FMF - Friends of Minerals Forum, discussion and message board

[Mike P.]

Would like to here about some stories of encounters with snakes while mineral prospecting and some good tip on safety while mineral hunting in the western states

[crocoite]

A common hazard in Australia!

[Peter Megaw]

At the right (wrong) time of day you can see plenty! I've seen as many as 42 in an afternoon at the Rowley Mine and 33 in a day at Tombstone. I have also gone entire field seasons without seeing any at all. Worst was roping in to a mine in the Gleeson district in January to find a den of many hundreds of rattlers massed at the bottom on the decline. After checking them out for a few minutes from the comparative safety of being on belay 10 feet above them I got out of there quickly. Turns out this is a well known den and a rattlesnake "artist" who makes belts and hatbands out of rattlesnake skins uses this place as his supply store!

Pit vipers are all you have to worry about (rattlesnakes, copperheads and water moccasins) for coral snakes and Gila monsters it takes active stupidity on your part to get bitten.

All snakes can sense vibrations through their bellies...so stepping solidly...thereby sending out the message that there's something clumsy and WAAY to big to eat in the neighborhood usually cases them to vamoose. Horse and cows have this down pat!

When its hot out snakes tend to hide in cool places...like mine adits...so be careful entering. (AND only go underground with permission and knowledge of the potential dangers of abandoned underground mines!). Tossing a few rocks in and listening for rattling is a good first step, followed by keeping your eyes opened completely as you go in. Remember to give your eyes a few minutes to adjust to the gloom so you can see them before they can sense you.

Snakes need to warm up before moving much so they often bask in the sun in the mornings and afternoons as they are getting started. This is when you're most likely to see them and when they may be torpid enough for you to get close before they pick up on you.

A really important rule of thumb is that snakes can only strike a maximum of 2/3rds of their body length...and then only if fully coiled and backed up against something solid. This means a 6 foot monster is only a danger if you are within 4 feet! Likewise a more common to encounter 3' snake has to be within 2' of you to be a problem. This means if you hear rattling, keep cool and figure out where its coming from. If it's out of range simply move away quickly...if its in range move away quietly and promptly (assuming you have landed already).

Also remember that you are not food for a snake so if they do strike it is in defense. If they bite you it is a good chance it is a dry bite...they can choose whether or not to inject venom and since they need venom to eat and it takes time to accumulate they don't want to waste it on you. Bets are off on this if you're dealing with a juvenile snake that hasn't learned to conserve its venom...so often the 2-3'ers are a bigger risk than the monsters.

All that aside...a majority of snake bites stem from people either harassing the snake (like throwing rocks at it to make it rattle) or trying to catch them...aka dumb human tricks.

Leave them alone and give them a wide berth and they will return the favor. The worst you're likely to get is a good scare!

That is unless you're collecting someplace like Australia, Asia and Africa where the snakes have "two-step" poisons...you take two steps after being bitten before you drop dead!

[LeadMineGal]

Um, is that snake den in Arizona?
Maybe living in (cold) New England isn't so bad after all!

[gemlover]

Maine good, the only state that has never had a native pit viper in it. All other states in US have at least one pit viper in it. Here in SC we have all four types. Fortunately, the coral snakes only occur near the coast.

John

[Gail]

Leadminegal, I saw a rattler on a rock on Cape Cod when I reached for what I thought was a bicycle tire! I never ran so fast in all my life as it turned out to be a timber rattlesnake.

[Pierre Joubert]

Very interesting contribution Peter. To end up in a pit of mating Rattlers is one's worst nightmare. I have found this bit of technical data that will ad to what Peter said.
https://www.llu.edu/public-health/ebs/hayes/research-a-snake-venom.page
(link normalized by FMF)

My worst experience happened a good number of years ago when I returned from spending a few days up in the mountains. I organized a lift to pick me up at a certain time at the bottom of the mountain, and I was a bit late (no cellphones then), walking as fast as I could with my back pack down a dry riverbed. I jumped over a hollow between rocks and the next moment had a large Cape Cobra lunge at my legs. It must have missed me by millimeters. I ran in mid air for a few meters and while I gathered my breath and relocated my heart, I stood and watched the cobra as it sailed for cover underneath some big rocks. The Cape cobras will only bite in self defense and in this case, it had nowhere to go to avoid me. That was a close shave! Had that snake got hold of me, I would not have been able to tell my story. I have walked a few thousand miles in the 'wild' and even though I occasionally encounter snakes, I have had only this bad encounter.

[Mark Ost]

As a field geologist with lots of time outdoors, Pete said it well. Usually you are making enough racket that they will move to avoid you. In the east we have the three main ones, rattlesnakes, copperheads, water mocassins and, if you are in Florida, coral snakes (which are so small you have to want to get bitten to get a bite). I have very funny snake stories like the time one of our UXO specialists stepped over a harmless black snkae and he went around 4 feet striaght up much to our delight! Or the time one of our New York City geologists, coming down here, ran into a harmless snake and went screaming (literally) through the woods. I told her to be quiet as she was disturbing the wildlife. The snake went screaming the other way! Actually I rarely see them in the field as we make a lot of noise. A wild life biologist took me on a snake hunt for canebrake rattlesnakes. He took us to within 20 feet of one and asked if we couldl see it. It took me some time to pick it out. Superb camoflage. They will rarely rattle and prefer to stay hidden (this may not apply in Florida or out west) unless you get on top of them. Peaceful creatures actually. Mocassins need respect but are not death on wheels though the bite is serious. Easy to avoid too. Most people get bitten by handling them you can guess which sex is liable for that! Men.

Now Pete's "Indiana Jones" impression is hard to top. He probubly did not have a torch to drop on rappell.

[Mark Ost]

Hey Pete, that looks like the Arizona retirement home my kids have picked out for me. Do they have a jaccuzi?

[Peter Megaw]

Yes, and Happy Hour from 5-7 daily

[LeadMineGal]

I am aware that there are venomous snakes just about everywhere, but sightings have been rare and are definitely not a common occurrence here in Western Mass.

One of my scariest encounters with a non-venomous snake was when I nearly stepped on a Hognose snake (Puff Adder), also called the 'Great Pretender'.
I believe I may hold the record on total area covered without touching the ground.

This is a great topic and a terrific opportunity to share stories, have a few laughs and learn valuable lessons that we can take with us on our adventures.

[Pierre Joubert]

[LeadMineGal]

[chris]

Hi,

I'm not a field seeker as you are so I never encountered snakes while looking for minerals, just spiders. However I do remember an encounter. Was hiking on a tree covered trail. I passed over what I took for a dark branch, so I didn't worry much about it. But after a couple of meters, my brain realized I had just happened to pass over one of the most dangerous viper you can find in France.

I turned back carefully to discover she was gone the other way. In France many people are afraid of viper encounters. But when you look at the statistics one learns that only 2/3 people die every year of a snake bite, while dozens are victims of bees & wasps.

PS : Aspic viper loves milk so much that you can sometimes find her sucking milk from cow pies...

[Pierre Joubert]