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southernridgerunner
Aug 1, 2005, 2:54 AM
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Last night was really pretty strange. We went to Obed and stayed at Del's. Well after setting up camp we laid around for a while. I got up and went to piss came back and opened up my truck door. Well my daughter was walking over to where I was and she yelled SNAKE!!!! I looked down and about 1 1/2 to 2 ft from my foot was a copperhead. Well I had nothing to kill him with and wasn't that worried over one snake. So he slid off into the bushes. I went and talked to Del and his wife, and she gave me a hoe. Well when I got back to my campsite we looked just for a sec for that one and didn't see him. So just as I was walking back toward the tent which was no more than 15 ft away I saw another one. Well he died. Just after we killed him. Del's wife shouted there was another one and sure enough there was so he died. Del said he didn't want me to camp there so we moved the tent up around the food area. Well there we are all sitting around the camp fire talking about it and my daughter again shouted SNAKE!!!! no more than 6 in. from this girls leg was another one well he died also. Everyone was talking then about how unreal seeing 4 copperheads in one night was. Well it got late and everyone crashed except me and one other guy. Well guess what about 2am I heard something move behind me and sure enough the 5th copperhead of the night and he died. So at the end of the night score was DAVID 4 ; COPPERHEADS 0. I have been in the woods all my life and it is nothing to see 1 maybe 2 snakes in a day, but dang 5 in about 4 hours. The next day me and Del laughed about it, and I told him I would still come back. I left to go pick up my son. When I got to his mothers house and was telling her about it, she said that she had saw a snake while cutting grass. So I just had to go look and there was a small non-poisonous one under a swing in her backyard. I let him live. That was pretty wild. 6 in under 24 hours.
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styndall
Aug 1, 2005, 3:41 AM
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Killing nature and incomprehensibility are both awesome.
Keep up the good work.
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yannbuse
Aug 1, 2005, 3:52 AM
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Hats off! if i had the opportunity i would nuke em. damn snakes
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areuinclimber
Aug 1, 2005, 3:53 AM
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the copperheads were there before you were.....
ahhhh. the ability to enjoy nature at.....the expense of nature.... excellent
couldnt you have just left instead of killing innocent snake (i dont recall any attempts at harm from the snakes in your "strange" story)?
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autumngirl
Aug 1, 2005, 4:05 AM
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In reply to: couldnt you have just left instead of killing innocent snake
Yikes...normally I'm a supporter of the Leave No Trace principle about respecting wildlife, but after having too many close-calls with rattlesnakes in eastern Oregon earlier this summer I can understand the urge to kill poisonous snakes anywhere near you, especially with your daughter around. Glad to hear no one got bitten!
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3cclimber
Aug 1, 2005, 4:08 AM
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That is one strange event, If i saw that many snakes i think that i would have done the same thing you guys did. Glad no one got hurt, sorry snake's you just recieved the Darwin award.
best regards
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southernridgerunner
Aug 1, 2005, 4:15 AM
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Yea just about everyone that night slept in their cars. Now if I had been backpacking and it was not a camp ground in which has small children. I would have just moved on. Just to many children there to just leave them be. It is a real wonder that no one got bit. The only thing that we could think was happening was that they were mating.
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march
Aug 1, 2005, 6:33 AM
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What's strange is that you went camping with a hoe. Did you have a rake as well?
At least there was one snake in your story that you didn't find the need to kill.
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dirtineye
Aug 1, 2005, 8:03 AM
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Strange that you had to kill the snakes when they were not threatening you. Copperheads are pretty mild mannered, and not such a bad bite either, when compared to the other two common poisonous snakes in the area, the moccasin and the timber rattler.
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kunzie
Aug 1, 2005, 8:13 AM
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Dear Abbey.
I'd ask you, an expert, to help me with this.
Living in Australia we've got a large number of venomous snakes. What is the best means to kill them with a sharp edge? I've heard stories of, after being decapitated, the snakes head flying forward from the impact and biting the person in front of them.
1.) Is this true?
2.) Which is better, Apple or Microsoft
Thankyou
- Muddled in Melbourne
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mcgivney_nh
Aug 1, 2005, 11:45 AM
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In reply to: At least there was one snake in your story that you didn't find the need to kill.
There were actually two that didn't die.
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j_ung
Aug 1, 2005, 1:10 PM
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In reply to: What's strange is that you went camping with a hoe.
Sounds like a good idea to me. A hard day of climbing, a big meal... a man starts to have certain urges, y'know? Wait, a hoe? Oh, yeah, that is strange.
As for the killing 4 snakes thing... I think you made a classic mistake in figuring that the only way to protect human life was to kill the snakes. I understand wanting to protect your daughter and Del wanting to protect customers, but would it have taken much more effort to just move them or put them into a trashcan or something until you can move them later? When I was at Devils Tower Lodge, Frank and Jaap caught several rattlers. They put 'em all in a trashcan, drove them out to the middle of nowhere and left them to fend for themselves. Seemed like a good compromise, especially for the snakes.
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thorne
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Aug 1, 2005, 2:18 PM
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Anyone else ever just happened by 5 poisonous snakes in one night? That would definitely give me the heebie-jeebies.
I've heard snakes return to the same areas. Considering we're talking about a campground and someone's home, I don't think killing them was so aweful.
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noell
Aug 1, 2005, 2:29 PM
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I agree w/Thorne on this one. True, the snake hadn't bitten anyone yet - but with children around and in a populated camping area, and someone's home, why wait for a bite/aggressive behavior?
Moving them as Jay suggested would also be a good idea, saving the snakes AND keeping people from harm. Just hope that if I am near when there are 5 copperheads there is someone brave enough to try to capture them and move them far far away. :oops: I try to be brave, promise, but snakes give me the creeps!!!!!! :roll:
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landgolier
Aug 1, 2005, 3:14 PM
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If you take your kids into snake country, and don't like that there are snakes there, you better either teach them how to stay safe, learn how to handle and relocate poisonous snakes, or leave. Idiots like you are the reason so much wilderness gets spoiled in this country; "But it's not faaaaairrr, the outdoors isn't safe for me, we have to make it safe." So what if you see a few more than normal? I saw 4 bears one weekend in NM, that didn't give me the right to start shooting at them.
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whiskeybullets
Aug 1, 2005, 3:30 PM
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Arguments about leave no trace and the sanitizing of nature are, in this case, irrelevant. This guy was camping @ Del and Marts, which is someones home. You literally camp in their front yard, in extremely well established areas. They even have yurts. With Del's family being there, the dogs being there (especially Tipsy), and all the climbers usually present, the death of a couple of copper heads is easily a prudent decision. If he was in the middle of the forest backpacking, the circumstances would dictate a different decorum. If you walked out the front door of your house, and found four copper heads, you'd kill them too.
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ajkclay
Aug 1, 2005, 3:44 PM
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The other side of the story:
One evening Daddy Snake was out looking for a field mouse or two to feed his starving family.
Through the bushes he saw a big fat Hairless Monkey vigorously trying to pull the smallest snake he had ever seen out of its trousers.
He turned to look in another spot when he heard a smaller hairless monkey start to scream. Oddly, the big monkey changed its mind about removing the tiny snake and shoved it in to its trousers instead. "Bloody hell! That's loud!" Daddy Snake thought, "She must be the one that every animal in the area could hear complaining about everything all day." He rushed off before his little eardrums and tongue went deaf, and before the big monkey could see him and try to stuff him down its pants too
Meanwhile, Mummy Snake (US Translation - Mommy) was getting worried about Derek, her husband. It was getting late, the kids were getting hungry, and the sound of the little hairless monkey had woken them up - again! Mrs Squirrel from next door was right; this time of year was terrible for those hairless monkeys! They made so much noise and trampled everything! "What if something bad has happened to him? Those monkeys can be very violent." She thought. Leaving the kids with strict instructions not to answer the door for anyone, and to go next door to Mrs Squirrel if they had any problems, Mummy Snake went out to look for her husband.
Daddy Snake was having trouble; the screaming of the little monkey had disoriented him so badly that he did not know where he was, “I have got to get home, Angelica will be worried sick!” He thought.
Heading in the direction of the incessant screaming, Mummy Snake soon found herself in the vicinity of some of the gaudy portable burrows that the Monkeys liked to live in, “It must have something to do with the way they hate everything to look calm and subdued,” she thought, trying not to be blinded by the ridiculously bright day-glo constructions, “either that or they are just so bad at finding their way back they need to be able to see their homes from miles away.”
Hearing a noise behind her, Mummy snake turned around just in time to see a big, fat Hairless Monkey with a bright red neck swing a long object towards her… Poor Mummy Snake… that was the last thing she ever saw.
Daddy Snake was heart broken! No longer disoriented, he had found himself back in the rubbish dump that the Hairless Monkeys called home and to his horror witnessed the murder of his wife by the Monkey that had been assaulting the tiny snake in his trousers earlier on! Only able to think of his children he slithered as fast as he could in the direction of his burrow. What does this guy have against snakes? He wondered. The monkey could not have confused Mummy Snake with the tiny snake from before; she was nearly four feet long, whereas the other snake had only been about one and a half inches long.
The next thing he knew, another monkey was making loud hysterical noises. Looking around to see what the danger was he saw His Wife’s Murderer, neck glowing redder than ever, approaching, “No wonder she’s upset, this Monkey is a maniac!” Was his last thought as the monkey swung his long weapon, lopping off Daddy Snake’s head in one chop.
Checking in on the Snake Children for the third time that night, Mrs Squirrel was shocked to find the two older children gone! She rushed home and woke her husband, sending him out in search of them.
The two older children had become so worried about their parents that they had decided to go out searching for them. Even though they knew they had been told to stay home, the kids had never been left by their parents before and were really scared that something bad had happened. Approaching the Hairless Monkey camp, Sharma told his sister Dharma to wait for him under the bushes while he went in to look for their parents. Slithering as quietly as he could, and almost too scared to breathe (he had been told stories about how unpredictably violent the monkeys could be, even without provocation) he made his way through the pile of discarded shiny shells that seemed to provide the monkeys with food and drink and was about to turn back from the overwhelming fear that now almost paralysed him when he saw something too shocking for words; there, piled on top of each other were his parents! Their heads were placed near their bodies and they both had shocked expressions frozen permanently in place.
Trying to see through his tears, Sharma made his way back towards his sister, unsure of what he would tell her. Suddenly, everything seemed to happen at once; a small Hairless Monkey began screaming and Sharma thought he smelt something strange; it was a similar smell to the majority of the shiny shells that the monkeys drank from, only it was stronger, slightly stale and seemed to be mixed with a strong smell of monkey dung. Looking up, he saw a bleary-eyed monkey burping and staggering towards him with a long stick in his hands.
Little Dharma Snake had been lying in the bushes for what seemed like forever. She nervously made her way out of her hiding spot. She had been too scared to move for a long time due to the amount of screaming followed by chest thumping and excited hooting she had heard shortly after her brother had left.
Gathering all of her courage, Dharma made her way out of her hiding spot in the direction that she had seen her brother disappear a few hours before. Having travelled only a few metres she saw two Hairless Monkeys by a fire. Fear won out, and she turned around to flee home in the hope that her family had all gone back there and were waiting for her. Looking up she saw Mr Squirrel who called out to her to move as quickly as she could without looking back. The last thing she ever heard though was a loud “YEEEEHAW!”
Mr Squirrel watched in dismay as the brave Hairless Monkey swung the long weapon that enabled it to kill little Dharma from a safe distance, beheading the poor frightened orphan before dancing excitedly letting out yips of excitement.
With a heavy heart Mr Squirrel made his way home and told Mrs Squirrel the whole sorry story. Unbeknownst to him, the youngest member of the Snake Family was awake in the next room and heard the whole thing. He immediately decided to do something about it.
Sneaking out the window Baby Snake made his way to the Monkey Camp then hid in a gap under the Big Red-Necked Hairless Monkey’s car and waited…
Soon he was on his way to Monkey City. As he had expected, the Monkey drove to his family’s house. While the monkey went inside the house, Baby Snake went around the back to investigate. Spying a small snake near the swing he warned it to leave, telling him about how dangerous the Big Hairless Monkey was.
At that moment the Monkey came out from the house clutching a long stick, a look of fear in its eyes. It came over looked at Baby Snake, and Baby Snake stared straight back at the killer of his family with defiance, daring him to do something. Perhaps sensing his anger, the Monkey’s dull eyes turned away, it rubbed the red patch on its neck and returned to the house.
“Yes, that’s right, run away for now,” thought the little snake, “sleep in peace, thinking you have gotten away with this crime. One day I shall be big, and you and your whole family shall know the pain I feel when I exact my revenge, oh yes! Or my name is not Karma the Snake!”
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clarki
Aug 1, 2005, 3:50 PM
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Baby Snakes, Ha thats funny, makes me think of Dear old Frank Zappa!!!
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mcfoley
Aug 1, 2005, 4:25 PM
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In reply to: What's strange is that you went camping with a hoe.
Sure is...I went camping with a ho one time. Didin't get too much sleep that night.
lol
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southernridgerunner
Aug 1, 2005, 4:31 PM
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People didn't read the story to well I guess. I didn't go camping with a hoe. Del and Marty had it and a shovel sitting under the lean to by the community camp fire. People also didn't read my 2nd post where I said that if I had been out backpacking and it was not a camp ground and no children were around I would not have messed with them. There was also a 2 yr old child in another camp there. Try teaching a 2 yr old how to watch were they step yea right.
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codhands
Aug 1, 2005, 4:56 PM
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Ma and Pa snakes feed their younguns? You learn something new every day.
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freeskicolorado
Aug 1, 2005, 5:05 PM
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In reply to: There was also a 2 yr old child in another camp there. Try teaching a 2 yr old how to watch were they step yea right.
Then perhaps the parents shouldn't be bringing the two year old to a place where it's important to watch where you step? It's called R-E-S-P-O-N-S-I-B-I-L-I-T-Y. I can't figure out why so little of it seems to go around these days.
A better course of action might have been to advise the parents of the two year old that there were poisonous snakes present and that it might be a good idea for them to keep good track of their child. The snakes could also be safely relocated, as previously suggested, with a little bit more initiative.
In reply to: People also didn't read my 2nd post where I said that if I had been out backpacking and it was not a camp ground and no children were around I would not have messed with them.
Nope, did read it. It doesn't make a difference if you're backpacking in the woods or at a campground in the woods. Either way, you're in the woods and are the intruder, not the resident. Just because something has the ability to harm you doesn't give you the right to kill it. Other humans have the ability and means to harm me, but that doesn't give me any right to go strike out at them first.
-Jeff
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hosgh
Aug 1, 2005, 5:05 PM
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Why do you kill a rabid dog, even if it hasn't hurt anything?
The same reason you kill a deadly snake 6 inches from your foot.
Stop bitching about the ruthless slaughter of snakes and try to be a little more realistic.
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dirtineye
Aug 1, 2005, 5:21 PM
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In reply to: Why do you kill a rabid dog, even if it hasn't hurt anything? The same reason you kill a deadly snake 6 inches from your foot. Stop b---- about the ruthless slaughter of snakes and try to be a little more realistic.
Copperheads are not deadly.
Rabid dogs are unpredictable, copperheads are not.
You can avoid the snake, and the snake will avoid you if you give it a chance. THe same cannot be said of rabid dogs.
What it comese down to is, if you are afraid of snakes, you are going to kill it. IF you are not afraid, then you'll let it get away.
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southernridgerunner
Aug 1, 2005, 5:32 PM
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I am by no means afraid of snakes. There are times when you have to modify your behavior to fit the situation. This was on of those times.
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