would you survive?

[sol92258]

You will see this, this fall when all the leaves drop on the ground near the privacy fence or the storage house and the underbrush gets crowded with leaves and limbs and copperhead snakes. Be careful when you rake those fall leaves.

CAN YOU SPOT THE SNAKE?..

[kongjie]

wow that was tough, I even lost it after I found it.

Copperheads are such beautiful snakes.

[Bflobill 1125]

I found it but it wasn't easy!

[JBHoren]

http://www.horen.org.il/tmp/FindDogInPhoto.gif

[redbike]

Fortunately I live in a state that has no poisonous snakes, though I do wonder why timber rattlers don't make it here. I found the copphead after about a minute of scrutinizing the picture. Not easy to find.

[sol92258]

wow that was tough, I even lost it after I found it.

Copperheads are such beautiful snakes.

yeah, it took me about 20-30 seconds...then another 5 or so to find it again :blush:

they are beautiful....particularly on film or in a case - not 3 feet away at 10:30 PM CST when you take the dog out one more time before bed and you're wearing nothing but shorts (read: bare feet) and the motion sensing security light comes on revealing the 3.5 foot sucker (read: MORE than close enough striking distance) on your back porch...

[sol92258]

Fortunately I live in a state that has no poisonous snakes, though I do wonder why timber rattlers don't make it here. I found the copphead after about a minute of scrutinizing the picture. Not easy to find.

possibly temperature, but that is odd

[Gruder]

SNAKE! SNAKE!

Badger badger badger badger... :biggrin:

Seriously, these creatures to have some impressive camouflage! Thanks for the reminder -- I was looking at the back yard just this morning, contemplating whether I'll be starting "rake season" this weekend.

[ouch]

Here- I hilighted it for easier viewing.

[Bflobill 1125]

OUCH!! Your name matches your post!

[sol92258]

Here- I hilighted it for easier viewing.

http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/24.gif (http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showpost.php?p=599057&postcount=183) http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/24.gif (http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showpost.php?p=599057&postcount=183) http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/24.gif (http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showpost.php?p=599057&postcount=183) http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/24.gif (http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showpost.php?p=599057&postcount=183) http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/24.gif (http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showpost.php?p=599057&postcount=183) http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/24.gif (http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showpost.php?p=599057&postcount=183) http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/24.gif (http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showpost.php?p=599057&postcount=183) http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/24.gif (http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showpost.php?p=599057&postcount=183)http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/24.gif (http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showpost.php?p=599057&postcount=183) http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/24.gif (http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showpost.php?p=599057&postcount=183) http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/24.gif (http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showpost.php?p=599057&postcount=183) http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/24.gif (http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showpost.php?p=599057&postcount=183) http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/24.gif (http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showpost.php?p=599057&postcount=183) http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/24.gif (http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showpost.php?p=599057&postcount=183) http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/24.gif (http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showpost.php?p=599057&postcount=183) http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/24.gif (http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showpost.php?p=599057&postcount=183)http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/24.gif (http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showpost.php?p=599057&postcount=183) http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/24.gif (http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showpost.php?p=599057&postcount=183) http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/24.gif (http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showpost.php?p=599057&postcount=183) http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/24.gif (http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showpost.php?p=599057&postcount=183) http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/24.gif (http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showpost.php?p=599057&postcount=183) http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/24.gif (http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showpost.php?p=599057&postcount=183) http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/24.gif (http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showpost.php?p=599057&postcount=183) http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/24.gif (http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showpost.php?p=599057&postcount=183)

[burnwood]

I still do not see it.

[texcattlerancher]

That took a long time, but I see him now.

[citizensoldierny]

Can't find it, guess I won't be able to rake leave this year:biggrin:

[Duckster]

That is one slick snake (in Ouch's highlighted pic). It took me a few minutes to find him in the original pic.

[jazzman]

Dead guy posting here.:biggrin:

[letterk]

Found it in about 5 seconds. We have a lot of rattlesnakes where I live, and with three small kids, I'm always looking for snakes.

[burnwood]

Where Is It?????


edit: found it. it bit me in the ankle.

[letterk]

Where Is It?????

If I told you, it wouldn't be fun anymore.

[texcattlerancher]

Where Is It?????


edit: found it. it bit me in the ankle.

Hope you were wearing boots.

[ScottS]

The first one was not difficult. The second one is the killer.

[sparkchaser]

Wow. He was hard to spot.

[OldSchoolYoungin]

I am like John, I am always on the lookout for snakes so they're easy to spot for me.

We literally have infestations of Canebrake (subspecies of Timber) rattlesnakes some years. Just a couple years back, it was actually unusual to go a day without seeing one on the property. The thing with Canebrakes is they are more timid than most rattlers, and often won't rattle even if you're standing right next to them.

Tons of snakes around here. Just picked up a beautiful hatchling Black Rat Snake from the side deck earlier today :001_smile.

[sol92258]

I'm in NE Texas, so we have all the North American venemous snakes to look out for....that's why it surprised me how long it took me to find it, I live right next to a wooded area, so I'm always looking out for, and often finding, the little "no-shoulders", as my grandfather calls them (don't even ask about my dad's dislike of copperheaded-rattle-moccasins!)
anyway, for those haven't great difficulty seeing him, here's a link for you to look at while in the emergency waiting room :biggrin:

http://s190.photobucket.com/albums/z68/sol92258/?action=view&current=spotthesnakeCHEAT.jpg

[burnwood]

The first one was not difficult. The second one is the killer.

what second one?

[sol92258]

what second one?

I *think* he's referring to Ouch's response...but with Scott, if that's the case, he's being fecetious....I hope :biggrin1:

[Bowcephalus]

2 seconds.....Goes to the adaptability of growing up barefooted in Mississippi....

[infotech]

I used to run into those little bastards all the time when I was on a surveying crew working on the out skirts of Houston, in what was once lush forest but is now suburbs. I once put the instrument case down within about 2 feet of one. Sneaky..

[professorchaos]

Amazing. Looked at it for a while and could not see it. Now that you have pointed it out, though, it is easy to spot! What can I say? I am a city guy...my only experience with snakes was one unfortunate pair of boots back in the 80s :eek:

[wchnu]

they are beautiful....particularly on film or in a case - not 3 feet away at 10:30 PM CST when you take the dog out one more time before bed and you're wearing nothing but shorts (read: bare feet) and the motion sensing security light comes on revealing the 3.5 foot sucker (read: MORE than close enough striking distance) on your back porch...



Almost stepped on one about that size here out walking last summer. This fat boy was doing his best to walk on air......

[_JP_]

I spotted the snake right away.

I worked as a counselor at a summer camp one summer. One job that I had to do was clear the prairie grass out of my work area where I taught how to build structures with ropes and logs. I used a yo-yo (a type of scythe) to cut the grass, which I raked up into piles. As I started moving the piles into a nearby ditch I was surprised by a big ol' ratter laying stretched out underneath it when I turned over the pile! That thing coiled up while I jumped back a couple of steps, prepared to defend itself and buzzed a loud warning. I was lucky that I wasn't coiled in the first place or it might have struck instantly.

I had a tendancy to surprise a lot of rattlers that summer. And I have never again surprised one since. The following few summers it was the water moccasins turns.

[iron maiden]

I'll fess up...I had to look at the cheater....damn, those things are hard to spot.

[soapbuddy]

I'll fess up...I had to look at the cheater....damn, those things are hard to spot.

Me too!
I see more black widows in my neck of the woods.

[ulven22]

0,00000000000011221 seconds:biggrin:

No seriously i found a dead squirrel, cat, rat and a bird, but no snake.

Heck, I dont even know what a snake looks like:001_smile

[ulven22]

YEEAAAEEAA I found it took me 30 minutes :w00t:

[AACJ]

We have a few bad snakes here, but I have a hard time deciding (to kill) which ones are poisonous and not. I know to leave the black snakes though, they supposedly kill the venomous ones. At least I don't have a squirrel problem anymore, from them getting picked up by hawks or my trapping them (36 so far) we rarely see them anymore.

We also have black widow spiders all over the place, we usually kill a few a week around our house.

[goodsamaritan]

Well, Mrs G.S. has a big fear of anything even vaguely snakelike. She freaks out when one comes on tv. She can spot a snake farther away than anyone I know.

[ouch]

This thread reminds me of this old B&B classic-

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=17274&highlight=coffee+bean

:lol:

[Etoyoc_Rebmos]

I spotted the snake right away. Then I spent a few minutes trying to find what it was that was hidden in the picture that I wasn't seeing.

When I was a young teen living in KY, it seamed like we always ran into snakes when we were out - and then my brother would be home or back at the truck before we knew it. I used to tease that he could be the next great Olympic runner - all we would have to do is tie a snake a few feet behind him (humanely so that it would not drag on the ground of course)

Ah yes, I was such a supportive big brother.

[kongjie]

We have a few bad snakes here, but I have a hard time deciding (to kill) which ones are poisonous and not. I know to leave the black snakes though, they supposedly kill the venomous ones. At least I don't have a squirrel problem anymore, from them getting picked up by hawks or my trapping them (36 so far) we rarely see them anymore.

I understand you're trying to protect yourself and your family, but keep in mind poisonous snakes are doing a lot of good keeping rodent populations in check. Best not to go out of your way to kill them when possible. :lol:

[castlecraver]

I understand you're trying to protect yourself and your family, but keep in mind poisonous snakes are doing a lot of good keeping rodent populations in check. Best not to go out of your way to kill them when possible. :lol:

Amen. Snakes around my place would be a godsend with the consistent rodent issues we have.

[tim8557]

Here- I hilighted it for easier viewing.

AS USUAL OUCH....BRILLIANT! :a5:

[sol92258]

I meant to resurrect this several weeks ago....oh well

[slcsteve]

Sure I found it. It's just to the left and slightly below the brown recluse.

[slcsteve]

How many snakes can you spot in this image?

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2663/3928611403_6254075585_o.jpg

[dmnall]

Fortunately I live in a state that has no poisonous snakes, though I do wonder why timber rattlers don't make it here. I found the copphead after about a minute of scrutinizing the picture. Not easy to find.

Sorry to correct you as a Snake breeder myself, there is no such thing as Poisonous Snakes, there are Venomous Snakes. *Big Difference*, Poison can enter the body through the skin with or with out wounds *poison is absorbed through the skin when in liquid form*, Venom needs to be injected via a hyperdermic needle which is basically a Fang!

I love Copperheads *would love to get into hot snakes* but I don't think I will because that is messing with death right there! Bad enough I mess with large constrictors and that can be staring death in the face lol.

Cheers,
Charlie

[Walter Sobchak]

Awesome. Nature never ceases to be extra cool.

[Phog Allen]

Took me about thirty seconds to find it. Which I thought was pretty fast and believe me gents, that is pretty fast where copperheads are concerned. I think they blend in to their surroundings better than any other snake in North America. I started looking for triangles. That is the only way you can tell them apart from the foliage and if you have maple and oak leaves together you can almost forget about it.

There are regional variations as well. Some are literally copper coloured like a new penny with distinct triangular patches. Others are a generic "earth" tone(including their triangles) and those buggers are REALLY hard to spot when you are tramping around the woods or as the OP mentioned, raking leaves.

I have become sort of paranoid about copperheads because of two incidents. First was in the Ozarks of Missouri in the late seventies. We were cleaning up old lumber and general rubbish around our out buildings and chicken coop and I reached to pick up two 1X6 inch boards that had been laid on the ground. When I pulled them up there were two copperheads not three inches from where my fingers had been. Both were nearly three feet long. The only reason I did not take a lacing was the fact it was in the low 40 degree range. This was late October or early November and what they were doing out of a wintering nest is beyond me. My heart was beating about a thousand times a minute. They were despatched post haste.

The second episode nearly fifteen years ago. My five year old nephew was making like the Crocodile Hunter and attempted to grab a copperhead behind its head. Big mistake. Believe me, no human is faster than a snake strike and they are unbelievably strong for their size. He twisted his head around and injected a full dose of venom into the little boy's finger. Within fifteen minutes his finger was jet black. Of course by this time he is nearly to the emergency room. His arm was swollen, they told my sis he would have his finger amputated and likely his entire right arm. If he didn't die first. Don't let anyone tell you hemotoxic snakes are not deadly. The right size of person, the right dose, etc. It can happen. He did lose the finger but they saved his arm. They were so afraid of shock from a dose of the antivenin they even hesitated to give it to him. Finally the doc just told them straight. This can kill him too. What to do? They gave him several injections of antivenin. He made it but has issues to this day. Don't fool yourselves guys, these things can be dangerous. BTW, a lot of folks that get bit think coppers are menacing. Nothing of the sort. They are so timid they will lay there and hope you walk by. When you step on them or directly in front of them, pow. A rattler will attempt to flee almost from the moment he feels your vibrations in the ground whilst walking. Not so mr. copperhead. He will lay there and hope you go away. Bad juju.

Regards, Todd

[sol92258]

....
The second episode nearly fifteen years ago. My five year old nephew was making like the Crocodile Hunter and attempted to grab a copperhead behind its head. Big mistake....

oh, man....glad that didn't end worse than it did.
last fall I had just finished (what I thought would be) my last mowing of the year, wife and I were sitting on the swing, kids were playing. I looked over and noticed a young mockingbird on top of the fence. Then he hopped down to the ground and start kinda hopping around, flapping his wings like he was trying to fly but couldn't. I kept watching wondering what was wrong with the little fella, then he jumped back up on top of the fence. A few more moments, same song and dance. Weird, I thought. Then I saw my daughter, very still and slowly, inching her way towards the bird, like she was trying to sneak up on it and catch it. She got about three feet away, it didn't seem like the bird cared she was that close.....

Now, in probably the amount of time it takes for you to let go of a hot cast iron skillet, these thoughts/events happened:

*wow, she has really snuck up on that bird
*I still think somethings wrong with it, why hasn't it flown away yet?
*what's she think she's gonna do with it if she does grab it? (she's 7 at the time)
*hmmm, any bird capable of flying would be far away by now, and that one's perfectly capable or it would not be able to get back on top of the 5 foot fence
*something's wrong here...
"AAAAHHHHHHHH! SNAKE!!!!!" my daughter screams, both her and my son jumping in the back of my truck and my wife sprinting to the house

I hop up, and look, and think "geez I really, really hope that's a stick, otherwise that's one big snake"

Big snake indeed, 3 foot copperhead. The whole bird-dance-hop-flap thing was an attempt at scaring the snake away...didn't work, of course. If the stupid bird had just come and told me sooner, the snake would have been dead much quicker :biggrin1:

[CraigarTA]

Guess I'm lucky no venomousness creatures are native to my side of the state.
Now the east side is another story

[raisindot]

Dang!

Even with the "cheat photo" it still took me ten minutes to see the durned thing and then I could only make out half of it.

I wouldn't last ten minutes south of the Mason Dixon line.

:lol:

Jeff in Boston

[RayH]

Found it in about 30 seconds. Tough though. Only because I knew it was there. Wouldn't have thought to look for it otherwise.

[DaveNJ74]

Here- I hilighted it for easier viewing.

:thumbup:

[Gaz]

Took close to a minute for me. My pitbull would have found him tho. He would have barked twice to let me know it was there and ran off in the opposite direction.

[rajagra]

anyway, for those haven't great difficulty seeing him, here's a link for you to look at while in the emergency waiting room :biggrin:

http://s190.photobucket.com/albums/z68/sol92258/?action=view&current=spotthesnakeCHEAT.jpg

I think he missed a bit.

I spotted the snake right away, but only saw the second half of it after revisiting here.
Having said that, I do see parts of the picture that look like a second snake, so I might be mixing them up. Or just getting paranoid.

135281

[_JP_]

I found the snake right away, but then I used to live in snake country.

Back when I was a teen, I worked at a summer camp one year. I had an area to prepare for my work station and the involved cutting the long grass that you tend to find out on the prairie. I used a yo-yo (a sickle like device) to mow down the grass and then raked it into piles. Then I started moving the piles off into a nearby ditch. When I flipped over the second pile an uncoiled ratter (a big one!) was sitting there under the pile. It had moved in that quickly under the pile and was only a foot off from my toe. I sprang back and momentarily pinned it with the rake, but it got away. (We wanted to catch one for our nature area.)

Two days later I walked up on another rattler out in the same field. It was a different one because it wasn't as big as the first. Word got around pretty quick for everyone to keep an eye out.

[sol92258]

I think he missed a bit.

I spotted the snake right away, but only saw the second half of it after revisiting here.
Having said that, I do see parts of the picture that look like a second snake, so I might be mixing them up. Or just getting paranoid.

135281
methinks you're a bit paranoid....I hope :001_smile
Copperheads don't get much longer than 3 feet, so if I ever saw a 6 foot one, it's just time to declare them the winner and leave :lol:

[W_B_K]

That's some good camo! :001_smile

The only real close call I had with Copperheads was when I was a kid. I moved an old tire that was in deep grass under some shade trees. That uncovered a whole nest of baby Copperheads! :blink: Luckily the mommy was not there at the time. I took off out of there in a hurry. :lol:

[icedoverfire]

I spent about 15 minutes staring at the photo with no luck. Having my dad and brother look too didn't help. We all had to cheat.
AAND we live in an area where copperheads come out to play every so often....

- ice

[Christopher_loaf]

I'm in NE Texas, so we have all the North American venemous snakes to look out for....

I live in DFW but I was hearing a while back about how in west Texas hog country the rattlers are biting people WITHOUT rattling. Suggestion is that they're evolving to not rattle due to the hogs. Now THAT'S creepy to think about.

[raisindot]

I live in DFW but I was hearing a while back about how in west Texas hog country the rattlers are biting people WITHOUT rattling. Suggestion is that they're evolving to not rattle due to the hogs. Now THAT'S creepy to think about.

That's a weird thought and one that runs contrary to the idea of natural selection, which should favor survival for snakes that 'rattle first, bite second.' After all, the rattle is a warning mechanism designed to warn and scare off intruders that might inadvertently step on it (or its nest). A snake that scares tramplers successfully is one that has a much higher chance of surviving and thus passing its genes to its offspring. A rattler that doesn't rattle is far more likely to flattened by a passing hog. Biting the hog without rattling does it no good. The hog will eventually die, but not before it has a good chance of trampling said snake, since the poison doesn't work instantly.

One would think that, over time, the "non-rattling" rattlers will die out for this reason, since natural selection favors species that have a better chance of surviving in a local environment.


Jeff in Boston

[raisindot]

I spent about 15 minutes staring at the photo with no luck. Having my dad and brother look too didn't help. We all had to cheat.
AAND we live in an area where copperheads come out to play every so often....

- ice

I was ready to rake you over the coals for tellin' tall tales because everyone knows the only poisonous snakes in New England are the rarely seen timber rattlesnakes. But then I did a google search and holy moly, copperheads do inhabit parts of CT and (gulp!) are occasionally encountered into my state of MA.

I'm never raking again!

:lol:

Jeff in Boston

[The Knize]

"infestations of Canebrake," three-foot long copperheads!

Geez, I hare this thread, but am strangely drawn to it!

I spotted that copperhead in the photo instantly! My Mother grew up in the western mountains of North Carolina, and I remember visiting down there as a kid and walking around with my eyes fixed firmly on that area right in front of me where I was about to walk. Nothing like spotting copperhead right in front of one, to train the eye to pick the out from a background.

To me snakes are like deer in the forest when one is hunting. You stare and stare out at a particular area, and then out of nowhere it is suddenly right there, as clear as can be.

Sorry but my initial thought is going to be to kill any venemous snake anywhere near human habitation. I just cannot see the justification for having something that dangerous around. Black snakes can be aggressive, too. Although non-venemous, I do not think you want to be bit by one or have them live under your house!

I am probably going to have dreams about this!

Yikes. Gives me the creeps!