Has anyone been bitten by a snake???

Any herpetologists here to put the garter snake to rest :icon_study:
 

Common Garter Snake - The most widely distributed snake in North America. Commonly found in most areas from the Atlantic to Pacific Coasts, except desert regions of the Southwest. Attains a maximum length of about 52 inches. Prefers areas that are close to water, damp woodland and farms. Found from sea level to 8,000 feet. It is NON-Poisionous.

The most commonly encountered snake in many parts of its range. Active during the day and most frequently seen amid moist vegetation where it searches for frogs, toads, salamanders, and earthworms. Occasionally it takes small fish and mice. This species is able to tolerate cold weather and may be active all year in the southerly part of its range. It hibernates in great numbers in community dens in northerly range. Ill-tempered when first captured, it will bite or expel musk, but it tames quickly and soon becomes docile. Record longevity is 10 years.

description 18-51 5/8" (45.7-131.1 cm). Most widely distributed snake in North America. Coloration highly variable, but back and side stripes usually well-defined. Side stripe confined to 2nd and 3rd scale rows (except Texas). Red blotches or a double row of alternating black spots often present between stripes. Usually 7 upper lip scales. Scales keeled, in 19 rows. Anal plate single.
 

I have picked up many garter snakes.
Have been bit a couple times but not bad. No blood. Mostly they stink you for defence.
I like them around as they eat bugs and spiders (I think).
Have seen red stripes, white, and yellow. They always try and get away from you.

Had a friend that raised Boa Constrictors. Had cages all around his living room.
Feeding time was amazing as the poor mice never had a chance.
(I was a teen and learning the real world).

When as a small kid I lived in the Mohave Desert and we always threw burning paper into the outhouse hole to get rid of bad critters.
Got caught by my Grandma when I was playing with a tarantula and a black widow.
I wanted to see who would win. She whupped me and squashed them so I don't know.

Ants I know. Red, black, red and black, black and red, sugar ants, carpenter ants that are like termites and will eat your home.
Wasps and especially yellow jackets that go crazy.
Had a couple sugar plum trees in front yard once.
Fallen plums would ferment and yellow jackets would get drunk and attack anything.
They can bite and sting without dying. I think a lot of auto accidents are caused by them.
I have had 1" long yellow jackets wake up from hibernation and fly out of my defroster in an old truck and buzz me.
Nearly drove off the road as they got my attention !

A bee will die if it stings as it loses its butt stinger and part of its abdomen.
In the late 1960s I was informed by a friend of a new species of bees.
They had a letter "H" on their back. Told that they were bred to not sting.
I saw several with my own eyes. Haven't seen one since.
Bees are very important for crop fertilization.
Beekeepers are paid to bring their colonies to fertilize many crops.

I like snakes in general but leave them alone.
I would rather have a box turtle.

Grey
 

At this point, I am willing to be bitten if it would cure a toothache or at least take my mind off it.... :tard:
 

got bit on the shoulder of all places by a timber rattler. It was wrapped around a limb and I brushed up against it.
 

A buddy of mine was bitten a few years back at a ranch that we go hunting on. He saw a small, very small, rattlesnake in camp. It was about the size of a big nightcrawler. He decided, with a beer-fogged mind, to gently step on the critter, grab it just under the head, and remove it to a safe place, away from camp. Safe for the snake and the campers. (He has done this before but with larger snakes.......same mind) This one was so small that it was able to turn the top half of its mouth around, independent of the lower jaw, and bite him on the tip of his finger. He figured the snake was so small that he didn't have a problem but he had to shake the snake off his hand. Everyone told him he had better get going to the hospital as he was in a camp on a 5500 ranch and then about 20 miles from town. He didn't pay no mind until about a half hour later when his whole hand began to burn. He then decided to accept a ride to town. I'm not sure if his alcohol consumption was a deciding factor on the type of medical treatment he received but, he ended up spending 3 or 4 days in the hospital. During that time, his whole hand swelled up and turned black. His arm also swelled up and he told us that even his testicles had turned blue. (I can't validate that claim) His hand, and then just his finger, were swollen and discolored for a long time; a few weeks anyway. He ended up keeping the bitten finger but it was questionable at times. I won't mess with them. If they are in my camp and I can't remove them alive, without risk to me or others in camp, they're goners. (Sorry treehuggers) I've let many of them go but, if they're a threat, too bad for them.
He had a dog that was rattlesnake bit in the face near the same location but on a different day. The dogs face swelled up and the dog was lethargic for a while but made it okay. Then, one day, while this same guy was at a bar drinking his usual Coors, his dog jumped out of his pickup that was parked in the bar parking lot, to come to the bar and he got ran over and killed by the Coors delivery truck. Go figure...............I swear!
 

When I was a little boy, I got bit by a garter snake. I tied his tail in a knot in a tree and left him there.
If it happened today, I'd just shoot him. (just kidding... I wouldn't shoot him).
 

packerbacker said:
A buddy of mine was bitten a few years back at a ranch that we go hunting on. He saw a small, very small, rattlesnake in camp. It was about the size of a big nightcrawler. He decided, with a beer-fogged mind, to gently step on the critter, grab it just under the head, and remove it to a safe place, away from camp. Safe for the snake and the campers. (He has done this before but with larger snakes.......same mind) This one was so small that it was able to turn the top half of its mouth around, independent of the lower jaw, and bite him on the tip of his finger. He figured the snake was so small that he didn't have a problem but he had to shake the snake off his hand. Everyone told him he had better get going to the hospital as he was in a camp on a 5500 ranch and then about 20 miles from town. He didn't pay no mind until about a half hour later when his whole hand began to burn. He then decided to accept a ride to town. I'm not sure if his alcohol consumption was a deciding factor on the type of medical treatment he received but, he ended up spending 3 or 4 days in the hospital. During that time, his whole hand swelled up and turned black. His arm also swelled up and he told us that even his testicles had turned blue. (I can't validate that claim) His hand, and then just his finger, were swollen and discolored for a long time; a few weeks anyway. He ended up keeping the bitten finger but it was questionable at times. I won't mess with them. If they are in my camp and I can't remove them alive, without risk to me or others in camp, they're goners. (Sorry treehuggers) I've let many of them go but, if they're a threat, too bad for them.
He had a dog that was rattlesnake bit in the face near the same location but on a different day. The dogs face swelled up and the dog was lethargic for a while but made it okay. Then, one day, while this same guy was at a bar drinking his usual Coors, his dog jumped out of his pickup that was parked in the bar parking lot, to come to the bar and he got ran over and killed by the Coors delivery truck. Go figure...............I swear!
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Go figure. There must be a moral to that story, somewhere.
 

Theres also the dreaded trousersnake that is considered lethal.
 

When I worked on a ranch in Arizona we kept big German Shepards out on the land to keep tools and equipment from being stolen. Every once and a while we would go out in the morning and one of the dogs would have gotten snakebit. Their heads would swell up like pumpkins but they always recovered. Guess they wern't too bright because they did it more than once. They would also git tangled up with the porcupines...would look like they grew a beard of quills. About an hr with a pair of pliers and were able to pull those quills back out.

I have stepped right over quite a few rattlers without seeing them..lucky I quess. Have also caught quite a few and put them in a safe place. (away from people/pets ,ect) I hear they can be tasty fare but have never cooked one.
 

packerbacker said:
Yep, they're very good tasting, especially bar-b-qued with seasoning salts.
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let me guess...they taste like chicken? Do they?
 

~Trish~ said:
packerbacker said:
Yep, they're very good tasting, especially bar-b-qued with seasoning salts.
Click to expand...

let me guess...they taste like chicken? Do they?
Click to expand...

Awww Trish you bet me to it, lol :D :D :D ;D
 

stefen said:
Theres also the dreaded trousersnake that is considered lethal.
Click to expand...
I'm not certain of their lethality. They can inflict a bite to the victim that feels euphoric at the moment .
Residual consequences can include remorse , abdominal swelling that will last for 9 months or so , terrible mood swings , water retention , total changes in lifestyles , and on ....
Responsible owners of these trousersnakes assume responsibility for the result of something that they poked in fun being taken so seriously .
 

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