a very small fish
in his mouth and head off into the weeds for his seafood luncheon.

The snake snatched the fish while swimming underwater, and the fish
appeared to be lifeless while being carried away.

I had no idea snakes even ate fish!!

LMAO! Good one!


On Sun, 11 Sep 2005 01:19:18 -0700, John Sobieski
] wrote:

Found this at http://tinyurl.com/7kgcf

I thought it cute. I'll repeat it here.
____________________________________________

I guess by now everyone realizes I took the day off. (too many posts) I
want to thank everone that responded to my earlier post of "A Sad Day For
Me". It does my heart good to know that there are such caring people in
this world. Thank uou all!!! My wife and I made it to the viewing today
and I had the chance to say my last goodbyes to a dear friend.

OK, true story.

My hunting buddy and I took my old boat ( a lot smaller than my present
boat ) to a lake in upstate New York. This was about 15 years ago, before I
started my own company and could actually take a vacation.

The lake was a well known passageway by canoe or when frozen over by foot
or skates. We were looking for campsites along the lake that were used by
Rogers Rangers of F&I War fame. They wore clothes with the buttons marked
RR. We had hoped to find one of these rare buttons. We didn't, but not for
lack of trying.

We landed the boat in a secluded forested and rocky area of the lake. We
agreed to fan out and hunt and meet back at the boat in an hour in the
event either of us found the signs of a camp site.

Being a long time hunter in the woods, I had come across copperheads before
but the swinging of the detector loop in front of me sent them fleeing off.
Since I was a boy scout, I was taught to never just step over a fallen
tree, just in the event a snake was laying in the shade on the other side.
No exception to the rule here either.

Anyways, I was swinging the coil I noticed a movement right at the head of
the coil. I froze and stared down. There was a rattlesnake about 3' in
front of me coiled up, head raised a bit, and the tail began to buzz.

Now here is where stupidity took over. Instead of quickly jumping backward,
I took the shovel I had in my hand and swung it sideways and lopped off the
snakes head. Then I cut it up with the edge of the shovel into a half dozen
pieces. My heart was pounding, sweat was pouring, and I was just shaking
all over.

After I had regained some of my senses, I actually thought about taking the
head back with me, boiling the tissue off, and keeping the skull as a
souveneir. But I didn't have anything that I could put the head into
without fear of accidentally getting punctured by a fang. So I left it.

Back to the boat I went.

When I got back to the boat, there was another boat that had pulled in
alongside. The other boater greeted me with a "Hello, you aren't looking
for snakes are you?" I said "No" and was just about to tell him of my
experience when he said "Good". Then he went on to say he was a
herpatologist studying rattlesnakes in the area. Uh oh I thought, time to
play it cool. We exchanged some pleasantries and he told me that
rattlesnakes were "protected" in the state. I asked him what the snake
popultion was in that area and he told me about 10 per square mile. About
then, my buddy came back to the boat. I told him to jump in because I knew
of a better place to go. Started up the engine and wished the other boater
"Good Luck".

As soon as I could get away from shore enough, I hit the throttle wide open
and zipped to another spot many miles away.

When I returned to work after the vacation, I related the story to a fellow
engineer. He had a bit of a stutter. He listened to the story and said "You
shshould have tatold him there were only nnine".

Regards,
Relic Hunter
____________________________________________

Regards,
SOB

--
John H

"All decisions are the result of binary thinking."

In 1943 When I was three years old my Dad was stationed at then Camp Rucker,
AL. We lived in Elba, AL very close to a river.

My Dad was a keen fisherman but had no boat, so he built one. It was very
small but the aft portion would just fit into the very deep trunk of his
1942 Mercury. The bow stuck out several feet.

The boat construction was canvas on rib and frame like many aircraft of the
time. Dad built the frame and some soldiers at Rucker did the canvas and
dope part. Dad also made some very nice little "duck boards" to fit in the
bottom to support a person's weight, tackle boxes, etc.

He took me on the maiden voyage. Power was a canoe paddle or two.

While skimming around on the river we passed under a tree and suddenly had
an uninvited guest; a big old cottonmouth. Dad's first reaction was to beat
it to death with the paddle but soon gave up thet idea due to the potential
of punturing the canvas. He grabbed me by an arm and was holding me in the
air while trying to get the paddle under the smake and keep it from getting
beneath the duck boards.

We were on the verge of abandoning ship when the cottonmouth decided to
cooperate by attacking the paddle which permitted Dad to flip it overboard.

I don't think I've ever seem my Father so angry and frightened. Of course,
I just thought it was great fun except for a sore arm. My Dad had my arm in
a death grip for what seemed like a long time. Whole incident probably
lasted 30 seconds or so.

Butch
wrote in message
ups.com...
Thats what we accuse them of now.
Another time, it had to be about 1962 when I was 6, they took us to
Jacksonville, Fl beach DURING A HURRICANE. We stood about a block from
the beach watching the waves washing against a 3 story hotel tearing
out huge concrete chunks. Now my parents are in their upper 80s, and I
recently asked thekm about this incident and my mother replied "I just
cant remember, i am too old" . Of course we all know thats BS. With 9
kids, entertainment is either free or nonexistent and that was free.

"Butch Davis" wrote in message
link.net...
In 1943 When I was three years old my Dad was stationed at then Camp
Rucker, AL. We lived in Elba, AL very close to a river.

My Dad was a keen fisherman but had no boat, so he built one. It was very
small but the aft portion would just fit into the very deep trunk of his
1942 Mercury. The bow stuck out several feet.

The boat construction was canvas on rib and frame like many aircraft of
the time. Dad built the frame and some soldiers at Rucker did the canvas
and dope part. Dad also made some very nice little "duck boards" to fit
in the bottom to support a person's weight, tackle boxes, etc.

He took me on the maiden voyage. Power was a canoe paddle or two.

While skimming around on the river we passed under a tree and suddenly had
an uninvited guest; a big old cottonmouth. Dad's first reaction was to
beat it to death with the paddle but soon gave up thet idea due to the
potential of punturing the canvas. He grabbed me by an arm and was
holding me in the air while trying to get the paddle under the smake and
keep it from getting beneath the duck boards.

We were on the verge of abandoning ship when the cottonmouth decided to
cooperate by attacking the paddle which permitted Dad to flip it
overboard.

I don't think I've ever seem my Father so angry and frightened. Of
course, I just thought it was great fun except for a sore arm. My Dad had
my arm in a death grip for what seemed like a long time. Whole incident
probably lasted 30 seconds or so.

Butch
wrote in message
ups.com...
Thats what we accuse them of now.
Another time, it had to be about 1962 when I was 6, they took us to
Jacksonville, Fl beach DURING A HURRICANE. We stood about a block from
the beach watching the waves washing against a 3 story hotel tearing
out huge concrete chunks. Now my parents are in their upper 80s, and I
recently asked thekm about this incident and my mother replied "I just
cant remember, i am too old" . Of course we all know thats BS. With 9
kids, entertainment is either free or nonexistent and that was free.




I worked with a guy from the south. He related the story of a Northern
Cousin visiting, and they are out in the jon boat, and he sees something in
an overhead tree, and before anyone can stop him, he waps the branch with a
paddle. Shortly thereafter is about 5 snakes in the boat. They did stop
him from shooting the snakes with the 22. They flipped the snakes out of
the boat, and though about sending cousin after the snakes.