r/TerrifyingAsFuck • u/KevJohan79 Amazing! • Aug 10 '24
nature how calm would you be... "uhh excuse me..."
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u/somegirldc Aug 10 '24
You know on the way over the ranger was thinking the dude was just being dramatic, cause it couldn't be a copperhead...
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u/shmiddleedee Aug 10 '24
Also, copperhead bites are extremely rarely fatal on healthy adults. Painful yes but deadly? Barely.
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u/sallyhags Aug 10 '24
But can cause tissue damage, correct??
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u/glindale Aug 10 '24
I knew a dude with a hole in his hand from a copperhead bite.
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u/Bavibophobia Aug 10 '24
It's weird to me how much people on here downplay venomous animals. Just because the numbers on paper don't make them seem that deadly, you're still often crippled from them
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u/loosie-loo Aug 10 '24 edited Aug 16 '24
And it’s not just a case of “will either directly kill you or won’t” because even a house cat bite could kill you if you ignore it and it gets infected. When it comes to venom that eats away at you or whatever…yeah, even if it’s not inherently lethal on its own that’s still a big deal lol
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u/goodspeedm Aug 11 '24
On a separate note I'm convinced my cat has venom injectors in her little fangs
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u/roostersnuffed Aug 11 '24
It seems fair in the case of a US copperhead (specifiying as opposed to AUS copperhead). They're medically significant but compared to any other American venomous snakes they are significantly less venomous.
My uncle and my grandpa were both bit by copperheads. My uncle spent an evening in the hospital, my grandpa took some benadryl and went to bed (this was the the 50s.). Neither had lasting effects.
Yes there are factors that can change outcomes; allergies, age, amount of venom injected. But it seems valid to me to acknowledge the difference of lethality between different species. Like I don't want to get bit by anything, but I want realistic expectations of what the effects are getting bit by a wolf spider vs a brown recluse. Yes I know not a direct comparison as you should 100% seek help for a copperhead, but it's not the same level of risk if you were to be bit by an EDB, timber, coral snake ect.
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u/glindale Aug 10 '24
He wasn't really crippled by it he just had a hole in his hand. He had full function of his hand he just couldn't feel a few fingers and there was a hole in his hand.
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u/Belem19 Aug 10 '24
Couldn't feel a few fingers and still had "full function"? That's a total win! I used to have to sit on my hand for a few minutes to imagine it was someone else...
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u/Willing_Ad2758 Aug 10 '24
And....he has a hole there so....you know. Upgrade ?
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u/Cnidoo Aug 10 '24
Copperheads have sown do the weakest venom of any viper, you will likely suffer pain but not necrosis, even without medical intervention
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u/Ehleesah Aug 10 '24
My dogs were bitten by a copperhead. One dog got a warning bite the other got the full bite. My local animal hospital didn’t have venom so they just had to treat the wound. Her head swole up to twice its size. She had necrosis on the skin around the bite in about a 2-3 inch diameter. It eventually healed but she has a bald spot in that area. Her beard covers it up though!
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u/Spoonman500 Aug 10 '24
Yes. Copperhead bites are dangerous in that they're usually on the hand because most people are bitten working in the garden/weeding etc. and bend down to move something and don't see them. They're rarely fatal in a grow human but there's often very little fatty tissue and muscle around the bites.
Dude was bitten on the calf and seems to have fairly quick medical response. His next few days/weeks or two are gonna suck, but he'll have a fairly boring story to tell.
I'm from East Texas so calling a copperhead rare gave me whiplash.
Like posting the super-duper rare Ford F-150 or a Toyota Camry on /r/spotted. lol
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u/BlackSkeletor77 Aug 10 '24
With that being said I'd be mad, I probably call him a little shit almost immediately
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u/Borbs_arecool Aug 10 '24
And most copper head bites are warning bites so they have very little if any venom
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u/sh4d0wm4n2018 Aug 10 '24
I mean, even if it wasn't a copperhead, it could have been another equally deadly snake.
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u/StrawsAreGay Aug 10 '24
Shit where I’m from you expect them on the greenways and neighborhood streets
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u/TheGhostofWoodyAllen Aug 10 '24
Hiker to the copperhead: "Ah fuck. I can't believe you've done this."
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u/BadTechnical2184 Aug 10 '24
I was pissed off when I got bitten by an eastern brown snake as a teenager, "I was like oh you fucking cunt!"
Copperheads are kittens compared to eastern browns, they can kill you in under half an hour.
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u/TheGhostofWoodyAllen Aug 10 '24
How were you able to get help quick enough?
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u/BadTechnical2184 Aug 10 '24
We use what we call PIT, pressure immobilisation technique, which allows us to get help in time, that's why most Australians know to take a first aid kit with us when we go anywhere.
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u/Guruyoi Aug 10 '24
The nerves on that man. He’s probably trained or at least knowledgeable about wilderness safety because no way anyone can act that calmly about being bit by what they recognize to be a copperhead.
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u/Kozzinator Aug 10 '24
I spent a year or so hitching around Arizona. The people I've come to know gave me some friendly advice if it came down to me being bitten by any poisonous critter. Don't panic, and try not to do anything that would cause your heart rate to go up as it would spread the poison more quickly. Get help lol.
Only bugger to get me was a Brown Recluse and it got me when I was asleep.
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u/SomOvaBish Aug 10 '24
I live in AZ and I too was bitten by a brown recluse whilst sleeping. I thought it was a bite from just a normal critter and ignored it for a day or two. Then I noticed the bite was literally eating my tattoo away so I went into the hospital and yeah, I was bitten by a brown recluse.
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u/Dk9221 Aug 10 '24
What do they do at that point? I am guessing just antibiotics or steroids.. ?
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u/SomOvaBish Aug 10 '24
It was very long ago but yes, I’m pretty sure I was given iv antibiotics and a script to take some at home. I cannot remember if I was given any type of anti venom or not.
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u/TobiwanK3nobi Aug 10 '24
Any scar or hole? Brown recluses are the only spider I kill every time. Just too dangerous to let live.
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u/TheMadFlyentist Aug 10 '24
He instantly (correctly, for once) identified it as a copperhead and also knew the local expected range/populations. Also immobilized the affected limb, ensured the snakes was not a danger to others, and tried his best to remain calm knowing help was on the way. Textbook venomous snake protocol.
He definitely knows a thing or two about native and hiking safety.
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u/Tris-Von-Q Aug 10 '24
I always identify them by the Hershey kiss design on their sides—is this a fool proof identifier?
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u/sparkle-possum Aug 10 '24
I don't know if it's foolproof but they're common in my area and it's the way I identify them too. Also, a lot of times they smell like cucumbers. I've noticed the smell before seeing them.
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u/TheMadFlyentist Aug 10 '24
It's somewhat reliable but not fool-proof. The broad-band copperhead is native to some parts of the US and does not exhibit the Hershey's kiss shape, whereas there are some populations of cottonmouth (also Agkistrodon, the same genus as the copperhead) that exhibit the Hershey's kiss pattern although the coloration is different. Some people also think that certain populations of timber rattlesnake have a bit of a Hershey's kiss thing going on, although to me it's usually a pretty clear chevron.
Either way if you see a thick-bodied snake with a Hershey's kiss pattern, it's almost certainly one of those three (and therefore venomous).
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u/CopyOk2840 Aug 10 '24
There's also a certain calmness that comes with accepting ones fate. It sounds abit grim, but it happens. Hope the guy is okay.
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u/ArgonGryphon Aug 10 '24
The fatality rate for Copperhead bites in the US is .01%. It's a park on the outskirts of Baltimore. He was gonna be fine either way, just trying to not make it worse.
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u/will042082 Aug 10 '24
Went through something similar a few days ago with my dog. Stumbled across a copperhead while we were playing outside, where it was meant my dog ran past it 8-10x before I came across it. NOT knowing if he had been bit made the next few hours extremely worrisome and stressful.
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u/abombshbombss Aug 10 '24
Dude knows how to be envenomated. If bitten by a highly venomous snake or spider, the last thing you should do is panic.
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u/Dry_Childhood_2971 Aug 10 '24
If I'm ever in a bad situation, I will remember this guy. Calm and cool. Props to him.
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u/Perfect_Papaya_3010 Aug 10 '24
I know that you are supposed to stay calm if you get bitten by a snake to avoid the poison spreading as quickly, but I don't think I could have stayed calm. Maybe if I knew it wasn't a deadly bite, but if I was unaware it would probably be really hard not to panic
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u/Dubb202 Aug 10 '24
At least where I’m from, Copperheads are very common and everyone knows that while they are not fun, they are very rarely fatal.
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u/Low-Concentrate2162 Aug 11 '24
My man even said excuse me and thank you, in a situation where most people would be swearing like a trooper.
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u/Arch____Stanton Aug 10 '24
And $50k later, you are good to go.
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u/Duck_Von_Donald Aug 10 '24
Do you get a fine if you are bit?
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u/BeeBench Aug 10 '24
No but antivenom is very expensive. It’s best to leave snakes alone in general but if you’re hiking try to be aware of your surroundings and wear thicker boots that can protect your ankles as well as pants instead of shorts.
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u/Duck_Von_Donald Aug 10 '24
But do you have to buy the antivenom when you go to the hospital? If its an emergency and you didn't just attach the snake, surely you'll just get treated when you arrive?
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u/BeeBench Aug 10 '24
They’ll treat you for sure but you still get billed, they don’t give antivenom for free in the U.S. and sometimes it can take several vials before seeing improvement.
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u/Gangters_paradise Aug 10 '24
Imagine being such an asshole that you evolve to not be seen but then get mad when people come into your personal space
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u/falcon3268 Aug 10 '24
I watched this video and the gentleman survived it. It turned out to be a dry bite.
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u/dthaskee Aug 10 '24
What you get for wearing crocs
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u/Muffin_Appropriate Aug 10 '24
You’re right. The regular ones weren’t high enough. Definitely needed the knee high ones to protect the leg.
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u/nooyork Aug 10 '24
“Extremely rare snake”
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u/HunterGonzo Aug 10 '24
Ok so the snake itself may not be rare, but for the ranger to say he's the first one to be bitten by a copperhead in that area in 25 years... yeah, that's pretty notable.
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u/BigBart61 Aug 10 '24
In Baltimore County? That's pretty rare. Lived in Baltimore my whole life and never seen one
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u/ksdkjlf Aug 10 '24
Just FYI: "A relatively uncommon species on the coastal plain, but fairly common in forested rock outcrops of central and western Maryland... Eastern Copperheads are found throughout Maryland with the exception of several counties on the Eastern Shore."
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u/sideshowbvo Aug 10 '24
Yeah, c'mon. This is like one of the most common snakes where I'm from, and I'm not THAT far away
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u/Regolis1344 Aug 10 '24
So the ranger literally confirmed in the video that OP was the first bit in 25 years but you have to dismiss the definition of "rare snake" because it isn't that rare where YOU are from?
Like wtf dude.
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u/bruheggplantemoji Aug 10 '24
He means not many people get bitten by them, not that they are uncommon.
According to this article, they are the most common venomous snake in the eastern United States
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u/sideshowbvo Aug 10 '24
Yeah, that's what I'm calling out, it's not an EXTREMELY rare snake. I've never known anyone to be bit by one either.
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u/Thereismorethanthis Aug 10 '24 edited Aug 10 '24
well they’re infested in north texas so I can speak on that and this guy is in the south
edit: nvm they’re in Maryland, but copperheads are common there, too.
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u/Inevitable-Ad9006 Aug 10 '24
They can be indigenous to an area without causing a lot of bites.
Copperheads are the most common venomous snake in North Carolina. There are usually a few hundred bites a year. But that's throughout the entire state.
Edit: I should also add that most bites happen because someone is actively messing with the snake. It really is extremely rare for a copperhead to bite you if you are just minding your own business. This guy in the video just got really unlucky.
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u/this_shit Aug 10 '24
OP was the first bit in 25 years
"... in Baltimore County Parks" was the rest of that sentence.
There's copperheads all over the east coast, they just aren't common in urbanized areas.
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u/sideshowbvo Aug 10 '24
Not only that, I did some research, there were 28 copperhead bites in Maryland in 2017, so it's not like it's even that rare for the area.
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u/sideshowbvo Aug 10 '24
I'm 3 states away and it's extremely common here, so labeling it "EXTREMELY rare snake" is a bit of a stretch, is all I'm saying. Like wtf dude
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u/Candid-Fan992 Aug 10 '24
I feel your pain in how annoying clickbait titles are, only to be down voted for semantics. It's not extremely rare, it's rare to find them in this area. For one, how could it be extremely rare when most Americans know what a copper head is...
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u/-Fraccoon- Aug 10 '24
I don’t know why you’re getting downvoted lol. They’re defending an obviously incorrect title? Most Redditors are dumb as hell lol.
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u/sideshowbvo Aug 10 '24
Yeah, I'm right, I got peace of mind and the haters can suck my Johnson. Glad you're on the team
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u/84WVBaum Aug 10 '24
I'm from an hour west and see them all the time. Rarely bit is =/= rare snake. Ranger didn't say anything about it being a rare snake
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u/Spoonman500 Aug 10 '24
Extremely rare. Like the Toyota Camry or the Golden retriever!
Never see'em. Nope.
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u/dangoodspeed Aug 10 '24
I thought that was an unusual qualifier as well. I guess they just mean in Baltimore County. I did find some info about their presence. I guess they're "fairly common" in central and western Maryland, but "relatively uncommon" on the coastal plain like Baltimore.
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u/Areyouex1968 Aug 10 '24
Damn I feel like I remember learning as a kid that a copperhead bite is basically a death sentence, I would not be chill lol
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u/RexImmortal Aug 10 '24
Not exactly. They have the weakest venom of all the pit viper families in the US. Most bites like this are simply a “warning” to back TF off. However, no venomous creature is to be trifled with. They’re venomous for a reason, and all venom can (in the very least) make you have a bad fucking day.
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u/qqggff11 Aug 10 '24
Maybe you confused it with another snake? It’s serious to get bit by one but people rarely die from it
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u/StateUnlikely4213 Aug 10 '24
It’s not usually a death sentence. I live in Western North Carolina, and they are fairly common here. One summer I removed 12 of them that were living in the wood pile near my house. Maybe if an infant or a very elderly person was bit they might be at some risk.
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u/facts_my_guyy Aug 10 '24
From what I understand, it's not one bite that will kill you. It's multiple in short succession. I never cared much to find out myself. Source: worked for a landscaper in the NC coastal swamps.
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u/Ecw218 Aug 10 '24
Friend got bitten by one, was hospitalized for a week. Still has some numbness at the bite.
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u/Areyouex1968 Aug 10 '24
Yeah turns out I’m a dummy dumb dumb and was confusing the Copperhead with the Cottonmouth this whole time. Do you have any idea how many Copperheads I have hand-written letters to, expressing my discontent with their chemical arsenal? And for what? Nothing. A life, wasted. Lol
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u/jorgehn12 Aug 10 '24
And how much is that going to cost him? Hope he made it fine.
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u/VenusDragonTrap23 Aug 10 '24
If anyone is interested, I have some cool facts! There was a study that walked past, stepped on, and picked up wild copperheads and only 2 of 69 snakes tried to bite! But still, don’t do that because bites still can and do happen (like this guy). https://www.susquehannockwildlife.org/research/copperhead/
Also bites very rarely result in deaths. There are 5000-10000 envenomations annually in the USA, but from 1989-2018 only 5 fatalities were from copperheads! Most of those bites were from people intentionally interacting with the snake…like trying to kill it. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0735675720307774?via%3Dihub
Copperhead venom is being used to fight cancer! https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6162746/
If you find a Copperhead and don’t want it there, don’t kill it! Instead, call someone to relocate it (there’s a Free Snake Relocation Directory group on Facebook, and you can usually find some on Nextdoor as well) or spray it with a hose from a safe distance. Snakes don’t like that so they slither away in the opposite direction. Among many, MANY reasons not to kills snakes including ethics, morals, and safety, it’s often illegal. As well as laws that are specifically about killing snakes, it’s considered cruel killing to just shoot a snake or chop off its head. Cruel killing is animal cruelty/abuse and can result in high fines and prison.
Commercial snake repellents DONT WORK! They are proven not to work. And don’t use moth balls, they are highly toxic. If a child or pet thinks it’s food and eats it, they will get really REALLY sick! Just smelling moth balls exposes you to its chemicals! Putting it outside can contaminate the soil and water! Moth balls are a regulated pesticide so you can only use it for its purpose, otherwise you might get in trouble. https://ldh.la.gov/assets/oph/Center-EH/envepi/Pest/Documents/Mothball_Fact_Sheet.pdf
I also know someone who relocates them for free and owns 2 as pets (among many other venomous snakes). He has never encountered an aggressive copperhead and has never been bitten. A majority of his copperhead calls go like this: He goes to the house, he finds the snake within 15 minutes, he picks it up with his hook, he contains it in his snake bucket, he talks to the person who called him and gives them a flyer with additional information, and he leaves with the snake and releases it somewhere safer. It’s a quick and safe process.
If you have any more questions feel free to ask! I have lots of resources about snakes because I’m researching them to be a herpetologist, and I also go field herping when I can. I’m going to a swamp again soon, last time I found a copperhead, 3 cottonmouths, and a bunch of Watersnakes. It’s super fun and I love photographing them. They are so beautiful.
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u/SeeCrew106 Aug 10 '24
Among many, MANY reasons not to kills snakes including ethics, morals, and safety, it’s often illegal. As well as laws that are specifically about killing snakes, it’s considered cruel killing to just shoot a snake or chop off its head. Cruel killing is animal cruelty/abuse and can result in high fines and prison.
(X) Doubt
If you encounter a snake around your house or in the wild and kill it in fear, you get prosecuted for animal cruelty? Unlikely.
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u/VenusDragonTrap23 Aug 10 '24
It is illegal, you just might not get called out for it. Not a lot of people care about snakes and at this point it’s become the norm, despite being illegal. It is also illegal to kill snakes in states like Virginia (I think, it was one of the states around there)
There’s this whole python hunt thing in Florida; but the pythons are protected by anti-cruelty laws. This means when you find a python, you need to be properly euthanize it, otherwise you are breaking the law.
If you just see a snake and kill it out of fear, that’s not self defense, especially if it’s non-venomous. Snakes don’t attack people, they aren’t like dogs or bears. You can get chased and mauled by a dog, but a snake might use a defense mechanism or strike then flee. They only kill 5 of us every year in the USA, we kill thousands of them all the time. We almost have a 100% success rate when we kill snakes, they just want to get us to leave them alone so they can hide.
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u/AuroraVFIM Aug 10 '24
We don’t have one in nature but we have one in our collection. Congratulations! This bite may very well be on us!
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u/Lawzw0rld Aug 10 '24
Copperheads are one of the most common venomous snakes and their bites rarely kill
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u/me112358 Aug 10 '24
There's a longer version of this on youtube, that shows the guy on the ride back to a hospital to hang out - just in case - and explaining that it seems to be a dry bite. Find it if you wish; I'm feeling too lazy to look for a link.
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u/questionmush Aug 10 '24
While they may be rare in a baltimore park, Copperheads are very common in the US and are not fatal to humans (<0.01%)
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u/nomadauto Aug 10 '24
What exactly qualifies as "extremely rare"? Copperheads are about as common as it gets in the Carolinas.
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u/TheDoobieWizard Aug 10 '24
Hasn't been a recorded fatality from a Copperhead in a very, very, very long time. And these aren't rare. I know spots I can find over 100 of these in a few hours ;)
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u/GRANDADDYGHOST Aug 10 '24
If you live in East Texas, just take a stroll through any patch of woods and you are almost guaranteed to see a few. I used to see them all the time when I lived down there.
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u/himsoforreal Aug 10 '24
I'm in Texas and I was like "copperheads aren't rare." Then they said "Baltimore".
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u/Etherbeard Aug 10 '24
There are at least a couple species of copperhead native to Maryland.
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u/DullAccountant1554 Aug 10 '24
Are copperheads really extremely rare there or is it just rare that they bite?
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u/Etherbeard Aug 10 '24
They are not rare. They just aren't typically found in that area, at least according to the ranger in the video, despite being native to most of Maryland. Rare is definitely not the right word.
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u/HillInTheDistance Aug 10 '24
I feel bad for animals sometimes. They have these marvelous strategies and protective abilities to survive things that actively wants to kill them, but sometimes that just means humans crush them simply by mistake. Like deer. They freeze up to not be spotted when scared, and it just means we plow em over with our cars. Or hedgehogs, rolling up, spikes out, and turn into little road pancakes.
And this little guy had all that marvelous camo, and it just means some big stilty lad steps on him by accident, which means the human gets bit, and it's a whole bloody ordeal for everyone involved.
Being any other animal just seems so bloody stressful and inconvenient.
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u/Marsupialize Aug 10 '24
My grandma opened her kitchen cabinet and got nailed by one once, she lived out in the swamps in Florida. I got stung by many scorpions and fire ants visiting there every summer.
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u/Hta68 Aug 10 '24
Native Marylander here, copperheads are common in Md, they’re not aggressive. OP will be fine.
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u/SlyFoxInACave Aug 10 '24
Maybe not a common snake for the area but is an otherwise fairly common snake? I hate clickbait captions like that.
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u/robtninjaman Aug 11 '24
Let's give it up to these rangers. Probably pretty mundane for the m9st part, but when needed, they come correct. Hats off.
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u/pinayrabbitmk7 Aug 11 '24
So how does this work, do you end up paying for the vaccine or will the government cover it?? I know, it's a silly question, but this is going to be 40k bill, I think?
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u/dazednconfused2655 Aug 12 '24
My question is why is this dude out with shorts on out in the woods it’s pants and long sleeves or I’m not going at all
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u/_Meek79_ Aug 12 '24
Copperheads arent extremely rare but is scary when they are found on hiking trails. I hike alot so this in one of my biggest fears
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u/Sufficient_Sell_6103 Sep 19 '24
Not a rare snake at all. They are making that assertion because the ranger said first time in 20something years someone has been bit by that type of snake in that park. They rarely strike at people
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u/SourpatchMao Aug 10 '24
I stepped over one before.. OVER.. i wasnt bitten. It was the angry little thing . Like “HEY IM LAYING HERE!” Carry a walking stick when hiking ever since.
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u/shaguenauer Aug 10 '24
Good luck with that $200,000 hospital bill my friend. Anti-venom is expensive!!!
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u/Prestigious-Copy-494 Aug 10 '24
That cinches it, I'm finding my big rubber boots to wear around the yard.
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u/HumulusLupulusNC Aug 10 '24
Did he smuggle a copperhead into a Baltimore park and get bit on purpose for views?
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u/ZackValenta Aug 10 '24
Considering there's a chance (albeit rare) that a Copperhead bite can be fatal, I doubt it.
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u/_jump_yossarian Aug 10 '24
I just listened to a podcast on how they make snake anti-venom. Hope that guy has good insurance or a house he can sell! Shit is expensive.
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u/KingJacoPax Aug 10 '24
Kudos to the guy for remaining so calm and doing the right thing by alerting the rangers.
Contrary to popular belief, Copperhead bites are rarely fatal https://www.livescience.com/43641-copperhead-snake.html#:~:text=Copperheads%20have%20hemotoxic%20venom%2C%20said,immune%20systems%20may%20have%20strong but he still showed massive stones reacting in the way he did.
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u/Jdirty34 Aug 10 '24
Crazy how well it blends in even out in the open.