Has anyone been bitten by a snake?

[Deleted]

Lol. No, I have not. But your second paragraph is cracking me up.

[water*drop]

No, but I am terrified of snakes. This is amusing because I am an ecologist, so I spend a fair amount of time in areas with snakes. It's awesome when I have students with me because I spend the whole time mentally preparing myself to see a snake and reminding myself not to jump or scream in front of the students. It may cause an unhealthy level of anxiety for me...

[rootbeerfloat]

One of the perks about Hawaii is that it is snake-free. I'm terrified of snakes.

[dcn]

No. This was one of the pros of Alaska. No snakes

[ssmjlm]

I have not, although I'm pretty sure I surprised one by our side gate last weekend. All I heard was something take off toward the hostas and I didn't bother to look down.

DH is deathly afraid of snakes. Like can't even see them on TV sometimes. I am the designated snake person in our house.

We back up to a creek now, so it's a given we see 1-2 a year. Our new house is the same way.

[Cicero]

No but I've been told to take a picture of a snake before you mess with it. That way if you mess up and get bitten the people in the ER will know if you need antivenin or not.

[Marmee]

No but I had a spider bite that nearly took my leg.

Sleep tight!

[cherry1111]

I haaaaate snakes. I can barely tell the difference between the "good" and bad ones when I stare at a picture of them side by side. There is no way I'll stick around long enough to decide what kind of snake one is when I see them in person.

My parents get copperheads in their back yard every summer. I'm terrified to go out there.

[Deleted]

i fucking HATE HATE HATE snakes. I saw one swimming along the shore at the lake house and now refuse to swim right there.

I can't even handle gartner (sp?) snakes. Fuck, I can't even handle WORMS. Too much like a snake.

[fortnightlily]

I've never been bitten. I'm not afraid of them, either, though. I'd be wary if I came across a venomous one, but there is only one venomous species in my region and you're not going to find one in the 'burbs.

I'm much more bothered by spiders!

[Cicero]

Aug 28, 2015 13:47:09 GMT -5 @barefootbarista said:

Aug 28, 2015 13:45:08 GMT -5 Cicero said:

No but I've been told to take a picture of a snake before you mess with it. That way if you mess up and get bitten the people in the ER will know if you need antivenin or not.

Mess with it? There is not one chance in hell that I would mess with the snake. I'm sure that was just general information, but I did not know if you were telling me not to mess with it.

Just passing along the info I was given after moving to the land of copperheads. Just in case you really were going to go sweep the yard.

We have dealt with them by removing all ivy and shrubbery where they like to hang out and keep our fingers crossed that they stay over in the unkept wilds of the neighborhood.

[imbatman]

No, thank God. We bought our house in October, and so far this summer we've had three copperheads and a rattlesnake within feet of our back door. I'm terrified to walk the dogs or be outside with DD.

[panicked]

We had a diamondback in the front yard a few months ago. Meh. It's Texas, so it par for the course here.

[Deleted]

Wear jeans and high boots if you have them. Snake fangs have a harder time penetrating denim than (obviously) your bare skin.

news.discovery.com/animals/sharks/denim-may-guard-against-rattlesnake-bites.htm

That said I am extremely outdoorsy and have spent weeks at a time camping and hiking in areas where rattlesnakes are common (mostly Colorado, the southwest, and extreme southern CA near the Salton Sea), tearing through underbrush and stuff, and have never been bitten by a snake. Your risk of snakebite is extremely extremely low. They are way more afraid of you than you are of them.

[zarapipe]

@this that's one reason I could never live in FL. The snakes! How do you survive. You probably see a lot of them? I would turn into a recluse.

[longtimenopost]

No, but we come across a lot in TX. We used to make an annual trip to the world's largest rattlesnake roundup in Sweetwater, TX complete with rattlesnake "princesses" that strip the skin from the snakes. I've also eaten rattlesnake

[antoniamarchette]

Aug 28, 2015 14:03:42 GMT -5 @abbycobb said:

So once I took a Zoology class where for one lab they took us out to this field and told us to go catch as many snakes as we could (no venomous snakes in the region). I caught exactly zero. THEN after the crazies in the class caught a tub full of snakes, 3-4 people volunteered to lie down and have SNAKES DUMPED ON THEM when they were freed.

To make this relevant to the OP, several people were bit and were just fine - but again, nothing even potentially venomous.

This is giving me chills. 

[sporklemotion]

Aug 28, 2015 13:41:03 GMT -5 rootbeerfloat said:

One of the perks about Hawaii is that it is snake-free. I'm terrified of snakes.

Isn't that how Hawaii became overrun by mongooses (mongeese?)?  Or is that just a myth?

[kershnic]

Why is the south so scary???

[rootbeerfloat]

Aug 28, 2015 14:24:33 GMT -5 sporklemotion said:

Aug 28, 2015 13:41:03 GMT -5 rootbeerfloat said:

One of the perks about Hawaii is that it is snake-free. I'm terrified of snakes.

Isn't that how Hawaii became overrun by mongooses (mongeese?)?  Or is that just a myth?

There were never snakes here, and now they aren't allowed, though every so often someone tries to sneak one in lol.

They brought mongoose in to deal with rats, I think. But now those suckers are everywhere.

[pinotgrig]

I was reading the post title and thought you were going to say toddler. Not snake. I recoiled from my phone when I read snake.

To answer your question, no.

[sporklemotion]

Aug 28, 2015 14:27:45 GMT -5 rootbeerfloat said:

Aug 28, 2015 14:24:33 GMT -5 sporklemotion said:

Isn't that how Hawaii became overrun by mongooses (mongeese?)?  Or is that just a myth?

There were never snakes here, and now they aren't allowed, though every so often someone tries to sneak one in lol.

They brought mongoose in to deal with rats, I think. But now those suckers are everywhere.

Oh, OK. I might be mixing this up with the Simpsons "Whacking Day" episode   .  Should've Googled!

[penguingrrl]

Aug 28, 2015 13:48:44 GMT -5 cherry1111 said:

I haaaaate snakes. I can barely tell the difference between the "good" and bad ones when I stare at a picture of them side by side. There is no way I'll stick around long enough to decide what kind of snake one is when I see them in person.

My parents get copperheads in their back yard every summer. I'm terrified to go out there.

Well, the difference is easy. There is no difference. Snakes are fucking evil, end of story. I have a horrible phobia, have had it since I was really little. I can't see them in a book or on TV without having nightmares. I can't walk past the reptile house at the zoo without feeling anxious.

[rootbeerfloat]

@this, it's not often you feel sorry for a shark. Wow!

[boxerdog]

Yes, I have picked up many snakes (I'm a biologist) and been bitten plenty of times. Never venomous ones though. Doesn't hurt very much- feels like thorns on briars.

The best way to NOT get bitten by a snake is to not mess with it. The vast majority of snakebites from venomous snakes are people trying to kill/remove them. And drunk males.

[boxerdog]

Also - the best way to not have snakes in your yard is to not have good snake habitat.

Get rid of brush/wood piles, leaf piles, grassy/shrubby areas where rodents (aka snake dinner) would like to hang out.

And if you have a pond, it is going to attract water snakes.

NOT that I endorse this, really - backyard wildlife habitat is awesome!

[thebreakfastclub]

I didn't think we had poisonous snakes in PA (based on no education or research).

There was a guy at a camp fire a few weeks ago about 3 hours north of me, who was bitten by a snake and later died. I was kind of freaked out!

[boxerdog]

Aug 28, 2015 14:40:39 GMT -5 RexManningDay said:

Aug 28, 2015 14:17:05 GMT -5 @barefootbarista said:

Rex, ahhhhhh!

I mean, I figured someone had to say yes. lol. 

I know this won't make you less nervous, but it has only ever been because I did mess with them, as mentioned above. Since you won't, you will be fine.

I have never had any ill effects. Like, it doesn't even hurt very much. BUT I just looked up snake fatalities in the US. They are quite rare, and in an overwhelming amount of the cases, people WERE handling the snakes in some way. Or in rivers. So don't go in rivers.  

I didn't read the threat completely - sorry for just repeating you! But it bears saying twice that snakes are cool and won't mess with you unless you mess with them first!

[barefootcontessa]

No but my son's teammate was bit by a copperhead earlier this summer. I keep telling my kids not to reach in the bushes but use a stick. TG the hospital had the antidote. Snakes concern me as well.

[runblondie26]

DH killed a 3' copperhead snake in our yard earlier this summer. He wanted me to look at it before he disposed of it, so I'd know what it looked like in case I was ever bitten by one.

I absolutely refused. If any snake ever bit me, I'd be calling 911 regardless. I've avoided that whole section of our yard ever since.