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#36905 - 05/07/08 08:22 AM
Copperhead on The Last Will Be First
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j.vitti
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Registered: 07/19/07
Posts: 3
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There was a copperhead in the hole at the start of the crack about thirty feet off the ground on The Last Will be First yesterday. We were there in the morning and the snake backed into the hole as I got close, it went way back in there and you could easily not see it until you stuck your fingers in there. We backed off and did other climbs. In the afternoon we used The Last raps and the snake was still there.
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#36909 - 05/07/08 11:13 AM
Re: Copperhead on The Last Will Be First
[Re: j.vitti]
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chip
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Registered: 10/06/01
Posts: 1136
Loc: Delaware, U.S.A.
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Nice Snake! Stay snake! Let me climb by you please!
The copperheads seem very non-aggressive, particularly at the gunks where they are usually given a wide berth, but I think you did the right thing.
Ran into one at the base of Betty last summer, which we were climbing in the dark. It didn't move or show any intent to strike despite gentle prodding with a stick so that we could get on the climb. Eventually moved slowly about ten feet away and stayed there until I checked again the next morning. Probably had just fed.
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#36920 - 05/07/08 03:52 PM
Re: Copperhead on The Last Will Be First
[Re: chip]
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Mike Rawdon
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Registered: 11/29/99
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A couple years ago at Lost City I built a gear anchor about 2 feet away from one. You're right, I was saying things like, "Nice snake" in my most soothing voice.
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#36921 - 05/07/08 04:22 PM
Re: Copperhead on The Last Will Be First
[Re: Mike Rawdon]
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Terrie
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Registered: 06/14/04
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A couple years ago, I was walking toward the road at the Nears, having just passed the Gelsa area, when the person following me(Saxfiend, visiting from down south) said "Hey! Is that a Copperhead?"
I turned around and....there it was, in the trail between us. I was about 5 feet ahead of it and he was a bit less behind.... The snake was poised to strike!!!! I must have clipped in walking by!
Holee F! That scared me. The snake was coiled up except for the first maybe 18 inches, which was...erect... and the snake slowly waving side to side, the way a Cobra does in the movies....
I jumped a few feet away and said "Don't come closer to him, he's gonna blow!(or something).
I learned a lesson that day, to pay a bit more attention.
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#36922 - 05/07/08 04:55 PM
Re: Copperhead on The Last Will Be First
[Re: Terrie]
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RAF
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Registered: 04/12/02
Posts: 792
Loc: Northern NJ
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They evolved to be hard to see, and for all the ones I've seen at the Gunks over the decades, I am forced to wonder whether there have been orders of magnitude more that were right there that I missed seeing.
I very much worry about dogs encountering poisonous snakes at the Gunks but don't know of cases where dogs have been bitten. Fortunately a copperhead's dose of poison is a lot less than that of a rattlesnake.
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#36923 - 05/07/08 08:52 PM
Re: Copperhead on The Last Will Be First
[Re: RAF]
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Dillbag
old hand
Registered: 05/02/06
Posts: 929
Loc: Garden State
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Ya had to drag the dog thing back up didn't you?
_________________________
...anethum graveolens cucumis sativus!
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#36924 - 05/08/08 07:29 AM
Re: Copperhead on The Last Will Be First
[Re: RAF]
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museumdork
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Registered: 03/12/01
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I very much worry about dogs encountering poisonous snakes at the Gunks but don't know of cases where dogs have been bitten. Fortunately a copperhead's dose of poison is a lot less than that of a rattlesnake.
Last fall some friends from Gardiner were over for dinner; when visiting they typically bring their large (100lbs+) lab mix who plays outdoors with our dog Cara. At about 9pm as we wrapped up and walked outside, we noticed Zach was wimpering and unable to stand. He favored his front right paw, which was pulled up tight. A quick examination showed the telltale bite: two pinpoint entry wounds, evenly spaced and bleeding slightly.
We called the 24-hr vet in Poughkeepsie, but they recommended the other emergency vet, up in Kingston, so they took him up there. $900 and an ovenight stay and Zach was a happy camper. Since nobody saw the snake that bit him we couldn't say definitively it was a copperhead (we do have Eastern Water snakes, which are fairly aggressive). But I believe the vet didn't like the symptoms Zach was displaying, so they opted for the antivenom.
For what it's worth, the vet reported to our friends that he sees snake bites on a regular basis.
cheers
Dell
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#36925 - 05/08/08 08:23 AM
Re: Copperhead on The Last Will Be First
[Re: museumdork]
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Lynn
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Registered: 04/02/06
Posts: 43
Loc: NY
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My dog was bitten in the side of the neck by a rattler and other than some swelling he was fine. I'm not sure if the same is true for copper as for the rattlers but the baby rattlers are more dangerous - their poison is more potent or they don't know how to regulate it? Not sure, just know that everyone said the baby ones were worse than the big ones.
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#36926 - 05/08/08 10:07 AM
Re: Copperhead on The Last Will Be First
[Re: Lynn]
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Terrie
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Registered: 06/14/04
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That's what I have heard about baby Copperheads, too.
I have a friend out in CA whose dog was bit by a rattler and he was freaked out because he didn't have money to go to the vet.... Someone he knew told him that the dog would be fine. And, the dog was okay, thankfully.
He also told me, and this is strange, that the person said you could apply.... a shock...to the area and it would facilitate...something. I was shocked, myself, in hearing this and so I must have tuned it out, because I can't recall exactly what he told me.... For one, I thought he said they had like a taser gun or stun gun or something! (No wonder I went into my happy place. Who just happens to have an item like this laying around?....hahaha).
I really can't recall, but it was such a bizarre thing that I wanted to ask if anyone had ever heard about such a thing.
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#36927 - 05/08/08 10:13 AM
Re: Copperhead on The Last Will Be First
[Re: Lynn]
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chip
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Registered: 10/06/01
Posts: 1136
Loc: Delaware, U.S.A.
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Yes, the young ones aren't very good yet at regulating how much venom is injected.
Those Northestern Water Snakes are pretty amazing and really aggressive when you get around any of their young. I had one chase me across a creek I had to swim and well up into the forest above the bank. I'm told that the bite from these is different in that they will bite and then hold on and grind across the area for a few seconds. Thankfully, I have no first hand knowledge of this. A family of them allowed me to spend lots of time watching them over a summer as they nested right where one of my favorite running trails crossed over a stream. I stopped and watched many times, partly to avoid another confrontation and partly just out of facination watching them hunt and hang out on the crossing stones.
Glad to hear Zack is OK.
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