Quote:
Originally Posted by sdavis2
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...r-rattlesnake/
https://www.google.com/search?q=fasc...UIBigB#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.