+TexasTornados Posted January 13, 2005 Share Posted January 13, 2005 Today, near a creekbed in Dallas, TX. my compass pointed to a tree about 8' away. As I got within 3' of it I noticed something in the ivy growth around the tree. It was a 3' water moccasin.Im glad I was not on camera, as I made one scarry face and bolted away! For just a moment I thought it was part of the game. I picked up a rotten limb and stabbed at its head, only angering it to striking at the air. It then slithered under a rock beside the tree. My compass continued to point to the tree. I then saw the cache in the fork about a foot from the last place I saw the snake! I poked around for quite sometime to scare the snake away and then got the nerve to grab the cache. I checked it out some 10 yards away from hiding site and then quickly replaced it. My next stop was at Academy Sports to purchase a walking stick. Please be very careful out there in the non developed parks! Quote Link to comment
+Team Tayjam Posted January 13, 2005 Share Posted January 13, 2005 My next stop would have been at Walmart to buy some new underwear! I'm glad you saw the snake before you reached for the cache! Quote Link to comment
+TeamLightening Posted January 13, 2005 Share Posted January 13, 2005 Perhaps you should send a note to the cache owner suggesting that they raise the difficulty rating on that cache? Quote Link to comment
+marinor Posted January 16, 2005 Share Posted January 16, 2005 or perhaps you could cache in the UK, where the most dangerous wild thing we have is a wife stay safe Bill Cramlington England Quote Link to comment
+BadAndy Posted January 16, 2005 Share Posted January 16, 2005 I also enjoy poking venomous snakes with sticks. It's not as much fun as tossing pinecones at rabid porcupines...but it sure beats peeing on an electric fence. I run into snakes occasionally on the trail, I usually give them a wide berth. Probably the most danger I've ever been in froma wild animal was while hunting a virtual at Yellowstone. A herd of about a dozen Bison walked right through my position (I could have touched one of them), whilst I was wetting myself behind a tree. Quote Link to comment
+BilboB Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 I came very close to stepping on a baby rattlesnake on my way to a cache in Arizona, and a very long snake scared the crap out of me when I was going to a cache in Mississippi. On a side note, in New Jersey I came pretty close to getting bitten by a black widow spider who made her home around the handle of an ammo can in a hollow log. Also in Arizona (same trip), I was hiking up a hill and a hand-sized spider was in a web strung right across the trail I was on. I looked up a split second before I would have eaten it! Quote Link to comment
+briansnat Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 On a side note, in New Jersey I came pretty close to getting bitten by a black widow spider who made her home around the handle of an ammo can in a hollow log We have black widows in New Jersey ? Quote Link to comment
+shawhh Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 yup, mass. south. -harry (source:The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Insects and Spiders.) Quote Link to comment
+Z_Statman Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 Down here in Florida we come across snakes, spiders, etc quite often - simple statement is to leave them alone. Not sure about most but I do much of my hunts alone so if something happens it could be a problem even though I carry a cell phone and my wife has a 'general' idea of where I am going. There have been occasions where the cache owner actually has a *rubber* snake on the cache lid and believe me, some can be pretty real looking. The best bet, as noted above, is to look first and by all means be careful! Quote Link to comment
+Team PEZ Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 I came very close to stepping on a baby rattlesnake on my way to a cache in Arizona, and a very long snake scared the crap out of me when I was going to a cache in Mississippi. On a side note, in New Jersey I came pretty close to getting bitten by a black widow spider who made her home around the handle of an ammo can in a hollow log. Also in Arizona (same trip), I was hiking up a hill and a hand-sized spider was in a web strung right across the trail I was on. I looked up a split second before I would have eaten it! holy crap! im never caching with you! - TP Quote Link to comment
+sodajerk Posted January 18, 2005 Share Posted January 18, 2005 See this post at Tenison Trail Cache Snake and GPS It is close to my house. The owner has cleaned up the area. Quote Link to comment
+Road Rabbit Posted January 18, 2005 Share Posted January 18, 2005 (edited) We have snakes and many other critters aplenty in Florida. It's very common to find caches "guarded" by the local fauna. Two bits of advice: 1. Know the local critters. That will give you an idea what you might run into, and which ones are harmless vs. harmful. There are many sources for this kind of information, whatever area you might be caching in. 2. Use a stick to probe any bushes or holes you might have to reach into. Hiking sticks are perfect for this. Edited to correct poor syntax. My 2nd grade teacher would be ashamed! Edited January 19, 2005 by Road Rabbit Quote Link to comment
+Vic303 Posted January 18, 2005 Share Posted January 18, 2005 Hey TX, somebody also saw a Cottonmouth up at Lewisville lake on a recent DNF cache hunt. Get a couple walking sticks, and watch where you put your feet! Glad you didn't get bit! Vic303 Quote Link to comment
adrianjohn Posted January 19, 2005 Share Posted January 19, 2005 or perhaps you could cache in the UK, where the most dangerous wild thing we have is a wife stay safe Bill Cramlington England Hmmm. Almost true, Great Britain has two indigenous snake species though only one is poisonous. I was once reaching under the edge of the concrete base of a demolished building to recover a cache when the movement under my fingers made me draw back quickly. I had almost grabbed the middle of an adder our only venomous snake, I watched as it slid away and then carefully removed the cache box. Thankfully an adder should not be fatal to a healthy adult, but I was glad I was not bitten. Quote Link to comment
TahoeJoe Posted January 22, 2005 Share Posted January 22, 2005 I found a snake under a cache once but fortunately we don't have any venomous snakes in our area. Quote Link to comment
+Runfrog Posted January 22, 2005 Share Posted January 22, 2005 poor snake. how would you like to be sunbathing and have some cacher poke you with a stick. given that water moccasins are agressive you are lucky, you could have returned later. Quote Link to comment
DocJ Posted January 24, 2005 Share Posted January 24, 2005 It seems that every time I cache I kick myself for not bringing a camera. I ran into (almost literally) the fattest eastern diamondback rattler while zeroing in on a cach in a Florida palmetto forest. It was just starting to get a little dark and I was going after one last cache when I happened to look down from my gps and saw it coiled up about two steps ahead of me. Talk about get your attention quickly.. I regained my composure long enough to find the cache about 20 yards away. The worst part was hiking back.. it had gotten pretty dark, and EVERY step I took back to the car was the most deliberate one of my life. Quote Link to comment
+Ambrosia Posted January 26, 2005 Share Posted January 26, 2005 Yeah. Almost stepped on a big rattlesnake right by a cache last fall. Needless to say, I left and came back at a later date to finish the cache. Quote Link to comment
+Leapin' Lizards Posted January 28, 2005 Share Posted January 28, 2005 Same-same with the "big @#$% rattlesnake by cache", only we were checking on one of our own hides. I now understand the basic difference between estrogen and testosterone... Hubby and I are both completely freaked-out-screaming-levitating-gonzo-crazy-scared of snakes. Adrenaline + estrogen = RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN, which is what I did. To my great surprise, adrenaline + testosterone = RUN, stop, grab the biggest stick you can find and break it in half, then plunge back into the scrub to find and beat hell out of the snake. Can't nothin' give ya the wibblies like the buzz of a rattler somewhere in the vicinity of your ankles when you're standing in neck-high brush. Quote Link to comment
+c88m Posted January 29, 2005 Share Posted January 29, 2005 Here's a pic that I took on the way to a cache site , there was 3 one managed to hide .Snake pit Quote Link to comment
+Colorado Cacher Posted January 31, 2005 Share Posted January 31, 2005 Snakes on the way to caches, or at caches? I have stopped counting, thats how many here in Colorado. Quote Link to comment
+chaos reloaded Posted February 2, 2005 Share Posted February 2, 2005 So far no snakes on my caching adventures but I've only been doing it a short time.. All my venomous snake encounters have been while hunting/camping. Quote Link to comment
+Team Snoopy Posted February 2, 2005 Share Posted February 2, 2005 We have only come across one snak while caching, thank goodness!! Actually it was my hubby that found it while tromping through a bunch of tall weeds trying to find a trail. He's afraid of them so screamed like a girl (LOL) but wanted to try and get a pic of it, so he sttod there for a few minutes trying to find it again. Dummy! Meanwhile the kids and I ran and found a picnic table and stood on top of it, lol. We found the trail after that and used it!! Quote Link to comment
+Camo-crazed Posted February 10, 2005 Share Posted February 10, 2005 I also enjoy poking venomous snakes with sticks. It's not as much fun as tossing pinecones at rabid porcupines...but it sure beats peeing on an electric fence. LMAO ^ tears of mirth Quote Link to comment
Stony2008 Posted March 5, 2005 Share Posted March 5, 2005 I encountered a huge snake when looking for a cache once and as usual i couldn't help but poke at it. well it started to chase me . When it finally stopped I thought id had enough so checked out the cache and left ASAP before it found me again and did a little poking of its own. so as far as i go i think I'm done poking at snakes . Quote Link to comment
+Shadow's Posted March 8, 2005 Share Posted March 8, 2005 Whats wrong with a little old snake. All it was doing is protecting the cache from muggies. It might have been a moble geosnake? Did it have any tags on it? lol I always take a hikeing staff with me. Not to play with snakes but to help them relocate to a different area than where I am or going. Around here their just a part of the fun hunting a cache. Watch where you step,squat or where you put your hands and if you cant see into it or around it use the stick first. Good hunting Quote Link to comment
+tands Posted April 17, 2005 Share Posted April 17, 2005 Went 'Yikes' on this cache: Baker Street Memoirs - T of TandS Quote Link to comment
tiber Posted April 17, 2005 Share Posted April 17, 2005 This is a nasty topic up here in PA. On one hand, I believe most snakes are "protected". On the other hand, I'm pretty sure the WCO is going to be OK with you shooting snakes that end up in your tent, pants, shoes, or whatever. My grandfather owned a farm in upstate PA and it had a swamp behind it. We used to constantly get snakes. Snakes in the yard. Snakes on the porch. Snakes in the basement (wet cellars are fun with a capitol SNAKE). Basically, if you found one, back up. It shouldn't follow you. If it does, shoot it (got into the habit at an early age to carry a .22 cal rifle). If you step on one and it hasn't bit you yet, check the eyes. Slitted eyes (not round pupils)? Shoot it. And, of course to this day, I carry a snakebite kit. AND I'M VERY SURE NOT TO STEP ON SNAKES. Quote Link to comment
+Team PEZ Posted April 17, 2005 Share Posted April 17, 2005 This is a nasty topic up here in PA. On one hand, I believe most snakes are "protected". On the other hand, I'm pretty sure the WCO is going to be OK with you shooting snakes that end up in your tent, pants, shoes, or whatever. My grandfather owned a farm in upstate PA and it had a swamp behind it. We used to constantly get snakes. Snakes in the yard. Snakes on the porch. Snakes in the basement (wet cellars are fun with a capitol SNAKE). Basically, if you found one, back up. It shouldn't follow you. If it does, shoot it (got into the habit at an early age to carry a .22 cal rifle). If you step on one and it hasn't bit you yet, check the eyes. Slitted eyes (not round pupils)? Shoot it. And, of course to this day, I carry a snakebite kit. AND I'M VERY SURE NOT TO STEP ON SNAKES. shooting it takes too much time ... i just prefer to RUN AWAY..... Quote Link to comment
+RockyRaab Posted April 22, 2005 Share Posted April 22, 2005 I simultaneously found a four-footer AND the cache I was seeking recently. This was a non-venomous snake (didn't recognize what kind) and I would have left it alone, but it was wounded in several places. Couldn't tell if it had been hit with a big stick or rocks - or had been run over. This was only about a hundred yards from a highway. I shot the poor thing out of mercy. No mention of it in the log, which had been signed only an hour or so earlier. Buried the snake and re-hid the cache. I hope the next cacher finds only one of the two! Even though I'm very allergic to venom, I kinda like snakes. Never have feared them, and they are amazing animals to handle. Quote Link to comment
+bigtmyers Posted April 22, 2005 Share Posted April 22, 2005 My husband wants to go camping at Coopers Rock in WV. I am NOT a camping kind of gal. I am a scared to death of snakes kind of gal. My friend told me she was there three different times and ran into rattlesnakes each time. I don't think I could sleep in a tent knowing or even thinking that a snake might like to cuddle up in my sleeping bag with me I want to so something my husband likes, but I would be a basket case the whole time worring if one of us might get bitten. Any suggestions on how to handle this???? Quote Link to comment
+Runfrog Posted April 27, 2005 Share Posted April 27, 2005 Animals smanimals, I'm more worrried about the other drivers I encounter on the way to a Cache Site. I mean Holly Moly can't they see that I'm trting to drive and work my GPS'r at the same time, if they were cconsiderate they'd get off "my" roads. My worst encounters are with angry Groundhogs, or terroristic Squirels. Quote Link to comment
+Black Dog Trackers Posted April 28, 2005 Share Posted April 28, 2005 I've always liked snakes and have no instinctive fear of them unless it's a 30-foot anaconda or a poisonous snake. Even the latter doesn't worry me particularly. I took a closeup (2 feet) of a rather large copperhead while benchmark hunting on a mountain last year. Understanding these animals helps a lot in keeping out of danger. Here's my perspective on the psychology of snakes. I have caught several wild snakes (non-poisonous, of course). In the first couple minutes they WILL try to bite ... and poop ... on you. After the 2 minutes or so are up, they are no longer aggressive and will relax in your hands, although aiming to get away for another few minutes. After that, they might just as soon stay with you, especially if they notice that you are warm. The point being that you can catch and pick up this type of wild animal and tame it within a few minutes. Just try doing that with a cute little squirrel or other mammal. You'd spend a year trying to hand tame it! Quote Link to comment
+TeamTurtles Posted May 1, 2005 Share Posted May 1, 2005 While doing a quick drive up FTF, I was replacing the cache and there HE was. Needless to say turtles dont like snakes. So I didnt poke at him or throw pinecones at him, I just moved the cache about 10 feet, posted a warning and E-Mailed the owner. This was a swampy area so I guess he was there first. Quote Link to comment
+Miragee Posted May 1, 2005 Share Posted May 1, 2005 I found this guy near a cache a couple of months ago. I'm not afraid of snakes, but the sound a rattlesnake makes must have a direct connection to the "reptilian" part of our brains because I've never gotten used to that sound. It always startles and scares me. Quote Link to comment
ImpalaBob Posted May 3, 2005 Share Posted May 3, 2005 Koikeeper found a cache the other day that had a rubber snake guard ..... she screamed of course .... just part of the wonderful sick minds that make this game so much fun! ImpalaBob Quote Link to comment
+cainrcc Posted May 3, 2005 Share Posted May 3, 2005 There is a cache in Coopers Rock waypoint: GCH179 that has been found a few times in the log book by muggles -only the muggles were people looking for rattle snakes After reading the logs we quickly left the cache area luckly not seeing any snakes!! Quote Link to comment
+CW Iams Posted May 3, 2005 Share Posted May 3, 2005 (edited) There is a cache in Coopers Rock waypoint: GCH179 that has been found a few times in the log book by muggles -only the muggles were people looking for rattle snakes After reading the logs we quickly left the cache area luckly not seeing any snakes!! Rattlesnake hunts used to be a pretty big thing when I was in grade school (mid to late '80s) in WV and northern PA... I have not heard of many lately though... edit- typos due to fat fingers... Edited May 3, 2005 by CW Iams Quote Link to comment
+onetrapper Posted May 11, 2005 Share Posted May 11, 2005 We had our 1st encounter near Platte City Mo. 5-10-05. It was just a garter but a big one, sure glad it wasn't a mouse or I might still be looking for the wife. Quote Link to comment
+Oreo Pony Posted May 18, 2005 Share Posted May 18, 2005 Found this guy at a nearby cache and brought him home for a short visit. All was going well until he got out of the terrarium while we were at work. Lucky for me I found him within five minutes. If we hadn't found him, we would have had to move to a different house, according to my hubby. Quote Link to comment
+OzarksJim Posted May 19, 2005 Share Posted May 19, 2005 I came across a copperhead while trying to find a cache in the Great Dismal Swamp in Southern Virginia a couple of weeks ago. It's always best to look first before you go feeling around underneath logs or any other normal snake hiding place, and an even better thing to do is feel around first with something like a hiking staff. This was my first poisonous snake encounter while caching, and it was quite a rush, even though I gave up searching for the cache. Here's the log and photos: Dismal Delight Jim Quote Link to comment
+Team Snoopy Posted May 19, 2005 Share Posted May 19, 2005 Here's a guy we found on a cache. He looks quite fat and angry! Quote Link to comment
+marknhelen Posted June 20, 2005 Share Posted June 20, 2005 So glad we only have one type of poisonous snake in england (and only a little one at that) Quote Link to comment
+ZillahBillies Posted June 21, 2005 Share Posted June 21, 2005 (edited) This is the only one we've stumbled across so far. We ran into him here in Eastern Washington a few weeks. Luckily, he was just a Bull Snake. Looks like a rattler minus the rattle. Edited June 21, 2005 by ZillahBillies Quote Link to comment
+MtnRubi Posted June 23, 2005 Share Posted June 23, 2005 I was walking along the edge of the creek, and when I place my hand on the rock to hop up out of the water, I was startled to see this little guy sitting there. Fortunately, it was just too cold for him, he could barely move. I watched him for a few minutes, until he finally managed to move off into the brush. Quote Link to comment
+ratacrats Posted June 23, 2005 Share Posted June 23, 2005 We saw about a 4-foot rattlesnake just after leaving a cache. Luckily we were in the car. Quote Link to comment
pherring05 Posted June 24, 2005 Share Posted June 24, 2005 I found snake in Rural Eastern NC. Not something I want to repeat... I still want to go after cache though. It was long and blue and black and green, but no one believes me. Might have been eastern rattler. Not sure Quote Link to comment
BONEGURU Posted June 25, 2005 Share Posted June 25, 2005 gotta remember they taste good, just consider it a bonus Quote Link to comment
+ZillahBillies Posted June 26, 2005 Share Posted June 26, 2005 Stumbled across this little guy near CWU 2003 Grad Cache in Yakima River Canyon. Darn thing wouldn't hold his tail still long enough for the auto focus on the camera to work very well (go figure). Quote Link to comment
+CENT5 Posted June 26, 2005 Share Posted June 26, 2005 but it sure beats peeing on an electric fence. 1968 Been there, Done that, It hurts. My hunting partners (My brother and 2 cousins.) were DYING. Learned to watch for BROWN insulators. Sheeesh. Now back to the snakes. Yes they are quite tasty. I like them BBQ'd. Quote Link to comment
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