Snakes on a plane? How about snakes in a boat

[The Doc]

Check this out:

http://bassfan.com/tv_play.asp?id=119

Glad it wasn't me. I hate snakes. I would have shot a couple of rounds at it.

[WTL]

I've had a green tree snake in the boat before. Just kinda watched him fall in and then quickly leave, no problems. I think I wouldnt have been as cool if it were that snake though.

[Bassboss]

Wow! That was awesome!!!!!! I love snakes!

Huge ring neck..... they don't get much bigger!



Look at the belly!!



Big 4 1/2 foot black racer.... They hurt!

[aikenyounggun]

ummmm that was stupid after it swum away they went and messed with it.... we have mocassins all over the place here.... got to love em cottonmouths... not.....

[MallenManson]

Originally Posted by aikenyounggun

ummmm that was stupid after it swum away they went and messed with it.... we have mocassins all over the place here.... got to love em cottonmouths... not.....

Yep. Woulda served 'em right it they'd been bit

[bamabassman]

good eating and makes a great belt and wallet.

[MrPhotographer06]

haha i'm with bama.

i woulda killed it and made something out of it

we see cotton mouths all the time..

that dude was freakin out and sayin to hit it with a rod?

what do you think that motors on the back for?

i would have atleast turned on the troller

[MarcBorger]

I have had Copperheads swim up to my boat on the Potomac River. Once I wipe the crap out of my pants I start the motor and they turn away. I frickin hate those things!

[bamabassman]

copperhead snakes make GREAT cowboy hat bands.

[Bassin21]

Dang it. I think I just peed my pants.

I hate snakes. Gave me the chills just watching it.

[bingham]

i dont mind snakes unless i cant see em!!! me an my buddy went thru the national forest the other day and killed a rattler with 13 rattles, 3 copperheads, and messed with a chicken snake.

[The Doc]

That is the reason I pack my Smith and Wesson .40 when I go bank fishing here in North Carolina. Plus there were some black bears that roamed on base and went garbage hunting... I would hate to shoot a bear that had cubs, but if I had to... But the snakes, I'll shoot one as fast as I can pull the trigger. When I lived in Panama, we had Fer-De-Lances and coral snakes in our yard all the time. I used to smack em with a shovel and bury em. My wife almost stepped on a 7 foot water moccasin about 2 years ago...Nasty creatures!

[jcw1503]

Originally Posted by Bassin21

Dang it. I think I just peed my pants.

I hate snakes. Gave me the chills just watching it.

me too..

[Fishnngolfn]

As far as snakes go, I sure that this year will be no different than last year and that I will have some pictures of the large kingsnakes (4' +) and water moccasins behind my house. Hopefully I will have some very different pics of bass. And when I mean different, I mean 5+ lb bass.

[66KingFisher]

Interesting clip.....I want to take advantage of it to school ya'll a bit......I want you to take notice of how the snakes body floats on top of the water as it swims.....kinda like its been filled with air.....I was taught that this is a tell tell sign that the snake is venomous.....floating body means poisonous.....just its head stickin out while swimming means its non-poisonous.....From my years of membership in snake clubs and zoo's I've found that to be true for the most part.....it might not be 100% accurate but its close enough for us living in north America.

So all those snakes you see swimin across the pond and you just see their head are normally just plain ol water snakes.....good for keepin down the frog propulations and some even eat other venomous snakes.....non harmful to humans other than makin us hurt ourselves when we walk up on one and it scares us....lol....but if their bodies are floatin on top of the water ya better keep a close eye on where he's goin, if ya know what I mean?

I'm a fan of all wildlife, and reptiles are just different....We are taught to fear them as kids....we see our parents freak out and grab a shovel when they see a snake so why shouldn't you??....but the truth is they are not slimey....nor are they terrible creatures that deserve to be killed just cause they are snakes....They serve ecological roles on our planet and should be treated as such.

Having said that, if you have venomous snakes living in your backyard, then by all means take whatever steps needed to safeguard your family and yourself.....whether that means kill or relocate(my personal choice).....but don't just kill every snake you see in the garden just fer bein a snake.....garder snakes serve a beneficial roll in the garden as well.....OK, i'll get off my soapbox.....I hope some of you found this helpfull.

[bamabassman]

VERY WELL put sixy6. i don't kill a snake just cause it's a snake. i look at what kind of snake it is. the reason i kill rattlers and copperheads is for the skins. cottonmouths....... they are just plain ol mean, and there is no way i am gonna deminish their population by myself. black racers, garder, oak or rat snakes i leave alone. they killl rats, frogs and other poisonius snakes. to me they are GOOD snakes.
i am reminded of a story from my childhood. my mothers father had a corn crib that he used to store corn, and taters and onions. he also had a rat snake in there. he caught it whenit was a baby and put it in there to kill the rats and mice taht ate his corn crops. well, me and my brother and a couple of cousins "found" the snake while playing in the corn crib. yes, we killed it. it was over 6 feet long maybe even 8 ft. there we were toting this huge snake to the house to show off our good deed. papa reese saw what we had and went postal on all of us. he grabbed his ol razor strap and started to whup us a new hole. mawmaw saw what he was about to do and stopped him after about 10 swings later,lol. he calmed down and understood what his grandsons were trying to do. told us how he caught it and why it was there. we cried after we knew the reason he had it. it was his pet, his guardian of the corn. we went with him and caught another rat snake under the barn, put it in the crib, feed it mice for a while. everytime we went to their house we would check on it. never again did we kill a rat snake.i still will not kill one. although they do make a good looking belt. cottonmouths don't make a good hide, skin is too soft.
i was always told to look at their eyes. IF you can now,lol. if the eyes are like a cats eyes, bad snake, round eyes, good snake. or just look at the skin pattern. that is the best way to tell what kind it is. also if the head is shaped like an arrow, bad snake (i think).

[66KingFisher]

Originally Posted by bamabassman

VERY WELL put sixy6. i don't kill a snake just cause it's a snake. i look at what kind of snake it is.
i was always told to look at their eyes. IF you can now,lol. if the eyes are like a cats eyes, bad snake, round eyes, good snake. or just look at the skin pattern. that is the best way to tell what kind it is. also if the head is shaped like an arrow, bad snake (i think).

Correct on the cat eyes for all pit vipers....rattlers,moccasins,copperheads....but who wants to get close enough to see how their pupils are shaped?......And correct on the diamond or arrowhead shape to their heads is also a great indicator of a poisonous species.....the only exception to this rule in north america is the coral snake....it had round pupils and doesn't have a diamond shaped head.....but fortunately its bright red,yellow and black bands makes it easy to identify.....but its mimicked by the milk snake....same color bands but arranged in a different order.....then you have to go with the old saying of "red touch black is good for Jack.....red touch yellow will kill a fellow".....Thankfully coral snakes are very docile and seldom strike when handled by humans, plus they are a rear fang snake so they kinda got to get ahold of a something small like a finger and chew on it to inject any venom......folks in the north don't have to worry about these guys but you guys in the south usually know all about'em.

For the record a hognose snake is also a rear fanged snake that is poisonous, but its venom isn't considered deadly to humans....those are the snakes that roll upside down and play dead when disturbed.

I would not use the snakes pattern as the only way of identifying whether or not a snake is poisonous....many snake patterns look alike and many snakes also flare and flatten their bodies in such a way as to look more like a venomous snake as a defense.....a bull snake can mimic a diamondback very well....ones deadly the others not....both will bite if threatened or stepped on and both live in the same areas.......also....all snakes rattle their tails....the'll usually rattle it against sticks or dry leaves or something to mimic having a rattler.

Copperheads....those guys are just plain mean and honery....i've kept several of them over the years and have witnessed their behavior on a personal level so to speak...lol...I'm tellin ya those guys just seem to be born PO'd at the world....even at their own species....they'll fight alot if left together in cages....bite each other till they are so swollen you'd swear they'll die, but they don't.....its crazy....ya gotta watch for those guys when your fishin....they will track ya down and mess with ya....seriously.....Thankfully their venom is the least deadly of all the pitvipers.....few folks ever die from a copperhead bite.....I know several guys that've been bitten and most say it hurt but wasn't too terrible bad....still felt like they got injected with acid or something...not interested in findin out myself....lol

[bamabassman]

thanks 66, very good info pal. and yes on the copperheads,lmao. thay are po'd it seems. you point out alot of things i didn't know, thank you for the info.

[MarcBorger]

Originally Posted by 66KingFisher

Copperheads....those guys are just plain mean and honery....i've kept several of them over the years and have witnessed their behavior on a personal level so to speak...lol...I'm tellin ya those guys just seem to be born PO'd at the world....even at their own species....they'll fight alot if left together in cages....bite each other till they are so swollen you'd swear they'll die, but they don't.....its crazy....ya gotta watch for those guys when your fishin....they will track ya down and mess with ya....seriously.....Thankfully their venom is the least deadly of all the pitvipers.....few folks ever die from a copperhead bite.....I know several guys that've been bitten and most say it hurt but wasn't too terrible bad....still felt like they got injected with acid or something...not interested in findin out myself....lol

When I was 10-years old my father and I went on a canoing trip down the Rappohannock River. We camped out one night after coming through the confluence of the Rapadan and Rappohannock river, this area has a ton of rapids and can get pretty rough depending on the rainfall. That night it rained very hard, the next morning we were debating if we should canoe at all as the rain had raised the water by at least 4 feet. As we were thinking of what to do an upside-down canoe came floating by followed by camping gear. About 15 minutes later a father and son came rushing by looking very weary and bruised. My Dad jumped in and grabbed them and pulled them to shore and put his hand on a log to steady himself.... Unfortunately there was a copperhead on the log that bit his finger and held on. He slammed the snake on the log and it floated away dead. His finger had blue blood streaming down it and the two people he rescued cut his finger and took turns sucking out the venom. We hiked three miles up a steep wooded hill to get to a highway. We hitchhiked to the nearest hospital where my Dad remained for two weeks. His hand was almost amputated but he pulled through and made a full recovery. Since then I absolutely hate snakes.

[MississippiBoy]

I admire your dad for what he did. He probably saved those people's lives. That's a man you can be proud to call family.

[REDBULLCUBAN]

Originally Posted by The Doc

Check this out:

http://bassfan.com/tv_play.asp?id=119

Glad it wasn't me. I hate snakes. I would have shot a couple of rounds at it.

i understand being careful but why not drive away...stupid people IMO

[TomLeogrande]

After taking a trip to Louisiana to the Classic I am not sure I could fish down there. I hear there are snakes all over the place - and in the trees a lot. Out here our only poisonous snakes are rattlers (for the most part) and they let you know when you are near!

[The Doc]

His finger had blue blood streaming down it and the two people he rescued cut his finger and took turns sucking out the venom.

While I admire their willingness to help, this is the worst thing you can do to a venomous snake bite. ABSOLUTELY DO NOT TRY TO SUCK VENOM out of a snake bite. You will just end up with 2 really sick people. Plus, you are introducing bacteria into an open wound which is just going to increase the amount of tissue necrosis at the bite sight. The best thing to do is put a light constricting band above the bite sight and get to a hospital as soon as possible, and try to keep the area bit above the heart as much as possible. Hopefully nobody here ever has to take this advice, but if you do, you'll be much better off.