Re: black widows & copperhead snakes (in great number in NC this season)

**"* F* L* J* <l*@bellsouth.net>**

On 6/25/2012 3:05 PM, WGardenermag@aol.com wrote:

> All I know if once you have seen one face-to-face, you won't forget it.

That is gospel.

Something I posted to another group on copperheads:

 > I think this is a valid question, particularly with the high number of
 > copperheads we’re seeing this year.

The warm winter must have had something to do with that. I uncovered a
30" X 1.3" diameter copperhead (biggest I have seen here since 1978) in 
a compost pile near my gardens. I was using cardboard boxes, paper trash 
and newspapers to cover Bermuda grass, also added branches from tree 
trimmings at ground level and piled the paper on top. The branches and 
unflattened boxes provided voids where mice could build nests. With 
plenty of room and air the copperhead had settled within the pile for 
easy access to food. I found it as I was loading the pile onto my truck 
to take to another location.

I would imagine that mulching garden paths with flattened cardboard
boxes might create an environment for mice and copperheads
since the material will not always lay flat on the ground and even if
it does mice will still nest under it (they build tunnels and fill
them with grass) and copperheads will be attracted to them. Adding 
branches and twigs would greatly increase the risk as they decompose 
slower and provide air spaces for nesting and hunting snakes.

Growing in tall, wide raised beds with narrow paths between them (one
foot, just wide enough to allow access by a wheelbarrow) would
eliminate most weed problems; plant material cleaned off the beds can be 
used to mulch the narrow paths, provide nutrients, conserve water and 
eliminate invasive weeds. Otherwise hoe, mow or scythe grassy paths
within gardens. Mulch the beds and mow the paths.

About copperheads: they sense people and animals near them through
sound vibrations carried through the ground. They are not aggressive
but will strike if you surprise them or get too close. Their strike is
lightening fast, faster then you can see and they are strong, able to
bite a target at a distance greater then the length of their body. The
middle 60 percent of their body is wide and heavily muscled. I have 
heard that they have more poison early in the season than later in the 
summer and it could be more potent too but I do not know about that 
factor..The baby snakes are also very potent.They feed at night but can 
often be seen during afternoons especially at dusk and on cool mornings 
warming themselves in the sun, another time to be watchful. I
have encountered and dispatched nine of them since I bought my land.
Old timers in NC call September, Copperhead September, because they
seek warm surfaces in the afternoon and at night, masonry, concrete
and asphalt surfaces, patios, steps, walks, driveways, roads, slabs,
parking spaces. This period extends into November in the Piedmont.
I and two of my neighbors each discovered copperheads in these
locations September of last year and one of them found two in town
where he was doing a landscape job during February. Often they will be
where you don't expect them, staying put until you uncover them or get 
too close. In a few words, Eternal Vigilance. An EMT
told me that the most important thing to do if you get bit is to call
911 immediately. Antivenin is available and administered when
appropriate. I recently heard that antivenin can only be administered 
once in a lifetime, needs verification. It is still a good idea to keep 
a snakebite kit in your first aid kit. Googling this subject would also 
be very worthwhile especially with regard to emergency treatment..

They scare the bejeezus out of me; I had to contend with one in my
house once. From February to November I do walkabouts with
eyes glued to the ground in front of me and always carry a walking
stick, ones that are long and heavy and will make a loud thump on the 
ground when I walk.
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