Holy Cow! Copperhead in Laundry hamper

[homersapien 11,373]

Well, sooner or later it was going to happen- got bitten on the little finger.

The good news is it was by a medium-sized Black Rat Snake I was trying to grab and throw out of the house.     (I didn't get close enough to the head on the first attempt.)

This is apparently the year of the snakes for us.

Still better than mice.

[kevon67 2,368]

11 minutes ago, homersapien said:

Well, sooner or later it was going to happen- got bitten on the little finger.

The good news is it was by a medium-sized Black Rat Snake I was trying to grab and throw out of the house.     (I didn't get close enough to the head on the first attempt.)

This is apparently the year of the snakes for us.

Still better than mice.

Thank God it wasn't poisonous?.........hopefully the swelling is minimal..........hope you have a speedy recovery.

[Mike4AU 1,739]

You need a couple of mongooses. 

[homersapien 11,373]

12 minutes ago, kevon67 said:

Thank God it wasn't poisonous?.........hopefully the swelling is minimal..........hope you have a speedy recovery.

It bled a little but didn't really hurt.  Their teeth are small but quite sharp. 

I've gotten much, much worse from saw briars.

Edited June 2, 2018 by homersapien

[homersapien 11,373]

13 minutes ago, Mike4AU said:

You need a couple of mongooses. 

Actually, my dogs discovered it first and were doing a pretty good mongoose imitation when I entered the scene.   In fact, I was trying to rescue it as much as anything.

(Did I mention how much I hate mice?)

Edited June 2, 2018 by homersapien

[kevon67 2,368]

1 hour ago, homersapien said:

Actually, my dogs discovered it first and were doing a pretty good mongoose imitation when I entered the scene.   In fact, I was trying to rescue it as much as anything.

(Did I mention how much I hate mice?)

I hate mice as well.

[Mikey 16,597]

On 5/8/2018 at 12:41 PM, SaltyTiger said:

Are you sure you killed the thing Alex. BTW, have had snakeperts tell me that a Cottonmouth will not bite unless you actually step on it. Saw a guy proof on a show once by stepping all around them

I watched a cottonmouth strike one of my dogs and the dog had never touched the thing. He was sniffing at it, but hadn't touched it. The dog was really sick for two days, and that was after he'd had his annual rattlesnake vaccine. The thing about a cottonmouth, they won't give ground or move out of the way. They warn with the flashing white mouth but they won't leave. I think they'd strike without being stepped on if they were sufficiently stirred up and annoyed beforehand. One can, however, just step over them and move along without getting bitten. I've done that a bunch.

[homersapien 11,373]

1 hour ago, Mikey said:

I watched a cottonmouth strike one of my dogs and the dog had never touched the thing. He was sniffing at it, but hadn't touched it. The dog was really sick for two days, and that was after he'd had his annual rattlesnake vaccine. The thing about a cottonmouth, they won't give ground or move out of the way. They warn with the flashing white mouth but they won't leave. I think they'd strike without being stepped on if they were sufficiently stirred up and annoyed beforehand. One can, however, just step over them and move along without getting bitten. I've done that a bunch.

I've heard that Cottonmouths can be relatively aggressive but I don't have any experience with them.  I have seen a Copperhead in the middle of the road strike toward my motorcycle after I stopped to look at it. I suspect it sensed the vibrations as a threat.

[AUTigerCourt 92]

Nope Nope Nope Nope NOPE! 

[AUld fAUx@ 2,584]

On 6/2/2018 at 3:43 PM, homersapien said:

Well, sooner or later it was going to happen- got bitten on the little finger.

The good news is it was by a medium-sized Black Rat Snake I was trying to grab and throw out of the house.     (I didn't get close enough to the head on the first attempt.)

This is apparently the year of the snakes for us.

Still better than mice.

Damn, like you're snakebit or something.

Posted elsewhere, but worthy of repeating here - Snakes, in general, are not known for their meticulous hygiene. I've seen (though, so far, avoided) pretty nasty infections from non-poisonous bites. Keep an eye on it.

[AUld fAUx@ 2,584]

On 6/2/2018 at 4:11 PM, homersapien said:

Actually, my dogs discovered it first and were doing a pretty good mongoose imitation when I entered the scene.   In fact, I was trying to rescue it as much as anything.

(Did I mention how much I hate mice?)

 

On 6/2/2018 at 5:25 PM, kevon67 said:

I hate mice as well.

You and Mr. Jinks

 

[alexava 6,973]

On 6/3/2018 at 10:18 AM, Mikey said:

I watched a cottonmouth strike one of my dogs and the dog had never touched the thing. He was sniffing at it, but hadn't touched it. The dog was really sick for two days, and that was after he'd had his annual rattlesnake vaccine. The thing about a cottonmouth, they won't give ground or move out of the way. They warn with the flashing white mouth but they won't leave. I think they'd strike without being stepped on if they were sufficiently stirred up and annoyed beforehand. One can, however, just step over them and move along without getting bitten. I've done that a bunch.

Years ago me and two buddies were bass fishing in my dads boat. We could hear a very distinct squeaking sound. The older guy with us had heard it before and knew it was a bullfrog being eaten by a snake. He wanted to find it so I trolled up and let him out. He took a boat paddle. For some reason he was trying to take the frog out of the snakes mouth ( it was a cottonmouth). I couldn’t see through the marshy foliage but he screamed “Go”. As he was splashing back to the boat the snake was chasing him with his head about a foot above the ground(I could see this). he got banged up diving back in the boat. 

[AUld fAUx@ 2,584]

On 5/6/2018 at 7:04 PM, homersapien said:

My wife was putting in a load of clothes and called me down to see something.  I went to the laundry room and she pointed to a set of three cloth hampers in a stand we use to organize dirty laundry and told me to look into the middle one.  In the bottom were two socks and a live Copperhead about two feet long.

We are used to occasionally seeing Copperheads around the house, but not inside.  And certainly not in the bottom of a rectangular, cloth laundry hamper held upright in a stand. 

We've had a large Black Rat snake get in the house and I've also seen a large Black Rat snake crawling up the wall in my storage shed (they are excellent climbers)  but I didn't know Copperheads could climb.  How in hell did it get inside an upright laundry hamper??!!

The Black Rat snakes are more or less welcome (in the yard), at least after the initial "scare".  We prefer them to the mice constantly trying to move in. But finding a Copperhead in the laundry basket kind of freaks us out.  

Anyone have any insight on Copperheads ability to climb?

 

Mr. Sapien - Apologies for the unforgivably belated response to your original puzzle, but I found a potential answer?

Maybe your snake was just tryin' to help. The article cited here (focused on cottonmouth venom) would seem relevant to any hemotoxin.

"Snakes help with the laundry

Venom can break down blood-stains on clothes....

Devin Iimoto, a biochemist from the Whittier College in California, was initially interested in the snakes because he was looking for novel ways to treat heart attacks and strokes. Snake venom has compounds that stop blood from clotting, which the snake uses to its advantage when attacking its prey. The same compounds could be used in drugs to break up clots in the human body.

But it occurred to Iimoto that those properties might be useful elsewhere: in soap..."

https://www.nature.com/news/2004/040330/full/news040329-1.html

[homersapien 11,373]

Animal venoms and toxins are a very rich source of bioactive compounds.  Never thought about them as stain removers though.

[SaltyTiger 7,798]

On 6/3/2018 at 11:40 AM, homersapien said:

I've heard that Cottonmouths can be relatively aggressive but I don't have any experience with them.  I have seen a Copperhead in the middle of the road strike toward my motorcycle after I stopped to look at it. I suspect it sensed the vibrations as a threat.

The banded water snake is considered "aggressive" but I think it is just curious, and mistaken for a Cottonmouth. I do not believe we have any so called aggressive snakes. 

[augolf1716 21,130]

1 minute ago, SaltyTiger said:

The banded water snake is considered "aggressive" but I think it is just curious, and mistaken for a Cottonmouth. I do not believe we have any so called aggressive snakes. 

I would consider @bigbird in that category

[augolf1716 21,130]

3 minutes ago, augolf1716 said:

I would consider @bigbird in that category

Ok icanthearyou/ @bigbird

[bigbird 60,523]

Just now, augolf1716 said:

Ok icanthearyou/ @bigbird

Now that's worthy of a response. Well done.

[augolf1716 21,130]

6 minutes ago, bigbird said:

Now that's worthy of a response. Well done.

Well hot damn my life is complete now

[kevon67 2,368]

On ‎6‎/‎4‎/‎2018 at 12:02 PM, AUld fAUx@ said:

Mr. Sapien - Apologies for the unforgivably belated response to your original puzzle, but I found a potential answer?

Maybe your snake was just tryin' to help. The article cited here (focused on cottonmouth venom) would seem relevant to any hemotoxin.

"Snakes help with the laundry

Venom can break down blood-stains on clothes....

Devin Iimoto, a biochemist from the Whittier College in California, was initially interested in the snakes because he was looking for novel ways to treat heart attacks and strokes. Snake venom has compounds that stop blood from clotting, which the snake uses to its advantage when attacking its prey. The same compounds could be used in drugs to break up clots in the human body.

But it occurred to Iimoto that those properties might be useful elsewhere: in soap..."

https://www.nature.com/news/2004/040330/full/news040329-1.html

So am I to understand that a snake bite a day keeps the Doctor away?

[augolf1716 21,130]

7 damn pages on a damn Copperhead just please kill the snakes....................I hate hate snakes

[bigbird 60,523]

1 hour ago, augolf1716 said:

Well hot damn my life is complete now

You said that after the pyramids were finished too

[AUld fAUx@ 2,584]

10 hours ago, kevon67 said:

So am I to understand that a snake bite a day keeps the Doctor away?

Have to say no, but

I've heard that bee stings prevent arthritis?

[AUld fAUx@ 2,584]

Proper place for this worthwhile reminder?

If you kill a snake, bury the head.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/06/07/a-texas-man-decapitated-a-rattlesnake-it-bit-him-anyway-and-he-nearly-died-his-wife-says/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.5a51acd82374

 

[GiveEmElle 1,559]

The only good snake is a dead snake. Fight me.