IMO,
many people fail to see snakes just like many people fail to find shed deer antlers.
You develop an eye for them, or you don't. I love to point out the snakes within strike range to the person walking in front of me, who didn't see it. The best news is that most pit vipers will not strike a human just because he walks by within striking distance. Different story if you step on it or have movement inconsistent with just walking by.
Another thing, our turkey season is early enough that most snakes remain a bit "cold" and less aggressive than they'll become a month or so later. Similarly, much of our deer hunting is also once they've "cooled down" and/or gone into hibernation. Our bigger risks of being bitten may be during the summer months. But get any part of your body within strike distance whether April or October, and you have a fair chance of being struck.
Over a lifetime I've had many "close calls" with rattlesnakes, copperheads, and cottomouths (the ones I personally "respect" most). Rattlesnakes may be the most "deadly" but they are generally the most docile, and will commonly move out of your way before you see them. Copperheads may be the most aggressive, but they're the least "deadly". But the cottonmouth is often both aggressive and deadly, plus often the hardest to notice in advance of his striking.
Andy S.":lyx222e4 said:
jotahech":lyx222e4 said:
I have been bitten by a cottonmouth. I don't ever want that to happen again. Young and careless at the time, but why chance it now.
If you will, describe the events that led up to that.
Andy, not Jotahech, but thought you might benefit in hearing one particular experience I had with a
BIG cottonmouth that absolutely
NAILED me right above the ankle. Fortunately, this was at a time when I had just begun routinely wearing snake boots, mainly because of some close encounters with cottonmouths.
Having many times "stepped back" after almost stepping on a cottonmouth, I finally purchased some snake boots, believing they'd not only provide real protection, but would allow me to walk more freely and do more in a day afield. I also had concerns over rattlesnakes, but little about copperheads, since a true "snake" boot is not required to block their short fangs. Most my cottonmouth encounters have been in Obion & Lake Counties; most my rattlesnake encounters have been in Stewart Co.
Anyway, the one big cottonmouth that possibly could have killed me had I not been wearing snake boots, it was around noon on a beautifully sunny October day. I was well over 100 yards from the nearest water, and simply walking thru the woods, mainly scouting for fresh rubs. Didn't necessarily look like a "snaky" place at all. In this particular hardwood area, the ground was covered with lots of freshly fallen sycamore leaves. As I placed a step on what initially felt like an arm-sized fallen limb under the leaves, I realized I was placing my weight on a snake, and immediately jumped back. When I jumped back, the snake started moving, and I realized it was a large cottonmouth, only partially hidden by the large sycamore leaves.
My sense of relief almost immediately switched to new fear. As I stepped back, watching this big one slowly crawl towards the base of the nearest sycamore tree, his granddaddy struck me right above the ankle of my left foot. I had walked by the larger cottonmouth before stepping on just a big one. But stopping and backing up, he struck me. Got my attention almost like someone had just hit my foot with a hammer. They can hit harder than you might think, so I can see why their fangs could go thru regular leather boots.
After than one experience, I have since regularly worn snake boots afield between March and October. The boots are comfortable, and I typically see no reason
NOT to wear them. They possibly saved my life on that particular otherwise beautiful October day about 15 years ago, as there was no cell service, was by myself over a mile from the truck, and certainly over an hour from the nearest emergency room.
Interestingly, my grandfather had almost died from the bite of a cottonmouth years earlier, and was told he would die if he didn't allow them to amputate his leg. He declined the amputation, and somehow survived anyway. At the time bitten, he was bitten on his big toe while fishing in the Obion River bottoms. He never even saw the snake that bit him.
I've also been struck in the lower calf by a big copperhead, but he failed to get his fangs in my flesh. Otherwise, just "almost" been struck several times by all varieties. My last "close" experience was last summer, mowing with a push mower, I walked right over a big rattler. Fortunately for me, he stuck his head up under the mowing deck just a second before I stepped on him. And I was also wearing snake boots
