Man Dies After Being Bitten By A Copperhead

[Al Agnew]

Yeah, if one has taken up residence around the house I'll kill it. Our house is right on the edge of the woods, with fields of warm season grass in front. I mow maybe a half acre total around the house. Within the mowed area, I will kill a copperhead. That's MY domain. In the woods and fields outside the mowed area, that's their domain, and I won't bother them. We've lived here over 20 years, and in that time I've killed three copperheads in my domain.

[jdmidwest]

I propose we initiate a tax on all citizens of the Ozarks that live in fear of the Dreadful Copperhead Snake. Money collected can be used to hire new LEO to hunt down the culprits and skin them out for boots. This can't be tolerated, they are killing innocent civilians.

[Wayne SW/MO]

According to the news here it was a baby that had gotten in his tent and he was bitten when he tried to throw it out. They also reported it as the second fatality in history.

[KCRIVERRAT]

According to the news here it was a baby that had gotten in his tent and he was bitten when he tried to throw it out. They also reported it as the second fatality in history.

Is that what really happened Wayne? I haven't heard anything since KY3 had the story.

[Wayne SW/MO]

Is that what really happened Wayne? I haven't heard anything since KY3 had the story.

That was the last thing they reported Jerry. I also heard, can't remember where now, that he had heart problems and they think the snake bite complicated the situation.

[Daryk Campbell Sr]

Just some info from my hunters education class... "Snakes are protected in MO, you can kill it if it is a direct threat, but only if it is a direct threat. Other wise killing snakes in MO is illegal."

Here is a link from MDC http://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/outdoor-recreation/nature-viewing/amphibians-and-reptiles/snakes

And to all who did not know, Black Snakes are GOOD to keep around. They do not pose a threat, and they eat rodents. The same rodents that would probably eat your siding or the wires on your car.

[Feathers and Fins]

I havent been able to find anything else on this bite but if he did have other health issues it would not suprise me! Yes snakes are good to have around the house that are non-venomous, the venomous ones a broom and trash can will relocate them safely for both parties simply take a 55gal can and with a broom push them into it tip it up lid it and move them. 90% of snake removal calls i got were because people left wood piles to close to houses or didnt maintain shrubs along the house walls, Mice moved in and predators followed.

I use to love Florida houses who had shrubs along the walls, you could watch the anoles and geckos do the wave up the wall as a snake went through the shrubs.

[Wayne SW/MO]

It's amazing how fast a snake will disappear in a yard if they are just ignored.

[Riverwhy]

About 40 years ago I was fishing the Kelly Shoal on the North Fork of the White and a copperhead bit my father twice on the hand as he was picking up a fish on the bank. He found his way across the river and found a house in the woods and was driven to the hospital. He became very ill and was in serious condition for over a week and not fully recovered for almost a month.

He was in excellent health and in his mid 30s.

I would still not kill a venomous snake in the woods but I certainly would quickly dispatch one in the yard. I believe a few good intentioned folks posting on this subject fail to understand the serious potential threat of a copperhead bite.

I am not afraid of a copperhead but I do respect the real danger they could be to my kids and grandchild.

[Al Agnew]

I agree that the smartest thing to do is to not give copperheads a good place to hang out around the house, and I try to do just that, which is probably why, living in terrific copperhead habitat, I've only had to deal with a couple around the house in more than 20 years. But I am not willing to allow them around the house, nor am I willing to take the admittedly small chance (if you're careful) of being bitten trying to capture and relocate one. Plus, I don't really believe in relocating "common" problem wildlife, because the place you relocate one to is almost certainly going to already have plenty of residents that already claim that territory, so in effect you're quite possibly just killing your relocated critter slowly instead of quickly. If copperheads were rare, I'd have a different viewpoint, but they are common enough in my area that I'm not going to feel guilty about killing one every ten years or so.

I know several people who have been bitten by copperheads, and while it is obviously almost never fatal, you DON'T want to go through it.