What was the old saying "No generalization is worth a shit, including this one". Those who advertise that copperheads are never aggressive just haven't seen enough. Don't believe them, or do so at your own risk. Maybe it relates to how you define aggressive. Striking at you even before you see it meets my definition. Striking repeatedly even as you try to retreat also meets the definition. Or at least mine. I'm still sort of alive and haven't been bitten. Though came close enough I don't trust a snake (sounds like an old song).

OK, they hate me and I hate them. Any seen where I venture needs killin'. That's the rule, any seen where folks go, should be "relocated". I interpret that as being sent straight to hell.

The best method is with a shotgun. If you're good at your aim, it will usually remove the head and first few inches of body. Of course that makes it difficult to prove the shape of the now pink misty head. With snakes, the gauge of the shotty makes a difference, just as the size of the shot. I only own 12s, so its adequate. Brand name only matters if it always goes bang when asked. I was never good enough with a shovel, but I do like dirty hoe's. Maybe its better to wait until after the strike to make your counter strike. Often these are big, thick snakes so use your best stroke.

I've only seen a few rattlers. We even had an overpaid fool conservation "expert" tell us we had no rattlesnakes here in KY. I've often thought we should fire them and let them make a living doing things productive. The one I have personal experience with was across the street. OK, on the river side of the road, me living on what us hillbillies call the Highwater side. We figure he floated in on a raft of flotsam during the flood that year.

We use trains, planes and cars. Snakes use floating piles of debris. My experience with rattlers out west occurred while jeeping. One was kind of our fault, when Texas Bob Stowe who was leading our ride that day saw the track and stopped to chase it. He was soft hearted and only gave chase to see it. Another that comes to mind was in a uranium mine, north of Moab. It was kind of dark and the guy who went in came running out. Chased by one. Actually chased, as in striking, regathering his "footing" and striking again. Man was it pissed. Phil Howell, the 4wd editior, told that story for years. So I have no idea what it planned to do with the guy when it caught up to him. It never did. Guess it didn't like jeepers.

The best copperhead kill I've seen was in the park up above where we live. The park has a twisty mountain road that goes down to Sleepy Hollow. Right down at the bottom there was a mess. I got out to look what it was and it was several baby copperheads squished in a pile. Looked to me like they were run over by a car or truck. Ended their party. But the squisher or driver just ran over them.

In many places the snake medicine is to lock up the brakes as you pass over them. A 4000# truck does a real nice job of making them into good snakes.

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Originally posted by YellowJacket:

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Originally posted by calugo:
Impossible to tell what kind of snake it was without pictures but if you leave the snake alone, don't poke at it with your walking stick, the snake will leave you alone. All snakes are warm blooded and all of them will seek out a sunny spot to warm themselves up.

reptiles are cold-blooded. just fyi, as your description is correct... they seek out warm temps/sunny spots because they cannot produce their own warmth.

Yeah I know..... don't know why I typed warm blooded instead of cold blooded other than I must be getting old. Went back and corrected my post.

I couldn't find the black and white version of this not on pinterest. All that aside, study the head shape to determine venomous or not. Who cares what specific snake it is, just care about venomous or not....

I had 2 this size close to 3 feet, in my yard last year. I killed one.

Posted at a local hiking trailhead.

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Originally posted by ffips:
I couldn't find the black and white version of this not on pinterest. All that aside, study the head shape to determine venomous or not. Who cares what specific snake it is, just care about venomous or not....

This is the information I was going to bring up. The easiest ways to tell a copperhead, as well as a rattler or a cottonmouth, are, unfortunately, things you can only see clearly from closer than you want to be. They are, first, the pupil shape, and second, the pit. That's why they are called pit vipers. The head shape is another giveaway, and it is easier to discern from a little further away. The head and the eyes are unmistakable, though, and once you've seen them, you'll not likely miss them in the future. The Missouri Ozarks, where I have spent a fair amount of time since early childhood, have more than enough of all of them (but especially copperheads and cottonmouths), and I've seen my share. They usually produce a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. I know they are not truly evil, but they sure look it.

Slippery Pete you're right about water moccasins. I've been chased by them too. Your pucker factor description is accurate too. Good summation of that particular species. I've heard lots of people say otherwise, but what they say about cotton mouths has not been my experience based on this behavior. I always thought they were just pissed off because their girlfriend just dumped them. I stepped on a cotton mounth once deer hunting in a swamp, and hunting in another swamp I stopped to survey an area, and alongside my left boot was a copperhead. After those two encounters I bought snake boots. Yikes.

Missouri supposedly had a lot of copperheads but in the 20 years I have lived here I have only seen one. He was sitting on a stump in the sun and could have cared less about my presence. I am in the woods a lot.

The first copperhead I ever saw seemed upset and intent on biting me multiple times. It was probably a good idea to be wearing one of dad’s old heat stiffened welding gloves when I picked him up. I showed it to dad while it was scratching around on that old glove and he ordered me to throw that $&#@ thing down! Then dad taught me how to make the final arrangements for copperheads.

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Originally posted by wrightd:
Slippery Pete you're right about water moccasins.

Yes and yes. I used to keep an eye out on golf courses when I was younger and now mostly when fishing. I don't mind snakes but I'm not fucking with a cotton mouth, they're serious assholes.

I live on a lake. We have copperheads. I hate that trail sign because it ignores the most common bite which is you never see the snake. And yes it is dangerous. They don’t make a distinction between fucking with them and not seeing them and getting too close.

Yesterday a guy posted a picture from our trail. Big black snake eating a copperhead. To me that is a good reason to leave the non venomous ones alone. Copperheads where my grandkids walk? Fuck that.

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Originally posted by Bassamatic:
Missouri supposedly had a lot of copperheads but in the 20 years I have lived here I have only seen one. He was sitting on a stump in the sun and could have cared less about my presence. I am in the woods a lot.

A lot of the experience I was talking about was from my youth and young adulthood in the sixties and seventies. There were plenty around then. Maybe they've thinned out, but I have my doubts. Hope your luck holds.

We have a popular lake in this area that has a cove named Copperhead Cove. Last year we got 3 patients from that particular appropriately named location. Two of those individuals never saw the snake until they were already bit. I don’t care for venomous snakes at all but the black snakes are always welcome as they share my feelings toward the copperheads.

We have Copperheads, Eastern Diamondbacks, Pygmy Rattlers, Cottonmouths, and Coral Snakes in my neck of the woods. The Copperheads and Coral Snakes seem to be more shy than the others. You learn to live with them being around, but must be watchful.

We have a lake and creek on the property. Lots of grandkids and horses and prized dogs running around the ranch. We have had a cat killed by a cottonmouth, and a dog bitten by a rattler, and a neighbor had a horse killed by a rattler. You don't have to look far to find someone in the neighborhood who has been bitten.

The key to venomous snake survival here is for them to not come anywhere near where we can see them. I always have a pistol on me and we have a .410 Snake Charmer especially for snake alarms. I have killed some frighteningly large Diamondbacks and Cottonmouths within 50 feet of the house. We have learned that it is important to keep the grass mowed and not have any woodpiles laying around. There are Bald Eagles, Osprey, and Hawks here that dine on snakes, so they want tall grass and other cover. We have also found that having a couple outside cats helps a lot with rodent control which in turn limits snake interest. Interestingly over the past 20 years we have learned that when there is a tropical storm approaching and the pressure drops, snakes tend to move to higher ground. I don't know the scientific reason for that but it has happened enough that I don't believe it is coincidence.

We have a couple rules here. Mow the grass and don't have brush piles near the house. Never pick up anything from the ground without kicking it first. Never step over a log or other object that may conceal a snake. Give dogs snake avoidance training. Carry a gun, or keep a shovel handy. Don't kill the good snakes. Know which hospital, and which vet, has experience treating snakebite.

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Originally posted by HayesGreener:
The key to venomous snake survival

is to remove their food source. Out here, we live in an eco-area called "creosote flats", with creosote bushes the predominant vegetation. The rodents love to burrow under the bushes. When we first moved here, we wanted a large fenced area for our dogs. Before the fencing, I used my Kubota tractor to remove all of the creosote bushes from that 2 acre area. In 18 years now, I can count on one hand the number of snakes seen in that area. There are plenty elsewhere on our property, but not where there's nothing to eat.

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Originally posted by Rick Lee:
I went to a venomous snake training course last weekend. We all got to catch a Rattler a few times after practicing with an even more pissed off Rat Snake. Venomous snakes are not aggressive toward humans. They know they can't eat us and they don't want to waste the venom, which could cause them to miss out on the next real prey to cross their paths. When you only get a few meals per year, you want to conserve your venom for those meals. N. American pit vipers can't strike more than 1/3 of their body length. So if a Copperhead maxes out at 3', you are very safe at 2' or more away. Give him an escape route.

Damn bro that snake tong doesn't look near long enough. LOL A small part of me wouldn't mind giving that course a go.

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Originally posted by Sclass:

Damn bro that snake tong doesn't look near long enough.

The mistake the handler is making is that he didn't go out to his shop and replace the clamp blades with cutters off his old shears. Then spend a little time making them sharp, or at least the top one if it cuts against the bottom.

We see that photo differently. A good clamping force, like one that would cut a 2" limb with a little effort, seems just about right. After using it, you'd have 2 snakes. The tail end that could then remove the rattles from (if it was that kind of snake). And then the front end that would be pretty pissed at you.

Using the rule stated above, that it can only strike 1/3 of its length, it could only strike as far as 1/3 of its front half. It would be well on its way to becoming a good snake at that point. Don't believe the BS about dead snakes striking you. It comes from fools that leave them full length. A shovel works well at length modification. You can then bury the head end (shorter now). Leave the tail part for the scavengers.

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Originally posted by wrightd:
Slippery Pete you're right about water moccasins. I've been chased by them too. Your pucker factor description is accurate too. Good summation of that particular species. I've heard lots of people say otherwise, but what they say about cotton mouths has not been my experience based on this behavior. I always thought they were just pissed off because their girlfriend just dumped them. I stepped on a cotton mounth once deer hunting in a swamp, and hunting in another swamp I stopped to survey an area, and alongside my left boot was a copperhead. After those two encounters I bought snake boots. Yikes.

Living in Texas for over a decade, and walking my dogs into nature all the time I ran into Cottonmouths a lot. Somehow by some miracle my female managed to only get nailed once, but in the words of Phil Robertson, "it was a rough bite." A baby jumped about 2 feet outta the water to get her foot on the ledge of the lake. That part of her toes stayed black the rest of her life. Her foot swelled up 10 times it's size I'd say. Like a cartoon.

I personally witnessed them chase rafters in the river in San Marcos. Myself included. Was a known thing, and a known area. People just laughed it off. I was outta the water and walking for 100 yards, not laughing. Dumbass kids were smacking em with paddles and stuff. I don't get it.

I stepped out of a truck once in sandals the year 300 Blackout came out to try the round out by a river. I missed one by 6 inches. Scared me in ways I can feel typing this. Foot came up and I stayed in the truck. That one luckily didn't want me.

And that area others look out for you by putting the dead ones in a fire pit. Big suckers. I mean head like a fist size literal and body like your arm. I mean these things are straight from hell.

Rattlers and Copperheads are pussycats compared to those. I'm terrified of any water in Texas. I'd rather deal with Gators.

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Originally posted by MikeGLI:

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Originally posted by wrightd:
Slippery Pete you're right about water moccasins.

Yes and yes. I used to keep an eye out on golf courses when I was younger and now mostly when fishing. I don't mind snakes but I'm not fucking with a cotton mouth, they're serious assholes.

It's no shit man they'll come outta the water to get a piece of you. I've seen em dangerously close to getting into a canoe on the water. I mean shit.