# Copperhead Pics



## ddhlakebound (Sep 16, 2009)

Found her (?) on the road closer to my house and neighbors than I'd prefer, so I took the liberty of using her for a short photo shoot then released her along a rocky creek farther away. 

Still waiting to find a rattler. I've seen a pic of a big timber rattler found a ways northeast years back, and heard of a small population of pygmy rattlers a ways southeast. But no luck getting my hands on one so far....


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## Metals406 (Sep 16, 2009)

That's cool! They sure are a pretty snake. . . Just have to watch the sharp end.


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## A. Stanton (Sep 16, 2009)

Great shots. You are brave to show those fangs. After watching Venom ER, I wouldn't mess with any poisonous snake.


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## chipmaker29 (Sep 16, 2009)

Wow Man! 
I must say u r braver than myself. if i was there i would be running like a little girl...lol i hate snakes and ya i have watched that Venom ER. I am so glad we have very, very few poisonous snakes around here. i have lived here all my life & never seen any although some report seeing them a bit further south from where i live.

cool pics!


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## garmar (Sep 16, 2009)

Great pics! 

I live in the same region as you (West Plains, Mo) and I haven't seen a rattler or a copperhead in over 25 years. I spend a lot of time outdoors. Good on you for not killing it because I think they are getting few and far between around here.

Edit: I could have sworn your profile said south central. My bad.


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## ddhlakebound (Sep 16, 2009)

Thanks guys, 

I've seen quite a few episodes of venom er, and I don't deny that handling poisonous snakes brings a fairly elevated amount of risk, but I'm comfortable and very cautious. Gotta stay out of strike range, and keep that head 100% controlled when handling. 

Also, copperhead venom is significantly less toxic than the mojave and southern pacific and sidewinders usually dealt with on the show. To my knowledge, there has never been a fatal copperhead bite in a human in Missouri. Plenty of very painful ones tho....

This one didn't feel it needed to be relocated, and it was pretty aggressive when I first attempted to catch it. It was striking at my fiberglass pole, and jumping around (literally getting 95% of its body airborne). 

Here's a fang/venom close up.


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## belgian (Sep 16, 2009)

ddhlakebound said:


> But no luck getting my hands on one so far....



Nice pics ! just make sure they don't get their hands on you...!


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## tomtrees58 (Sep 16, 2009)

that's nuts we dont have them here just garden snakes tom trees


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## MO-Iron (Sep 16, 2009)

ddh, If you want to see a timber rattler and possibly a pygmy in your area, go about 25 miles southeast of Springfield to the town of Chadwick. This time of year on cool nights the snakes like to lay on the warm black top of H highway. Chadwick proclaims the title of the "Copperhead Capitol of the World" so you should see a few copperheads too.

MO-Iron


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## ddhlakebound (Sep 16, 2009)

MO-Iron said:


> ddh, If you want to see a timber rattler and possibly a pygmy in your area, go about 25 miles southeast of Springfield to the town of Chadwick. This time of year on cool nights the snakes like to lay on the warm black top of H highway. Chadwick proclaims the title of the "Copperhead Capitol of the World" so you should see a few copperheads too.
> 
> MO-Iron



Thanks MO-Iron, Chadwick was exactly where I was referring to when I mentioned the pygmy's. I didn't know that the timber rattlers hung out down there too. The only pygmy I've seen up close was caught in the Chadwick public use area by a buddy of mine.


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## Adkpk (Sep 16, 2009)

tomtrees58 said:


> that's nuts we dont have them here just garden snakes tom trees



+1

Thanks for posting the pics dd.


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## Zombiechopper (Sep 17, 2009)

I have seen two live snakes in my whole life. Seeing as they were both in Canada, they were certainly garter snakes or some similarly non-venomous variety. In both instances I screamed like a little girl jumped back and trembled. Mighta wet even wet myself a bit. So you could say I hate snakes. I don't know how I would live in a warmer climate.


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## ddhlakebound (Sep 17, 2009)

LOL, yeah, no matter what kind of snake it is, if you're really close before you notice they'll make you jump right out of your skin. 

The first copperhead I ever caught was trying to sneak up on me while I was sitting on the rock bank on the lake. I looked over, and he was about 4 feet away coming my way. I jumped pretty high, but I was already goin for a stick when my feet came down. I didn't have anything to put him in, so I scavenged a gallon jug from the lake bank (damn litterers, i always try to take out more than i brought in). So I attempt to stuff the copperhead in the jug head first. He didn't like that plan, and as soon as his tail was going in the jug, his head was coming back out. So I had to catch him again, and have another go at it. Got it right the second time, but the whole while my fishin buddy was 20 yards away yellin "ddh, you dumbass, you're gonna get bit, and you're gonna die, you're flippin crazy you idiot, you got a death wish, and it's gonna be granted." He doesn't care much for snakes, much less poisonous ones sharing our fishing bank. 

In retrospect, I'd let the snake go next time before trying to use a gallon jug to hold it in again...too much danger in the process. 

Was fishing there another time with a different buddy when a copperhead tried to sneak up on Dave. The snake got within a foot or two before he noticed it, but when he did, he was gone like a slug from a muzzleloader, smoke cloud and all. I seriously doubt I'll ever see anyone move that fast again on multi-level shelf rock. Or leave smoke behind from sneakers on stone.


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## buzz sawyer (Sep 17, 2009)

We caugt a baby in the creek around here. Only about 5" long. Also found a baby in the stomach of a bullfrog in High School biology class.

I've heard the babies are more dangerous as they don't tailor the flow of venom to match the prey, they just give as much as possible.


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## mtfallsmikey (Sep 17, 2009)

That one looked about the size of the one that bit my wife last year..


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## scattergun13 (Sep 17, 2009)

ddhlakebound said:


> Found her (?) on the road closer to my house and neighbors than I'd prefer, so I took the liberty of using her for a short photo shoot then released her along a rocky creek farther away.
> 
> Still waiting to find a rattler. I've seen a pic of a big timber rattler found a ways northeast years back, and heard of a small population of pygmy rattlers a ways southeast. But no luck getting my hands on one so far....


Nice post. This would be considered a large copperhead for Oklahoma. That's an impressive snake you have there and I'm not usually comfortable saying that to another man!:hmm3grin2orange:


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## garmar (Sep 17, 2009)

ddhlakebound said:


> LOL, yeah, no matter what kind of snake it is, if you're really close before you notice they'll make you jump right out of your skin.
> 
> *The first copperhead I ever caught was trying to sneak up on me while I was sitting on the rock bank on the lake. I looked over, and he was about 4 feet away coming my way. I jumped pretty high,* but I was already goin for a stick when my feet came down. I didn't have anything to put him in, so I scavenged a gallon jug from the lake bank (damn litterers, i always try to take out more than i brought in). So I attempt to stuff the copperhead in the jug head first. He didn't like that plan, and as soon as his tail was going in the jug, his head was coming back out. So I had to catch him again, and have another go at it. Got it right the second time, but the whole while my fishin buddy was 20 yards away yellin "ddh, you dumbass, you're gonna get bit, and you're gonna die, you're flippin crazy you idiot, you got a death wish, and it's gonna be granted." He doesn't care much for snakes, much less poisonous ones sharing our fishing bank.
> 
> ...



That exact same thing happened to me when I was night fishing on Current river about 20 years ago; only it was a cottonmouth. I think I scared it worse than it did me!


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## mtfallsmikey (Sep 17, 2009)

scattergun13 said:


> Nice post. This would be considered a large copperhead for Oklahoma. That's an impressive snake you have there and I'm not usually comfortable saying that to another man!:hmm3grin2orange:




At least the rattler will let you know it's there...copperhead will bite without warning...or you seeing it first. This time of year, thru Oct. will be bad for 'heads here. Can't see them at all in the fallen leaves.


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## buzz sawyer (Sep 17, 2009)

mtfallsmikey said:


> At least the rattler will let you know it's there...copperhead will bite without warning...or you seeing it first. This time of year, thru Oct. will be bad for 'heads here. Can't see them at all in the fallen leaves.



So is that your "copperhead early warning system" - let the wife go first?


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## Rftreeman (Sep 17, 2009)

good that you relocated it, some would just chop it's head off and for get about, snakes only bite people in defense mode..


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## sawinredneck (Sep 17, 2009)

Good snake= dead snake! Especially a Copperhead! Nasty suckers, no warning, no rhyme or reason, you sit down and they will bite!
I've no love for snakes, but most I will leave alone, if I see a Copperhead, it's dead!


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## ddhlakebound (Sep 18, 2009)

Thanks Rftree. 

And sawin......Boooooooo....

Good on you for lettin most of them go, but having fangs shouldn't mean a death sentence.....

Now, if a poisonous snake is about the homestead, and a person isn't comfortable handling them at all, I can understand reducing the population a bit. Short of that, they've got their place in the eco-system, and it's much better to just leave them totally alone. Plenty of people have been bitten in trying to shovel or rake a snake to death, some of them after the head has been severed from the body. 

Don't want copperheads around? Get a healthy population of black rat snakes. The copperheads don't want to hang out where there isn't any food. 

I agree that copperheads are bity suckers, but knowing that it's not too difficult to pay attention to where and how you're stepping, and don't sit down somewhere you have not inspected. 

Killing the snake does not protect you from the next hidden one, or do anything to appease the fear which led you to kill the last one. Deal with the fear, and let the snake go. Pretty please.


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## sawinredneck (Sep 18, 2009)

The 'heads have really set in around here, a few years ago a buddy had a family of eight in his basement, in town. If I hear a rattle, I go the other way, NOW! But with a four year old, I don't chance it much, I can't. Where I cut wood it's 100 miles from home, I don't even know the address and it's 15 miles to the closest town with a hospital. I get bit, it's marginal at best, my boy gets bit he's done.
He's curuios and likes to learn, 'heads aren't forgiving in anyway, a rattler you have a chance, a pit viper you are done, I'll run across two of those around here, and I'd rather not run across any again!


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## ddhlakebound (Sep 18, 2009)

*Couple more pics.*


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## ddhlakebound (Sep 18, 2009)

sawinredneck said:


> The 'heads have really set in around here, a few years ago a buddy had a family of eight in his basement, in town. If I hear a rattle, I go the other way, NOW! But with a four year old, I don't chance it much, I can't. Where I cut wood it's 100 miles from home, I don't even know the address and it's 15 miles to the closest town with a hospital. I get bit, it's marginal at best, my boy gets bit he's done.
> He's curuios and likes to learn, 'heads aren't forgiving in anyway, a rattler you have a chance, a pit viper you are done, I'll run across two of those around here, and I'd rather not run across any again!



My boys are snake catchin fools.....(wonder where they get it), and I had to teach them all at a very early age to ID and avoid all the vipers. So far we've never had a problem, any snake they can't positively identify they leave alone and go for help. They've brought in lost of rat snakes, king snakes (speckled and prarie), a few rough greens, tons of garter snakes, and small ringnecks. 

The first time they say the fangs and poison up close, and saw how fast they can strike, they learned real quick to not mess with copperheads.


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## mtfallsmikey (Sep 18, 2009)

buzz sawyer said:


> So is that your "copperhead early warning system" - let the wife go first?



Of course!...although they run when I fire up the RA!


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