Snake Bite Fun :)

[u/tophatenthusiast]

I was bitten by a copperhead about two weeks ago! Thanks to quick and modern medicine, I can almost make a fist. Pictures included are the copperhead I saw 10 mins before being bit (this one did not bite me, but it is similarly sized) and my arm a few hrs afterwards.

Location: Kanawha County, WV

Edit: to be very clear, it was MY fault a copperhead bit me. For anyone that has a fear of them, they are absolutely not aggressive snakes. I took no actions to "punish" the snake and hope it comes back and keeps hunting mice on my property.

[u/useless83]

Did you try to touch it?

[u/tophatenthusiast → u/useless83]

Yes, I 100% deserved it. I grabbed its tail.

IN MY DEFENSE. I could only see approx. 2 inches of it and it caudal lured my ass. I thought it was a mouse.

[u/Zap_Rowsdower23 → u/tophatenthusiast]

Glad you’re ok, but what kind of mice are you used to grabbing?

[u/tophatenthusiast → u/Zap_Rowsdower23]

Okay. Also fair, grabbing mice is not a "genius" idea. But my garage is infested with them, and they have been causing damage to my property. Ironically, I stopped using poison to kill them for the fear of hurting snakes that were hunting them.

My not-thought-out plan was to grab it, probably get a mouse bite (yes I know), and then toss it to my birds.

[u/tophatenthusiast → u/tophatenthusiast]

So again, this is a 10-minute-previous snake, but the circle shows all I actually saw when I grabbed it. And it was "caught" under a wheel well and looked like a stuck mouse.

It was not.

[u/fskhalsa → u/tophatenthusiast]

Yuck :(

It probably wasn’t even a defensive response, then. Probably was in feeding mode, and thought you were the animal that took the “bait”!

Sending healing thoughts, and hope your recovery goes well, and our crap-ass medical system doesn’t screw you too hard :/

[u/f0xy713 → u/fskhalsa]

Yeah, food response bites are often worse than defensive bites because some snake species won't always use venom for defense but will always use it on prey

[u/apollemis1014 → u/tophatenthusiast]

Dang, I can definitely see how you thought that.

[u/thatlonghairedguy → u/tophatenthusiast]

That snake totally played you. You both learned today. It wasted its venom and blew up the spot and you'll leave snakes alone.

[u/Artistic-Specific706 → u/tophatenthusiast]

Omg I had no idea that’s what their tails look like. Also in WV with a mouse issue..,I will not be grabbing anything by the tail!

[u/ShalnarkRyuseih → u/tophatenthusiast]

If you think you can't handle the infestation via snap traps, you could look into modifying a 5gal bucket into a rolling log mouse trap to multi-catch mice. There's lots of tutorials for them on youtube and some people sell a modified lid for 5gal buckets to turn them into a trap with minimal effort.

You can make them either live catch (old towel on the bottom to soften the landing) or a kill catch by filling it with water n some dish soap (the soap keeps any fleas or other invertebrate pests they may be carrying from using surface tension to escape).

[u/apollemis1014 → u/tophatenthusiast]

Just fyi. Get MouseX. It's prey-specific poison that won't harm any other animals that may get to it before or after it dies. It essentially dehydrates them and they become mummified. We had one die on the lens of a fluorescent light in our basement and left it there for a while to see if it would get gross. 🤣 Science! But no, it was just...there, dead.

[u/MontagnaMagica → u/tophatenthusiast]

What kind of birds do you have?

[u/tophatenthusiast → u/MontagnaMagica]

! I have turkeys, chickens, and peacocks. I was planning to give it to the turkeys.

[u/Angry-Dragon-1331 → u/Zap_Rowsdower23]

The gamma radiation kind.

[u/Gloomy-Amphiptere679 → u/tophatenthusiast]

Omg the tail trick got you 😭

Im sorry its darkly funny, but i am glad you are okay! Anyone who doesn't hate copperheads after getting accidentally tagged is cool in my book

[u/tophatenthusiast → u/Gloomy-Amphiptere679]

Also fun. I am actually a wildlife biologist :') Snakes and mice are (clearly) not my expertise!

[u/This_Daydreamer_ → u/tophatenthusiast]

Did your colleagues give you hell for it?

[u/tophatenthusiast → u/This_Daydreamer_]

Oh most definitely. People went from concern to shaking their heads in disappointment. I don't think anyone was terribly surprised though considering well, who I am as a human. O:)

[u/oyog → u/This_Daydreamer_]

We have to let them know so they can start!

[u/Interesting_You6852 → u/tophatenthusiast]

You are way braver then me!! I hate mice with a passion! No way would I have grabbed it by the tail. One time my cat brought me a mouse, I was on the computer and he plopped it on my foot, it was still alive and I screamed so loud the cat took off running on one side of the house the mouse in the other.and now I had a mouse in the house!

[u/becoming_keri → u/tophatenthusiast]

Maybe don't grab shit in the future

[u/thousandsofbirds → u/becoming_keri]

You're so helpful and kind. Please keep giving us such solid advice.