Snake!

[mtnbkr]

SWMBO and Things 1+2 met some friends for mani/pedis and dinner, so, being without family or obligations for a few hours, I went for a long walk at the local wildlife management area I haunt frequently during hunting season.  After nearly 15 years of hunting there, this is the first time I've been out there during the Summer.  It was so green! :)

Anyway, on the way back to the parking lot, I saw this little feller (2' long Copperhead):


Bad closeup of his head (was trying to get a ground level shot with a zoom lens without annoying Mr Snake):


While I was snapping pics, a trail runner came barreling down the hill toward us.  I had to call out three times, actually standing up and giving him the "traffic cop" hand the final time before I got his attention.  Because the snake blended into the red clay so well, he was probably going to step right on him.  His response?  "Oh, thanks, I didn't see him there.  Thank you thank you thank you".  I'm thinking to myself, "ok, you didn't see the snake, but what about the full grown man with a large revolver squatting in the middle of the trail taking pictures of *something*, did you see him?".

Anyway, after a few glamor shots, I chased him off with a stick so Mr Oblivious and I could go our separate ways.

Chris

[BlueStarLizzard]

I am impressed with the level of detail in the scales along the neck in that second shot.

I also think you're nuts to be shooting the copperhead with a camera instead of the revolver.

[Tallpine]

Darwin foiled again 

[mtnbkr]

I am impressed with the level of detail in the scales along the neck in that second shot.

The DOF was too shallow to bring the entire snake into focus properly.  I was paying attention to the snake and not to getting the technical details of photograph just right. :)

I also think you're nuts to be shooting the copperhead with a camera instead of the revolver.

Why?  He wasn't hurting anyone and wasn't aggressive.  I shooed him away so he could continue eating vermin.

Darwin foiled again  

Me or Mr Runner?  I never got close enough for him to reach me had he been so inclined.

Chris

[charby]

Why?  He wasn't hurting anyone and wasn't aggressive.  I shooed him away so he could continue eating vermin.

I would have done the same thing. I have respect for venomous snakes, but I don't feel the need to kill them.

[Tallpine]

Me or Mr Runner?  I never got close enough for him to reach me had he been so inclined.

Chris

The runner 

[Jamisjockey]

The runner 

in Chris's neck of the woods I doubt it would have been fatal. 
Lots of access to medical care.
Just would have been a serious lesson in "watch where you step dummy."

[grampster]

"Why?  He wasn't hurting anyone and wasn't aggressive.  I shooed him away so he could continue eating vermin."

 I thought he was talking about the runner.    :rofl:

[mtnbkr]

This was Thompson WMA (you've been up there with me), so it's not right in the DC Metro area, but there are still houses nearby and I'm sure there's a hospital within 15min-20min.  It's not the 'burbs, but it's not Tallpine-levels of isolation either.

Chris

[mtnbkr]

"Why?  He wasn't hurting anyone and wasn't aggressive.  I shooed him away so he could continue eating vermin."

 I thought he was talking about the runner.    :rofl:

LMAO!  I can visualize that! :D

"shoo runner-boy, shoo!" <waves stick at gaunt runner as he heads off in search of field mice>

Chris

[Boomhauer]

trail runner came barreling down the hill toward us.  I had to call out three times, actually standing up and giving him the "traffic cop" hand the final time before I got his attention.  Because the snake blended into the red clay so well, he was probably going to step right on him.  His response?  "Oh, thanks, I didn't see him there.  Thank you thank you thank you".  I'm thinking to myself, "ok, you didn't see the snake, but what about the full grown man with a large revolver squatting in the middle of the trail taking pictures of *something*, did you see him?".

Many of the trail runners I've encountered have been rather...odd...

[RocketMan]

in Chris's neck of the woods I doubt it would have been fatal. 
Lots of access to medical care.
Just would have been a serious lesson in "watch where you step dummy."

Sumdude got bit by a copperhead last year in my neck of the woods.  He lived, but he's ~ $80k poorer, and that's supposedly after what insurance picked up says the local rag.  Don't know how accurate the story was.

[Battle Monkey of Zardoz]

*expletive deleted*it no. Too close. It's a snake. Let the jogger step on it and kill it. 

[BlueStarLizzard]

I will (barely) tolerate non venomous snakes.

Venomous snakes that come within my safety bubble must die horrible horrible deaths IMMEDIATELY.

I do not like snakes. Nope. Nope. Nope.

I don't care about spiders, as long as they crawl elsewhere (and not on me. Those feet feel funny ) and I think mice and rats are funny (I still kill them if they come in the house, but I tell them that they are cute first) but snakes are not to be trusted and bugs that fly and sting invokes some serious internal battle over flight (while screaming) or fight (also, while screaming)

[Jamisjockey]

He was out in the snakes home.
No reason to kill it.  None.

[charby]

He was out in the snakes home.
No reason to kill it.  None.

X200000!!!eleven!!twentytwo!!!!

[Jocassee]

Venomous snakes are the coolest. And in my experiences copperheads are pretty shy to boot. I'm surprised he sat there and let you take his picture.

[BlueStarLizzard]

He was out in the snakes home.
No reason to kill it.  None.

X200000!!!eleven!!twentytwo!!!!

You idiots do realize that I wouldn't actually get close enough to that damn thing to kill it and that I'd most likely run, screaming, from the area? Or scream for whoever I'm with to kill it (and they would probably laugh at me instead of killing the snake)

Furthermore, your holier than thou attitude on the subject makes me want to kick you both in the shins.
Jeez, it's almost as bad as the people who can't handle the dead cat jokes.

[MechAg94]

Venomous snakes are the coolest. And in my experiences copperheads are pretty shy to boot. I'm surprised he sat there and let you take his picture.

Most copperheads I have seen will try to move off and hide, but I have walked up on some curled up in the middle of the trail daring you to keep walking.  They are not always shy.  I figure it is my job to thin the herd of any that get too big for their britches.  There were lots of snakes where I grew up.  The copperheads seemed to be the most common land snakes to see.  I figure the others hunted more at night or hid better.

That is also why I liked carrying a walking stick in the woods.  It was useful for killing snakes or moving them off the trail depending on the situation.  

[Tallpine]

...I liked carrying a walking stick in the woods.  It was useful for killing snakes or moving them off the trail depending on the situation.  

They're easier to move off the trail when they're dead 

[Jamisjockey]

You idiots do realize that I wouldn't actually get close enough to that damn thing to kill it and that I'd most likely run, screaming, from the area? Or scream for whoever I'm with to kill it (and they would probably laugh at me instead of killing the snake)

Furthermore, your holier than thou attitude on the subject makes me want to kick you both in the shins.
Jeez, it's almost as bad as the people who can't handle the dead cat jokes.

There is a *expletive deleted*it ton of people who would absolutely kill it just for being a snake.

[MechAg94]

Thinking about it some more, when we were running around the woods as kids, I can't think of any other snake we simply came across on land more than the copperhead.  Maybe a coral snake once and a couple of water snakes/ cotton mouths, but lots of copperheads.  Maybe it was because copperheads were more numerous or more likely to move around in day time.  I know there were rat snakes and others out there, but we rarely ever saw them.  I figure they either holed up in day time or were more skittish and hid when we came around.  

[MechAg94]

There is a *expletive deleted*it ton of people who would absolutely kill it just for being a snake.

True.  We tried not to kill garter snakes and such, but we probably wouldn't pass up a rat snake, but we rarely saw them.

[charby]

There is a *expletive deleted*it ton of people who would absolutely kill it just for being a snake.

I've watched people swerve their vehicles at snakes (to kill them) that are warming themselves in the morning along the road.

Keep killing them and they will get listed on the T&E species list, then you really are going to be hosed.

[roo_ster]

I've watched people swerve their vehicles at snakes (to kill them) that are warming themselves in the morning along the road.

Keep killing them and they will get listed on the T&E species list, then you really are going to be hosed.

Not likely to go on the list.  Too many of them and they adapt just fine. 

Any venomous snakes that come near our house campground or walking path has forfeited its life.  But i will not go out of my way to kill them.

Nonvenomous snakes are welcome to stay and hang out.  Eat all the vermin they like.