Abigail Posted July 16, 2006 Share Posted July 16, 2006 Living in Louisiana I have seen a few snakes. Had a copperhead on the front porch recently! We have coral, cottonmouths, rattlesnakes and copperheads. All my life I've heard "Don't play with snakes!" Duh?! When I started caching I promised myself I wouldn't hunt in summer because of the snakes but...oh, well! Have only seen one snake while caching. I was climbing a old oil pumping unit to reach a cache. (see cache) I was comforting myself that a snake wouldnt/couldnt climb that high (false). I look down and there is a snake sunning himself. I can either live on this pumping unit or climb back down beside the snake. I climbed down (the second stage was nearby). I did buy myself a hiking staff. I refuse to let myself or kids reach into a hole. I don't like spiders or snakes. FYI, baby vipers are extremely dangerous. Venom is more potent. I'd rather see an alligator than a snake. Abigail Quote Link to comment
+OB1kenOB Posted July 16, 2006 Share Posted July 16, 2006 I use to raise snakes and didnt waste ant time getting a Sawyer Extractor Pump for emergencys. I don't have snakes now but still carry it in my first aid kit for any reason needed. Cache Contents: One Sawyer Extractor Pump. Mudsneaker: "That's not mine." Cache Contents: One credit card receipt for Sawyer Extractor Pump signed by Mudsneaker. Mudsneaker: "I'm telling ya baby, that's not mine." Cache Contents: One warranty card for Sawyer Extractor Pump, filled out by Mudsneaker. Mudsneaker: "I don't even know what this is! This sort of thing ain't my bag, baby." Cache Contents: One book, "Sawyer Extractor Pumps And Me: This Sort of Thing Is My Bag Baby", by Mudsneaker. just kidding Quote Link to comment
+mgbmusic Posted September 13, 2006 Share Posted September 13, 2006 Somewhere on this site should be posted the dangers of reaching into piles of rocks or holes in the ground. I was in Henry Coe State Park in California last weekend and sat on a large rock to eat lunch. Afterward I glanced over it and saw a rattlesnake peering out of a jumble of rocks. When I went around I saw that its body was coiled around a plastic cache container. Kids looking for this cache may not have noticed the snake in their excitement of 'the find'! Regards, Nosmo It is for this and MANY reasons that my number one rule for caching is "Never put your hands where your eyes can't see. I carry a flashlight at all times. Snakes scare the bejesus outta me. and I'm a city boy...only seen a couple of snakes in the wild in my time, and never while GC'ing. Very thankful for that. Quote Link to comment
Major Catastrophe Posted September 13, 2006 Share Posted September 13, 2006 If you spot a rattler you just have to be fast... This rattler was actually the cache. Rubber snake with a micro inserted in it's belly. You can see the lair where it was placed. I did poke it a few times with my hiking stick before reaching in I bet that cache gets more DNFs than finds...... Quote Link to comment
+TheAlabamaRambler Posted September 13, 2006 Share Posted September 13, 2006 (edited) This and other cache-safety topics pop up from time to time, and it always amazes me! In 10 years 57 Americans died of snake-bite. Venomous animal-related fatalities in the United States (1991–2001) . According to NHTSA, 43,443 people were killed, up 1.4% from 42,836 in 2004. That was the highest number of fatalities in a single year since 1990, when 44,599 people were killed. The fatality rate rose to 1.47 deaths per 100 million miles traveled, from 1.45 in 2004. That was the first increase since 1986 in the fatality rate, an important measure because it factors out increases in population to measure the fatality trend. The full report is posted here. There was some good news. The 2.7 million people injured in traffic incidents marked a 3.2% decline from 2004. Also, the number of people killed in alcohol-related crashes dipped slightly, from 16,919 in 2004 to 16,885 in 2005. Yet I have never seen a suggestion that we stop driving to geocaches! If you're going to worry, worry about something real! EDIT: Don't know exactly what this means, but it's interesting: Table 6. Animal-related fatalities in the United States by sex and race (1991–2001) I am not sure how I can become an 'Other' but doing so appears to be the safest way to geocache! Ed Edited September 13, 2006 by TheAlabamaRambler Quote Link to comment
+James Lobb Posted September 13, 2006 Share Posted September 13, 2006 Thats why they have snake warning attributes, i have one on my cache as its under a pile of rocks near a creek (red bellie black snake). but you should always be carefull when your reaching into a dark space in the bushes Quote Link to comment
+TheAlabamaRambler Posted September 13, 2006 Share Posted September 13, 2006 Thats why they have snake warning attributes, i have one on my cache as its under a pile of rocks near a creek (red bellie black snake). but you should always be carefull when your reaching into a dark space in the bushes I think the snake warning attribute is in fact a danger, as someone may think that without it there's little chance of a snake living there. In all southern states snakes can be and regularly are found literally everywhere... under your house, in your yard, in and under any structure. A warning about a specific place is misleading. Ed Quote Link to comment
+norsehawk Posted September 13, 2006 Share Posted September 13, 2006 So far, while geocaching, I've seen 1 pygmy rattlesnake (thier rattle is near silent because its so small) it was sunning itself on the trail. I have also seen many gators, but then I am in FL, they are everywhere Quote Link to comment
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