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Rcky
Yes, they are. Very poisonous.
posted by
avant-garde
on August 12, 2006 at 12:21 PM
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YIKES! Avant...that is too close for comfort. Aren't cottonmouths
poisonous? We have snakes here in Colorado but I seem to remember there are more species in the Southern states. Another great story. Now I'm off to read your latest post...see you there! LOL
posted by
RckyMtnActivist
on August 12, 2006 at 6:36 AM
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Bhaskar
Thank you for the kind words, but I feel this genre is growing tepid.
posted by
avant-garde
on August 11, 2006 at 12:37 AM
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Justi
This particular incident happened in '98, before I was ever married or had kids. Probably the most risky thing I do now is go into the woods to cut trees. Even then, I do say a prayer for protection. Thank you for thinking of me in yours.
posted by
avant-garde
on August 11, 2006 at 12:35 AM
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Cee
I knelt down and was trying to get a shot, but the camera kept acting funny. I was moving my head from side to side, which caused it to become uneasy. People used to tell me that cottonmouths would come after you; but, my experience was always the opposite. They would do anything to avoid a confrontation. But, I have also read that their bites are among the most poisonous.
posted by
avant-garde
on August 11, 2006 at 12:33 AM
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Blanche
Our water here is like that, but on a smaller scale. There are no cottonmouths here; only near Raleigh and towards the coast. They like still water. Here, the copperheads and rattlers are the only ones that one is likely to see.
posted by
avant-garde
on August 11, 2006 at 12:31 AM
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OFFBEATS
I had one encounter with a copperhead. I was walking my son (in a back pack) and saw it on the ground. I had a walking stick and decided to kill it. Well, I missed and that thing came at me blazing. It was only about 6 or 8 inches long, but it had me doing a dance. I finally hit it and ended the foray. My dogs wouldn't go near that stick for a week.
posted by
avant-garde
on August 11, 2006 at 12:28 AM
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Fantastic Avant !
What an atmosphere you can paint with words ! And your Spirit Dare matches that of the "Venomous". Avant, I'll have to copy, paste and send it across. You "unnecessarily" seem to load me with a lot of work!
posted by
Bhaskar.ing
on August 10, 2006 at 10:07 PM
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Avant Gard
When I first began reading you I thought perhaps you were doing some sort of research living on the Amazon in some remote place. I love the stories but you take such risks..... I am going to have to elevate your name on my prayer list. I keep remembering a wife and three boys need you. Be blessed AG
posted by
Justi
on August 10, 2006 at 9:36 PM
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Avant-
I heard an expert snake handler say not to move; make like a fence post. Only a fence post could take a picture such as that which you describe. Criminies!! Good thing that usually foul serpent wasn't feeling ornery. Thank God the Mother was surrounding you with her bright light, adding to your already formidable aura.
Cee
posted by
LadyCeeMarie
on August 10, 2006 at 7:09 PM
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The rivers in Oregon where I grew up sound way different than this, Avant
I was outdoors a lot, but never feared snakes or other wildlife. If it's a snake, I'm out of there, wouldn't stop to think how likely it is to bite!
The Rogue River, for example, in Southern Oregon is a narrow, swift-moving river, there are salmon in there, but I doubt there are poisonous snakes, have to watch out for undertows and currents, because it's fast.
posted by
Blanche.
on August 10, 2006 at 5:45 PM
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avant
You can smell a copperhead. They smell like a cucumber..and your right, they don't have to have a reason, they just come after you. I have swam with the gators ( I knew they were there) and prayed they were in a different part of the waters..I always had a knife strapped to my thigh. Snakes on the other hand, are a different lot...but knowing about them helps I suppose.
posted by
Offy
on August 10, 2006 at 5:42 PM
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OFFBEATS
I used to water ski the lake it was said to have happened. Sometimes, I would think about it and not tarry long in the water. It was a very old lake that harbored many large creatures.
posted by
avant-garde
on August 10, 2006 at 5:38 PM
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Blanche
I think a rattler would get my attention more. But, the copperheads seem to be the ones to watch closely. They go after you unprovoked.
posted by
avant-garde
on August 10, 2006 at 5:36 PM
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avant
running into a nest of them is the worst, even very young, they are highly toxic.
posted by
Offy
on August 10, 2006 at 5:30 PM
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Avant-Garde, I'm glad the Pacific Northwest only tends to have rattlers
and I've never seen one, on any of my hikes. They come out in the summer, I'm told. My only close contact with a snake that size was my friend Ethan Allen from South Carolina (iI just had to use the name, couldn't resist), in college who kept a boa constrictor named Sam, and two pythons named Monty and can't remember the other one's name in his dining room in glass cages.
He'd occasionally let them out and let his guests handle them, but they're constrictors, not poisonous, like the cottonmouth, and to come across one like that, coiled and ready to strike, gives me the cold chills just to think about it.
posted by
Blanche.
on August 10, 2006 at 5:29 PM
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Julia
I've seen several this year, but none of them poisonous. They do elicit a strong reaction.
posted by
avant-garde
on August 10, 2006 at 5:21 PM
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OFFBEATS
I heard that a man water skiing in Lake Bistaneau landed in a nest of cottonmouths and was bitten to death.
posted by
avant-garde
on August 10, 2006 at 5:20 PM
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Moon
I've had many close calls. This one was probably one of the most frightful.
posted by
avant-garde
on August 10, 2006 at 5:18 PM
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TAPS
It's not as bad as it seems. You just be careful and you can see all kinds of things.
posted by
avant-garde
on August 10, 2006 at 5:17 PM
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'Wiley
I'd thought I filled them a time or two!
posted by
avant-garde
on August 10, 2006 at 5:16 PM
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First of all, mosquito bites on the eyeball, eeeew!
Secondly, I would have run like you know what the minute I spied the snake. They give me the willies, it's an irrational fear I suppose, but boy does my heart quicken when I see them.
posted by
Julia.
on August 10, 2006 at 2:47 PM
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avant
This is exactly the reason I take M-80's with me when I go into the brush..they don't like that noise. We have lots of cotton mouth here. Once saw a poor dog down by the Everglades, had so many bites they put it out of it's misery..poor thing. They are nothing to mess with. We have copper heads here too. Had a relative have one craw into the sleeping bag with him. He was dead the next morning having more than a dozen bites on his body!!
posted by
Offy
on August 10, 2006 at 1:43 PM
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Tanga
Yes, it was. I was told by several people that a bite from that snake might have been lethal.
posted by
avant-garde
on August 10, 2006 at 1:19 PM
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Avant, excellent writing. I've had so many close calls; age causes me to sober at the obliviousness of my youth. I'm much more cautious now. Truly, a wonderful story. MoonSpirit 
posted by
syzygy
on August 10, 2006 at 11:45 AM
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avant-garde, I don't want to go there. Not for anything.
posted by
TAPS.
on August 10, 2006 at 10:26 AM
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avant-garde.
I'd have to have extra shorts travelling were you get to hoss. lol
posted by
WileyJohn
on August 10, 2006 at 8:13 AM
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Must have been
a major adrenaline rush.
posted by
Tanga
on August 10, 2006 at 7:53 AM
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