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Woodland Safety

Started by Cliff_Chambliss, March 22, 2014, 10:25:25 PM

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Cliff_Chambliss

Having been bitten by a Copperhead when I was a bit younger I try to get this out every Spring and Fall in the hope that it may help prevent someone else from being bitten.


SPRING/FALL SAFETY NOTE
WATCH WHERE YOU STEP
The Copperhead is a venomous pit viper which can be found in the blue indicated areas.  While not aggressive it is somewhat bad natured and will quickly bite if provoked.  While the bite of the Copperhead is seldom fatal it is very painful and does require immediate medical attention.

Problem is the Copperhead is a master of camouflage in the woodland, and when walking through leaves or rocks one needs to be alert and careful.

CAN YOU SEE THE COPPERHEAD?

HERE IT IS

11th Armored Cavalry Regiment
2d Armored Cavalry Regiment
3d Infantry Division
504th BattleField Surveillance Brigade

ARMY:  Because even the Marines need heros.    
CAVALRY:  If it were easy it would be called infantry.

ol'fido

Many people often confuse the harmless corn snake with the copperhead because at a quick glance the copper color is all they see. The copperhead is like most species of snakes in that they will try to avoid humans. However, when alarmed they will often freeze and bite when stepped on. Always pays to be alert.
Lt. Col. Randy L. Mitchell
Historian, Group 1, IL-006

wuzafuzz

"You can't stop the signal, Mal."

LSThiker

It also pays to know the native ranges of snakes.  I do not know how many times I have heard people from the Mid-West and Northeast say they saw a cottonmouth.  When I tell them that the snake's range does not extend beyond southern Missouri and North Carolina and what they saw was either a hognose or another common water snake, they become defensive.  It is like I am challenging their manhood or something.  This is the reason why I never use National's presentation on Natural Hazards.  I have a presentation for wildlife specifically found in my state.

Spaceman3750

I tend to subscribe to the "if you're close enough to identify it you're too close, regardless of species" school of thought, but still really good info and I'll keep an eye out.

Sapper168

Quote from: LSThiker on March 23, 2014, 09:14:04 PM
It also pays to know the native ranges of snakes.  I do not know how many times I have heard people from the Mid-West and Northeast say they saw a cottonmouth.  When I tell them that the snake's range does not extend beyond southern Missouri and North Carolina and what they saw was either a hognose or another common water snake, they become defensive.  It is like I am challenging their manhood or something.  This is the reason why I never use National's presentation on Natural Hazards.  I have a presentation for wildlife specifically found in my state.

What do you consider the Midwest?  If IL is in that then the IL Dept of Natural Resources would disagree with your cottonmouth population assessment.

http://dnr.state.il.us/education/snakes/toc.htm
Shane E Guernsey, TSgt, CAP
CAP Squadron ESO... "Who did what now?"
CAP Squadron NCO Advisor... "Where is the coffee located?"
US Army 12B... "Sappers Lead the Way!"
US Army Reserve 71L-f5... "Going Postal!"

LSThiker

#6
Quote from: Ground_Pounder on March 25, 2014, 04:01:08 AM
What do you consider the Midwest?  If IL is in that then the IL Dept of Natural Resources would disagree with your cottonmouth population assessment.

http://dnr.state.il.us/education/snakes/toc.htm

They would agree as the cottonmouth inhabits the very southern portion of Illinois as this would be inline with the southern portion of Missouri.  So unless a person lives or otherwise travels frequently in the very south of Illinois and even if they do, they are more likely to see a common water snake than a cottonmouth. 

But to answer your question, usually I get the response from people living in northern Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Wisconsin, and Kansas.

http://www.webanswers.com/post-images/1/15/796F6D32-FA74-497A-9BD83944EFE7BFE8.png

PHall

Another reason I live in California. We only have to deal with Rattlesnakes.

LSThiker

Quote from: PHall on March 25, 2014, 04:21:56 AM
Another reason I live in California. We only have to deal with Rattlesnakes.

Yeah, your dozen or so species of rattlesnakes.  Maybe a good reason to live up in Maine as there are no venomous snakes there.

Spaceman3750


Quote from: Ground_Pounder on March 25, 2014, 04:01:08 AM
Quote from: LSThiker on March 23, 2014, 09:14:04 PM
It also pays to know the native ranges of snakes.  I do not know how many times I have heard people from the Mid-West and Northeast say they saw a cottonmouth.  When I tell them that the snake's range does not extend beyond southern Missouri and North Carolina and what they saw was either a hognose or another common water snake, they become defensive.  It is like I am challenging their manhood or something.  This is the reason why I never use National's presentation on Natural Hazards.  I have a presentation for wildlife specifically found in my state.

What do you consider the Midwest?  If IL is in that then the IL Dept of Natural Resources would disagree with your cottonmouth population assessment.

http://dnr.state.il.us/education/snakes/toc.htm

I seem to remember running into cotton mouths/water mocs fishing with my Dad in central IL as a kid. Thought they were native to the middle of the state.

PHall

Quote from: LSThiker on March 25, 2014, 04:30:06 AM
Quote from: PHall on March 25, 2014, 04:21:56 AM
Another reason I live in California. We only have to deal with Rattlesnakes.

Yeah, your dozen or so species of rattlesnakes.  Maybe a good reason to live up in Maine as there are no venomous snakes there.

I'll take a rattlesnake, even a Mojave Green, over a Cottonmouth any day.

Panache

While not poisonous, Black Racers are evil, aggressive snakes who WILL chase you.

LSThiker

Just because I am bored, let us have some fun.  Without cheating (i.e. searching google), which of these snakes is the cottonmouth and what are the others?

Cliff_Chambliss

Live in Alabama.  There are only four families of venomous snakes in the USA and all four live in Bama.
Rattlesnake, Cottonmouth, Copperhead, and Coral. 

My personal experience was as a kid picking blackberries and I stuck my hand into a blackberry bush already occupied by a Copperhead that wanted the berries more than I did.  He emphazied his point with his fangs getting me on the hand just above the index finger.  This was the early 1960's and there was a certain amount of razor blade cuts (accompanied by me screaming and crying), tying off the hand with a very tight piece of rope, and a trip to the ER.  At the hospital, a couple of shots an overnight stay, and then stitches, antibotics, and home. 
The "field" first aid by my mother and neighbor did more damage to the hand than the snake bite.  I think modern protocal is to wrap, elevate, and get medical attention and no more of this constrict blood flow, cut open the fang holes and try to suck out the venom.
11th Armored Cavalry Regiment
2d Armored Cavalry Regiment
3d Infantry Division
504th BattleField Surveillance Brigade

ARMY:  Because even the Marines need heros.    
CAVALRY:  If it were easy it would be called infantry.

Sapper168

Quote from: LSThiker on March 25, 2014, 01:29:42 PM
Just because I am bored, let us have some fun.  Without cheating (i.e. searching google), which of these snakes is the cottonmouth and what are the others?

I see what you did there....   ;) 8) 8)
Shane E Guernsey, TSgt, CAP
CAP Squadron ESO... "Who did what now?"
CAP Squadron NCO Advisor... "Where is the coffee located?"
US Army 12B... "Sappers Lead the Way!"
US Army Reserve 71L-f5... "Going Postal!"

LSThiker

Honest, there is one there :)

ol'fido

Since somebody mention deep Southern Illinois and since I live there, I will comment on some of the snakes available down here. We have copperheads, cotton mouths or water moccasins, black racers, and timber rattlers. In fact, several years ago one of our ground teams had to make a hasty retreat from a very irritated timber rattler down near Cairo, IL. There is also a road in the LaRue Pine Hills area that is closed off for several weeks each year for the annual snake migration. There are several areas known for their proliferation of copperheads and the Cache River Swamp is pretty much snake central in the warm months.

There are also some other critters to worry about down here. When I first went to Volk Field, WI for encampment as a senior, all I heard about was how bad the ticks and mosquitoes are. Compared to down here they seemed pretty mild. I didn't see what all the fuss was about. There are also some of the river bottoms and strip cuts where the black flies will drive you insane. We are also getting some imports from Texas, armadillos and wild hogs.

A friend of mine in high school was literally run down and killed by a pack of wild dogs in the early 80's. That is not urban myth and that is not "I heard from my cousin's friend's ex-roommate". That is I had actual first hand knowledge of it. A group of the local GOB's went out and solved that particular wild dog problem. But I still know a lot of people who live in the country who if they see a dog they don't know and it's not wearing a collar, who will take care of the situation on the spot.

By far the most dangerous and destructive critter we have down here is the white tail deer. People come from all over the country to hunt here because of the size of the native deer. I have hit or had near misses more than a dozen times. My truck T-boned a deer twice in 15 mos. $5000 a pop and the insurance company didn't bat an eye because that's par for the course in this area.
Lt. Col. Randy L. Mitchell
Historian, Group 1, IL-006

Panache

Quote from: ol'fido on March 25, 2014, 10:12:50 PM
By far the most dangerous and destructive critter we have down here is the white tail deer. People come from all over the country to hunt here because of the size of the native deer. I have hit or had near misses more than a dozen times. My truck T-boned a deer twice in 15 mos. $5000 a pop and the insurance company didn't bat an eye because that's par for the course in this area.

When I ask people which is the most dangerous wild animal in Pennsylvania, some are surprised that the answer is the Whitetail Deer.  And some aren't too surprised.

In terms of both property damage and human injuries, no other animal in PA is more responsible than the whitetail deer.  We call them "Pennsylvania speedbumps."  The joke goes that you're not a true PA resident until you've totaled your first car on a deer that jumped out in front of you.

Cliff_Chambliss

Quote from: Panache on March 26, 2014, 05:38:22 AM
Quote from: ol'fido on March 25, 2014, 10:12:50 PM
By far the most dangerous and destructive critter we have down here is the white tail deer. People come from all over the country to hunt here because of the size of the native deer. I have hit or had near misses more than a dozen times. My truck T-boned a deer twice in 15 mos. $5000 a pop and the insurance company didn't bat an eye because that's par for the course in this area.

When I ask people which is the most dangerous wild animal in Pennsylvania, some are surprised that the answer is the Whitetail Deer.  And some aren't too surprised.

In terms of both property damage and human injuries, no other animal in PA is more responsible than the whitetail deer.  We call them "Pennsylvania speedbumps."  The joke goes that you're not a true PA resident until you've totaled your first car on a deer that jumped out in front of you.

Deer are dangerous critters. 
When stationed at Fort Hood, Texas a classmate of my daughter had a deer jump out in front of her car and come through the windshield killing her.   
Somewhere I have some photos of a deer that ran out in front of a landing King Air.  what a mess to both the deer and the ariplane.  Also, about a year or so ago a Cessna Citation hit a deer on landing (i think in SC) and a fuel tank was holed and the aircraft caught of fire. 
A couple years ago my wife was on I-59 in North Alabama when a deer ran out in front of her.  It took out the right front fender, droor and sliding door of her Grand Caravan.  She was not hurt, and we laugh now because there were two pickups behind her and almost before the deer quit sliding these two Bubba's were arguing which one would get the deer.  About this time an Alabama State Trooper showed up and he took the deer.  All this before anyone made any attempt to see if she was hurt. 
11th Armored Cavalry Regiment
2d Armored Cavalry Regiment
3d Infantry Division
504th BattleField Surveillance Brigade

ARMY:  Because even the Marines need heros.    
CAVALRY:  If it were easy it would be called infantry.

Luis R. Ramos

One time I was going back to my home this was when I was living in Rockland County NY. The car in front of me slowed down we were driving in a residential zone. We were doing about 5 when we saw the deer. Although the deer was standing still as we approached it it decided to jump in front of the first car. It landed on the other side of the two-lane street we were on. Did not move. Another deer appeared. The front car was hit, it took the left fender, light, and radiator out. I stopped to help the driver and her son. I went into a house to make some calls, but the driver was very nervous and followed me instead of controlling her son she left him run in the owner's sofa. I could see the owner's face...

The moral of this story is that even a slow-speed hit to a deer where there are no injuries can damage a car bad enough to make it non-drivable.

Who got the deer? Unknown. We thought the deer was dead as it was just lying there unmoving when we left our vehicles. After we made the calls, we went ou and the deer had dissapeared. It may have been stunned, or a neighbour got it... Or the second deer gave first aid and carried it off...  :P

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