HOME | DD
Crewhawk — Copperhead
Published: 2010-12-06 05:22:35 +0000 UTC; Views: 605; Favourites: 4; Downloads: 0
Redirect to original
Description
Even though I shot this picture in the summer, spring time is some of the best opportunities for me to get such a rare photograph. Copperheads are very secretive and I believe this is one of the prettiest colored snakes in the Americas. Their patterning affords them some of the best camouflage in the animal kingdom. If situated in a pile of leaves, you would be hard pressed to see it, even if you were looking right at it!Related content
Comments: 5
This is a beautiful photo!! Thanks for sharing!
I once knelt down to pick a mushroom (I was hunting for morel mushrooms) and as I stayed crouched to the ground observing the mushroom I had just harvested I realized there was a very large Osage Copperhead coiled up no more than 2 inches from where the mushroom had been growing!!! I never even saw her, but she saw me and chose not to strike. Fortunately for me copperheads aren't the evil creatures they are made out to be. Most copperheads would rather stay motionless or run (slither) away than strike an innocent person. Most copperhead bites are actually caused by people trying to kill or move the snakes. Leave them alone and (most of the time) they will leave you alone, too!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
You're quite right! I was going to add these facts and also the fact that their bite is very rarely fatal; requiring no antivenin to treat. As a matter of fact in some cases you are sent home to treat and recover there. ***(In healthy adults anyway - though, according to some reports, the bite is probably the most painful of the American snakes. So I also recommend not to fuss with ANY snake that you can't ID or if you aren't a trained professional.) Although I am not a pro, I have been around snakes all my life, and have been bitten (non-venomously) more times than I care to count. This is why I leave the more potent varieties to do their thing.***
It is unfortunate that the very shy and elusive copperhead gets a bad rep. Like you mentioned they prefer to use their venom to defend or predate. I am saddened that most people just see them as evil serpents and kill them. I am not a "PETA person", but I'd be damned to let animals suffer our own wasteful ignorance. If I kill it, I eat it... and make use of as much of the animal that I can.
Thank you ~cdp103188 for the kind words and sharing your knowledge. I know there are many people out there who, like me, enjoy teaching those who are afraid or would like to learn. But I wish there were a lot more. I will try to keep the pictures coming, but it is getting quite cold here in PA. I might have to wait a while. BTW I too really love mushrooms and have been looking to see if they grow wild in SE Pennsylvania. Any ideas? Thanks Again
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
You're totally right about that. Most hospitals won't administer antivenin at all because it's not necessary and some people can have sever allergic reactions to the antivenin itself. So why risk it? Most of the time you'll just be treated for the (severe) pain you'd be experiencing. The venom of a copperhead could, in theory, kill someone with preexisting health conditions or someone with sever allergies to the venom, but so far there has *never* been a reported death from the bite of a copperhead. I would have to disagree with the copperhead bite being the most painful, although I wouldn't know from experience. But just look at some of the pictures of rattlesnake bites!! No way in hell could a copperhead bite hurt worse than a rattlesnake.
I too have been bitten countless times by non-venomous species. The key to minimizing a non-venomous snake bite is NOT to jerk your hand away when it happens. If you can fight the instinct to rip away and let the snake release you calmly it will be much better. Their teeth are curved inwards, so pulling away only causes the teeth to shred your skin more, or worse, break off inside you. Digging tiny snake teeth out of your hand is really not much fun.
You're right about not approaching snakes that you can't ID. If you're not experienced and you can't tell what a snake is with 100% certainty, you should just avoid it all together. Better safe than sorry (or dead)!!
I'm not a PETA person either, but I totally agree with you. If you're not going to eat it, don't kill it. Plain and simple. (Obviously there are exceptions to that, like killing coyotes on a chicken farm, etc)
I wish there were more people willing to learn, too. Fear of snakes is largely based on ignorance and wives tales. When people become educated about the snakes in their area it becomes obvious how irrational their phobia of them is.
I'm not familiar with PA, but there are hundreds of species of edible mushrooms/fungi in almost every area of the world. I would suggest getting on Amazon.com and searching for some local Edible Fungi field guides.
(I apologize for any typos that were in this, I don't feel like proof reading at the moment 
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Oh yeah, I almost forgot about having to dig out the teeth. It took a little bit of time to lose the "Pull" reflex after getting snake bitten. I used to handle them for a local pet shop when I was a kid(I guess I was a crash test dummy?) so his nippy ones would calm down and tolerate handling.
And as far as the venom pain, I was just repeating what I had heard, you are absolutely right about the damage done by the rattlesnake venom. But I am wondering whether it has any neurotoxin to numb it a bit. Either way, better not to be bitten.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
haha, no doubt. I didn't really think of the neurotoxin acting as a numbing agent.... I guess that could be possible, good point!! I've never been bitten by a venomous snake, so like I said, it's just speculation
👍: 0 ⏩: 0