Snake Season Is Around The Corner.

[Feathers and Fins]

Spring is right around the corner and that means snakes! I wanted to share with you some helpful information and tips on what to do if you encounter one of the snakes of the Ozark region.

First in the Ozarks we only have one family of snakes to worry about, the Vipers! Those are:

1. Timber Rattle Snakes

2. Pigmy Rattle Snakes

3. Copper Heads

4. Cottonmouths

If you encounter a snake the best thing to do is simply leave it alone, don’t play Steve Irwin or you will end up in the ER or Mortuary! In the United States each year there are about 8000 venomous snake bites of which the average death rate is 8 to 12. You might be thinking if I get bit I will be ok, and you’re right the odds are good you will survive, with proper medical care.

However the cost of a minimal envenomation is about 20 grand and goes up from there. I have personally seen one case that was over 100,000$. If the cost hasn’t convinced you to not play with snakes you might want to go look at these pictures and see what a bite can do to you. http://www.venomousreptiles.org/libraries/Snakebite%20Photos

I hope I got your attention with those pictures. Several of them if you scrolled through it I personally took and can assure you the person is disfigured for life now and still suffers pain years after the bite. So the question is what snakes are here and what to do if I get bit?

The first snake I’ll deal with is the Northern Copperhead.

Family: Viperidae

Genus: Agkistrodon

Species: contortrix

Subspecies: mokasen

Common Names

( subsp. mokasen ) Northern Copperhead

This is a medium sized snake with a moderately stout bodied and a rapidly tapering tail it Can grow to a maximum of about 1.35 metres. Head is broad, flattened, triangular and distinct from neck. Eyes are medium in size with vertically elliptical pupils. Dorsal scales are keeled.

It is often mistaken for some of the water snakes of this region. Its prey consists mainly of lizards, frogs, small rodents, large caterpillars and cicadas.

If bitten the victim should:

Remove All rings or other jewelry on the bitten limb, especially on fingers as they may act as tourniquets if edema develops. The bitten limb should be immobilized as effectively as possible using a sling if available, Do not use Tourniquets, cut, suck or scarify the wound or apply chemicals. Avoid peroral intake, absolutely no alcohol. No sedatives outside hospital. If the offending snake has been killed it should be brought with the patient for identification (only relevant in areas where there are more than one naturally occurring venomous snake species), but be careful to avoid touching the head a dead snake can still inject venom. I also highly urge people to not kill the snake if possible but to use a cell phone to take several pictures from a safe distance of the animal for identification.

The snakebite victim should be transported as quickly as possible to the nearest place where they can be seen by a medically-trained person. If you are by yourself and in a remote area call 911 and wait for them to arrive. A last resort should be you trying to make it to your car and to a well-traveled road once there wait for the medical aid to arrive.

The second snake is the Cottonmouth:

Family: Viperidae

Genus: Agkistrodon

Species: piscivorus

Subspecies: leucostoma

Common Names

( subsp. leucostoma ) Western Cottonmouth

Yes this is a water moccasin or chuckle head or adder all common names for this snake.

Large in length, stout bodied snake with a moderately short slender tail. It can grow to a maximum of about 1.58 meters. Head is broad, flattened, triangular and distinct from neck. Eyes are medium in size with vertically elliptical pupils. It preys mainly on frogs and fish, but will eat lizard’s birds and smaller snakes. One interesting observation I have made from this species is its tendency to patrol along roads and clean-up road kills. I have caught many cotonmouths that were scraping up freshly ran over toads and mice.

The emergency first aid for this species is the same as a copperhead.

The next species is the Timber Rattler:

Family: Viperidae

Genus: Crotalus

Species: horridus

Subspecies: horridus

Common Names

( subsp. horridus ) Timber Rattlesnake , Banded Rattlesnake

This is the big dog in our area and has a nasty bite and horrible consequences, I have seen fingers, hands and feet disfigured from this animal many times and want every to respect this snake and the possible damage it will do. But on the other hand it is not very common around here and will retreat if encountered unless cornered as a general rule.

Large in length, heavy bodied rattlesnake with a short tail and a horn-like segmented rattle. Can grow to a maximum of about 2 meters. Head is large, broad and very distinct from narrow neck. Eyes are moderately small in size with vertically elliptical pupils. Dorsal scales are keeled. Feeds mainly on lizards, rodents, small mammals and birds. I have found this snake really has a passion for small rabbits and Squirrels.

Emergency medical treatment is again the same as a copperhead bite.

Finally my favorite venomous snake in North America, the Pigmy Rattler. I have owned numerous pigmy’s including a monstrous 33 incher I raised from a baby. This snake was raised in the most optimum conditions possible and 33 inches is a record or was at the time. She was 9 years old at the time of that measurement.

They have a Napoléon complex and will bite fast and readily.

Family: Viperidae

Genus: Sistrurus

Species: miliarius

Subspecies: streckeri

Common Names

( subsp. streckeri ) Western Pygmy Rattlesnake

Small in length, tapered and cylindrical bodied snake with a moderately long and slender tail terminating in a tiny, segmented rattle. Can grow to a maximum of about 0.65 meters. Head is broad and distinct from narrow neck. Eyes are small to medium in size with vertically elliptical pupils. Dorsal scales are keeled. Feeds mainly on small rodents, frogs, large insects and spiders.

If bitten the emergency procedure is the same as is for all our venomous snakes in this area.

[Wayne SW/MO]

I saw some Pigmy rattlers in FL when I was in the service, but never here. I was surprised to learn they even eisted in the state, but I suppose some of the people who have been bit by them were also surprised.

Snakes, including the vipers, do more good than harm and should be left to do their part in the environment..

[hoglaw]

Good post. Cut and suck was still taught when I was a boy scout. Now the consensus seems to be not to do it. Why is that? Is it completely ineffective? Is the venom absorbed just as easily through oral mucosa? Or is it that the certainty of infection outweighs any benefits of removing a small amount of venom?

My brother got popped on his hand by a copperhead a few years ago. He had to put a chain under a log. He looked under it first, the scraped a stick around under it and heard nothing. Apparently there was a very quiet and angry copperhead underneath, because as soon as he reached down it nailed him right on the hand. He went straight to the hospital. By the time he got there he was in excruciating pain and his entire arm looked like a football. Bad news bears if he was wearing a ring. They didn't treat with antivenom and he suffered no long term effects, but scared the pants off him.

[timsfly]

What about the copper headed, rattle moccasins, they are thick on crane creek.

[Feathers and Fins]

Hog, sucking out the venom has lead to envenomation of the sucker, a cavity or open soar and the venom will get in just as surely as if you had been bitten. Alot of doctors dont like AV treatment for copperheads, no way in this world would I not go through a minimum of 4 courses, Ive seen venoms affects and ill take the av.

Tim, Point me to them and ill go catch a few for fun. There is no venomous snake I fear, respect yes but fear no.

[Al Agnew]

Very nice summation of the pit vipers.

Both Bob Todd (former River Hills Traveler owner and editor) and his son have been bitten by copperheads. It is NOT a pleasant thing to go through, even though your chances of dying from it are practically nil. And you're probably about a hundred times more likely to be bitten by a copperhead than any of the other poisonous snakes in the Ozarks. The others are more dangerous but far less common.

On the other hand, copperheads are usually pretty inoffensive. I've been close enough to them several times to have been bitten if they had been inclined to do so.

Cottonmouths are not common on most Ozark streams, but they have local pockets of abundance. The upper Jacks Fork has a LOT of them. I've never seen one in the Meramec River system...doesn't mean they're not there, but they aren't common. Saw one on Establishment Creek near Bloomsdale last year. Have seen a few on the upper Gasconade, and the St. Francis.

I've only seen a couple of timber rattlers. But they are pretty common in the area around the Forest 44 Wildlife Area and Lone Elk Park just west of St. Louis.

[drew03cmc]

We have timber rattlers pretty thick around home here, and near the creeks and lakes we see the occasional copperhead to go along with the larger, rat snakes that scare the pants off the girls.

[drew03cmc]

Cottonmouths are pretty, but they deserve all the respect we can give.

[Feathers and Fins]

Cute little cotton, I did breed them for some time, no real value in the pet trade for them but I had several venom labs who took them off my hands. Neat critters to work with. I have only seen 1 timber rattler here and forgot how lacking in color they are in compare to their eastern brothers the Canebrake. Thankfully they dont pack near the punch of them either.

[Ham]

Great post. Knowledge is power. Ignorance breeds fear. Watch where you put you hands and feet AND enjoy observing snakes from a safe distance. Just another animal. No more inherent malice towards man than a turtle.