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I just shot another attacker

occva

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Forest, VA USA, ,
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I have killed two this year. I think they are coming down out of the hills looking for water. Sorry to those of you who disagree with killing them. I will let all the black snakes live in peace here but the venumous ones will die on sight. I have two kids that play in the yard.
 

67GT390FB

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Richmond, Virginia, USA
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glockfan wrote:
RIP to all snakes killed by this evil open carrier.

Snakes are good! Leave 'em be.


Agree to a point. Snakes are good. Generally let them be.

But when a Timber or Cane break rattler or Eastern Copperhead is in your backyard under foot where either yourself or a loved one(both two and four legged) can be harmed by them its time for them to go to the great beyond. Now if you are out for a nature walk in the woods this would not be called for. The only venomous snake i want in my yard is a garter snake.

It took my brother and i years to convince my parents not to kill the black snakes that populate their yard. I think we finally got through to them with the exception of my father catching one trying to get into his blue bird houses.

Peter, Catch a few big black rats or king snakes and turn them loose in the yard. natural selection will then take care of your problem.
 

celticredneck

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Amelia County, virginia
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I shot a copperhead about a month ago. I killed it on my back porch, just after it had bitten my wife's Boston Terrier. The Vet bills cost me more than a quality pistol would have, so the snake had to go. In the woods, I leave them alone, but biting the dogs on my back porch is a whole different thing.
 

DonTreadOnMe

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May 30, 2008
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Near The Beach, Virginia, USA
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Rather than unnessarly killing an animal I would suggest just having the animal relocated. If your having a lot of run-ins with copperheads or rattlesnakes on your property please feel free to message me. I would be happy to come out and and do some relocating for you if your near me, or I could refer to someone else in your area that could help. These wonderful animals are under a lot of pressure as it is....we realy dont need to be turning them into target practice.


:(
 

riverrat10k

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I'm a reptile lover so I don't condone shooting snakes, but I have never had a posionous one in my yard. No kids, but two small dogs.Have removed black snakes to appease my wife and would probably destroycopperheads ifthey became a problem (my dogs). New development throughout the area does cause snake migration into the remaining habitat. As was mentioned, the lack ofmoisture mayalso be causing the snakes food sources to relocate.

BE VERY CAREFUL ON THE PAVED PATHS IN SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER. A number of years ago we were having a family event at Rockwood Park on Courthouse Road. There are shelters in the woods connected by paved paths. That Sunday was the day after the first cold fall night. We saw approximately a dozen adult copperheads warming up on these paths that afternoon! Very intimidating for most people. This was more copperheads than I had seen in my entirelifetime (hunting, fishing, etc), and of course the most ever seen in a small area. My guess is they were caught out by the cold night and were warming up to start or continue their migration to whatever den they use for the winter there.

You should have seen what I used to bring home to mom! :what: (no posionous)



riverrat
 

riverrat10k

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DTOM--How common are canebrake/eastern timbers down that way? How far north and west? I do environmental work and am often in snake habitat. Have never seen a (confirmed) water moccassin in VA but know they are around. Seen 'em on lake gaston, and my sources say they are down in Colonial Heights. Almost never see a copperhead in the wild, sometimes in the spring but very sparingly otherwise with a few exceptions. Lots of timbers along the blue ridge, but have never seen or heard one in goochland, fluvanna, or new kentfor example.
 

67GT390FB

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riverrat10k wrote:
DTOM--How common are canebrake/eastern timbers down that way? How far north and west? I do environmental work and am often in snake habitat. Have never seen a (confirmed) water moccassin in VA but know they are around. Seen 'em on lake gaston, and my sources say they are down in Colonial Heights. Almost never see a copperhead in the wild, sometimes in the spring but very sparingly otherwise with a few exceptions. Lots of timbers along the blue ridge, but have never seen or heard one in goochland, fluvanna, or new kentfor example.

I've lived in goochland the majority of my life and am a snake fan. I would personally feel comfortable moving a copperhead but i would not expect anyone else to do so over killing one that was in their backyard.

I have seen plenty of copperheads in the county and they are in every county. Ihave never heard ofeither of the rattlers in this region. You'd always hear stories of Water moccassins/cotton mouths. But i always equated them with someone seeing a Northern water snake or a brown water snakeand confusing it with a copperhead and thus thinking water moccassin.

I'mpretty surethe habitat for the cotton mouth in the state is around the dismal swamp area. the occasional loner may be transported accidently to other areas but they aren't populous.
030015-map.jpg


The Canebreak is located also in the far southeast portion of the state though it shows hanover as well i'm guessing chickahominy swamp. i found out about the canebreak being in the state from talking with a friend in the game dept last year. evidently DGIF was doing a study on them.
030013-map.jpg


I've personally only encountered timbers in the wild areas around lexington and staunton centered right around vesuvius va.
030012-map.jpg


they show louisa and fluvanna as likely habitat i would guess around lake monticello in fluvanna and near gordonsville for louisa
 

peter nap

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Joe, back home Timber Rattlers were common, but only higher up. In September, after dark, they were all over the road leading to Reddish Knob.

The same friend that told you about Rattlesnakes gave me the "You don't know what a cottonmouth looks like" to me, years ago. He flatly said he had never heard of a Cottonmouth being North of the James and darn few South.

When I did finally see one in Texas, his description was dead on. They float on top of the water instead of swimming in it.
 

riverrat10k

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thx for the maps, I have seen them before. Chesterfiedl shows wm, I think there is a colony around city point or the mouth of the chickahominy. More rattlers in Vesuvius area along the st marys river than i have eve seen. prolly ought to make it a preserve. was hoping the fella from the beach would chime in about canbrakes. my field work is taking me eastward.
 

riverrat10k

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oh, and nap is correct the cottonmouth watter moccassin tends to swim either totally submerged, or distincly head well raised above the water. non-poisonous water snakes will look up then swim at the surfuce but head is down. not 100% reliable but as you said, you can kinda tell
 

67GT390FB

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riverrat10k wrote:
thx for the maps, I have seen them before. Chesterfiedl shows wm, I think there is a colony around city point or the mouth of the chickahominy. More rattlers in Vesuvius area along the st marys river than i have eve seen. prolly ought to make it a preserve. was hoping the fella from the beach would chime in about canbrakes. my field work is taking me eastward.
You're dead on with the area I was talking about. Mine Mountain,St. Mary's River gorge those areas of the GWNF are crawling in the critters.
 

caltain

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When I was in Texas, I lived on one end of a large lake. We had the usual host of critters. The rattlers were all over the place because of the ample food and water. We ran across them several times a week from April to October. Never bothered with the taxonomy when I was just trying to get my heart back in the generally correct location. We left them alone, unless they were near the kids or pets, then we moved 'em along.

The cotton mouths/water moccasins were a whole different story. With the exception of the dredged boat lanes, the end of the lake got real shallow most summers, 'bout like a swamp with all the deadfall, stumps, etc. We'd run up on them on the front porch, on the sidewalks, in the yard, and in the water. These guys what a snake hater has nightmares about. They are very thick for their length, with four footers being forearm thick. When they are in the water, most snakes breathe normally with just their snout out of the water. Mocs hold their breath and breathe shallow, as you would when treading water. Consequently, they ride very high in the water for most of their length. They have little or no trouble getting into bass boats and ski boats, but most sailboats and cruisers are too high.

Generally, if they are on the move when you see them, I recommend that you either put them down or leave rapidly. They are very agressive and unlike the rattlers, they will pursue a threat rather than head to safety. I have been chased on land, in my boat, and while swimming. They can easily keep up with a jon boat and trolling motor, and they don't give up easily.

On the two occasions I was in the water swimming, I would have given Mr. Phelps a run for his money.

I've run across corals, rattlers, copperheads (here) and cottonmouth/mocs, in addition to all the usual kings, corns, rats and garters. I'll kiss any two you care to name over a moc across the yard.

Cal

Edited for spelling.
 

peter nap

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caltain wrote:
The cotton mouths/water moccasins were a whole different story. With the exception of the dredged boat lanes, the end of the lake got real shallow most summers, 'bout like a swamp with all the deadfall, stumps, etc. We'd run up on them on the front porch, on the sidewalks, in the yard, and in the water. These guys what a snake hater has nightmares about. They are very thick for their length, with four footers being forearm thick. When they are in the water, most snakes breathe normally with just their snout out of the water. Mocs hold their breath and breathe shallow, as you would when treading water. Consequently, they ride very high in the water for most of their length. They have little or no trouble getting into bass boats and ski boats, but most sailboats and cruisers are too high.

Generally, if they are on the move when you see them, I recommend that you either put them down or leave rapidly. They are very agressive and unlike the rattlers, they will pursue a threat rather than head to safety. I have been chased on land, in my boat, and while swimming. They can easily keep up with a jon boat and trolling motor, and they don't give up easily.


Cal

Edited for spelling.
I'm just delighted we don't have many Cottonmouths.

It's bad enough watching out for Copperheads in the yard where the Grandkids and the three month old Great Dane, play...

But I don't want to have to worry about them in the boat or canoe or kayak:what:

bz1.jpg
 

pourshot

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Jul 10, 2006
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405
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Stafford, Virginia, USA
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mobeewan wrote:
The funny thing is the next morning after I got up I found out from one of my friends that someone in a nearby camp site appologized for making noise during the night. Theyhad sat on their picnic table to tie a shoe to go to the outhouse and had tipped the table. The pans I heard was theirs hitting the ground. They thought I was shooting paintballs at them when I started firing at the Racoon. :what:
You sure run a quiet camp ground mister. Whats yer secret? :D
 

marshaul

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Aug 13, 2007
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Fairfax County, Virginia
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riverrat10k wrote:
DTOM--How common are canebrake/eastern timbers down that way?  How far north and west? I do environmental work and am often in snake habitat. Have never seen a (confirmed) water moccassin in VA but know they are around. Seen 'em on lake gaston, and my sources say they are down in Colonial Heights. Almost never see a copperhead in the wild, sometimes in the spring but very sparingly otherwise with a few exceptions.  Lots of timbers along the blue ridge, but have never seen or heard one in goochland, fluvanna, or new kent for example.

I've seen them (cottonmouth water mocassins) around Clifton, Virginia. But only at one friend's house; for whatever reason they liked to hang out in his neighborhood.
 
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