Snake Infestation - Alert

I get these alerts form the County Sheriff's Dept.
I don't know if the amount is correct about treating a snake bite at 50,000 to 100,000 dollars per occurence but snake boots are looking pretty cheap at $100 per pair right now.

Wise Eyes Alert
Snake Infestation

The following information, in part, is from a news release at WOAI in San Antonio and applies throughout the drought area:

Major snake infestation expected in Texas this month
Jim Forsyth


Snake experts tell 1200 WOAI news that late August and September will see an explosion of snakes in back yards, as the critters start slithering out looking for something to eat.



“They’re very hungry right now,” central Texas snake expert Jerry Cates tells 1200 WOAI news, in a statement which is creepy on its surface. “The hungrier they get, the more they start ranging the fields looking for food.” He says that’s why we can expect snakes to show up in places where they are seldom seen.



He says the three most common types of poisonous snakes in Texas are the common rattlesnake, the Texas coral snake, and the cottonmouth, which is relatively rare.



The rattlesnake has the distinctive rattle at the end of the snake, but Cates cautions that the snake doesn’t always rattle the rattler, so if you don’t hear the tell-tale sound, don’t think it’s not a dangerous rattlesnake.



If it is a colorful, banded coral snake, Cates says the Boy Scout nursery rhyme really does tell you whether the snake is dangerous or not. “Red touch yellow, kill a fellow. Red touch black, venom lack. That is probably the best way to remember that.”



He says snakes will almost always retreat when confronted by humans, and he says many people are startled by how fast snakes can travel.



If the worst happens, and you get snake bit, Cates says get to the doctor as quickly as possible. He says snake bites are actually less painful than a sting from a scorpion or a wasp, and he says the victim may not experience the effects of the venom right away, but, as anybody who has seen movies ranging from ‘Lonesome Dove’ to ‘True Grit’ can attest, snake bites are nothing to mess with.



He says the venom will begin kicking in a few hours, and frequently leads to paralysis, respiratory failure, and can be fatal. And he says a snake bite will drain your wallet as well.



“If you are bitten by a venomous snake, you and your insurance provider together are going to spend between $50,000 and $150,000 in medical bills,” he said.



Cates says as we approach mid August and get into September, we should be aware of the fact that snakes are likely to pop up in all sorts of places. He says you should put the flip-flops aside, and wear leather shoes or boots whenever you are walking in or around tall grass brush, or while you are doing gardening work or lawn mowing.



He warns that even if rains do come to the region, the snake infestation is inevitable. He says the snakes are ranging looking for their favorite prey, which is rodents, and a couple of rains won’t suddenly produce a crop of rodents for the snakes to eat.







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____________________________________________________________

Sgt. Tom Hargrave

F.B.I. National Academy Session 189

Johnson County Sheriff's Office

Training Coordinator

Crime Stoppers / Crime Prevention

Community Services Deputy

1102 E. Kilpatrick

Cleburne, Tx. 76031

Office 817.556.6058 ext 255

Fax 817.556.3441





"No man in the wrong, can stand against a man in the right, who keeps on a comin'"

Capt. Bill McDonald

Texas Ranger

50-150? That's more expensive than a heart attack/angiogram/and a stent.

The price on snake bite treatment is pretty much right on. Had a client who got bitten and had to be airlifted to San Antonio. Cost him $70,000. Rattlesnake are having babies right now. We just had 7 new arrivals in our enclosure. Dove hunters need to be very vigilant about baby rattlers during dove season. The young rattlers have only a button are unable to rattle, but they are just a venomous as the adults. Since they have no control over how much venom they give you, unlike the adults who can control it, you know you got the full dose should you get bitten by a baby rattler. I never ever go out in the brush and field without my boots on. And don't ever reach into a hole of any kind without looking first.

Coral.... Red and yellow kill a fellow. Red and black friend of jack. Seems easier to remember.

My boots will be on this season.

I'm not even going to TOUCH that one !

lmao

Love to get uplifting news like this... Don't know if I can bear wearing snake chaps in 100 degree Sept heat while dove hunting.

d you don't have to wear the high snake chaps, just good hunting boots. Those little rattlers can't strike too high and their fangs are too weak to penetrate the leather. We have never gone dove hunting without seing at least one or two baby rattlers. We just keep both eyes open for them.

Glad someone's having fun with this.

Somtimes it might be better that way.

That's what she said... LOL

they didnt even mention copper heads....

Yeah, hard to believe corals are more common than copperheads. That's not been my experience...

When i opened this thread i was hoping to see a whole mess a snakes.

Me too...

I agree... We need pictures.

Its hard to believe that Corals are more common than copperheads and even cotton mouth, but my google skills cannot disprove this, thus I am amazed that once again the THF has learned me something

They are not corals are one of the rarest poisonous snakes in Texas because of dwindling numbers and their reclusive nature, that being said IF you get venom delivery from a bite it can be very serious as it is a Neurotoxin. Although it is hard to get venom delivery from them as they have a very small mouth and smaller teeth so they have to chew on small fingers to get delivery, in addition most coral snakes I have seen where very very docile snakes so its more rare to be bitten by one.

I would say copperheads are probably just as prevalent if not more than rattlesnakes and that is saying alot because Texas has somewhere in the neighborhood 12-15 sub species of rattlesnakes.

Bites from copperheads are probably one of the most common and least dangerous as there venom is not as toxic as other poisonous snakes.

That being said here are some statistics
stat's



I would be more concerned about children and pets at home than in the field personally. Because most guys are looking for snakes in the field anyways and are aware of their surroundings. Educate your children and warn them while they are playing to keep an eye out for snakes this year and not to touch them regardless if it is poisonous or not.

I've seen, and held, Texas coral snakes on FOUR different occasions. Two of those times was in Sam Houston Natl. Forest. In the forest, I seem to walk up on them sunning themselves on the trail.

I also found one in my yard. I was mowing, and saw something out of the corner of my eye darting away from the mower. I stopped, and looked and it was a coral snake! In the middle of the city no less. It was very docile. I put on a set of welding gloves and let it crawl onto my hands. This snake wanted nothing more than to find cover or concealment.

The only other snake I have seen more often than corals is banded water snakes. Those things are everywhere. I've only seen 1 copperhead. That's it for venomous snakes. 4 corals & 1 copperhead. The copperhead was in the street in front of my house. I actually got out of the car to get a closer look and was less than a foot away checking it out.

I hate snakes.....



On our lease in Brown/Commanche County we have more Copperheads than anything else.

clearly it depends on what part of the state you live in. I have never seen a coral nor a rattle snake in the wild, but I see at least 2 or 3 copper heads and 5-7 water moccasins (Cottonmouth) per year.

FYI I hate snakes

I think snakes are great!

Copperheads seem to be a bit of a problem in De Leon / Gorman.

Those guys have a bad attitude. I have to eliminate them when they get too close to the living areas.

Wow. I've personally caught several copperheads. I put one in a 5 gallon waterjug and kept him a day or two. i turned him loose on a dirt road where he probably wouldnt get ran over. I have yet to see a rattlesnake in the wild, with the exception of 1 in california while training. it was about 8 inches and greenish gray.

That's probably correct these days since common sense is non-existant. Lord have mercy.

The big problem is hungry snakes are aggressive snakes. If they are as ornery as they are when they come out the dens in the spring then watch out.

I hunt in Throckmorton and we have rattlers everywhere. Killing copperheads as a child on my grandparents place in Parker County was a regular experience. Their house was on a point of a hill, about 4 acres of which was surrounded by fencing. They watered this area every day. The rest of their couple hundred acres obviously was not watered. Copperheads would visit just about every night while cooling down in the plush, damp grass. One night my grandfather killed 23 copperheads. He knew nobody would believe him so he threw all of them in a box and took them up to the dry cleaners he owned to show the patrons. We have pictures somewhere. I wish I had one with me to post.

There was also a very large snake den on the adjacent property to his, but we had complete access to it. We'd regularly have snake hunts when the family got together. All in all, hundreds of rattlers were killed out there over the years.

Interestingly, I've never seen a corral snake in the wild.

If I'm not mistaken, isn't it almost the time of year for rattlers to start breeding?

Rattlers breed in late March through April and give lifebirth in late August through September. Right smack in the middle of dove season. That's why you need to be careful where you step and put your hands during dove season. We have rattlers in an enclosure and one female just gave birth to 7 babies. Cute as a button but oh so deadly.

Would love to find a place to hunt them.All I have here is cotton moth and copper heads,

Out around our family land, we have killed tons of copper heads, I cant count the amount of times I've been walking along, looked down, only to see one of the lil bassterds sitting between my legs.

I have killed a bunch of cotton mouths as well, most if not all of these have been in the creek or in a tank somewhere. They use to be real common aruond there, but I havent seen one in a while (and I know the difference between a cotton mouth and a water snake)

As for rattlers, my uncle killed one. That is all we have seen out there.

I killed one coral snake I found one night hunting by myself as a kid. It was lying in the middle of a dirt road and took a 20ga to the face.

I have seen a few rattle snakes out around gonzales though.

i'm completely aware that 99% of the time people claim to have seen a cotton mouth, they really saw a water snake. But how do you tell the difference between the two? I've tried figuring this out but no luck.

moccasins are black. most water snakes arent. They have different shapped heads, cottonmouths are short and fat witha pointy tail, water snakes are long and slender.... once u know how to tell the difference, it wont take two seconds before u know for sure what is what.

Cool. Thanks.

The cotton mouths I have killed in Canton are not that big most are about 3 feet long and fairly big around with a bad attitude, jet black and have a cotton colored mouth and they do stink, the smaller ones will vary in color, most of the posinous snake have diamond shaped eyes except for the coral snake and they are round.

great info. thanks.

Smiling Mallard...

Is that a ball python? Nice little snakes.

Very refreshing to see someone here that has atleast some knowledge of domestic snake species. In a former life I was a co-owner of a company that imported various reptiles for research and for the production of anti-venon. We also would catch domestic species for the same purpose and do house calls for snake removal.

I've owned atleast a dozen Texas Coral snakes and all were extremely doscile. God has a twisted sense of humor giving an animal the infinite ability to kill and then making them highly unlikely to bite. This is true with most of the extremely toxic snakes, they just tend to not bite unless severely molested.

I would bet good money that I have owned just about every snake species that you are aware of, both foriegn and domestic.


Chupa

Yep, they emit a foul smell that is hard to describe but you never forget it. They are short and stubby and that white cotton mouth when they are pissed off or about to bite.