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

**G* L* <g*@gmail.com>**

Duh here is the link (sorry) Geri
http://srelherp.uga.edu/snakes/index.htm

On Mon, Jun 25, 2012 at 4:42 PM, Geri Laufer <gerilaufer@gmail.com> wrote:

> This page has terrific photos of Eastern US snakes
>  if you click on the names, the photos come up
> Best, Geri
>
> On Mon, Jun 25, 2012 at 3:58 PM, Lawrence F. London, Jr. <
> lflj@bellsouth.net> wrote:
>
>> 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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>>
>
>
>
> --
> Geraldine Adamich Laufer M.S., APR
> 404-586-0686
> gerilaufer@gmail.com
> Twitter http://twitter.com/gardengeri
> web http://gardengeri.com
>
>
>
>

-- 
Geraldine Adamich Laufer M.S., APR
404-586-0686
gerilaufer@gmail.com
Twitter http://twitter.com/gardengeri
web http://gardengeri.com
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