I hate cottonmouths

[Doug1968]

My pup ( German Shepard/ Australian Shepard mix ) ran to the pond tonight , not listening and gets nailed by a cottonmouth on the side of her mouth ! Worried and mad can’t sleep , just mad

 

[MissouriKid]

Mad at whom yourself or the pup, Doug1968?

 

[Doug1968]

Myself

 

[Doug1968]

Going to obedience school with her for the last two weeks has done wonders but just hasn’t figured out the stay and come part yet . She’s 8 months old and very quick so it’s just upsetting to say the least !

 

[MissouriKid]

Very much so. I need to find me another sidekick. I had to put mine down, hit by a car.

 

[Boone]

Is she okay this morning?

 

[Buck Conner1]

All states have problems with poisonous snakes, have dealt with anything from copperheads, different rattlesnakes to cottonmouths. Nothing like an experience when in a canoe and have a ball of cottonmouths come rolling up next to you.

 

[Doug1968]

Yeah we got very lucky and she’s doing fine and the swelling is down so I’m thinking she just got bitten without much poison !

 

[Hanshi]

I had a dog, nearly 20 years ago, that was bitten in the face/neck area by a copperhead. Her face swelled up like a pumpkin and she was pretty sick for about a week. We kept her in the house and monitored her constantly. She got over it nicely, thank goodness. I caught the snake, a 3-1/2 foot snake and kept it in a terrarium through the summer and turned it loose that fall in time to fatten up for the winter. I lived in a location (Georgia) that was swarming with canebrake rattlers' they are especially toxic and growing more so according to biologists - evolution or environmental, they don't know. If one of those had tagged her she'd have been dead before we got her in the house. A man near up was deer hunting and was bitten by one when he climbed down out of his elevated stand. His son was nearby and came running while calling 911. By the time the EMTs arrived he was already dead. From bite to death was about 15 minutes. They were all around our house and even came up on the porch. Snakes don't bother me. I will admit that cottonmouths are sneaky.

 

[Preacher Dave]

I have had three dogs bitten by venomous snakes over the years. Never knew what they had been struck by, as we had timber rattlers and copper heads and I wasn't around them when it happened. The copper heads were most numerous and I assume that is what got them. Always on the head or neck, so I am assuming they were approaching them with intent to do them some kind of harm or perhaps they were inquisitive the first time. The dogs all survived and went on for many years running anything with fur on it.

 

[Two Feathers]

Howdy
For what it's worth. As a kid I raised snakes. My mom was NOT a fan of a bedroom full of the caged critters, but she got over it.
Here's my $.02 We have a bunch of Timber Rattlers and Copperheads here in Pennsylvania. Timber rattlers are, timid, but dangerous and lethal if you mess with them and get bit. Copperheads are considered poisonous, but hardly ANYTHING ever dies from their bite. For the most part there's horrible searing pain at the bite site, some headaches, and nausea, but that's generally about it. Still, any snake bite needs to be looked at, if for no other reason than infection. Only about 1% of Copperhead bites ever result in death, and those are mostly due to age or health of the victim. Not sure if this is of any use to anyone, but just my $.02 I guess armed with this knowledge, you can rest assured that if you ARE ever bitten by a Copperhead, you're probably NOT going to die?
God bless:
Stoney

 

[Muley Hunter]

I hate snakes. We have the Western Rattler here which is pretty deadly. We can kill them if we're threatened.

 

[Hanshi]

When I lived in Virginia there was a guy, a healthy young adult, who was bitten on the hand while cutting out some river cane. The immediate symptoms were as described above. At the hospital he was given several vials of Crowfab plus other stuff they do on bite victims. He had a hospital stay and almost lost his hand. He detailed his fight weeks later and plenty to say about copperheads and their bites. For one thing the snake was in the cane resting at head height. The other was about what he called "his close call" and some permanent damage. A rattler bite would have been exponentially worse.

Thing about venomous snakes (applies to spiders, too) is the critters size, age, health and whether or not it recently used its venom. Snakes, especially, deliver "dry bites" at least half the time. The reason? It takes a great deal of energy and time to replenish their stock; plus they often release only a portion of that venom (it's that critical to their survival). Any venomous bite is, like a gunshot, not always the same in effect. Some victims survive, some don't, some suffer permanent damage and some don't. In other words it just depends. The thing about increasing toxicity of deep SE canebrake rattlers is that the cause is unknown. They are the same species as the timber rattler (crotalus horridus) but colored differently and only found at low and more moist elevations; hence, "canebrake". The species, both varieties, can be black or something in between. So it pays to know your snakes. Luckily, when you see a rattlesnake, you'll know it. I like snakes and have been around them, caught them, studied them, been bitten (non venomous) and protected them. One thing that also seems to occur as they get larger (Eastern diamondbacks, for instance) is that they get more sluggish and tolerant. This is not to say less deadly , just more hesitant to bite. In my experience this does not happen with the pugnacious pygmy rattler; but they are a different genus completely, not "crotalus". But those little guys stay tiny always.

 

[Doug1968]

Dog is running around great we moved here to Tennessee last December from Ohio and learning a lot about these cottonmouths.

 

[drax05]

bite from a copperheadedrattlemoc is extremely bad also.....................

 

[twoelks]

What's the venomous snake and venomous spider situation in and around Mobile Alabama, I'm moving there for a year for a job beginning next week.

 

[drax05]

Plenty to share, seriously, just watch where you put your feet and hands and pick up something that will show you pictures on identification, or just leave them all alone. So dry around my hunting lease, anywhere you can find water of dampness, you're going to find some. I keep a large rat snake in my barn to take care of rats etc..... Hope my wife never sees him on her riding lawn mower seat or she will blow it to hell...... also, spiders, just shake out your shoes or boots and don't play with any of them. Brown Recluse and Black Widows are found but there are others that can bite but not as serious. I always find Black Widows in the outside electrical boxes and inside tile laying around. Just watch/look. I get bit by various insects daily mowing, bushhoging, and doing food plots, I guess the one outsiders need to watch around here is fire ants. Don't step or sit in a mound of dirt........

 

[Hanshi]

I like snakes but do not and can not abide Mr. 8-legs. Unless one is where it should not be or is too close to me I leave them ALONE. I was born in Ga. and lived there for over 62 years and believe me, the SE is literally crawling with snakes and...uhhh, Mr. 8 legs. I'will only kill tiny ones as above. If they are too large - my definition of "large" would probably make you laugh - I get my wife to kill it. Yep, a true phobia, friends. Snakes I generally leave alone though I have kept them a "pets" many times in the past. I will get the venomous ones out of harms way (off the road, etc) the same as I do for the non venomous ones. Here in Maine snakes are a "no show" unlike my beloved Ga. The SE is chock full of wildlife period. From the 12 deer limits and up to bushytails and turkeys it's a hunting Mecca.

 

[twoelks]

Hanshi, I share your feelings on 8 legs. I too have a phobia on them, the size of a "." is too big. Snakes I'm OK with.

 

[Hanshi]

Hanshi, I share your feelings on 8 legs. I too have a phobia on them, the size of a "." is too big. Snakes I'm OK with.

People without this kind of phobia do not understand how it affects everything we do, where we can go and how we have to conduct ourselves. I won't go into details but I can say that nightmares are a part of this. Snakes are about the same as loaded guns to me. I'm not afraid to handle a loaded gun and know how to safely do it. And it is harmless unless handled very carelessly.