Snakes!!!

cowboyman13 · 02-01-2007, 11:47 AM

I wanted to start a thread that i thought might help some folks that have to contend with this while in the feild. It has been a topic i have brought up as well as one others have brought up, and seems to fit here in the South section of the website because we tend to have a higher concentration and better chance of running into one while hunting due to our mild winters.

Alltough i havent done much hunting and have just recently been bitten by the bug, I do spend allot of time outdoors looking for snakes. I actually breed snakes and have them living in my house with me.

Most folks believe the only good snake is a dead snake, i don't blame you.I used to feel that way at one time myself. The fact of the matter is snakes are a very important part of the ecosystem. They control rodent populations, which helps control disease. The same diseases that could be carried to whitetail, and even humans thru ticks, and whatknot.

So here is a link for those of you in FL to help identify what that snake is
http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/natsci/herpetology/fl-guide/onlineguide.htm

I would allso suggest that you carry in your pack a feild guide. Its improtant that you get one for your region or area. Allot of folks get a feild guide for North America, look up a snake in it decide thats what it is even though that snake isnt actually found in your area. It just happens to resemble one that is.

Most venomous snakes are easyly identified. They are fat or appear to be. Meaning the body isnt the same size from one end to another. It will be considerbly larger in the midsection. Some harmless snakes and water snakes either flatten thereselves out or in the case of the water snake allready fat to appear to be venomous for defensive reasons.

There head is typical shaped like a triangle instead of being rounded, alltough once again there are some harmless snakes that will allso flatten the head to appear that way.

The pupil of the eye is a slit, not rounded, thats a sure sign its venomous, and your too close.

If you learn the patterns and coloration of the venomous snakes in youre area it will allso make quick identifcation possible.

I allso want to say most snake bite kits are useless, you typically do more harm than good with one and your wasting time you may not have. Your better off focusing on staying calm and getting yourself somewhere to be treated. Causing yourself more harm by cutting yourself open with a razorbladegiving more of an area for infection, and riskingswallowing the poision, just isnt your best approach.

I am willing to talk snakes anytime if you want help finding out more about them in your area feel free to PM me. I dont want to post a bunch of links and stuff. that may be O.T. But would be happy to help you learn more about them in your area.

guntercb · 02-01-2007, 03:18 PM

Coyboyman,

Thanks for posting on the snakes. I do need to get a field guide and learn how to identify each species.

Thanks,
Chris

Chuck7 · 02-01-2007, 03:28 PM

I'm a teacher / Science lover. I've got a lot of footage on Florida wildlife.I took 3 videos of birds, butterflies, deer, turkeys, snakes , hogs and wild flowers.I have a picture of a pigmy striking my snake boot on a video camera. What is a good field note for me when identifying the cottonmouth is no matter what age they are..they all have a tan eye brow. On birds ,we call that eye brow a supercilian. It's good to know that because cottonmouths can be a lot of different colors from juvenilesto adult. The small ones generally have a yellow tip on there tail. While scouting in the swamp I use trail tacks. I always set those up in a way to advoid water if I can. That is not always possible but I do. The reason..once I had to cross a small pool about 9 " deep. I'd hear a splasking sound and I thought it was turtles or frogs. It was dark so I couldn't see. I came across that area running late once and it was daylight. I couldn't beleive my eyes. There , stretched out across this 9" deep puddle was a 10 foot gator. I thanked God I was alive and marked another trail ot my stand. Snake boots won't protect you from that.[8D]
c7

cowboyman13 · 02-02-2007, 07:15 AM

Wow i bet that was a wake up call. Seems those gators will end up anywhere.

Good point about that. Would love the see the vid of the pygmy and the boot.

My last jobsite was out in lakeland, we built a big ol mall on 150 acres

Back before we got all the storefront put in. We would constantly find cottonmouths at the door openings to the buildings. Just inside each building would be a trash can. At night the snakes would set up there as an ambush site and wait for the rodents to come eat out of the trash can. You would come in to the building in the morning and it would scare the hell out of you.