Unusual afternoon at the office - snake!

[ejtaylor822]

Buddy walked outside to leave and came running back in saying there was snake across the walkway and he could not get out of our office . This is in Durham/Chapel Hill. Said it "looked" poisonous but was not sure. He asked the secretary to call security and I went with him to take a look. Got outside and it had moved in the flower bed - was about a 2-1/2' long copperhead. Nice and long and plump.

I kept an eye on it until security showed up. It slithered on down beside the sidewalk. I followed it to underneath a little bush. It curled up in a defensive position and just hung out.

No one would believe me when I said it was copperhead. It took someone getting a picture off the internet to verify. Facilities came by with a shovel and "disposed" of the critter.

Finally, an interesting afternoon at the office

Eddie

 

[DavidA]

I have been told by several "old timers" that this year is a bad year for copperheads here in NC. I believe it. We live in Davie County (approximately 20 miles south west of Winston Salem). I have killed three so far this summer. I usually have a couple of black snakes or one cotton mouth but not three copperheads. We live on a lake and expect to see a few snakes from time to time but the copperheads are not welcome.

 

[RobertN]

Some years ago, a guy got bit while in the parking lot where I work in Folsom(near Sacramento).

He was walking to his car after work. He saw something by his tire, so he reached down toward it. A baby rattle snake bit his finger! The Folsom area was dredged years ago for gold. There are still big piles of tailings here and there. There are also a lot of rock. Prime rattler country.

Since then, they have posted warnings every summer to be careful...

 

[ejtaylor822]

Yes, appear to be bad in NC this year. Neighbor across from us killed a 2' copperhead in his driveway about a month ago. The neigbor beside him, up the hill, has killed two - one was about 3'. I haven't seen any around our place (knocking on wood).

Rattlers in the parking lot - talking about a hostile work environment! A baby snake still hurts. I saw something on one of the science channels a while back that said the theory of not getting much poison from small/baby snake was untrue. This discussion was that you were likely to get more poison from a young snake. The reason being that the younger snake cannot control the poison flow like an older snake - made sense - but, I have no intention of finding out.

Eddie

 

[jcmseven]

Eddie,

My in-laws live off Cole Mill in Durham. My MIL was bitten by a copperhead working in her flower garden two years ago. The residents at DUMC were quite interested in her injuries. Also, they killed a second 3' (huge) copperhead this year on their walkway. They live in town essentially, yet they seem to have more poisonous snakes than we do here in the mountains. I certainly though am not wishing to have more, now.

John M

 

[txdon]

I hate copperheads. Just yesterday morning while taking a walk in the yard, with sandals, there was this huge copperhead in front of me. I made a dash to the barn to get the hoe and then I almost stepped on a coral snake (red touches yellow kills a fellow). I disposed of the copperhead because they are just mean waiting to bite, but the timid, alert, scared, small coral snake I coaxed into the woods. I didn't need caffeine that morning!

 

[EddieWalker]

Don,

Yep, out killing snakes in the morning, or just giving them new homes before coffee in the morning sure sounds like somebodie's enjoying his retirement!!!

Just don't post any snake pictures, and I'll be fine.

Eddie

 

[txdon]

Eddie, I was actually thinking of you when I decided NOT to take a picture of the snakes. I was going to label them "Honeymoon Pictures", but that would be too cruel.

 

[InlineDieselFan]

Poisonous snakes another reason to live where it is not very hot and always wet.

BTW I hated going out on snake patrol with a machete and stick at Ft. Benning, GA. So yes I have seen my share of nasty snakes.

steve

 

[CurlyDave]

My first professional job, 35 years ago, was at a company with a facility out in the boonies in San Diego. We would find 2-3 rattlers every year.

We had one old engineer who pointed out that rattlesnakes eat ground squirrels, which can sometimes carry the plague. Didn't convince me.

His daughter was in a graduate biology program at UC San Diego, and did some kind of a field project which involved catching rattlesnakes and taking their temperature rectally before releasing them.

Now that is a job I would never want.