Couple of Pics

Bmurray said:
back in 2012 we had a big summer drought here in MO. We my wife went to the spring has to get a bucket of water and a cottonmouth raised up in this cold water and almost struck her right on the arm. They are a terrible and aggressive snake and I will kill any of them I see.
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DYSPHORIC JOY said:
Regarding the pose...there are many potential explanations:

1) Snakes in my area have a defeatist attitude since wholesale slaughter is common. They are expecting sudden death so they figure "why bother?" Every species of snake in my neck of the woods is perceived as a copperhead with an AK-47.

2) Most of the snakes are really competitive since a few from my property have gone on to be successful. If you walk into the woods here, a snake will pull on your pant's leg, hand you a resume, and request to pose for a pic.

3) The snakes are fans of high quality blades and are honored to have a picture with them. As a matter of fact, the snake on the right asked me if I didn't at least have a Busse to pose with:D

On a serious note:

As Mistwalker said, copperheads are the most common venomous snake in eastern TN. It is about impossible to find a timber rattlesnake. I have one on my property that has been there > 10years but haven't seen him in a good while. The lady who lived in my parent's house in the 50's died from a copperhead bite to the neck. I have only been bitten once by a copperhead that I stepped on (partial envenomation) and once by a large timber (relatively dry bite). Have been bitten by a nonindigenous Fiddleback once and Black Widow x 2.

My kingsnake population has disappeared so I have been seeing more copperheads over the past 2 years.
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Obviously every venomous creature likes the taste of Kermit the Frog.
 
TripleT said:
Juvenile cottonmouths sure do look alot like their cousins, though.



Keep the pics coming, Dysphoric Joy! I really enjoyed them.
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No Blades:

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I'm loving this thread!

I've come across two timber rattlesnakes in the past few years here in western NC. One was crossing a trail, and the other literally made it's way through a camp on an Outward Bound trip I was helping staff for a group of a dozen boys. And I mean through their tarp, across their gear, and out the other side.

As for Copperheads, I've seen very few, though last year there was a huge one next to my mailbox. I think they are absolutely beautiful snakes, but I had a friend get a bit too close when we were kids and he almost lost his hand to a bite.

Dysphoric...a bite to the neck? I'd sure like to hear more about that story.

Best bite story I've got is a scorpion, down in Costa Rica. Damn painful.
 
That last pic with the black snake and your boy is awesome!!!


And I count 8 Copperheads in that middle photo. As much as I like em...that's about 6 too many for me.
 
The kids named him Tommy. He lived under our house for years - we had a clear understanding between us. I told him I would not come under the house into his world, and he was never supposed to show up in my kitchen unannounced. He would sun himself on the back porch, where this picture is taken. The most beautiful black snake I've ever seen.

He only broke the agreement when he crawled in between the bathroom wall to die. The stench was unbearable. I decided to live with it instead of tearing the wall down. And we only have one bathroom.

It was bad.

 
Luca917 said:
The kids named him Tommy. He lived under our house for years - we had a clear understanding between us. I told him I would not come under the house into his world, and he was never supposed to show up in my kitchen unannounced. He would sun himself on the back porch, where this picture is taken. The most beautiful black snake I've ever seen.

He only broke the agreement when he crawled in between the bathroom wall to die. The stench was unbearable. I decided to live with it instead of tearing the wall down. And we only have one bathroom.

It was bad.

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Sad story. That is one pretty ratsnake.
 
DYSPHORIC JOY said:
Regarding the pose...there are many potential explanations:

1) Snakes in my area have a defeatist attitude since wholesale slaughter is common. They are expecting sudden death so they figure "why bother?" Every species of snake in my neck of the woods is perceived as a copperhead with an AK-47.

2) Most of the snakes are really competitive since a few from my property have gone on to be successful. If you walk into the woods here, a snake will pull on your pant's leg, hand you a resume, and request to pose for a pic.

3) The snakes are fans of high quality blades and are honored to have a picture with them. As a matter of fact, the snake on the right asked me if I didn't at least have a Busse to pose with:D

On a serious note:

As Mistwalker said, copperheads are the most common venomous snake in eastern TN. It is about impossible to find a timber rattlesnake. I have one on my property that has been there > 10years but haven't seen him in a good while. The lady who lived in my parent's house in the 50's died from a copperhead bite to the neck. I have only been bitten once by a copperhead that I stepped on (partial envenomation) and once by a large timber (relatively dry bite). Have been bitten by a nonindigenous Fiddleback once and Black Widow x 2.

My kingsnake population has disappeared so I have been seeing more copperheads over the past 2 years.
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Lol, that's hilarious. We have a decent timber rattler population here at the moment. It has waxed and waned over the years. I don't pet them or anything, but I love watching them and photographing them.

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I offered a deal to the entire wild population of the woods here years ago. I don't mess with it in it's home, and it doesn't mess with me or my family in mine. So far only the sac spiders have not adhered to the deal... Every time a neighbor wants to complain about a king snake in their yard and talks about wanting to kill it, I ask them if they are sure they want to trade the nonvenomous black snake that eats vermin and copperheads for copperheads which are venomous? After the talk, they usually opt to just accept the king snake.
 
mistwalker said:
... Every time a neighbor wants to complain about a king snake in their yard and talks about wanting to kill it, I ask them if they are sure they want to trade the nonvenomous black snake that eats vermin and copperheads for copperheads which are venomous? After the talk, they usually opt to just accept the king snake.
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This is a great parable about neighbors. Or at least a good metaphor. :D Snakes are great to watch but I'll leave the handling to others. Dysphoric Joy, your son has calm nerves. Awesome thread, the natural canvas goes well with the copperheads.
 
Most all water snakes are aggressive/defensive.....comes from having a wet butt all the time! Having spent almost all my life in the woods, I personally have not had a cottonmouth be much more than "defensive" with me. They will stand their ground, but then they are not the intruder. Most will slip away at first reasonable chance. Those ol' Northern Banded watersnakes are probably the meanest thing with no legs, mess with them more than 5 min. and you will probably get bit.

Beautiful coppers - prettiest snake out there - imo. Thanks for sharing. I've had a few that I gave room/board to for a few years of their lives, pretty docile most of the time, but anything wild is wild and smart folks show them due respect.
 
crex said:
Most all water snakes are aggressive/defensive.....comes from having a wet butt all the time! Having spent almost all my life in the woods, I personally have not had a cottonmouth be much more than "defensive" with me. They will stand their ground, but then they are not the intruder. Most will slip away at first reasonable chance. Those ol' Northern Banded watersnakes are probably the meanest thing with no legs, mess with them more than 5 min. and you will probably get bit.

Beautiful coppers - prettiest snake out there - imo. Thanks for sharing. I've had a few that I gave room/board to for a few years of their lives, pretty docile most of the time, but anything wild is wild and smart folks show them due respect.
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Copy that on the water snakes

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mistwalker said:
Lol, that's hilarious. We have a decent timber rattler population here at the moment. It has waxed and waned over the years. I don't pet them or anything, but I love watching them and photographing them.

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I offered a deal to the entire wild population of the woods here years ago. I don't mess with it in it's home, and it doesn't mess with me or my family in mine. So far only the sac spiders have not adhered to the deal... Every time a neighbor wants to complain about a king snake in their yard and talks about wanting to kill it, I ask them if they are sure they want to trade the nonvenomous black snake that eats vermin and copperheads for copperheads which are venomous? After the talk, they usually opt to just accept the king snake.
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Absolutely beautiful timbers.

Another head shot:
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Corn snakes in our area have dominated this niche and we seldom see other species.

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This thread is cool as polar bear toes. Keep em coming. Great pics.
 
Well...there was this guy crawling up the front porch railing a few days ago...



And this gal crawling backwards up the back porch wall...dragging her dinner with her.



I'm thinking this thread kills any chance of getting Phillip to visit.
 
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