Bitten by Snakes or Snapping Turtles while Swimming?

On Wed, 30 Aug 2006 11:11:40 -0700, jmcgill wrote:

Don Freeman wrote:
"Rodney Long" wrote in message
...
One day I was canoeing and a big Cotton Mouth was just 20 feet away on the
bank, I pulled out the trusted 22 automatic pistol to dispatch it.

Reason being?

Being out with the pistol, he was itching to shoot it at something.

"It's coming right at us!" ;-)

"Nick Danger" wrote in
:

Several years ago, I came upon a rather large snapper
taking a lazy stroll across our street and decided I should
help him get to the other side before a driver less
cautious than myself nailed him. It was a fairly easy
process. I just waved a stick in front of his face, and
then used the stick to drag him to safety. The neighbors
still wonder why they never see me swimming in the lake.


A few years back a snapper took a shine to the property where my
sis works. I was telling her of this tale, and she emailed me a
few pics of this great beast. It was a she, and per sis, laid
eggs on the property, and the later hatchlings were adored by
all before being relocated to an unnamed location.

I can email the pics, if anyone is interested, or y'all can wait
until I get my picture thing up and running. No pics of egg
laying, at least not that she sent me, but several good shots of
a ginormous snapper.

--
TeaLady (mari)

"The principle of Race is meant to embody and express the utter
negation of human freedom, the denial of equal rights, a
challenge in the face of mankind." A. Kolnai
Avast ye scurvy dogs ! Thar be no disease in this message.

Don Freeman wrote:

Doing a search on "aggressive" and "cottonmouth" I find a lot of disparity
in opinions on wither the cottonmouth is actually aggressive or not.
Looking closer at the sources I find that the more reliable ones (as opposed
to joe blows blog site) tend to support the position that its aggressive
nature is not deserved.

Man that sounds like the shark huggers (naturalist) who claim bull
sharks are not aggressive, they mistake humans for fish.

A couple of naturalist were proving that very fact a couple of years
ago, in knee deep water, with bull sharks all around them, and guess
what? one of them got nailed! on camera, yet they still claimed they are
not aggressive

California banned cougar hunting a few years back, and now people are
dying, while they are jogging in their neighborhoods

There are no "naturalist" that will claim any animal is aggressive
towards man, it's politically incorrect, and would cost them their jobs.

My feelings on the matter is from personal experience, not based on what
I have read somewhere, and I would bet Joe Blow's Blog site is based on
the same thing, his personal experiences

Regardless, the number of biting incidences is
incredibly low


Yep they are low,, because people like me keep them from places where
people are. That's why they are not protected by law, at least not here

and the number of deaths from those bites minimal.


Have you ever seen someone that survived a snake bite ? Go on the net
and take a look at the damage caused, how would you like your child to
go through that, because you thought that cotton mouth you saw the week
before, was no threat

Hardly
justifies killing every one you come across, especially if it poses no
threat to you.

I never said I kill everyone I see,, hardly, in some of the places I
fish I will see a dozen of them a day, hanging on limbs over the water,
these are some out of the way places, where few people go, and those who
do, know they are there, they also don't run their boats under tree
limbs :-)

Cotton mouths normally don't hang around clear banks, or open water,
they like it back in the feeder creaks, swamps, and the over grown
banks, where they can drop on their pray from limbs (few people get on
these banks, and fewer still swim in those areas) this is where the
cotton mouth has a place in nature, not on your swimming beach, under
your pier, or in your back yard



--
Rodney Long,
Inventor of the Mojo SpecTastic "WIGGLE" rig, SpecTastic Thread,
Boomerang Fishing Pro. ,Stand Out Hooks ,Stand Out Lures,
Mojo's Rock Hopper & Rig Saver weights, and the EZKnot
http://www.ezknot.com

Don Freeman proclaimed:
"Rodney Long" wrote in message
...

Don Freeman wrote:


"Rodney Long" wrote in message
...


One day I was canoeing and a big Cotton Mouth was just 20 feet away on
the bank, I pulled out the trusted 22 automatic pistol to dispatch it.


Reason being?


They, and man, have no place together, a cotton mouth does not fear man,
and will attack, non provoked, I've had it happen to me more than once,



Yet you state that the snake was on the bank, and you were 20 ft away, on
the water, and in a boat. Now THAT sounds non-provoked.


I think he misunderstood the snake's motivation. The snake was really
trying to protect him from the Killer Rabbit that was trying to crawl
into the boat from the other side.

Don Freeman proclaimed:

"Rodney Long" wrote in message
...

Don Freeman wrote:



Yet you state that the snake was on the bank, and you were 20 ft away, on
the water, and in a boat. Now THAT sounds non-provoked.



Yep, I got him before he got me , or my wife, or my grand kids at a latter
time. I'm just helping to control the numbers of them around humans, there
are plenty of places for them where humans don't frequent.

This bad boy was over 6 feet long, very large and very old for a cotton
mouth

They no longer have any natural predators, there numbers must be
controlled, or "people" die. My state DNR has no problem with people
taking them out, they are far from rare, actually they are too numerous,
and they are just down right MEAN compared to other snakes, they are the
most aggressive snake in North America, one of the few that will come
after you, instead of fleeing.



Doing a search on "aggressive" and "cottonmouth" I find a lot of disparity
in opinions on wither the cottonmouth is actually aggressive or not.
Looking closer at the sources I find that the more reliable ones (as opposed
to joe blows blog site) tend to support the position that its aggressive
nature is not deserved. Regardless, the number of biting incidences is
incredibly low and the number of deaths from those bites minimal. Hardly
justifies killing every one you come across, especially if it poses no
threat to you.

But Don, it was large and old! Pay attention dammit! And it was a
threat to him and his wife and his unborn grandchildren! And it was
MEAN! And obviously intelligent, having survived all previous risks
other than the idiot factor--that alone can be a danger to some folk.

"TeaLady (Mari C.)" wrote in message
...
A few years back a snapper took a shine to the property where my
sis works. I was telling her of this tale, and she emailed me a
few pics of this great beast. It was a she, and per sis, laid
eggs on the property, and the later hatchlings were adored by
all before being relocated to an unnamed location.

I can email the pics, if anyone is interested, or y'all can wait
until I get my picture thing up and running. No pics of egg
laying, at least not that she sent me, but several good shots of
a ginormous snapper.

If anyone has a need, I can send them a 20-minute video of a box turtle
digging a hole to lay her eggs in. After 20 minutes, I realized this could
end up taking a long time, and I was covered with mosquito bites, so I
decided to call it a night. I came out the next day and there was no trace
of any egg-laying activity there. If I hadn't taken some close-up pics of
the spot whilte the turtle was there, I wouldn't even have been able to find
the spot. I don't know if the eggs ever hatched. A few years earlier, I came
across a box turtle (maybe the same one?) at another spot nearby laying
eggs, but those had been dug up and presumably eaten by the next morning. If
I ever get the time, I'll probably make an animated GIF of this video.

David Simpson wrote:

Don't try that in Australia. All snakes are protected here.

I wonder how much good that does to the average Brown Snake that
wanders into an Outback kitchen.

"Jared" wrote:

David Simpson wrote:
Don't try that in Australia. All snakes are protected here.

I wonder how much good that does to the average Brown Snake that
wanders into an Outback kitchen.

Outbacks are in the China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Philippines,
Guam Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, UK, Brazil, Venezuela,
Costa Rica, Mexico, Canada, USA, Bahamas, and Dominican Republic which
are not under Australian law.

There are two in Australia also but they don't have a "Brown Snake" but
do have the Brown Tree Snake and the Slate-Brown Snake in addition to
those two snakes they have the Children's Python, spotted Python, Pygmy
Python, Stimson's Python, Black-headed Python, Woma, D'alberti's Python,
Water Python, Western Olive Python, Olive Python, Australian Scrub
Python, Centralian Carpet Python, Rough-scaled Python, Oenpelli Rock
Python, Jungle Carpet python, Southwestern Carpet Python, Coastal Carpet
Python, Inland Carpet Python, Diamond Python, Northwestern Carpet
Python, Green Tree Python, Brown Tree Snake, Bockadam, Northern Tree
Snake, Common Tree Snake, Macleay's Water Snake, White-Bellied Mangrove
Snake, Wolf Snake, Richardson's Mangrove Snake, Slate-Grey Snake,
Slate-BrownSnake, Keelback or Freshwater Snake, Children's Python,
spotted Python, Pygmy Python, Stimson's Python, Black-headed Python,
Woma, D'alberti's Python, Water Python, Western Olive Python, Olive
Python, Australian Scrub Python, Centralian Carpet Python, Rough-scaled
Python, Oenpelli Rock Python, Jungle Carpet python, Southwestern Carpet
Python, Coastal Carpet Python, Inland Carpet Python, Diamond Python,
Northwestern Carpet Python, Green Tree Python, Brown Tree Snake,
Bockadam, Northern Tree Snake, Common Tree Snake, Macleay's Water Snake,
White-Bellied Mangrove Snake, Wolf Snake, Richardson's Mangrove Snake,
Slate-Grey Snake, Slate-BrownSnake, Keelback or Freshwater Snake, Common
Death Adder, Northern Death Adder, Desert Death Adder, Pigmy Copperhead,
Highlands Copperhead, Lowlands copperhead, Northern Dwarf Crowned Snake,
White-Crowned Snake, Dwarf Crowned Snake, Golden Crowned Snake, Lesser
Black Whip Snake, Black-Necked Whipsnake, Olive Whip Snake, Greater
Black (Papuan)Whip Snake, Yellow-Faced Whipsnake, Desert Whipsnake, Grey
Whip Snake, Collared Whip Snake, De Vis Banded Snake, Ornamental Snake,
Crowned Snake, White-Lipped Snake, Masters' Snake, Mustard Bellied
Snake, Lake Cronin Snake, Bardick, Little Brown Snake, Red-naped Snake,
Orange-naped Snake, Yellow-naped Snake, Dunmall's Snake, Brown-headed
Snake, Grey Snake, Black-bellied Swamp or Marsh Snake, Pale-headed
Snake, Broad-headed Snake, Stephens' Banded Snake, Krefft's Black Tiger
Snake, Tasmanian Tiger Snake, Peninsula Black Tiger Snake, Chappel
Island Tiger Snake, Western Tiger Snake, Eastern or Mainland Tiger
Snake, Inland Taipan, Taipan, False King Brown Snake, King Brown or
Mulga Snake, Butler's Snake, Collett's Snake, Blue-bellied or Spotted
Black Snake, Red-bellied Black Snake, Dugite, Speckled Brown Snake,
Peninsula Brown Snake, Ingram's Brown Snake, Ringed Brown Snake, Western
Brown Snake or Gwarder, Common or Eastern Brown Snake, Muller's Snake,
Carpentaria Whip Snake, Eastern Small-eyed Snake, Black-striped Snake,
Nullarbor Hooded Snake, Northern (Western) Small-eyed Snake, Northern
Desert Banded Snake, North-western Shovel-nosed Snake, Australian Coral
Snake, Desert Banded Snake, Western Black-naped Snake, Western
Black-striped Snake, Narrow-banded Burrowing Snake, Unbanded
Shovel-nosed Snake, Coastal Burrowing Snake, Dampierland Burrowing
Snake, Half-girdled Snake, Northern Shovel Nosed Snake, Half-girdled
Snake, Robust Burrowing Snake, Cape York Shovel-nosed Snake, Rosen's
Snake, Little Whip Snake, Black-headed Snake, Hooded Snake, Mallee
Black-backed Snake, Ord Curl Snake, Little Spotted Snake, Spectacled
Hooded Snake, Dwyer's Snake, Myall or Curl Snake, Rough-scaled Snake,
Bandy Bandy, Northern Bandy Bandy, Small-headed Blind Snake, Southern
Blind Snake, Blind Snake, Prong-snouted Blind Snake, Flowerpot Blind
Snake, Faint-striped Blind Snake, Centralian Blind Snake, Blind Snake,
Northern Blind Snake, Interior Blind Snake, Christmas Island Blind
Snake, Long-beaked Blind Snake, Top End Blind Snake, Pale-headed Blind
Snake, Kimberly Deep-soil Blind Snake, Kimberley Shallow-soil Blind
Snake, Murchison Blind Snake, Cape York Blind Snake, Robust Blind Snake,
Buff-snouted Blind Snake, Small-eyed Blind Snake, Groote Dwarf Blind
Snake, Blackish Blind Snake, Rotund Blind Snake, North-eastern Blind
Snake, Proximus Blind Snake, Blind Snake, Darwin Blind Snake, Sandamara
Blind Snake, Claw-snouted Blind Snake, Beaked Blind Snake, Brown-snouted
Blind Snake, Yampi Blind Snake, Yirrkala Blind Snake, Horned Sea Snake,
Short-nosed Sea Snake , Reef Shallows or Dubois's Sea Snake,
Stagger-banded or Spine-tailed Sea Snake, Leaf-scaled Sea Snake, Dusky
Sea Snake, Golden or Olive Sea Snake, Brown-lined Sea Snake, Stokes's
Sea Snake, Spectacled Sea Snake, Olive-headed Sea Snake, Turtle-headed
Sea Snake, Beaked Sea Snake, North-western Mangrove Sea Snake,
Black-ringed Mangrove Sea Snake, Black-headed Sea Snake, Sea Snake,
Dwarf Sea Snake, Slender-necked Sea Snake, Fine-spined Sea Snake,
Elegant Sea Snake, Geometrical Sea Snake, Slender Sea Snake, Plain Sea
Snake, Small-headed Sea Snake, Sea Snake, Black-banded Robust Sea Snake,
Sea Snake, Large-headed Sea Snake, Sea Snake, Spine-bellied Sea Snake,
Norther Mangrove Sea Snake, Yellow-bellied Sea Snake, Wide-faced Sea
Krait, Large Scaled Sea Krait, Arafura File Snake, and Little File Snake
which are all endemic. They also have others in captivity.

When walking in a forest in Australia and being careful not to step on a
snake, it is unnerving to look up and see a snake hanging from a tree
over your head. When I was describing a snake a saw climbing a tree and
asking if it was poisonous, they told me "they all are poisonous."

I don't see why one would want to shoot one of these snakes. That might
make its friends a little mad. Nothing is worse than a mad snake.

--
Pardon my spam deterrent; send email to
Cheers, Steve Henning in Reading, PA USA
http://home.earthlink.net/~rhodyman

"Rodney Long" wrote in message
...
Don Freeman wrote:

Doing a search on "aggressive" and "cottonmouth" I find a lot of
disparity in opinions on wither the cottonmouth is actually aggressive or
not. Looking closer at the sources I find that the more reliable ones (as
opposed to joe blows blog site) tend to support the position that its
aggressive nature is not deserved.

Man that sounds like the shark huggers (naturalist) who claim bull sharks
are not aggressive, they mistake humans for fish.

A couple of naturalist were proving that very fact a couple of years ago,
in knee deep water, with bull sharks all around them, and guess what? one
of them got nailed! on camera, yet they still claimed they are not
aggressive

Well duh, and if you walk into a pit of even the most timid snakes you are
bound to annoy at least one of them.


California banned cougar hunting a few years back, and now people are
dying, while they are jogging in their neighborhoods


Oh yeah, they're killing us left and right out here, can't walk to the
corner market without being attacked. That's why there are so many humvees
and other forms of SUVs in my neighborhood: to protects us from all the
unwarranted feline attention.

For a little perspective:
http://california.sierraclub.org/mou...on/safety.html

"Your risk of being injured or killed by a mountain lion is infinitesimal.
There have been only 13 fatal mountain lion attacks in all of North America
in the last 100 years. Eleven of the fatal attacks occurred in western
states and provinces where trophy hunting of lions is allowed. According to
the Department of Fish and Game's own records, in the last 20 years more
than 85 people have died and 700 people have been injured in hunting
accidents in California. For every person killed by a mountain lion in the
last century, 300 people have been killed by bees,. 750 people have died
when their cars collided with deer, 1200 people have been killed by
lightning, and more than 1100 people were killed in hunting-related
accidents. Hunting presents a much greater threat to public safety than
mountain lions."

My feelings on the matter is from personal experience, not based on what I
have read somewhere, and I would bet Joe Blow's Blog site is based on the
same thing, his personal experiences


More likely to have been based on apocryphal/anecdotal incidences. Which,
ironically enough, turns this thread on-topic for this group.

--
-Don "whose signature link is even more appropriate" Freeman
http://cosmoslair.com/BadDay.html ?
(Eating the elephant outside the box, one paradigm at a time)

"Lon" wrote in message
...
Don Freeman proclaimed:
"Rodney Long" wrote in message
...

Don Freeman wrote:


"Rodney Long" wrote in message
...


One day I was canoeing and a big Cotton Mouth was just 20 feet away on
the bank, I pulled out the trusted 22 automatic pistol to dispatch it.


Reason being?


They, and man, have no place together, a cotton mouth does not fear man,
and will attack, non provoked, I've had it happen to me more than once,



Yet you state that the snake was on the bank, and you were 20 ft away, on
the water, and in a boat. Now THAT sounds non-provoked.


I think he misunderstood the snake's motivation. The snake was really
trying to protect him from the Killer Rabbit that was trying to crawl into
the boat from the other side.


OK Lon. Do I need to remind you that there is a BoMP in place here?

--
-Don
Ever had one of those days where you just felt like:
http://cosmoslair.com/BadDay.html ?
(Eating the elephant outside the box, one paradigm at a time)