Posted on 08/05/2019 1:46:26 PM PDT by Bonemaker
RALEIGH, N.C.—Venomous snakebites are on the rise in the Sunbelt this summer, with North Carolina, Georgia and Texas on track to set records.
In North Carolina and Georgia, venomous snakebites have been rising for the past several years and are up more than 10% from a year ago, according to the states’ poison-control centers. In Texas, there were 415 reported snakebites in May and June, 27% more than the same period five years ago.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
For the most part, I stay out of tall weeds and wooded areas in warm weather, and am hyper careful around ponds and creeks. Most poisonous snakes are well camouflaged and are very hard to see, especially in poor light. That practice has served me well at my Dad’s instruction from childhood. Now, I’ll probably get bitten tomorrow.
In Texas’ case it would also be a result of more people moving out where the snakes already are, the Hill Country in particular.
You guys call them “chicken snakes” in Texas, too. I thought that was a North Alabama thing. What we call a “chicken snake” is technically a gray rat snake. I leave them alone to catch rats as long as they stay out of the house. They will get real ornery if you mess with them a little. Caught a couple back when my boys were young to teach them to respect and watch for snakes.
I keep a .22 revolver with snake shot just for the rattlesnakes. I’ve only seen one in the 15 years up here. I got him with a shovel. When I was a kid in Arizona they were everywhere. Killed them all the time. Big deal.
Of course. Burning too many fossil fuels - reptiles can sense that. They are close to the ground, where fossils are formed.
We need government to ban venom.
Why do they keep boxes of snakes at the base? I thought we had a huge military budget. Can’t we afford better weapons?
“Have to sign in to read the article...I knew there was a reason I never clicked on WSJ articles...”
That sucks. When I first read the article that wasn’t a problem. I went back and checked and you are right.j
It looks like quick typing and auto correct must have got me.
You keep the crate of whiskey in the basement, right next to the box of snakes.
Bases would be a bad place to keep either.
The medicine would be dispensed far too liberally, and not enough would end up with the intended patients.
Mine was a baby copperhead who was ensconced in a plastic border shaped like a brick but hollow inside. They were under the back porch laying loose on the ground as they were not being used at that time. I had moved the brick once to pull the weeds. It was when I moved them back that I accidentally had the tip of my pinkie finger just barely over the opening. It felt like the worse bee sting ever. Baby snakes do not control their venom, thus I received all the little reptile had in its venom sack. Wouldn't you know the only edging brick I mishandled had a baby snake in it and it would be a poisonous one at that. 8>)
Ok.... why the box of snakes in your basement? And this is a no carry state, maybe I should get a Box o’ Snakes?
My chickens love snakes. They fight over them. I did lose one earlier this year to a copperhead.
Snakes, like any wildlife, tend to overpopulate at times. Rattlesnakes have few natural predators here in PA. For quite some time they were considered endangered and were protected. Now, the snake population is on the rise and the protections are still in place. Many times I have been told that they are part of nature and should be left alone. I laugh and tell them that the next one I come across will end up in their yard where they can protect it. Usually it is taken as offensive that I’d suggest that but, hey, if it’s ok for me, why not for thee?
Because if whiskey is a cure for snakebite, what good is whiskey without snakes?
And what good are snakes without whiskey? You want to keep them close together, you know.
Snake bite on ankle or foot, generally accident. Snake bite anywhere else, generally people being foolish.
BAN FANGS!!
Maybe they were for religious purposes. .
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