Timber Rattlesnake v. Northern Copperhead

One aspect of the current issue with snakebite treatment is the incredibly high cost of anti-venom. Currently, Crofab appears to have a monopoly on this product, which is designed, I believe, to treat all the different north American rattlesnake bites. It costs thousands of dollars per vial and a bad bite can take several vials to get the wound under control. Here's a breaking story of a poor fella who has a $150K dollar hospital bill following his snakebite:

Big Bucks Bite

 
This is what I hate about the health care system. The whole send a patient a bill for 10x what will actually be paid, then the insurance negotiates it down, etc. is just crazy.

Scripps Hospital in San Diego explained that "it is important to understand that these charges are not reflective of what Scripps will be paid. At this time, the patient’s insurance company has not yet paid the bill, and Scripps is in negotiations with the company for the final amount.
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Look, if it's not final, then don't send the patient a bill. It's that simple. When I get a bill, I assume I'm to pay that bill.

With the birth of our first child, I received a bill for around $300k.
 
btw, I fish some remote brookie streams, and wear these turtleskin gaitors over my waders. they last a long time, are very light and comfortable, save waders below knees from brush. waders definitely last longer. could also help with getting a cut from underwater branch. poisonous snakes are rare, bites even less common, but I almost stepped on a snake which could have been a rattler way out there once.

http://www.turtleskin.com/Snake-Gaiters.aspx
 
http://conservationmagazine.org/2015/07/a-mysterious-infection-is-killing-the-snakes-of-the-eastern-us/

Apparently snakes of the eastern USA are getting some sort of infection that is 100% lethal to them.
 
I've seen several copperhead's fishing I have never seen a rattlesnake of any kind in the wild.
 
There often seems to be a type of knee jerk reaction whenever someone is attacked by a wild creature. I read a newspaper article yesterday about the elk county man who was killed by the rattler. The author lectured on about how wonderful rattlesnakes are for us and the ecosystem as if hordes of us were ready to avenge the poor man's death and head into the woods with pitchforks, shovels and hoes.

Most of us dread snakes. It seems genetic....But for some reason the few herpophiles among us seem to think the rest of us are irrational for finding snakes repulsive.
 
Not in PA, but I live along the Appalachian trail on the blue ridge mountain range. I have only seen one copperhead while I have been here for the last 5 years. That is compared to 6 rattlesnakes including the 47 incher that had a hold of my pants leg last week. After it got itself loose, it cooled up and stared at me. It did not even rattle. So, maybe there is some merit to them staying in the foot hills and near water.

Last year while fishing the rose river I nearly fell face first onto a small 2ft long massagua rattlesnake. I am good with snake encounters for a while. I will also echo what most say in here, the hell with water snakes. Crazy aggressive snake. They are all over the Shenandoah, and the Rappahannock.
 
charliepff wrote:
Not in PA, but I live along the Appalachian trail on the blue ridge mountain range. I have only seen one copperhead while I have been here for the last 5 years. That is compared to 6 rattlesnakes including the 47 incher that had a hold of my pants leg last week. After it got itself loose, it cooled up and stared at me. It did not even rattle. So, maybe there is some merit to them staying in the foot hills and near water.

Last year while fishing the rose river I nearly fell face first onto a small 2ft long massagua rattlesnake. I am good with snake encounters for a while. I will also echo what most say in here, the hell with water snakes. Crazy aggressive snake. They are all over the Shenandoah, and the Rappahannock.
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The Rose River in VA? If so, it was not a Massasauga you saw. Their range is pretty much confined to states that border the Great Lakes.
 
And they are not found anywhere near the apps.

The closest they come to the apps is extreme western PA, as in "pretty much Ohio".
 
It was the rose in VA and the park service verified it by my pictures. They said they are not common but they have had a run in from a few in the past. They were supposed to go out to where I had the encounter but I never heard back from them. I just thought it was a blue timber rattlesnake as I never seen one in that color before. They debated about it in the office I stopped at for a while. A few thought it was a pygmy rattlesnake. Either way they said it was not a run of the mill snake for the park. If I find the pics I will post them.

The one that had my pants leg was a text book timber rattlesnake.
 
charliepff wrote:
I just thought it was a blue timber rattlesnake as I never seen one in that color before. If I find the pics I will post them.
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Would like to see the pics.
 
In 35 years of walking along streams and in the woods......0 rattlers, 0 copperheads and 10,000 water snakes. I've seen a grown man fishing paradise drop his gear and scream "copperhead". I wanted to see a copperhead so I ran over. I picked it up and said "That's a water snake. They bite but can't hurt ya". The thing bloodied up my hand pretty good and applied some of their patterned butt juice that smells like death. Lol.

Went on rattler hunt near white deer in union......saw nothing. I did however cat h a 6' black snake using a hand towel to help eliminate some of the damage he was inflicting on me. Won't do that one again. Water and black snakes can be very aggressive if they feel cornered.
 
I am still trying to figure out which camera it is on. I carry a disposable, a water proof digital, and my cell phone most of the time.

Krayfish, any time you want to see one take a road trip down here. I can usually find one pretty fast.
 
Regarding water snakes, the Lake Erie water snake (LEWS) was endangered, now making a comeback. The Island Snake Lady, Kristin Stanford, has been working on the recovery for years now. She's quite amazing handling them. Hopefully the link below works.

Snake Lady

 
charliepff wrote:
Last year while fishing the rose river I nearly fell face first onto a small 2ft long massagua rattlesnake.
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More likely a juvenile blacksnake than massasauga. Its an easy mistake too make.

 

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JF_ wrote:
Regarding water snakes, the Lake Erie water snake (LEWS) was endangered, now making a comeback. The Island Snake Lady, Kristin Stanford, has been working on the recovery for years now. She's quite amazing handling them. Hopefully the link below works.
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Let me try again...

Snake Lady 2

 
My brother Jon and I grew up in southeastern PA and used to see a lot of Copperheads near the Route 1 bridge over the Brandywine River, under the big bend bridge near the Delaware state line and all the way up in Hibernia near Chambers Lake. All Copperheads.

Once I was jumping rock to rock crossing the stream in Hibernia and looked down at the rock I was just about to land on. Copperhead!! I had to throw myself off balance and take a plunge not to land on him.

Years before my brother snagged his line on a high bank above the Brandywine near the River Museum and went up on the bank to retrieve it. I heard a yelp and then all I saw was Jon jumping off the river bank back into the water. Copperhead.
 
That snake lady is nuts!..... my dad got bit by a water snake while frog hunting in a swamp years ago. He got a nasty infection from it.
 
I ran into a black phase rattler along the stream today.
 
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