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Defense Against Snakes
Rattlesnakes, copperheads, cottonmouths and coral snakes are the only ones you need to be worried about in this country. Coral snakes are limited to the deep south and the desert Southwest. Rattlesnakes and copperheads, although widespread, are not aggressive snakes and prefer to avoid people, giving warning by tail rattling when necessary. Notice that I'm toning down the threat level as I go. I was born and raised in snake country, have personal experience with the venom of one of these species and I do not approve of the usual practice of killing every poisonous snake you encounter. Coexistence is much easier than trying to rid the world of snakes.
Rattlesnakes, copperheads, cottonmouths and coral snakes are the only ones you need to be worried about in this country. Coral snakes are limited to the deep south and the desert Southwest. Rattlesnakes and copperheads, although widespread, are not aggressive snakes and prefer to avoid people, giving warning by tail rattling when necessary. Notice that I'm toning down the threat level as I go. I was born and raised in snake country, have personal experience with the venom of one of these species and I do not approve of the usual practice of killing every poisonous snake you encounter. Coexistence is much easier than trying to rid the world of snakes.
What to do About
Skunks
Skunks wander the countryside at night. These bold and curious little animals wander through campsites at will, poking into anything that's open, and unless you object to that and make a fuss they will not unload on you. If you have a dog in camp, they'll probably try to teach it a lesson and you'll smell like skunk for a long time. They don't have to score a direct hit to mark you for days.
If you're out at night and do encounter one, be on the lookout for more. Families like to travel together, children learning from parents. Everybody in the group will dance on their forefeet and raise their tails, but only the adults will actually spray. If you back away immediately they won't take any action. By backing away, I mean be careful the first few steps and then move fast. They'll chase you a little ways but they don't run very fast or far.
If you encounter a skunk in the daytime, that's unusual behaviour for a skunk and probably means it isn't feeling well. Rabies is endemic in the skunk population, and in the final madness of that disease this nocturnal animal will be out in the daytime, in a very bad mood. Stay away from it.
Skunks wander the countryside at night. These bold and curious little animals wander through campsites at will, poking into anything that's open, and unless you object to that and make a fuss they will not unload on you. If you have a dog in camp, they'll probably try to teach it a lesson and you'll smell like skunk for a long time. They don't have to score a direct hit to mark you for days.
If you're out at night and do encounter one, be on the lookout for more. Families like to travel together, children learning from parents. Everybody in the group will dance on their forefeet and raise their tails, but only the adults will actually spray. If you back away immediately they won't take any action. By backing away, I mean be careful the first few steps and then move fast. They'll chase you a little ways but they don't run very fast or far.
If you encounter a skunk in the daytime, that's unusual behaviour for a skunk and probably means it isn't feeling well. Rabies is endemic in the skunk population, and in the final madness of that disease this nocturnal animal will be out in the daytime, in a very bad mood. Stay away from it.
Alligators
Another once threatened species now doing very well under official protection, alligators shouldn't be seen farther north than Louisiana and are limited to wetland areas. If you don't hike in the bayou country or journey through the southern swamps, you won't come across one--unless we have a really serious global warming event. A gator skeleton found in a farmer's field in northern Arkansas a few years ago probably was a pet someone turned loose, although there's a remote possibility it wandered north through river channels and got caught by the cold weather.
Gators get big, and definitely are capable of harming people. They normally prey on animals as large as deer and have been known to take cougar and black bear. Although humans are not their intended prey, gators are not very selective. If something comes within reach and they're hungry, they may make a grab for it. Most people are attacked when swimming, and very often in areas with signs on shore saying Beware of Gators: No Swimming. Hunting gators lie just off shore, waiting to charge and clamp down on animals coming to drink. Watering holes well used by game animals are prime areas for gators.
Seeing them before they see you is the best plan. Fast reaction time helps. If you need to get water from a suspicious source, make sure you have an exit plan. Take off your heavy backpack before filling a canteen, so you can move quickly. Don't sit on a rustic bridge in some shady spot, dangling your feet in the water to cool off. A recent gator related death resulted from doing exactly that.
Another once threatened species now doing very well under official protection, alligators shouldn't be seen farther north than Louisiana and are limited to wetland areas. If you don't hike in the bayou country or journey through the southern swamps, you won't come across one--unless we have a really serious global warming event. A gator skeleton found in a farmer's field in northern Arkansas a few years ago probably was a pet someone turned loose, although there's a remote possibility it wandered north through river channels and got caught by the cold weather.
Gators get big, and definitely are capable of harming people. They normally prey on animals as large as deer and have been known to take cougar and black bear. Although humans are not their intended prey, gators are not very selective. If something comes within reach and they're hungry, they may make a grab for it. Most people are attacked when swimming, and very often in areas with signs on shore saying Beware of Gators: No Swimming. Hunting gators lie just off shore, waiting to charge and clamp down on animals coming to drink. Watering holes well used by game animals are prime areas for gators.
Seeing them before they see you is the best plan. Fast reaction time helps. If you need to get water from a suspicious source, make sure you have an exit plan. Take off your heavy backpack before filling a canteen, so you can move quickly. Don't sit on a rustic bridge in some shady spot, dangling your feet in the water to cool off. A recent gator related death resulted from doing exactly that.
In the U.S., there are simple ways to tell if a snake is
dangerous or not. Poisonous snakes in this country,
except for the coral snake, have heads shaped like an
arrowhead; non poisonous snakes have ovoid heads.
Coral snakes--the exception--are brilliantly colored, and
similar in appearance to a harmless copycat, the milk
snake. You'd do better avoiding any banded snake with
red, black and yellow bands than to try to remember the
old rhyme, "Red next to yellow, kill a fellow; red next to
black, friend to Jack." The heck with that, if you see those
colors leave it alone. Coral snakes pack nerve toxins and
are very dangerous.
Rattlesnakes and copperheads don't want trouble. If you step on them they'll bite. So would you. Be aware that snakes like to shelter under cover, like fallen logs. If you step over one, look where you plan to step. Reptiles like sunny places in the morning, so keep an eye on bare sunny spots in the trail. Most people bitten by copperheads are struck when they step out of their houses onto concrete patios or steps. Sunny concrete holds warmth, and is friendly to cold-blooded reptiles. Getting bitten in the woods is less common.
Cottonmouths, the aquatic viper in the North American family, are common on lakes and waterways in the South. Other harmless water snakes with vaguely similar markings are commonly mistaken for them and all water species of serpents are inappropriately persecuted just in case they might be cottonmouths. Cottonmouths are territorial when nesting, defending a clutch of eggs in some commandeered burrow I suppose--I never stayed long enough to find out. When a six foot cottonmouth is swimming at your canoe, it's time to go. That aggressive behaviour is the source of their evil reputation, but they won't come after you if you move smartly along. Most cottonmouth bites happen for the usual reason, being stepped on--these snakes feed on fish and lie in wait along the shore underwater, where fishermen sometimes blunder across them. Although this may not be a strictly logical tip, whenever I come across a section of shore that is littered with the shed skins of large snakes, I fish somewhere else. The snake population may be no lower where I do go, but it appears to be.
Snake bite kits, with little razor blades for slitting the puncture wound and suction cups for sucking out the venom, do little good. Carry them if you must, but don't depend upon them. Unless used immediately they won't even be of partial benefit. If you're bitten, you need somebody to go for help. Don't try to walk to help on your own. Exercise pumps the poison deeper into your system. The treatment that works is anti venom, and you'll need to be hauled to a hospital to get it.
Snakes bites are rare. If you've been bitten by a poisonous snake, you'll know it immediately because the pain is extraordinary. I used to be the local expert when I lived in the Ozarks and it wasn't unusual for somebody to charge up the drive in a pickup truck with a dead snake in their hands and ask me if the snake that bit them was poisonous. If you have to ask an expert that question, it isn't.
Just watch your step, don't mess with the poisonous snakes you find, and you'll be all right.
Rattlesnakes and copperheads don't want trouble. If you step on them they'll bite. So would you. Be aware that snakes like to shelter under cover, like fallen logs. If you step over one, look where you plan to step. Reptiles like sunny places in the morning, so keep an eye on bare sunny spots in the trail. Most people bitten by copperheads are struck when they step out of their houses onto concrete patios or steps. Sunny concrete holds warmth, and is friendly to cold-blooded reptiles. Getting bitten in the woods is less common.
Cottonmouths, the aquatic viper in the North American family, are common on lakes and waterways in the South. Other harmless water snakes with vaguely similar markings are commonly mistaken for them and all water species of serpents are inappropriately persecuted just in case they might be cottonmouths. Cottonmouths are territorial when nesting, defending a clutch of eggs in some commandeered burrow I suppose--I never stayed long enough to find out. When a six foot cottonmouth is swimming at your canoe, it's time to go. That aggressive behaviour is the source of their evil reputation, but they won't come after you if you move smartly along. Most cottonmouth bites happen for the usual reason, being stepped on--these snakes feed on fish and lie in wait along the shore underwater, where fishermen sometimes blunder across them. Although this may not be a strictly logical tip, whenever I come across a section of shore that is littered with the shed skins of large snakes, I fish somewhere else. The snake population may be no lower where I do go, but it appears to be.
Snake bite kits, with little razor blades for slitting the puncture wound and suction cups for sucking out the venom, do little good. Carry them if you must, but don't depend upon them. Unless used immediately they won't even be of partial benefit. If you're bitten, you need somebody to go for help. Don't try to walk to help on your own. Exercise pumps the poison deeper into your system. The treatment that works is anti venom, and you'll need to be hauled to a hospital to get it.
Snakes bites are rare. If you've been bitten by a poisonous snake, you'll know it immediately because the pain is extraordinary. I used to be the local expert when I lived in the Ozarks and it wasn't unusual for somebody to charge up the drive in a pickup truck with a dead snake in their hands and ask me if the snake that bit them was poisonous. If you have to ask an expert that question, it isn't.
Just watch your step, don't mess with the poisonous snakes you find, and you'll be all right.
rattler by dustie;
other photos from
Wikipedia Commons
other photos from
Wikipedia Commons
photo by schnuffel
photo by bandini
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Copyright: All original material on this site is the sole property of the author and cannot legally be copied or used in any form without his permission. That would be me.
Data Collection of Non-Personally Identifying Information:
We use third-party advertising companies to serve ads when you visit our website. These companies may use information (not including your name, address, email address, or telephone number) about your visits to this and other websites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you. If you would like more information about this practice and to know your choices about not having this information used by these companies, click here.