Eeep snakes!

[+Dread Pirate Roberts']

We've placed 6 caches and in the past two weeks two have had reports of snakes being found en route to the caches. One cacher reported that there were a dozen snakes in the creek and that one bit his boot. No idea what kind of snake...I'm going to make a note of it in the description, but as this cacher stated, put the GPSr down every now and then and watch where you step

 

This has been a public service announcement

[geoStrider]

The rattlers are on the move out here in Arizona. We've run across one at a cache site already, and that was a few weeks ago. One of my sons turned over a rock looking for the cache, and there it was, a good sized rattlesnake ready to strike. Nothing like you've reported though, just a straggler here and there.

 

I've never been lost, but I was a might bewildered for three days once. Daniel Boone

[+pdxmarathonman]

I sure wish more people filled in the From field in their profiles.

[+nincehelser]

Suprisingly, I've never encountered a poisonous snake (knock wood).

 

Are the snake bite kits you see in camping stores worth carrying around?

 

George

[Cholo]

quote:

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Originally posted by Dread Pirate Roberts':

We've placed 6 caches and in the past two weeks two have had reports of snakes being found en route to the caches.

---

 

Did these snakes ever arrive, and if so, did they sign the logs or just eat the travel bugs?

[Swagger]

I ran across a snake skin last weekend while caching. No snake, though. I was kinda bummed...

 

--

Random fortune:

[+Dread Pirate Roberts']

quote:

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Originally posted by Cholo:

Did these snakes ever arrive, and if so, did they sign the logs or just eat the travel bugs?

---

 

Apparently the one that bit the cacher's boot may "still be in orbit," as he put it...so does that count as a "not found" for the snake?

 

*mumbles about lousy smart alecs*

[+Dread Pirate Roberts']

quote:

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Originally posted by Cruzin:

I ran across a snake skin last weekend while caching. No snake, though. I was kinda bummed...

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Before I read your post I was worried that the cache's new warning about snakes would scare ppl off.

[+Poindexter]

I did a couple caches last year in the last week of March in a state park here in Maryland and came across an area with literally hundreds of common garter snakes. Looked like they were in a mating frenzy. They are pretty much harmless and I was able to reach in among the leaves and grab a handfull of them causing some young kids to run over and see them, much to the horror of their parents til I explained they were not aggresive and harmless.

 

[+briansnat]

Two days ago, I stepped out of my car when going to place a cache and almost stepped on a huge blacksnake, curled up right outside my door. I jumped about 2 feet in the air. Then I noticed it was barely moving.

It had apparently been run over by a vehicle and was on the way to the big forest in the sky.

 

"It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues" -Abraham Lincoln

[+TJ-Tigger]

Ran into a couple in Colorado while on a cache hunt after work. Made the same announcement in my log for the cache. Don't know what kind of snakes they were but they were sunning themselves on the rocks. Before I saw them, I was thinking to my self, that if I were a snake I would probably be sunning myself on these rocks. And then I saw them.

[+carleenp]

quote:

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I did a couple caches last year in the last week of March in a state park here in Maryland and came across an area with literally hundreds of common garter snakes. Looked like they were in a mating frenzy. They are pretty much harmless and I was able to reach in among the leaves and grab a handfull of them causing some young kids to run over and see them, much to the horror of their parents til I explained they were not aggresive and harmless.

---

 

The past two years, I have had a brood of garter snakes living under a rotted stump in my back yard. I looked up the species and the description said they often live and breed in groups and can have large numbers of offspring. So, you may have come across one of those groups. Anyway, mine are particularly prolific this year. I've seen quite a few baby snakes at once slithering around in the grass near the stump. I really enjoy watching them. If I get lucky, I get to see the adult. It has more sense than its children and tends to stay fairly hidden. The kids, however, do things like try to slither in front of the lawn mower. I almost ran one over last week, but fortunately, I got the mower shut off before the snake went under it.

 

[Team Sidewinder]

Ran in to a Rocky Mountain rattler on the trail to one cache last year. If it hadn't been for using my walking stick to push grass growing over the trail out of the way I might have been in for a serious snake bite. Therefore as in previous posts a walking stick can be quite handy item to have along.

sidewinder

 

LOST AND FOUND DEPT.

[dsandbro]

The snakes were out searching for the cache.

 

I wonder how they push the buttons on their GPS?

 

(or is it RPS -- Reptile Positioning System?)

 

========================================

"The time has come" the Walrus said "to speak of many things; of shoes and ships and sealing wax, of cabbages and Kings".

[+Genoist]

It would be all to easy for people to get bitten by snakes while out caching. Snakes like to lay on rocks in the sun, or IN rock piles, right where cachers are often placed.

 

Ban Physical Caches

 

The majority of the world is stupid, and the rest of us are in danger of contagion.

[Cholo]

quote:

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Originally posted by Poindexter:

came across an area with literally hundreds of common garter snakes. Looked like they were in a mating frenzy. They are pretty much harmless

---

 

Boys will be boys. Many years ago a cousin and I filled the bottom quarter of an old metal wash tub with garter snakes. We carefully and quickly turned the tub upside down on his neighbor's front lawn. Now there was a surprise cache!

[+evergreenhiker!]

quote:

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Originally posted by nincehelser:

Suprisingly, I've never encountered a poisonous snake (knock wood).

 

Are the snake bite kits you see in camping stores worth carrying around?

 

George

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Nope...snake bite kits can make things worse!

 

It's best to let the doc do his thing...get to the hospital as soon as you can. Rattlesnake bites are usually not fatal if attention is given quickly.

[+evergreenhiker!]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Poindexter:

I did a couple caches last year in the last week of March in a state park here in Maryland and came across an area with literally hundreds of common garter snakes. Looked like they were in a mating frenzy. They are pretty much harmless and I was able to reach in among the leaves and grab a handfull of them causing some young kids to run over and see them, much to the horror of their parents til I explained they were not aggresive and harmless.

 

http://img.Groundspeak.com/cache/28804_400.jpg

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Great pic! Garter snakes have several subspecies. The San Francisco Garter Snake is very colorful...some red in it. Ones we have up in my area are more black bodied with the traditional yellow stripe, but I've seen it more of red color in some cases. The belly of the snakes up here are usually dirty white to gray. So you can see there's variety in these snakes. Biggest one I've seen was about 3.5 feet long.

[+rusty_tlc]

George

Nope...snake bite kits can make things worse!

 

It's best to let the doc do his thing...get to the hospital as soon as you can. Rattlesnake bites are usually not fatal if attention is given quickly.

Gotta agree with that. Lived in snake country all my life. Timber rattlers in Ore. and various rattlers in NV.

I have always found that knowing about the dangers in an area was a lot better that knowing how to treat the results. Lots better than a trip to the ER!!!

Geocaching involes flipping rocks, and in general poking around in dark holes. Knowing about the critters likly to be found in these locals, in your area, is critical to your saftey while caching. My opinion, spiders and scorpions pose a greater threat than snakes.

 

"No Matter where you go there you are." - Bucaroo Bonzai

[+st_richardson]

quote:

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Originally posted by nincehelser:

...Are the snake bite kits you see in camping stores worth carrying around?

 

George

---

 

I carry one of the high quality suction devices in my first aid kit. (Not the one with the small rubber suction cups and razor blades.) It is not a good idea to cut the area at all.

 

Generally speaking, however, if you're not trapped in the wilderness and can get to a doctor in a reasonable time it's best to leave treatment to the doctor. It far more useful to know what kind of snake bit you than be trying self treatment.

[+Huntnlady]

The Sawyer Extracter, a suction device, is said to extract some venum if used within the first ten minutes of a bite. This is not the old device with the razor blade. A bite should NEVER be cut and sucked. Having said that, I am thankful to say that I have never been bitten. I have seen dozens of rattlesnakes in my 25+ years of hunting. It all comes down to safe conduct in snake habitat and watching where you step and stick your hands. Most snake bites are from handling the snakes.

 

Deer laugh when they hear my name!

http://www.geocities.com/ihunts

[+honeychile]

As the first stage of a multi, I painted a coiled snake on a round flat rock, putting the coordinates on the back of it (my daughter said I should add a hint that a change of undies might be appropriate gear to pack). When I was searching for a place to put the main cache, a black snake rolled out of somewhere and he and I did the back step boogie for a few anxious seconds. Talk about poetic justice, sheesh!

 

[+aka Monkey]

Even the Sawyer Extractor is considered by many experts to be a waste of time. The problem with the Sawyer Extractor is that it needs to be done within a few minutes, and must continue for 30-60 minutes, which is difficult to do when you're trying to get out and get help. It's also only effective for pit vipers, due to their type of venom.

 

Here's some general knoweldge for those worried about snakes:

 

* Most snakes aren't poisonous, and would much rather escape than bite.

 

* In about 40% of cases, a rattlesnake bite doesn't result in any significant quantity of venom being injected.

 

* For all of the poisonous snakes in the US, a healthy adult is unlikely to die from even a serious bite unless they have an allergic reaction. You might WISH you were dead though. Children and seniors need to be very cautious, though (regarding above, when turning over rocks or logs, always lift the side facing away from you).

 

* If in snakebite country, learn to identify snakes found in your area or carry a guidebook–if you're bitten, they can't give antivenom unless they know exactly what type of snake bit you (knowing it's a rattler isn't enough).

 

* If you do get bitten, don't monkey around with snakebite kits, tourniquets, ice, liquor, or whatever. Carefully (and as calmly as possible) get help as quickly as possible. And whatever you do, don't try and kill the snake. You're more likely to just get bitten again (and the snake certainly shouldn't be punished for your carelessness).

[+carleenp]

quote:

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Great pic! Garter snakes have several subspecies. The San Francisco Garter Snake is very colorful...some red in it. Ones we have up in my area are more black bodied with the traditional yellow stripe, but I've seen it more of red color in some cases. The belly of the snakes up here are usually dirty white to gray. So you can see there's variety in these snakes. Biggest one I've seen was about 3.5 feet long.

---

 

The Nebraska ones tend to have either the yellow stripe or a quite bright orange one. That is the kind I have in my yard. They are very colorful!

 

As for Rattle snakes, I have come across them twice, both on the same day at the Ash Hollow Historical Site in Nebraska. One was just off the path and rattled at us as we approached. We just stopped and waited for it to leave, which it quickly did. The other was eating a nest of something (probably mice) in some tall grass right beside the entrance to the visitor's center! We stood above it on the steps and watched for some time. It rattled as it fed, but I really don't think it was aware that we were there.