Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Brown County State Park

Speaking of snakes... I'm from Maine. We have no poisonous snakes here. I'll be taking a loop around the country soon with my 6 wide, hitting a lot of federal parks. We are snake safety ignorant.
In Maine we kid about the black flies and snipe (imaginary Maine animal). What's the scoop on poisonous snakes. Will I see them? Do the wife and I need to wear hip boots? Is it something I need to be wary of or is it something that exists but I'm more likely to be hit by lightning.
We just haven't a clue and have nothing in our forests here to compare.

...down here, we have just about every poisonous snake there is and the best anti-snake advice I can give is...look before you leap...don't step over a log or rock without being sure of what is on the other side...poisonous snakes have a triangular head, others have a more elongated head...keep in mind most snakes will run from ya so in areas with high human traffic you should not have any problems...in busy campgrounds you probably will never see them..............
madjack

As a child, growing up in the middle country, I was told that we had to stay on the path and "Walk hard" so that our feet would carry a vibration into the earth. Generally, the snake will feel that vibration and move away from the path.

However, like people, snakes like to sun themselves. They like the warmth of an open patch of ground and may become too relaxed to move quickly at first. That's when a startled snake will strike....Sort of a "Let sleeping Snakes lie". Okay, so I took some liberties there and replaced 'Dogs' with 'Snakes' but the rule still holds true. Speaking of dogs, keep them on a leash so that they can't run ahead and startle a snake. Most are too light footed and quick to give a snake warning or time to get away and all the dog sees is a critter to have some fun with. The same can be said for "little people" (kids). Hold toddlers' hands and insist older kids walk next to you, on the path. Don't let them run ahead of you.

Once, while horseback riding in Kings Canyon National Park, we came upon a rattler that had seemingly fallen asleep in the sun. Luckily, we were with a guide and she stopped us. She dismounted and stayed back about 8 to10 feet from the snake and tossed pebbles towards (but not on) the snake until it gathered its senses and moved away. It took half a dozen tossed pebbles to persuade it to move.

Another time, a bunch of us were on a rafting trip and were sleeping in tents. The people in the neighboring tent woke up to find that a six foot rattler had decided to sleep in the sun just one foot from their tent zipper. Again, the guides came to the rescue. They made a hat band out of that one and said they were going to have rattlesnake steak for dinner that night.

In Illinois we too have our share of snakes but as mentioned before use caution when out hiking but campgrounds are usually safe.

Now as for Snipes, I didn't know they were just a "Maine" thing. You see they exist in Illinois too. I remember back in the "school years" one had to be careful when a guy asked you to go snipe hunting with him.

madjack wrote:...down here, we have just about every poisonous snake there is and the best anti-snake advice I can give is...look before you leap...don't step over a log or rock without being sure of what is on the other side...poisonous snakes have a triangular head, others have a more elongated head...keep in mind most snakes will run from ya so in areas with high human traffic you should not have any problems...in busy campgrounds you probably will never see them..............
madjack

Same thing here in East Texas - we just leave em' alone or avoid snakes all together. I will echo the same advice - look before you step or stay on the beaten path where they are more visible. I once stepped on a copperhead while walking through some fallen brown leaves - he was very well camouflaged - lucky for me I was wearing boots and got a glancing strike at my heel. Now I carry a wlaking stick to brush at the leaves when I'm off the trail

I feel like I'm beating the proverbial dead horse; but I can only echo the sentiment of watch where you are stepping as well.

I spend a good deal of time in the woods and bottomlands since I moved to Mississippi. I've seen rat snakes, king snakes, corn snakes, black racers, several copperheads and quite a few cottonmouth water mocs. The water mocs can be protective of their terrain and aggressive if they feel challenged. If you see one, you keep one eye on it and move around it staying out of reach. Only one did I have to give a .380 lobotomy because it just wouldn't let me by. (FYI.... technically, it is illegal to kill any kind of snake in Tennessee unless it is actually threatening your physical well being.)