# For Those of You that are Stomping Through the Woods...



## Jags (May 2, 2013)

Please remember to be safe and vigilant.  This is the time of year that creepy crawly things start to wake up.  If you stomp through the woods in areas that have poisonous critters, this may be on your want list.
(I chose this forum over the gear forum because of the nature of wood gathering).

http://www.grindtv.com/outdoor/nature/post/hunter-saves-own-life-after-rattlesnake-bite/


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## flhpi (May 2, 2013)

I watch out for spiders and check for ticks. Thankfully I don't have to worry about rattlers. We do have copperheads around where I live. Only have seen a couple. One got in a fight with my Stihl weed eater and the snake lost.

Thanks for the reminder post, hopefully we will be better prepared out there.


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## smokinj (May 2, 2013)

I hate Snakes! I will give them a quick 45 reasons not to come close!


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## Jags (May 2, 2013)

smokinj said:


> I hate Snakes! I will give them a quick 45 reasons not to come close!


 
I am with ya, but I usually only come up with about 38 reasons.


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## Big Donnie Brasco (May 2, 2013)

I am fine with snakes, but my daughter has ALWAYS loved them
















Had her own snake hook at TWO years old!




[I


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## Jags (May 2, 2013)

Something with no legs, no arms, no wings or fins should NOT be able to move that fast.  Pure evil I tell ya.


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## privatejoker75 (May 2, 2013)

There are western rattlers around here but i've never seen one on our side of the river.  I'm still very vigilant though since the closest anti-venom is a 40+ mile drive


These scare me more though, this was on our window last summer


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## bogydave (May 2, 2013)

No snakes or
poisonous  spiders in Alaska 


Did see a few mosquitoes yesterday while splitting wood?


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## Jags (May 2, 2013)

bogydave said:


> No snakes or
> poisonous spiders in Alaska


Yeah, all you guys get are those cuddly bears and moose.


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## Jack Straw (May 2, 2013)

"I don't like spiders and snakes
And that ain't what it takes to love me
You fool, you fool


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## westkywood (May 2, 2013)

Big Donnie Brasco said:


> I am fine with snakes, but my daughter has ALWAYS loved them
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 
Excellent. Looks like me and my daughter. Had snakes all my life.....


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## westkywood (May 2, 2013)

Sorry to say, but that doctor is wrong. Look up what "Venom One" in Miami says to do. They say sucking out the venom is useless. It's a myth that you can suck out the venom. This guy in the article probably just didnt get a good dose of venom and the doctor was no snake expert.  A lot of bites are dry bites. Cottonmouths are known for giving a lot of dry bites.
 I've owned snakes all my life and use to do educational shows at schools with rattlesnakes , large Pythons etc. I go to Rattlesnake, Copperhead and Cottonmouth dens every spring and fall. yes, I admit, I'm obsessed with snakes and always have been. Don't believe everything you hear about them.
 Now to the OP's point. Do be careful where you put your hands etc this time of year. The snakes have just come out of hibernation.....


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## Big Donnie Brasco (May 2, 2013)

I took a dry bite to the shin from a Timber Rattler back in 2007 ...  that'll make ya pee a little!


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## Woody Stover (May 2, 2013)

The only Copperhead I've seen here was in the compost heap, trying to get warm. I slipped a golf iron under it and lifted it into a five-gallon bucket. As I understand it, they are not very aggressive.Called the snake guy at the zoo and told him a had a Copperhead for him. He said "Yeah, sure..." I took it over to him. He said "Hey, that's a Copperhead!" 
Another time, my wife heard the Bluebirds pitching a fit, and yelled "Hey, there's a snake climbing up to that Bluebird house!" By the time I got there, he was part way inside. I grabbed his tail, swung him around my head a couple of times and flung him into the woods. All the SILs were impressed.  But lots has happened since then and now they aren't all that impressed.


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## westkywood (May 3, 2013)

Woody Stover said:


> The only Copperhead I've seen here was in the compost heap, trying to get warm. I slipped a golf iron under it and lifted it into a five-gallon bucket. As I understand it, they are not very aggressive.Called the snake guy at the zoo and told him a had a Copperhead for him. He said "Yeah, sure..." I took it over to him. He said "Hey, that's a Copperhead!"
> Another time, my wife heard the Bluebirds pitching a fit, and yelled "Hey, there's a snake climbing up to that Bluebird house!" By the time I got there, he was part way inside. I grabbed his tail, swung him around my head a couple of times and flung him into the woods. All the SILs were impressed.  But lots has happened since then and now they aren't all that impressed.


 
 Copperheads are some of the most aggressive snakes we encounter. You may be thinking they don't have the really potent venom. They will strike repeatedly if cornered but also are more apt to try to get away.


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## Jags (May 3, 2013)

Any snake with venom will not be in my presence very long, one way or the other. Either I leave or it does. Chances are its the snake that won't be back.  I friggen hate snakes.


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## firebroad (May 3, 2013)

privatejoker75 said:


> There are western rattlers around here but i've never seen one on our side of the river. I'm still very vigilant though since the closest anti-venom is a 40+ mile drive
> 
> 
> These scare me more though, this was on our window last summer


EE-YIKES!


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## firebroad (May 3, 2013)

Personally, I find snakes useful for keeping down the vermin--but I think I draw the line at a rattler.  I'll steer clear of them if they stay the hell off my property...Same with spiders, they are welcome to eat anything but me.
Had more problems with deer ticks than anything.


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## flatlandr (May 3, 2013)

I saw no snakes in PA last weekend but did find 6 ticks and a whole lot of mosquitoes!


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## osagebow (May 3, 2013)

Copperheads can mess ya up - let my garden get out of control and a big pregnant one under a cucumber leaf got me with a full bite. 2 days in the hospital, these are pics AFTER the swelling went down a lot. That said, I still love snakes and take pics of them whenever I can.


ATTACH=full]101281[/ATTACH][/ATTACH]
	

		
			
		

		
	
















BE CAREFUL OUT THERE!


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## osagebow (May 3, 2013)

Big Donnie Brasco said:


> I am fine with snakes, but my daughter has ALWAYS loved them
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 

Great pics! I think that one black rat ate a golf ball!


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## westkywood (May 3, 2013)

osagebow said:


> Copperheads can mess ya up - let my garden get out of control and a big pregnant one under a cucumber leaf got me with a full bite. 2 days in the hospital, these are pics AFTER the swelling went down a lot. That said, I still love snakes and take pics of them whenever I can.
> 
> 
> ATTACH=full]101281[/ATTACH][/ATTACH]
> ...


 
Thanks for the pics. I know I've been lucky not to have been bit. That finger looks bad.  I've learned which ones show no aggression and can be loosely handled. I'd never handle a Copperhead like this. Cottonmouth or Timber Rattlesnake yes ( and only a few of those I see). Copperheads are biters.  Heres one of me and a Timber Rattlesnake.


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## Pallet Pete (May 3, 2013)

A few years ago I dropped a tree and discovered a massassauga rattler under part of the tree. It landed on it but didnt kill It. Man was he pissed off too ! The good news was there was about 15 ft between us and a hastily made tree stand consisting of a 5ft stump I got on top of as soon as I saw it. We had a 5 minute stare down then it left. I stayed on top of that stump for a good 30 minutes then crawled down and changed my pants lol. 

Pete


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## basod (May 4, 2013)

This is why I tend to curtail my wood gathering efforts around late March here.
Last week I was putting up some tools and heard some of the pallet stack crash to the ground - went to investigate and found a rather large King snake making his way back to the woods.
It's lump(rat/chipmunk) must have prevented it from easing back out of the stack


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## Big Donnie Brasco (May 4, 2013)

osagebow said:


> Great pics! I think that one black rat ate a golf ball!


 

LOL... she had actually just taken both of those out of the henhouse!


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## Lumber-Jack (May 4, 2013)

I'll exterminate black widows I find around the house, but rattle snakes just get relocated away from the house.
Killing them out in the wild seem a little cruel to me. Yeah they pack a mean sting, but more people are killed by bees every year than venomous snakes. They can hardly be considered aggressive, any rattler I've ever encountered did it's best to run (slither) away, it's only when they are surprised or cornered that they will try to bite a human.
But I realize lots of people have phobias of certain animals and things.
I tried to teach my kids early that snakes aren't inherently bad, but that some of them can be dangerous and need to be handled correctly.

No animals or people were hurt in the making of this video, and the snake was safely relocated.

Mosquito’s are widely regarded as the most deadly creature on the planet, killing an estimated 3 million people per year.


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## loadstarken (May 4, 2013)

privatejoker75 said:


> TI'm still very vigilant though since the closest anti-venom is a 40+ mile drive.


Wow you're further out there than my in laws that live in Oroville!
I hate going out there in the summer because of the rattlesnakes and black widows!


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## westkywood (May 4, 2013)

Lumber-Jack said:


> I'll exterminate black widows I find around the house, but rattle snakes just get relocated away from the house.
> Killing them out in the wild seem a little cruel to me. Yeah they pack a mean sting, but more people are killed by bees every year than venomous snakes. They can hardly be considered aggressive, any rattler I've ever encountered did it's best to run (slither) away, it's only when they are surprised or cornered that they will try to bite a human.
> But I realize lots of people have phobias of certain animals and things.
> I tried to teach my kids early that snakes aren't inherently bad, but that some of them can be dangerous and need to be handled correctly.
> ...




Agree with you 100%. Killing anything in the wild because of irrational fears I'll never understand. Nice video.


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## Jags (May 6, 2013)

westkywood said:


> Agree with you 100%. Killing anything in the wild because of irrational fears I'll never understand. Nice video.


 
I don't go hunting them down, but we do not share the same space.  Period.  My neighbor who is a snake lover (he has several), will relocate them.  If he is around I do my best to let him do his thing, But if I get a timber rattler sunning himself in my front yard at the river...different thing.  I don't consider it irrational because of the young ones or pets that are often running around.  Snakes with fangs are fairly rare where I am at, but it happens.  Copper head (cotton mouths) and timber rattlers are around.


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## Applesister (May 6, 2013)

The only snakes I deal with work on the town board.


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## mudbug250 (May 6, 2013)

My sister lived in West Palm Beach Florida one time and had a house in a area that was still being developed. She called on day and she said she had found a snake in the back yard. I asked her what kind it was. She says,"It was a live one, but it is a dead one now!"


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## privatejoker75 (May 6, 2013)

loadstarken said:


> Wow you're further out there than my in laws that live in Oroville!
> I hate going out there in the summer because of the rattlesnakes and black widows!


 

We both love it here, luckily I work from home and wife works only a few miles away.  

So far only 1 black widow and no rattlers though.  We did have wolves up our driveway though....or VERY big coyotes (prints were bigger than my hand)


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## privatejoker75 (May 6, 2013)

westkywood said:


> Agree with you 100%. Killing anything in the wild because of irrational fears I'll never understand. Nice video.


 

Same here.  The only thing i kill are spiders.  We had mice in our attic, i trapped them all and released them on the other side of the river.  I'm a pacifist I guess lol


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## BrotherBart (May 6, 2013)

Four or five years ago I was sitting in my basement office after lighting the wood stove down there and getting ready for a busy day. The servers were humming along across the room behind me. I turned around to go up and get more coffee and a pretty good sized snake was coiled up on top of one of the servers keeping warm.

I escorted him outside.


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## Paulywalnut (May 6, 2013)

Woody Stover said:


> The only Copperhead I've seen here was in the compost heap, trying to get warm. I slipped a golf iron under it and lifted it into a five-gallon bucket. As I understand it, they are not very aggressive.Called the snake guy at the zoo and told him a had a Copperhead for him. He said "Yeah, sure..." I took it over to him. He said "Hey, that's a Copperhead!"
> Another time, my wife heard the Bluebirds pitching a fit, and yelled "Hey, there's a snake climbing up to that Bluebird house!" By the time I got there, he was part way inside. I grabbed his tail, swung him around my head a couple of times and flung him into the woods. All the SILs were impressed.  But lots has happened since then and now they aren't all that impressed.


I'm thinking the bluebirds were impressed even more.


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## westkywood (May 6, 2013)

Jags said:


> I don't go hunting them down, but we do not share the same space. Period. My neighbor who is a snake lover (he has several), will relocate them. If he is around I do my best to let him do his thing, But if I get a timber rattler sunning himself in my front yard at the river...different thing. I don't consider it irrational because of the young ones or pets that are often running around. Snakes with fangs are fairly rare where I am at, but it happens. Copper head (cotton mouths) and timber rattlers are around.


 
Totally understand a venomous snake being in someones yard. Es[ecially with kids around.  I wouldnt kill it, but most would. My irrational fear comment is aimed at people that carry a gun in the woods to kill every snake they see because they think it is going to chase them down or something. That is an irrational fear. They will not chase a person down. I see hundreds of venomous snakes a year and I've never had ONE chase me. Venomous or non-venomous.


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## Ashful (May 6, 2013)

Back when I was very young, dad was surveying a construction site, when an excavator ran over a mamma snake.  Thinking they were harmless, dad and a couple of the other workers took a few of the cute little baby snakes home in styrofoam coffee cups.

He put the two he took in an empty aquarium left over from my sisters hermit crabs, with a piece of wire mesh and a brick on top, but you-know-who couldn't leave them alone, and apparently took the brick off. Long story short, two baby copperheads got loose in our house!

 Dad found one that day, and took it out to a big field behind the house, figuring it would probably die without mamma.  He couldn't find the other, so mom and the kids went to stay with grandma for a while.  The second one turned up sometime later, dead under a baseboard heater.

I don't know exactly when they figured out their cute little baby snakes were copper heads, but it was sometime while they were missing in the house.  A few years later, a housing development was built on that field behind our house, and the local paper reported one day a very large copper head was found there.  Ours?


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## firebroad (May 7, 2013)

I have several rubber snakes that I use around the garden to discourage varmints.  Works, too.  One day the Grandson decided to get a rise out of his mother with one.  She and her father used to keep ball pythons, but Grandson didn't know that.  He left the rubber snake in a place she would spot it, and she just said, "Oh Gavyn, I'm not afraid of snakes, I used to keep them."  Now, if he had left a toy spider or mouse around, she probably would have gone screaming into the woods...


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## firebroad (May 7, 2013)

osagebow said:


> Copperheads can mess ya up - let my garden get out of control and a big pregnant one under a cucumber leaf got me with a full bite. 2 days in the hospital, these are pics AFTER the swelling went down a lot. That said, I still love snakes and take pics of them whenever I can..


 
Oh, THANKS, Osagebow, just what I wanted to see during gardening season., Still, I like your snake photos. We get black snakes, corn snakes and garters, and they are really helpful.


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## Coal Reaper (May 7, 2013)

you guys in the northeast are all forgetting that its a 17 year cicada year!


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## Ashful (May 7, 2013)

Really?  Thought we just had a cicada year around 2004.  Different breed / cycle?


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## Coal Reaper (May 7, 2013)

Joful said:


> Really? Thought we just had a cicada year around 2004. Different breed / cycle?


15 different broods apparently.

They're looking for just one thing: sex. And they've been waiting quite a long time.

Read more: http://www.wjla.com/articles/2013/05/cicadas-expected-to-outnumber-people-600-to-1-88423.html#ixzz2ScSiGsrN​


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## Ashful (May 7, 2013)

Coal Reaper said:


> They're looking for just one thing: sex. And they've been waiting quite a long time.


 
Sounds like almost any man who's been married more than a few years.


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## firebroad (May 7, 2013)

Joful said:


> Sounds like almost any man who's been married more than a few years.


 
 Ha ha ha!!


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## Coal Reaper (May 7, 2013)

sounds like any man with over 2,500 post in a wood burning forum.


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## Danno77 (May 7, 2013)

we found a dude just like this in the yard last week. It was an indicator that I've done wrong by my kids:




He's not really venomous, not to humans at least (insert debate on term "venomous" and classes that apply). But he clearly is not a "garter snake" which is a term my children think applies to all snakes that are tiny.

Having seen me handle garter snakes and talk about how we like them and they eat bugs, etc, My kids think it's ok to pick up any old snake. Apparently that includes one that is brightly colored orange on the bottom and hisses and bites at you. So the lesson of the day had to become, "here's what a garter snake looks like. There are poisonous snakes around here, but to be on the safe side don't pick any of them up if it's not a garter snake. remember that poisonous snakes are all babies at some point."

Didn't want to have to deal with that. I thought son was dying the other day and that was from a wasp sting. I can't imagine that trip to the ER...


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## Shane N (May 7, 2013)

Call me a bad guy. I'll kill any snake I see. I hate those bastards.


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## Lumber-Jack (May 7, 2013)

I would imagine if finding venomous snakes was an everyday occurrence around my home I'd be interested in population control too, even if it seemed a bit cruel. Fortunately it happens very rarely around here, so it's not a problem relocating them.


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## osagebow (May 7, 2013)

Danno77 said:


> we found a dude just like this in the yard last week. It was an indicator that I've done wrong by my kids:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 

Those ringnecks are pretty! Weak saliva based venom is harmless (unless you are a salamander) despite the bright colors. Usually very docile but smelly as all get out! Have handled hundreds and remember maybe 3 or 4 attempting to bite. Usually cannot break the skin.  Your truly venomous guys over there are all pit vipers- Copperheads, timber and massasauga rattlers, and maybe cottonmouths if you are in a swampy area or floodplain.


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## Shari (May 7, 2013)

I have a cousin who lives in a rattlesnake area.  

My cousin has an attached 2 car garage and in the summer time they park their cars in the garage with the windows open.

One day, my cousin hopped in the car to head off for work.......... got about a block away from home....... and felt a snake wrapping itself around her right ankle..........

Now when they park their cars the windows are always closed.


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## firebroad (May 8, 2013)

Shari said:


> I have a cousin who lives in a rattlesnake area.
> 
> My cousin has an attached 2 car garage and in the summer time they park their cars in the garage with the windows open.
> 
> ...


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## firebroad (May 8, 2013)

Danno77 said:


> we found a dude just like this in the yard last week. It was an indicator that I've done wrong by my kids:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


First time I saw a Northern Ringneck, it was so little it had gotten itself tangled in a cobweb under the porch rocker.  I had no idea what it was, or if it were poisonous, so I got my gloves on to get it out.  I was so unnerved though, so I asked my young neighbor who was washing his car if he would do the honors.  He identified it as a copperhead, but I knew that it wasn't.  I had him relocate it underneath the shed to get fat on bugs, and later on vermin.


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## westkywood (May 8, 2013)

Joful said:


> Back when I was very young, dad was surveying a construction site, when an excavator ran over a mamma snake. Thinking they were harmless, dad and a couple of the other workers took a few of the cute little baby snakes home in styrofoam coffee cups.
> 
> He put the two he took in an empty aquarium left over from my sisters hermit crabs, with a piece of wire mesh and a brick on top, but you-know-who couldn't leave them alone, and apparently took the brick off. Long story short, two baby copperheads got loose in our house!
> 
> ...


 
Snakes do not care for their young. Babies are on their own.


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## westkywood (May 8, 2013)

Shane N said:


> Call me a bad guy. I'll kill any snake I see. I hate those bastards.


 
Why? Can you explain why you hate them so much? Just always interested in hearing why.


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## westkywood (May 8, 2013)

firebroad said:


> First time I saw a Northern Ringneck, it was so little it had gotten itself tangled in a cobweb under the porch rocker. I had no idea what it was, or if it were poisonous, so I got my gloves on to get it out. I was so unnerved though, so I asked my young neighbor who was washing his car if he would do the honors. He identified it as a copperhead, but I knew that it wasn't. I had him relocate it underneath the shed to get fat on bugs, and later on vermin.


 
Ha. EVERY snake is identified as a Copperhead. Or if its near water, its gotta be a Cottonmouth.


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## Wood Duck (May 8, 2013)

If you're worried about serious injury, stinging insects kill more people than snakes kill. I can tolerate bees, which at least serve a purpose, but I really have no patience for Yellowjackets and Hornets. Not like I can do much about them except swear at them or come back on a cool night with bug spray.


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## Delta-T (May 8, 2013)

I see poisonous snakes just as frequently as I see unicorns, and I'm not reactive to bees/hornets/wasps...but I hates me some ticks (had Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever). I dont even wear shorts when walking in or near the woods anymore. Deet from ankles to hat, dryer sheets in pockets (have no idea if that works really, but I read it somewheres). Never again! Bloodthirsty savages.


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## Shane N (May 8, 2013)

westkywood said:


> Why? Can you explain why you hate them so much? Just always interested in hearing why.


 

They just freak me out and are completely disgusting. The place I grew up at had harmless garter snakes everywhere. You are walking around the yard and all of a sudden one jumps out and "bites" you.

Don't worry, I don't just hate snakes. I kill spiders too.


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## Shane N (May 8, 2013)

Delta-T said:


> I see poisonous snakes just as frequently as I see unicorns, and I'm not reactive to bees/hornets/wasps...but I hates me some ticks (had Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever). I dont even wear shorts when walking in or near the woods anymore. Deet from ankles to hat, dryer sheets in pockets (have no idea if that works really, but I read it somewheres). Never again! Bloodthirsty savages.


 

Use products with permethrin instead of deet. Much much better tick repellent. (http://www.lymeneteurope.org/info/deet-versus-permethrin-as-a-tick-repellent)


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## gmule (May 9, 2013)

Where I live there are only 2 snakes that dangerous to humans the Western Rattle snake and the Plains Rattle snake. At my altitude of 8500 feet asl we seldom see any snakes. I think it is due more to the harsh winters than altitude. Snakes eat a lot of mice and other rodent type pests. The rodents here        carry the plague or the hantavirus. I would rather have the snakes than the rodents.


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## bmblank (May 9, 2013)

Shane N said:


> They just freak me out and are completely disgusting. The place I grew up at had harmless garter snakes everywhere. You are walking around the yard and all of a sudden one jumps out and "bites" you.
> 
> Don't worry, I don't just hate snakes. I kill spiders too.


I hate insects of any sort. If it naturally has more than 4 legs i don't like it. That being said, if its outside it can do its own thing. Except sink bugs. I kill those because I'm positive it'll end up in my house if i don't kill it. Some people get those lady bugs (Japanese beetles), where i live its sink bugs.
If it naturally has 4 legs or less it doesn't bother me. Snakes, worms, frogs, hell, even leaches don't bother me.


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