woodcraft

Your activity also know as to 'drain the snake'.

Lazyass

They wear black robes which shoots down the myth that black clothing is hotter. It actually cools you down faster when you get in the shade.

Vintage Schwinn

In the Summer of 1971 while vacationing at Edisto Beach, some pals and I went crabbing one afternoon near there in an area on a bank where many others were doing the same. I went to the cooler to retrieve a few cold ones for the gang, and then said loudly, hey look at that king snake, and that got the attention of several folks, one of whom looked at it and yelled back at me, hey dumbass get away from that snake because it is a super-poisonous Coral snake, get away, it is not a king snake, don't let anyone get near it. One guy there knew and explained something I still remember today that RED/YELLOW kills a fellow & RED/BLACK venom it lacks......
We were all familiar with Cottonmouths(water moccasins) , Copperheads, and big fat six feet long Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnakes which are common in GA/SC/NC and are pit vipers with easily identifiable large triangular shaped heads which are distinctly larger than the body and non round eyes..... Well, the Coral Snake, I was told is the only poisonous snake in the United States which has round eyes and a head that is same size as body, like that of all non-poisonous snakes in North America.

When I was a teen-ager, I worked the range at the Country Club. The Club was closed on Monday, which was the day when employees would play golf all day. I'd play with the head tennis pro, the head golf pro, the guys that ran the giant Jacobson mowers, and the golf course maintenance crew guys and cart shack guys. Well I became friends with them and when we'd play some holes some of the maintenance guys would point and say that while cutting back the growth over there we came across three rattlesnakes, two cottonmouths and at least one copperhead.........which I'd reply, no s---, and then later they would bring some of the killed, dead snakes up to the range to show me some of the bigger ones when they had to cut back growth in a few areas about once a year. It gave me a healthy respect for not going into areas in the woods where the ground cover foliage & wild grass was sorta thick and/or knee high. We often saw Water Moccasins(cotton mouths) on or near the green on water holes, and would sometimes see Copperheads on the paved path between #6 green and #7 tee which was a valley that was both swampy and jungle like. I never saw a live rattlesnake while playing there, only dead ones that the guys had killed while clearing overgrowth deep in the woods, where only the stupid would go as though not out of bounds, you probably have zero chance of finding your ball, and it would be impossible to play it if you did.

Two years ago, in January 2019, I was invited to play golf in the Phoenix area. I guess the head pro there figured that I might not be too bright, and not familiar with the hazards of the desert around the Phoenix area because he said you don't want to go after your golf balls which leave the green grass area and make it on the desert because rattlesnakes are all over the place, especially now at this time during January.............no joke he told us to treat it like a local rule that allows a free drop on the nearest grass area, no closer to the hole, assuming that you see your ball closeby in the desert area that is not out of bounds...........said you damn sure don't want to go after the ball on the desert....... said you know anti-venom is something like $15,000 per vial.
One of my buddies did take a photograph with his phone of a rattler on that golf course. It was thinner and smaller than the typical Southeastern USA poisonous snake (Cottonmouth, Copperhead, Eastern Diamondback Rattler, or Coral snake). It was still big enough and I'd imagine there are plenty of big ones in AZ too that we didn't get to see.

I've seen at least a dozen different live snakes on the roads or crossing the road while riding this year in 2021 but none poisonous.......one large dead one......saw a couple of live big ones during 2020, and I saw a large bird drop a copperhead about 100 yards in front of me........which I think was biting the bird and it dropped the snake. A friend that I sometimes ride with lives in a 5000 sq ft house on 1.6 acres, built in 2017 in an area that was deep dense heavy pine tree forest and woods before that area was first developed around 2014-2015. They have found live snakes that enter their four car garage, most of them Copperheads. One of their neighbors stepped on and was bitten by a Copperhead on the closely mowed grass. It didn't inject much venom and she recovered quickly. I do know a friend of a friend that stepped on an eastern diamondback rattler on their rural acreage on their family's horse farm. They had to have multiple anti-venom vials and the necrosis of the tissue and leg flesh required surgeries for multiple skin grafts, as it was a very bad bite.
One thing is certainly worth mentioning so that those that are super-adventureous don't do something stupid like to attempt to pick-up some large rattler or cottonmouth(water moccasin) that has been run-over and is motionless and you think is probably dead.......Remember that if it ain't dead yet, you're likely gonna get all the energy that the dying snake can muster in a helluva bite. Probably any doctor that has done ER duty probably will tell you that accounts for many snake-bite cases.
Let the snake go on its way, if it is out in the wild and not in your garage, or under your home, etc....... If you need to have a live poisonous snake captured & removed, please call a professional as you don't wanna do something stupid like have bullets ricochet and possibly strike someone or a pet, or a window or car etc.
The snake does not want to hurt you. They do naturally strike and bite when stepped on.

SoSmellyAir

I am not snake friendly or unfriendly, but I accidentally rode over a snake across a MUP during my ride yesterday afternoon.

shelbyfv

Agree

indyfabz

Let's turn this thread into something worth something.

Show us pictures of snakes you've seen while riding.

Western yellow bellied racer in South Dakota. Sucker was fast and larger than the photo makes him appear to be.

indyfabz

Curious Northern Water Snake in the Delaware River above Stockton, NJ while in camp druing a long weekend bike tour. He kept mugging for the camera.

teejaywhy

If only I could convince my wife...

unterhausen

I don't know how you shoo a rattlesnake off of a road, they usually just coil up and try to scare you.
I saw 2 in one week during June. Someone told me it was probably pregnant females. They like to hang out near streams and sunbathe.

indyfabz

Somewhere in my collection I have a photo of a young rattler on the edge of the Lehigh Gorge Trail between Jim Thorpe and White Haven. I didn't notice it. My riding partner did and said something. I went back to take photos. Not the only one I've seen along that trail. They definitely like to sun themselves on the limestone surface.

seypat

Stepped on a few poisonous ones accidentally in my time. Luckily, they were small and my foot was positioned so they could not strike. I was on the edge of a golf tee box many years ago waiting for someone to tee off. I kept hearing this buzzing sound like a pager going off. I looked down at the ground(narrow strip of dirt) trying to find the source of the noise. I was standing on a baby rattlesnake! It's body and tail were protruding out from under my shoe. It had maybe 2 buttons and 1 rattle. It was no longer than a ruler. I jumped away and got it moved away from the tee box.

thumpism 

We generally only need to worry about copperheads and I would not worry about those when I'm riding. I do look out for them in the yard, and occasionally in the house.

Me2gingko

I wish I had pics of all of the Copperheads I have seen. When it gets chilly out, they like to sun bath on open sections of a trail.

OkFine

Very compliant with me taking photos of it; sat still and watched me the whole time.

CAT7RDR

canklecat

Rattlers usually dislike and avoid water. They're among the very few critters that do respond to being squirted with a water bottle. Somewhere around here I have a bike mounted video of me chasing a snoozing rattler off the road using a water bottle.

Even when they are near bodies of water they generally avoid being too close. They prefer dry dens and get most of their moisture from prey. In the desert rattlers are known to drink the little water they need by drinking dew and collected moisture off their own scales.

There are non-venomous snakes that resemble rattlers that do hang around and even swim in rivers, lakes, etc. A friend who paddles around the local rivers and lakes video records every outing and has recorded those snakes that resemble rattlers at a glance. Hog-nosed snakes are easily mistaken for rattlers but are non-venomous. Ditto bull snakes, rat snakes and others that have rattler-like markings.

And of course water moccasins/cottonmouths swim and are usually found near bodies of water, although they'll occasionally sun themselves on rocks and sidewalks and fall asleep there after dark when the temperature cools down and they become sluggish. They've often approached me while I'm fishing from shore, but tend to leave as soon as they realize I'm too big to eat. But it's a good idea to wear boots when fishing from shore or wading in areas infested with water moccasins.

Cottonmouths tend to ignore being squirted with water bottles. I'll use a stick or even an extended bicycle pump to shoo them off the road or sidewalk. An awake and alert cottonmouth can sense when we're too big to eat so while they can react defensively and seem aggressive, they almost always prefer to escape. Usually it's the babies and adolescents that fall asleep on sidewalks. I don't often see adult cottonmouths in the open like that. They've lived long enough to be more cautious. Baby and adolescent mocs are idiots, just like human kidlets.

canklecat

I dunno if this video will show up. I posted it on Facebook last summer. Unfortunately I posted it remotely from my phone and used the low resolution video option to save data. I never got around to backing up the hi-rez version to my NAS or cloud and
the PC hard drive it was on just crashed last week. So this will be kinda fuzzy.

Just an adolescent rattler I saw on the lightly traveled access road I ride a zillion times a year. Occasionally I do see dead snakes along that road so I wanted to shoo this one off to safety.

At first I nudged it with my bike's front tire, but it was still drowsy and sluggish and barely responded. So I poked it with an extended bike pump, but that just made it moody. So I squirted it with the water bottle. That always works. They're very picky about their hair, nails and makeup.

I have a few more of snakes, tarantulas, etc., but all on Facebook. My DSL is so slow I rarely upload to YouTube. A five minute HD video can take hours to upload to YT from here. FB is quicker for some reason, although only with lo-rez videos.

canklecat

Eight-legged teddy bear, once of many I've shooed off the road. I'm always tempted to take them home but my cats wouldn't approve.

Snek fails at being stealthy.

Grumpy snoozing snek.

unterhausen

This was a very mad rattlesnake because a jogger kept throwing handfuls of pebbles at it trying to get it off the road. I'll have to keep water in mind next time I see one I want to move. I think they hang out near streams because that's where their prey is. This one was right by a small stream. As you can see, the road changes from pavement to gravel at this point.

The jogger was too wimpy to run around the snake. I had to ask him to move because he was standing in the line I wanted to take. I assume the whole standoff became moot when the thunderstorm moved in a few minutes later.

Bald Paul

I have a joke that would fit right in with this topic - golf course, poisonous snake, nature break - but I don't think it would be allowed here.

indyfabz

This didn’t rattle me.

Korina

Pretty much all the snakes I see are small squished garters. Once, though, DH and I spotted a 18" long garter in the middle of a low traffic bit of street after dark; it was getting cool, and the little guy was soaking up the last of the heat. He took some convincing, i.e. nudging his tail with my shoe, but he eventually slithered off into the tall grass, where he belongs. Hopefully he grew up to eat rats. Lots of rats.

indyfabz

My ex and I recently moved a turtle out of harm’s way.

Eric F

genejockey 

OMG, what a cute little snake!