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Post by River Rat on Nov 16, 2008 14:49:27 GMT -5
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Post by gunsey2u on Feb 27, 2012 13:26:16 GMT -5
My son was bitten by a copperhead when he was five years old.
We lived behind a salvage place. There were woods on the back side of our place with a creek running close behind our house to the woods. dad said it was a perfect locale for snakes and some of the bad kind. Warned me about these snakes so I showed my children some pictures of snakes out of one of our encyclopedias. Told them if they ever saw one to come and tell me, also not to touch. Hubbie had been cutting grass that day and i guess the lawn mower already had whatever snakes there excited or riled. Son was bitten by one that was lying up under a tree next to our shop. He was bitten on his foot just behind his big toe. We took off to the hospital. By bedtime that foot swelled up to his knee about three times its normal size and turned black. Stayed that way (black)for several weeks. He stayed in the hospital 6 days. He swears that he can smell a snake after all these years. We saw several dead snakes on the side of the road next to that house that year, all copperheads. I didn't spend another summer there.
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Post by River Rat on Feb 27, 2012 15:55:28 GMT -5
Most common snake to be bit by is the copperhead. Unusally its a dry bite but not always.
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Post by gunsey2u on Feb 27, 2012 17:37:57 GMT -5
Dry Bite? What's that? I'd never heard that before, just asking.
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Post by River Rat on Feb 27, 2012 17:54:52 GMT -5
Dry Bite is the snake doesn't inject venom or the fangs don't extend forward.
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Post by gunsey2u on Feb 28, 2012 10:26:12 GMT -5
That makes perfect logic. the snake that bit my son was probably about the previous years" hatch, so my Dad said. The folks at the hospital didn't think that the snake was a copperhead, asked us to try to locate the snake and bring it to the hospital. Believe it, it happened. My brothers-in-law went out to the house and found the snake, killed it and brought it to the hospital. By that time, they had already began anti-venom because his little leg had swollen up so badly. These snakes used to be referred to as pilot snakes but they are copperheads. Dad said they were more copper-colored in the mtns. Here they are more brownish but still have the same markings. Enjoyed the tutorial RR.
i'll bet Hokie keeps the snakes stirred up on his property with that John Deere of his'n.
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Post by River Rat on Feb 28, 2012 17:50:33 GMT -5
We have to species in SC the Northern and the Southern but really you can't tell the difference by just looking at them. One myth is that baby snakes are more vemonous but in reality they are equal.
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Post by gunsey2u on Feb 29, 2012 3:42:32 GMT -5
I heard that one about the baby snakes too, but was later told that the baby ones usually don't (or can't) control the amount they inject, just give it all to you.
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