Any fellow herpers?

Any other herpers out there? What are some of your favorite finds, biggest finds, etc. I'll start with mine. About a month ago I found a huge rat snake. Didnt get an actual measurement but I'm 6 foot even and he had several inches on me. That is my favorite to date. Even tops my first venomous catch. Share some stories!!!

Also I know it's very unadvised, but I always go bare hand. No hook, no gloves!! Even on the venomous ones. Adds to the thrill for me plus actually getting to feel the snake is a much more gratifying experience.

I've been catching wild snakes in my area (Middle Tennessee) for over 40 years.

I used to bring home King snakes and Rat snakes when I was a Teenager that I caught in the woods behind our house. I would keep them all summer long but my mom would always make me let them go in the fall so they could hibernate or brumate.

I do construction work and one day while at work one of my fellow workers came running up to me screaming, "There's a rattle snake over here." I was expecting to actually see a real Rattler, we do have both Eastern Diamondbacks and Timber Rattlers in Tennessee, but when I got to the scene, it was simply a Black Rat Snake about 5 feet long that had coiled up inside a cardboard box. It was rattling it's tail against the cardboard and making quite a noise.

I put on a pair of leather gloves and reached in and grabbed him, and he was a bit upset at first, but he actually calmed down to the point I was able to remove the gloves. I carried him off the construction site to a creek at the edge of the property and let him go.

Years ago, my friends and I would pick a day out in the summer and we'd go out looking for snakes. It was a competition to see who could round up the most in a one day period.

We have Corn snakes, Black Rat snakes, Spotted King snakes, Appalachian King snakes, Garter snakes, Gopher snakes, Banded water snakes, and also the venomous Copperheads, Cottonmouths, and Rattlesnakes here in my area. I tend to leave the venomous ones alone.

That's awesome! I live in the middle of nc. We have tons of black rat snakes and black racers. First snake bite I ever took was from a black racer, haven't met a nice one yet! Lol. Found my first hognose recently and was stoked. As far as venomous my certain region of NC has tons of copperheads and the VERY rare cottonmouth. Lots of water snakes, ring necks, Kings. I'm yet to find a wild corn though, starting to think they must not be so common in my part of the state because we are absolutely flooded with black rats and black racers.

sdavis2 said:

That's awesome! I live in the middle of nc. We have tons of black rat snakes and black racers. First snake bite I ever took was from a black racer, haven't met a nice one yet! Lol. Found my first hognose recently and was stoked. As far as venomous my certain region of NC has tons of copperheads and the VERY rare cottonmouth. Lots of water snakes, ring necks, Kings. I'm yet to find a wild corn though, starting to think they must not be so common in my part of the state because we are absolutely flooded with black rats and black racers.

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Actually, I had a black racer who was a sweetheart! Maybe because he was raised in captivity? They may not be the type who like to be handled in general, though.

But dude, WITHOUT gloves? I go SKYDIVING! And I pack a reserve chute!! Handling venomous snakes without gloves is like trying to book a reggae band at a ku klux klan rally! You're gonna have some problems sooner or later, no?

Well, to each his own, I guess. Don't mean to sound judgmental either! I think you are AWESOME for taking care of that black rat snake you wrote about in that other thread! You are actually one of my newer HEROES (friend's request will be forthcoming!). Just wondering, is that something "herpers" normally do? :idea:

(I'm into fads, don't get me wrong, but am more curious than apt to follow on this one!) :eek1:

axis1 said:

Actually, I had a black racer who was a sweetheart! Maybe because he was raised in captivity? They may not be the type who like to be handled in general, though.

But dude, WITHOUT gloves? I go SKYDIVING! And I pack a reserve chute!! Handling venomous snakes without gloves is like trying to book a reggae band at a ku klux klan rally! You're gonna have some problems sooner or later, no?

Well, to each his own, I guess. Don't mean to sound judgmental either! I think you are AWESOME for taking care of that black rat snake you wrote about in that other thread! You are actually one of my newer HEROES (friend's request will be forthcoming!). Just wondering, is that something "herpers" normally do? :idea:

(I'm into fads, don't get me wrong, but am more curious than apt to follow on this one!) :eek1:

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It is dangerous and as you said I'm sure I'll one day pay for it. And it's by no means a lack of respect for the animals potential to cause harm. If anything the opposite, I just need to feel them with my own hands, no fabric in between!! Thank you for the kind words though! Lol like you said, to each his own!

The only thing I've ever seen around here are garter snakes... I'm not even sure if we have anything else around here. I know in southern Alberta there are rattlers and bull snakes and western hognose, but not sure if any of them come this far north. I can't believe I've never really researched it!! I guess I know what I'll be doing tonight! LOL

I work for a company that is spread across the province, though, and people know I'm the "snake girl", so whenever they find snakes they always send me pictures. I am a "herper by proxy". :rofl:

albertagirl said:

The only thing I've ever seen around here are garter snakes... I'm not even sure if we have anything else around here. I know in southern Alberta there are rattlers and bull snakes and western hognose, but not sure if any of them come this far north. I can't believe I've never really researched it!! I guess I know what I'll be doing tonight! LOL

I work for a company that is spread across the province, though, and people know I'm the "snake girl", so whenever they find snakes they always send me pictures. I am a "herper by proxy". :rofl:

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Oh I highly recommend it, it's what I do with my spare time now, and here in the southeastern US there's no shortage of snakes to find. Your first find will be a memorable one. Don't be scared to pick them up and get a closer look though!

I've never gone looking for snakes exclusively so I usually have my dogs with me which I'm sure doesn't help, but I've never been fast enough to catch one. I see them, and zip! They're gone! I did just look it up, there are three types of garters in Alberta, all of which come at least reasonably close to my area, but that's all we get this far north.

Ah see I live where it does get pretty cold, but also can get really hot so we have a lot of snakes. I have noticed though, certain breeds will zip away, others will curl and stand their grounds. Guess that depends on the confidence of the snake lol. Well if you ever find yourself in the southeast US in the right time of year I highly encourage you to go searching. Just bring some tick spray!!! Ticks down here are no joke and have been especially bad this year.

When you get bit by a venomous snake, whether it is a legal captive or a wild snake, it just makes people hate and fear snakes more. And makes it harder to keep them legally. And makes people feel like killing them.

Well I haven't been bit or even close. And it's not like id go on the news and broadcast it. I live in central NC where like I said we pretty much only have copperheads as far as venomous, hardly deadly and I live 3 miles from a hospital. I'm fully aware of how dangerous it is and show them full respect.

Nanci, again yes I know it is dangerous and obviously I know there's fatal snake bites. You aren't teaching me anything. I also go swimming and swim in the open ocean. Drowning and shark bite stats won't stop me from doing thateither. Guess what? Posting car crash deaths(more more common than snake bite deaths) won't stop me from driving! And again most snake bites are deadly when you don't get quick treatment. I live 3 miles from a hospital and never go for a dangerous one alone. Thank you.

The problem with your analogies are they aren't equivalent. You'd have to be swimming in the ocean at dusk with a bloody fish tied to your waist, or drunk driving the wrong way down the interstate.

Just failing to see why you take my personal choice of gently handling a snake so personal.

sdavis2 said:

Just failing to see why you take my personal choice of gently handling a snake so personal.

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As an avid field herper for over 20 years (just stare at my icon under my name and figure out what that is), no sugar-coating here, free-handling venomous like that is highly irresponsible not only for yourself but for your fellow herpers. Blatant stupidity like that is what results in fear-mongering, ignorant legislatures enacting rules and regulations with little to no scientific backing (aka knee jerk). Nanci also works within the medical field and I'd gather possibly has some first hand experience in dealing with the unfortunate event of being tagged, whether purposeful or incidentally.

We had a Physician's Assistant (PA, basically a doctor without an MD) out at Snake Days this year presenting on snake bites. The demographic is 18-25 years old, white, male, and more often than not alcohol is involved.

You mentioned there's just copperheads in Apex, you also have cottonmouths, and all around you including to the coastline you also have timber rattlers - this is just per iNaturalist.org and not field guides, you should have other hots per field guides if I recall correctly. Though the Agkistrodon venom might not screw you up other than in pain, it still could should you have an allergic reaction. You won't know unless you're bitten. If you do have an allergic reaction, you could face needing a fasciotomy, where you'll have a wicked scar and potentially muscle/nerve damage. Worst case, they amputate the limp.

WARNING: Images not for the faint of heart!
http://www.herpnation.com/2012/04/07/bite-account-timber-rattlesnake/
https://www.google.com/search?q=fas...KEwj4h47mtoXOAhWny4MKHQptDwMQ_AUIBigB#imgrc=_

Basically, it's irresponsible and just not cool to free handle hots. There's no need to.

That said, I'm all game for talking field herping. I love it and sorely miss it as my outings have strongly tapered off since 2010.

sdavis2 said:

Just failing to see why you take my personal choice of gently handling a snake so personal.

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I don't care if you die from handling a venomous snake, but I _do_ care about how every single bite fuels snake haters and affects snake legislation.

Example from today at work. I had a patient named Orianna. I was excited- Hey, did you know there's a society named after you? The Orianne Society. I pull up the webpage, where it talks about preserving reptiles and amphibians, particularly indigo snakes. The patient's father goes off on a rant about how he kills all snakes, because his father was (he said killed, but at that point I wasn't listening clearly) bitten by a rattlesnake, so all snakes must pay. And he's raising his children to think that way, too.

Plus, lots of people browse this forum. Kids. Kids who might read your post and think they could _safely_ free-handle a venomous snake. Hey, they read about a guy on cornsnakes.com who does it, and he's still alive and never got bitten!

I know you don't care about my opinion, but since you love venomous snakes (don't we all...) I'm sure you're well aware that the first rule of venomous snake keeping is you _never_ touch the snake with your hands. If people with hundreds of thousands of hours of working with venomous can still get bitten accidentally, what makes you so certain that you can free handle safely?

Amen, Nanci.

Hey you know what else...I'm not sure what the regulations are in NC, but here in FL, it's illegal to touch a venomous snake (unless you have a permit). Like, I can't legally go to my friend's house and capture the coral snake living in their garage and relocate it. I can't take a hook and arrange a rattlesnake for a nice photo. I'm sure such things go on, but people sure don't talk about it on the internet where anyone, like wildlife officers, can read it.

Not a joke. I know a person, who used to post here all the time, who brought home a WC snake that her kid really liked, that they had found out road cruising. Wildlife officials found out about it, either from reading it themselves of from someone trying to get her in trouble, and she got charged, and had to go to court. She didn't even _know_ she wasn't supposed to have it!

So just- be careful. THat's all.